Home / Dallas News / For three minutes, families separated at border get a chance to fill years of missed memories

For three minutes, families separated at border get a chance to fill years of missed memories

EL PASO — While politicians in Washington bicker endlessly over immigration issues and the governor of Texas announces measures to, according to him, stop undocumented immigration, some 200 families paused their lives for three minutes to meet after years of separation at an event called “Hugs Not Walls”.

Nodelia López, 60, who lives in El Paso, met with her son Ramón Hermosillo, 33, who was deported to México in 2019.

López said she felt a mixture of joy and sadness at being able to hug her son after two years of separation.

“He had never been separated from me,” said Lopez.

López arrived early at the designated place on the banks of the Río Grande, where immigration authorities allowed the “Hugs Not Walls” event to take place, which has occurred once a year for nine years. In 2020 it was cancelled due to Covid-19.

At 8:45 a.m. the first group of families came down from the edge of the river — which is flanked by miles of tall metal barriers— to embrace their loved ones who crossed from Ciudad Juárez. As families reached out to their loved ones, the song “Somos más Americanos” (We are more Americans) from the Norteño group Tigres del Norte played on the public address system.

Each family was allowed three minutes to be together. Although brief, her meeting with her son Ramón was a breath of joy for López.

López and her family emigrated 25 years ago from Meoqui, a city 300 miles in South of Chihuahua. To support her family, she has worked for 15 years as a gardener.

“The (Donald) Trump government with its zero tolerance law deported my son, that’s why we are separated,” López said. “We have spent so much money on lawyers, paperwork but nothing, despite the fact that my son (Ramón) is the father of four children born here.”

But on Saturday, López enjoyed the allowed three minutes to be with her son. They nervously walked over the wooden platform installed at the bottom of the river.

Hermosillo put his right hand on his mother’s back as she took his hand. They stared at each other for a few seconds and then they hugged and López spoke to her son’s ear and cried. Then he caressed her mother’s forehead and she took off the mask to kiss him on his right cheek.

Hermosillo had lived in El Paso since he was 7 years old. When he was deported two years ago, he returned to Meoqui, where he was born. He had to start at a place that only meant childhood memories and all his family away.

Political divide

Saturday’s “Hugs, no walls” event comes as the topic of immigration is used once more as a wedge issue in the country.

“Politicians use people like us so their governments can attract voters, but I think they do not think about us, in all the work we do, that we pay taxes, but since we have no rights, they leave us out of decisions” about immigration laws, said Hugo Campos, a native of Juárez who traveled from Florida to see his father after 16 years of separation.

Campos, 44, works in construction thanks to a temporary work permit.

He’d like to see politicians do more to provide certainty to people like him who have to renew their permit every year, with no guarantees.

Republican political leaders in Texas blame the Joe Biden administration for the increase in arrests of immigrants trying to cross into the United States. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) reported in early June that undocumented migrant crossings are at their highest in 20 years.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced this week that Texas will commit $250 million as a down payment to build a fence on its border with México, arguing that it is the only way to curb unauthorized immigration, drug, and human smuggling.

“Texas is doing more than any state has ever done to protect the border, but it is clear that more is needed. In the Biden Administration’s absence, Texas is stepping up to get the job done by building the border wall. Through this comprehensive public safety effort, we will secure the border, slow the influx of unlawful immigrants, and restore order in our border communities,” Abbott said Wednesday.

Abbott launched Operation “Lone Star” on March 6, which sent more elements of the National Guard and agents from the state Department of Public Safety to support surveillance efforts at the border.

Abbott has also turned to other states like Florida and Arizona for help.

Although “Hugs, No Walls” echoed calls to reform immigration laws to grant undocumented legal status, it also included a message to commemorate “Juneteenth” the new national holiday that marks the anniversary of the emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S. President Joe Biden signed the law June 17.

“This day, June 19th, is not really about Black Lives Matter, nor is it about black or white people. It is a human story and we all are human,” said Pastor Michael Grady, of the Prince of Peace Christian Fellowship Church in El Paso. “We are created in the image of our creator. We are endowed with alienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.

Long-awaited embraces

The Rueda family, originally from Zacatecas but established in Ciudad Juárez since the 1980s, participated in the event

One of the participants of Saturday’s event was María Cecilia “Ceci” Rueda Pacheco, 41, who had the chance to see and hug her father after 10 years of not seeing him.

Paramedics helped her father José Rueda in a wheelchair to the bottom of the river.

“Finally you let yourself be seen,” Ceci joked to his father as they both embraced amid tears and laughter.

Ceci lives in El Paso and her father lives in Fresnillo, Zacatecas. He traveled 12 hours by bus to Ciudad Juárez to meet his daughter. Three minutes of embracing each other will never be enough, but after 10 years, it filled both their hearts.

Hugs Not Walls was organized by the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) and the Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance (RITA); Co-sponsored by the Center for Border Agricultural Workers, the Ministry of Peace and Justice of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso.

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, was one of the politicians who attended the event.

“I challenge Governor Abbott to come and witness the beauty of this place and the tragedy these families (have to endure) and to not continue on his path of division and hatred,” she said.

Texas senator César Blanco said he was especially touched by seeing immigrants hugging their loved ones.

“I think that hug symbolizes what we need the most. More hugs, not only on our border, but throughout the country and especially in our politics at this time.”

Due to inaction on a law legalizing an estimated 11 million people in the United States, families like López’s live in frustration and a seemingly eternal wait. For them, “Hugs, No Walls” was a dose of joy.

“I don’t care that it’s only three minutes; If my son cannot return to the United States, I will come to this event every year to see and hug him,” said López.

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