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| Bienvenidos a Mexico |
I left Portland on April 28th. I flew from Portland to San Francisco. I had a layover that lasted several hours. From San Francisco I flew to Dallas-Fort Worth, then on to El Paso. El Paso and Ciudad Juarez are right across the border from each other.
My plan was to land in El Paso then have the people from the hostel I was staying at pick me up. My flight arrived in El Paso at around 10 in the morning. After I retrieved my luggage, I called the lady that was supposed to pick me up from the airport.. I got a hold of her and she told me where to wait for her, and how I would recognize her.
I should mention something that I found interesting here. Before I left just about everyone that knew that I was traveling to Juarez told me to try my best to blend in, and not look like a tourist. They told me that I had to dress like I wasn't from the U.S.
This is harder than it sounds because clothes that you buy in America is going to look American. Even if I had dressed differently people would still know I had been raised in America by the way I spoke. People told me that I shouldn't wear a nice watch or jewelry because that could make you a target for robbery. This is what I had in mind, but I was surprised when I saw the lady that was picking me up. She had on American clothes. She was also wearing expensive looking jewelry.
We get into her car, which is a nice, decent vehicle, and we head towards Mexico. The border is about 10 minutes away from the airport, and once we get close she starts to tell me about how recently Border Patrol has been checking people that are going into Mexico. This could be a problem because I was in the country illegally. So she tells me to get out of the car and walk across the pedestrian bridge into Mexico. She assured me that I the Border Patrol officers wouldn't say anything to me.
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| Border Patrol Officer |
I get out of the car and I start walking towards the border crossing. There are tons of cars and trucks going into Mexico. As I approach the crossing I see a few Homeland Security officers. They didn't seem to pay any attention to me so I kept walking. Then a Border Patrol officer comes over to where I was headed. He sees me walking towards the bridge, so he walks over to the sidewalk I was walking on, and stands there with his arms crossed in front of him. For someone of my legal status, this is the last person you want to see. Most police officers won't question your legal status unless you get arrested. These officers on the other hand, will ask you and they arrest you and deport you. So I definitely panicked a little.
I have never had a run in with them so I didn't know what to expect. The first thing that I noticed was his demeanor. He stood on the sidewalk like I was charging at him with a bat, and when he spoke to me it was obvious that he was trying to be intimidating. I was intimidated. Good job, Officer.
He stopped me and asked me where I was going. I told him that I was going to Ciudad Juarez. Then he asked for identification. All I had on me was my Mexican passport. Right away he knew that I was in the country illegally. He then had me walk over away from the traffic, and he had me empty my pockets. He was asking me where I was from, and about my family. What made him suspicious was the fact that the lady had me get out of the car, so he asked me what was in the car. I told him that I could only account for the things that were in my suitcases.
He has me put all my things back in my pocket. Then we walk back to where the cars are being inspected. The agents ask me what car she was driving, and I point it out to them. They opened all her doors and walk around and inspect it with dogs and they go through my bags. He has me wait on the side, but before he leaves he looks at me and he says, "Don't you dare run. I will catch you, and arrest you." I'm paraphrasing, but he wanted me to understand that he had the power to arrest me and make my life difficult. (And I think he kind of called me fat by saying he would catch me if I tried to run. Which I had no intention of doing, by the way.)
After looking through her car they had me get back into the car. He mumbled, "Good luck," and we were on our way.I was a little shaky still, but I took a deep breath and we made our way to the hostel. As soon as we crossed the border I felt like I had entered a completely new world. I have said it so many times, but I cannot get the contrast out of my mind. There are people all over the streets selling all kinds of things.
They walk up to your cars and offer you gum, candy, fruit, and cigarettes. If they aren't selling something, they are cleaning your windshield or performing some kind of circus act. They even had young children out there in the middle of traffic. That is how so many people make their living. You have to find any way that you can to survive. I wish I could have taken more pictures of the city, but like I said before, I was trying to look as normal as possible, and taking a picture of every little thing is not normal.
When we go to the house she showed me my room. It was decent sized room with two beds and a chair. The room shared a bathroom with only one other room which I was thankful for. The five rooms in the house had to share one bathroom. I had my own door to go outside, which I liked. There were a few things that might be considered building code violations in the U.S. I'm not a building inspector, but I am sure that an uneven floor would not pass and inspection. I had a bottle of water on the floor next to my chair. If you laid a bottle on the floor it would roll to the other side of the room. I can say that it was very different from any other place that I ever stayed at.
I unpacked and made some phone calls. I tried to relax as much as I could after having that little adventure. I turned on the TV and went through all the channels. I was exhausted, but I could not go to sleep because I had an appointment that day. I began to reflect on what had just happened. I had so many things on my mind at that point. I was away from my home, my family, and everything that I knew. Everything was different. I knew the language, but for all intents and purposes I was a stranger in my own land. For a moment, I felt alone. I started to think about the run in with the officer. I had come close to losing everything.It was a frightening thought. But it didn't happen that way. I had a sudden sense of peace. It was as if God was saying to me, "Don't worry. I am with you." A weight was lifted off of me in that moment. I can't say that I was full of faith from that moment on, but when the doubt started to creep back in, I would remember God's faithfulness and that sense of peace would return. 
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