Hola!
After waking up to a very sore morning after two continuous days of pouring cement, it was off to a new worksite to do something new. In our case, this something new was digging. For the start of the project, we were given a housing foundation full of uneven dirt, which we then had to dig out. After doing this to a certain measure in the ground, we had to shovel the dirt back into the foundation to level it out, needless to say we worked a lot with relocating dirt today. Along with this at our worksite, Hannah Weil, Ella, and me (Hannah Gaul) were given the job of welding rebar without modern technology pretty much. This required us to bend rebar into squares, which took up the majority of our day. To end our working day, we cut thick wire to lay onto the dirt foundation so we would be able to cement a floor on Friday.
In addition to our work day, we also took a trip to Casa del Migrante, a shelter for migrants that have been deported to Tijuana from the U.S. Here, we learned a lot of history regarding crossing the border and migrants from not only Mexico, but Central America and South America too that are just placed in Tijuana after being deported. We also shared a meal with the men who were currently staying at this home. Luckily for Kevan and me, who don't speak very much Spanish, the man we talked to at dinner spoke English quite well. Unfortunately, we did not get to know his name, but he had a incredible story to tell.
The man we talked to moved to the U.S. legally in 1976. He stayed there until he finished all his schooling, and a couple years after, before he retuned to Mexico in 1990. After this he then moved back to the U.S. in 1994, where he established a family, a stable job, and a happy life, until yesterday. He informed us that in the 1990's he received some type of criminal record which he said could have been part of the fact of why he was deported. Yesterday, he walked out of his house, went to work, and got pulled over almost a block from his house in L.A. The officer asked him for his license and proof of citizen ship, and he knew right there that he did not have his proof of citizenship. In less then 24 hours he was deported to Tijuana, and shortly after telling us this story. Unlike most men at the home, he had his parents who just recently retired to Mexico, so he did have family to contact down here. His three children, all girls, were meeting him at the home, and he's not sure where he's going to go from here. If you go back to the U.S. after being deported, you could easily be arrested. Whenever he moved to the U.S. it was completely legal, since he was under amnesty. This story, along with many others, are the ones that make me wonder what our country is really doing when they are deporting the ones who are not causing harm and making a living in our country. The leader of Casa del Migrante also said we are deporting former U.S. veterans that fought for our country in wars. I believe this is one of the biggest defenses of dishonor I've heard of and one of the biggest shames of our country I've heard of.
The trip has been very eye opening overall and truly life changing.
Adios!
- Hannah Gaul
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