They are the face of “the invasion”. A hundred migrants are waiting this morning of September 27 for the opening of the comedor, the canteen of the charity Kino Border Initiative, in Nogales (Mexico), on the border with the United States. It’s only 8:15 a.m.; the gate is still closed. Shura Wallin and her team of volunteers slip between the families. “Buenos dias, buenos dias. » Like every Tuesday, the American Samaritans of Green Valley, between Tucson (Arizona) and Nogales, crossed the border to come and distribute, on the Mexican side, a breakfast to those who hope to obtain asylum in the United States, or who have already been expelled.
“Invasion. » The term has become commonplace in the campaign for the November 8 elections. Ritually, the midterms are a pretext for one-upmanship on the theme of immigration. In 2018, Donald Trump raised the specter of “caravans” of Central American migrants advancing by the thousands to conquer America.
This year is no exception. The extremists raise the scarecrow of foreign cohorts arriving with arms full of Fentanyl, in a deliberate amalgamation between criminals, illegal immigrants, and asylum seekers. Some candidates even promise to secure the border themselves, at the risk of a confrontation with the federal government, charged by the Constitution with immigration policy.
At comedor de Nogales, however, the number of meals served continues to increase. The canteen is installed in brand new premises, financed by the Catholic Church, twice as large as the old one. The ground floor opens onto a large community hall decorated with paintings of the Virgin Mary. The director of operations, Victor Yanez, a young Jesuit priest, shows the kitchen, the duty lawyer’s office, the shelves where hundreds of clothes are neatly arranged by size, the table for Covid-19 tests. A makeshift dormitory is filled with blue metallic bunk beds. A few dozen families sleep there every night.
The volunteers of the Samaritans group are not idle. The queue is disciplined but the pressure constant. Shura Wallin, 81, black belt in karate, Ukraine support badge on his T-shirt, distributes the tortillas; Steve Feldman, kidney beans; Rita Banks, eggs streaked with sausage. Each applicant holds out their plastic container: “For four people”, “nine people”… The boxes come from donations from wealthy families in Tucson: we recognize the pots of probiotic yogurts and the trays from Whole Foods, the trendy store. In one hour, the distribution is complete: 496 meals. The record was set at the start of summer: 963 snacks.
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