Delegation to Mexico sees poverty along U.S. border

"`Delegation' connotes the idea that people are traveling with us to gather information and bring it home. This isn't a vacation," explained Maureen Casey, coordinator for the coalition's international project.

The Labor-Religion Coalition is a statewide alliance of religious institutions, unions, community groups and others (co-chaired by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard) who work to raise standards for workers around the world "because of our faith base and because of our base in the union community," said Mrs. Casey. "Both labor and religious traditions share [the opinion] that economic policies have a moral base -- and when we are separated from that base, bad things happen. Churches and unions believe the same things."

Third World

"Partner" groups on the U.S.-Mexican border, including the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras and the Maryknoll Border Project (MBP), escort people from New York State who want to see "maquiladoras" (factories) and learn about the ugly effects of free trade firsthand.

The Maryknoll Border Project met with this delegation, the first one to this particular destination. The MBP consists of nine clergy, religious and lay missionaries in El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, who work with people on both sides of the border.

No border

"The Maryknollers expressed to us that `border' is a totally artificial construct," she noted.

That became obvious to the group almost immediately upon their arrival. MBP missioners took them to a mountain where they could look down on El Paso/Juarez, and the line between the two was invisible. At another point in the desert, a simple metal fence divided the U.S. from Mexico -- and a dry culvert left a huge hole under the fence where people could simply stoop down and walk through, if the Border Patrol didn't happen by.

The visitors were disappointed to learn they'd just missed a special occasion: On Nov. 1, the "Day of the Dead" in Mexico, the bishops of Juarez and El Paso had celebrated a Mass at the border fence. Tables pushed against each side formed a single altar, something Mrs. Casey called "a sacramental statement that it's one community."

Poverty

In the Juarez neighborhoods, called "colonias," dirt streets ran past shacks with no electricity or water, and alongside canals of raw sewage, garbage and waste from the maquiladoras.

The factories themselves, however, were spotless. Manicured lawns and paved roads at maquiladoras that make electronics and automotive parts disguised the fact that inside, workers aren't given the same care as the buildings. The delegation wasn't allowed inside.

"They're not given safety equipment or air extractors. The women are sexually harassed: `If you want a raise, sleep with the manager,'" Mrs. Casey reported. "They're fired if they become pregnant or are forced to take contraceptives as part of the job." (Mexican law says women are entitled to 42 days before and after the birth of a child, and an hour a day to nurse for the child's first six months of life.)

Helping hands

One local man, a lay Evangelical who moved to Juarez from the U.S., runs a food distribution program and raised money to build a health clinic. When the delegates pitched in to distribute food, nearly 400 people came through the line in just three hours.

The Maryknollers sponsor similar programs, but don't have the financial resources the Evangelicals do.

Cost of living

"People say, `They're in Mexico; it's cheaper down there.' But that's absolutely not true," she stated.

Mrs. Casey said the economic system is "based on exploiting people for the least amount of money." She recalled meeting a woman named Luce, whose name means "light." Luce has worked for 22 years in a maquiladora owned by Sylvania. She doesn't know what harmful fumes she's breathing all day; she has repetitive motion problems.

Ms. Hatfield remembered another delegation she went on, during which the group saw where an industrial park dumped its waste into a canal.

"As you drove up, you could feel your eyes stinging and your throat burning," she said.

Bottom line

"We have got to figure out a way to create an international standard, a floor below which companies cannot go," Mrs. Casey declared.

After six days in Juarez/El Paso, the delegates came home armed with knowledge that Mrs. Casey hopes will make them advocates for change.

"Delegations give us the opportunity to understand the global economy with a human face on it," she said.

Ms. Hatfield saw how her fellow delegates were affected by the disturbing conditions they saw: "You can see the difference from day one to the last day. People are changed in some way."

(For information on the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition and delegations, call 272-8275.)

(11-28-02) [[In-content Ad]]