Helplessness, Hopelessness, & Despair Revisited.
Ted Folkert
December 27, 2016
Perhaps we could take a few moments away from our winter vacation or our quest for that new home, new car, or sixty-inch smart TV, and consider the challenge of those without such good fortune.
Let’s consider helplessness, hopelessness and despair – the big three – the causes of desperate measures to seek a better life, a life with subsistence, safe-haven and survival – the sought after big three of a peaceful and abundant life.
A four-part series of articles in the Los Angeles Times has just exemplified this compelling struggle, the enormous commitment and the dangerous journey undertaken by many of our fellow world inhabitants to seek relief of the miserable conditions in their homeland.
We have followed the desperate struggle for survival and a livable environment by the millions of migrants from the Middle East countries over the last few months as they escaped endless warfare and untenable living conditions, but there are other stories less publicized and closer to home.
This glimpse of a small segment of the global migration of people fleeing poverty, persecution and endless war is provided by Alexandra Zaris, Kate Linthicum, Patrick J. McDonald and Shashank Bengali – not from the comfort of their offices, but on the ground in Tijuana; Turbo, Colombia; Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico; and Sylhet, Bangladesh.
In addition to the more than 40,000 Cubans and Haitians who have shown up at our borders seeking asylum this year and to the thousands of Latin Americans each day, this story tracks the treacherous migration from such places as: Nepal, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Haiti, several African countries, as they travel through Thailand and Malaysia to seek passage to cross oceans to South America, or across India to Dubai, then across the ocean to Sao Paulo, Brazil. Then across Brazil to La Paz, Bolivia, then to Lima, Peru, then to Quito, Ecuador, then to Panama City, then to Tapachula, Mexico, then to Mexico City, then to Tijuana, then to the San Ysidro border crossing. They encounter dangerous jungles, cross rivers, cross mountains – in their trek through Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala, seeking immigration into the United States. They travel this treacherous journey by plane, foot, bus, boat and donkey across ten borders. They encounter robbery, killings, rape and drownings and pass many dead bodies along the way. Their families often have sold their homes and borrowed money from relatives to give their loved ones an opportunity to attempt this challenge in hopes of a better life.
About 15,000 migrants from outside Latin America passed through Baja, California this year. At least 55,000 people from outside Latin America attempted to enter the US through our southern borders without proper documentation this year. The migrants who have tried to enter the US illegally in the past year number more than 200,000.
Statements like we have heard from our president elect, such as: “people pouring across our borders,” are outlandish. Of course, there are illegal immigrants, but statements such as this fail to give proper credit to the border crossing employees who deal with thousands of entries and attempted entries each day. The number of those desiring to immigrate here is endless and has been for many years. We have rules and limitations on immigration and enforcement is a major challenge considering the lengths of our northern and southern borders and the thousands of miles of seashore on our east, west and south coasts.
Unfortunately, for most of those who survive this treacherous journey described above, the answer at the US border is a trip back home due to lack of legal basis to enter the US. The only other alternative is to seek a way to enter the US illegally. There are hundreds of corrupt smugglers ready, willing and able to assist in an illegal entry, often predatory smugglers who steal the migrant’s money and other possessions and leave them in a helpless situation. At this point the migrant’s only hope is help from home to return there, having failed in their attempt at immigration and nothing gained from the sacrifice of their loved ones who provided them the opportunity.
So, is this just a current situation which will soon go away? Or is it a sign of things to come? It seems that the incidents of migration have been on the increase for many years. Maybe due to poverty and seeking of better economic opportunities. Maybe due to persecution by tyrannical dictators. Maybe due to the hopelessness of endless warfare. Maybe just various examples of the result of population increases on the planet which exacerbate the challenge of feeding and housing the population. Or is it the incessant quest for power and the exercise of privilege?
Unless we know the cause, it is difficult to impossible to find a solution.
Or is there no solution?
Think about it!