I wish that I would have jumped up and said,
"Look judge, I am not a lawyer
and I do not know everything about this process. Frankly, I do not know if I am
even allowed to be speaking right now. But, I do know a few things. I am here
busting my ass trying to provide support to this woman seeking asylum in the
midst of working three part-time jobs. But, this is not about me. It's about
Antonia.
How is a single mother who gave up
everything that she had to make the journey to this country, and is not legally
allowed to work here, supposed to find a place to live, take care of her child,
and on top of all of that, pay for a lawyer?"
After two hours of sitting in the court room waiting while
other people's cases were processed, and struggling to stay awake in the midst
of a very busy week, I was already feeling on edge when Antonia was called
before the judge. I wanted to be able to accompany Antonia to the seat before
the judge, but did not think that I was allowed since I am not a lawyer.
So, I watched from the general court seating as the judge
asked her why she did not have a lawyer present with her.
She explained that she had
contacted 12 lawyers, all of which told her that they were too busy to take on
a new case, or that they would require thousands of dollars of down-payment
before speaking to her. The judge asked
her if she could hire a lawyer before her next court date at the end of June,
and she honestly replied, "I do not know." She was not about to cave
to the pressure of the judge's questions. She was honest in reflecting the
struggle she was having to find a lawyer, and the pragmatic reality that she
may not find someone in another two months.
So, I watched from the general court seating as the judge
proceeded to tell her that she had, had enough time to find a lawyer, and would
now have to represent herself.
I felt frustration at this system
that requires money to buy justice. I felt frustrated at this system in which
you have to have a piece of paper from an educational institution worth tens of
thousands of even hundreds of thousands of dollars to have a voice. I felt
frustrated at this system that seemed to veil communication and knowledge from
the common people by speaking in verbiage and through procedures unknown to the
common person. I was frustrated that each lawyer Antonia and I spoke to either
referred us to another organization or gave us trite counsel accompanied by the
words, "but don't take this as legal advice." Was any lawyer really
willing to put their skin in the game to help this woman and her daughter?
So, I watched from the general court seating as the judge
began to question Antonia about her entry into this country.
"Did you present yourself at
the border or did you enter this country illegally?"
I squirmed in my seat, knowing that
the answer was simple and easy. She could answer it in one word, but just
saying "Illegalmente". But, instead, she proceeded to answer the
question as best she could.
Antonia shared that she fled
violence in El Salvador with her passport and presented herself to an agent at
the border.
She was right. She did present
herself to an agent, which is what the judge had asked. The only thing was that
the agent was not at a port of entry, but rather on the other side of the
border wall after Antonia and her daughter crossed over.
So, I watched from the general court seating as the judge
proceeded to ask clarifying questions.
Antonia stumbled through each
question, struggling to answer as clearly or concisely as the judge required.
It makes me sad that I am not able
to say something for this woman, who knows nothing about this system.
It does not dawn on me until I hear Antonia's honest and
innocent answers to the judge's questions. She is not dumb, nor is she trying
to take advantage of the system. It is the system that does not make sense.
I realized, Humans are not born with an ingrained knowledge
that there are countries and
borders and that you are prohibited from crossing borders without the correct pieces
of paper. That when you do cross, you have to do so through a specific set of
gates, and you have to take to someone that has a specific badge.
I realized, Humans are not born with an ingrained knowledge
that some threats to one's survival
will qualify them to seek refuge in another country, and other threats to one's
survival will not qualify them to seek refuge in another country. That threats
because of one's politics, religious beliefs, race, nationality, or membership
in a social group will qualify them for asylum, but that hunger and poverty
will not. Even when that hunger and poverty is largely caused by trade
relationships and agreements with other countries, the lingering affects of
colonialism and neo-colonialism, and the corruption of government officials and
other powerful people.
I realized, Humans are not born with an ingrained knowledge
that to find refuge in another
country you must be able to document the threats that you face and prove
without a doubt the imminent danger that exists. That somehow you must find a
way to capture these threats in writing, recordings, and eye-witness accounts,
and that you must bring these things with you across thousands of miles of rugged
terrain, through rivers and across desserts, and through the encounters with
bandits, gangs, drug cartels, rapists, and corrupt policeman and private
security. That you must somehow stick around the threat long enough, inquire
from those whom you flee, their name, their associations, and the history of
what makes them dangerous. That you cannot flee directly to where you are
assured safety, but must try living elsewhere in your country first, risking being
tracked down and killed, in order to prove that you do, in deed, need to find
refuge in a new country.
Antonia has come to learn that there are rules and a process
to cross borders, but after applying for a visa four times, and being denied
each time, what other option does she have?
How is Antonia supposed to respond when asked if she crossed
the border "illegally"? Why would the only option for her be
"illegal"?
Does she even know that there are official Ports of Entry,
but that because of politics in the U.S. today, she would be forced to wait
outside of these gates for days, weeks or even months before her number in line
was called? Does she know that the United States is violating international law
and human rights by denying asylum seekers entrance to the country in this way?
I think we need to take a big step back and ask ourselves,
are people actually bad for crossing the border "illegally"? Or, is
it that our system is not inherently known and intuitive to the people outside
of our country?
Every homo-sapien is trying to live their life, survive, and
even flourish. At the most basic level, we all want to put food on the table for
ourselves and our families, provide shelter for ourselves and our families, and
live in peace, where we are not threatened and worried about being killed. We will
do what it takes to find that kind of safety and security and flourishing.
As I sit in the courtroom,
I ponder, cannot there not be a way
for services to be provided to her in exchange for payment down the road once
she is safe and secure and settled?
Cannot there be a way to think of this whole
process in a more creative and effective way?
As I sit in the courtroom,
I wish I would have gotten up there
to say these things, and I imagine that the judge would've taken offense to my
speaking out of turn, my passion, and the word "Ass". I imagine him
reprimanding me for my speech.
In that case, I might have said something
like, "Hey judge, you might find my language offensive, but I find your
language offensive, too.
I think it is offensive to say these
people's names with such an appalling accent that the people being called do
not even recognize that it is their name being uttered."
I would say, "Hey Judge, how
is it that you are the person making these judgments that will affect the rest
of these people's lives - putting them in situations that may mean Life or
Death - when you know nothing about their culture and their way of life?
Judge, I understand that you cannot
know the background and culture from everyone around the entire world. There
are thousands of languages spoken around the world, and tens of thousands of
different cultures, and every single person has a different life experience,
but when the majority of the people coming to your court speak Spanish and come
from a Latin American background, it seems like it would be nice for you to
know a little bit more about where they come from. It would be nice for you to
understand why this process makes no inherent sense to them. Not to mention the
fact that our Southern neighbor is Mexico, nor that this ground upon which we
stand used to be Mexico, that our state is riddled with towns and rivers and
forests and mountains with Spanish names, and that a very, very significant
percentage of our country's population speaks this language
Hey judge, you might find my
language offensive, but I find your language offensive, too."
I would hope that after saying all this,
that a lawyer would be willing to
take on A's case,
that we could put our heads
together and think more creatively about how we can meet people's needs going
forward,
that more people would step up and
get funding to have pro-bono legal services for new arrivals to this country,
that immigrants to the country,
after become stable and acclimatized to their life here, would be invited to
"pay it forward" to a new arrival of this country by sponsoring their
legal fees,
that immigrants would take pride in
helping other immigrants,
that maybe, just maybe, we would
put our heads together to create a legal system in which money does not buy justice,
in which proceedings are accessible and understandable for all,
that people that were born in this
country would take pride in the fact that we are a country of immigrants and
people of diverse backgrounds,
that we would not be trying to
exclude and reject each other, but
that we would welcome one another,
love one another,
and embrace one another.
The world is only as scarce and limited as we make it. I
choose to live in an abundant world, full of opportunity and saying yes. I hope
that you will do the same.
