Centro Romero 'immersion' articulates immigration debate for Coalition members

Centro Romero 'immersion' articulates immigration debate for Coalition memb ers

> Written by Gregg Brekke
> August 3, 2010

The unassuming hillside church building that houses the UCC's Centro
Romero ministry in San Ysidro, Calif., looks like many of the homes in
its expansive neighborhood save the stuccoed steeple and white cross.

Yet, the location has become the epicenter where hundreds of people
have participated in "immersion" experiences across the nearby border
with Mexico. Founded in 2007, the Daniel F. Romero Center for Border
Ministries is a project of the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries,
in partnership with the Southern California-Nevada Conference, that
helps participants explore the theological, social and political
realities of border policies and migration between the U.S. and Mexico.

The Rev. Carlos J. Correa Bernier, Centro Romero program director,
hosted a July 13-14 immersion experience in conjunction with the UCC's
Coalition for LGBT Concerns gathering held in San Diego. Twelve
coalition members and guests joined Bernier for a day-long excursion
in Tijuana, Mexico, along with pre- and post-immersion theological reflecti ons.

Highlighting the root causes of migration, Bernier cited the economic
difficulties experienced by Mexicans in light of a growing trade
deficit, the flooding of Mexican markets with surplus agricultural
goods from the United States and the availability of lucrative paying
work in the U.S. despite the dangers of illegal border crossings.

Standing on a hill overlooking a shanty-town in Tijuana, Bernier
explained that most of the adult residents of the tin and cardboard
constructed homes work in the foreign-owned factories, called
maquiladoras, that loom over the shacks.

"This community is a non-existent community," said Bernier, describing
the unrecognized status of residents of the shanty-town which lacks
water, electricity, schools, hospitals and fire or police services.
"The only reason they are here is this land has no meaning or value to
the government. If [the land had value], they would be bulldozed out
of here in a heartbeat."

The group also visited Casa de la Pobres (House of the Poor), a
ministry run by Franciscan sisters. The facility hosts community
meals, a food bank and a clinic with medical, dental and pharmacy
facilities, among other services for the neighborhood. Ellen
Bushmiller, a registered nurse and member of First Congregational UCC
in Washington, D.C., was impressed by the cleanliness of the clinic.
"If I were injured, that's where I'd like to go," she said.

A visit to the border fence that pierces into the Pacific Ocean was
the final stop on the group's Tijuana itinerary. Located at the site
of the former international "friendship park," the park is now
barricaded, secured with barbed-wire and constantly guarded on the
ground by U.S. Border Patrol agents and from the air with U.S. Marine
Apache helicopters.

On her first trip to the border region, Alyssa Rose of nearby
Riverside, Calif., was surprised by the differences she saw in
Tijuana. "The immersion experience has been very eye opening," she
said. "I grew up in a town that was 75 percent Mexican heritage and
people used to joke about going to Tijuana to party. What we've seen
today ? it is not a joke."

Following an additional day of theological reflection Lydia York, a
PhD candidate in theology at Drew University, was reflective about the
immersion day. "I need to digest all that I've seen and all that I
feel and find a way to continue the conversation," she said. "It's
already playing into my theology and can see the experience improving
my research and writing."

York also found parallels in the context of Coalition members'
participation in the immersion. "As a justice seeking movement the
LGBT Coalition crosses various barriers, even within itself," she
said. "The benefit to my understanding of justice is to see where
multiple oppressions and multiple identities cross."

Bernier has led many groups from Centro Romero, noting that no two
immersion experiences are the same - individual members and the group
as a whole come to a unique understanding of border realities. "If we
really want to solve the problems we see," he said, recalling the
group's reaction to meeting a young boy near the shanty-town, "we need
to engage others in discussion on how we approach these problems
theologically."

More information on Centro Romero and its broad range of educational
programs and immersion seminars can be found at
<http//ucc.org/justice/centro-romero/>.