Jews in the D

16 | JANUARY 16 • 2020

for the families and individuals dealing
with conditions at the border, she said.
Rebecca Kirzner of HIAS said the pur-
pose of these trips is for Jewish leaders
to “gain a deeper understanding of the
injustices and complexities at the border,
and the unconscionable ways our gov-
ernment is slamming the doors on those
seeking asylum in our country.
“Our goal is to make sure there is a
strong moral voice in support of the
rights, safety and dignity of refugees,”
Kirzner said. “This is not just a legal
issue or a set of political talking points.
It is about how we treat others. “It is our
hope the rabbis and cantors on the trip
are able to share that message in their
home communities, and also mobilize
their communities to help. There are
many ways the Detroit Jewish communi-
ty can help through advocacy, volunteer-
ing, raising funds and activism.”

“TWIN CITIES”
Once on the ground in El Paso,
the group met with members
of the Jewish community and
with city government officials,
including City Councilman
Peter Svarzbein. The Jewish
son of Eastern European and
Argentinian immigrants,
Svarzbein said efforts from
groups like HIAS convey the
message throughout the United
States that the communities of
El Paso and Ciudad Juarez are
commercially and culturally
intertwined like “twin cities” and do not
wish to be separated by a wall.
Svarzbein described the situation at
the border as “more complex and beau-
tiful than one can ever imagine.”
“We understand better than anybody
else that life at the border is the perfect
personification and an embodiment of
the American immigrant experience,”
Svarzbein said in a telephone interview.
“The opportunities for both coun-
tries at the border is a blessing in many
ways. When you think of the American
dream and what that means, you don’
t
have a better or stronger personifi-
cation of what that means than right
here. Communities here have shared a
cultural and economic flow for gener-
ations, and we do not want to be sepa-
rated by a wall.”

OTERO PROCESSING CENTER
A highlight of the trip included an ICE-
led tour of the Otero County Processing

Center in Chaparral, N.M., 30 miles
northeast of El Paso.
Kaluzny was familiar with news
reports of inhumane conditions com-
ing out of Otero. Recent studies from
humanitarian groups, such as the
Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee
and Freedom for Immigrants, say
public statements from Management
and Training Corporation, (MTC), the
for-profit company running the facil-
ity, do not align with the accounts or
experiences of those confined in Otero.
Those individuals report troubling rights
violations and dehumanizing treatment
from ICE. They also say ICE inspections
are largely ineffective at maintaining and
enforcing the standards of detention ICE
established for its facilities.
What struck her most as the group
approached the facility is that, though
seeking asylum according to U.S. law is
not a crime, Kaluzny said Otero indeed
is a prison with barbed wire fences and
high watchtowers. It was eerie, though,
that at a facility crowded with 1,000
men, she said during the tour, it was
“quiet enough to hear a pin drop.”
Kaluzny described that she saw male
asylum seekers spending their days in
a prison. The detainees she saw were
living in dorms that housed up to 50
people at a time.
Though the facility was only sup-
posed to house men, Kaluzny said some
there looked to be teens or boys; but
without dental or identification records,

You don’t walk thousands of miles
and leave all that is familiar for any
other reason besides wanting to
give your family a chance at safety,
stability and opportunity.

— RABBI JENNIFER KALUZNY

Rabbi Jennifer
Kaluzny was able to
hug and interact with
some children at the
Leona Vicario Shelter
in Ciudad Juarez.

continued from page 15

COURTESY RABBI JENNIFER KALUZNY

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