Derrick Charles is the co-representative for MCC Nicaragua and Costa Rica. This post was first published on his personal blog.
In the evenings while the kids lay down to fall asleep, I’ve gotten into the routine of listening to podcasts or news with headphones on while washing the dishes, sweeping the day’s dust, picking up toys, etc. The other night I was listening to an episode of This American Life on the idea of border walls. The first two stories they told were places I’ve been and can picture in my mind: Ceuta, Spain / Morocco and Nogales, Arizona / Nogales, Sonora.
These past months we’ve had various experiences with border crossing scenarios. Together with our MCC staff, we’ve worked through facilitating travel to/from Nicaragua and many other places for people participating in service or various exchange events. A few weeks ago I traveled to/from Costa Rica by bus. I visited the community of Cuatro Cruces, south of the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border, and heard how one church has been reaching out to Nicaraguans who come to work with pineapples. Here are some of my thoughts, when I reflect on all the border crossing we’ve been doing.
1. “Immigration” is a worldwide debate. Interestingly, the term “immigration” usually implies “permanence,” which seems like an inaccurate term for much of the movement that people are describing in this debate.
We see from where we stand, they say. From where I stand at the moment, we have people coming and going between here and Costa Rica and between here and El Salvador on a regular or seasonally related basis. Especially for people whose livelihood is tied to working the land, people will get up and move when it’s too wet or too dry and they lose a harvest. They will get up and move when there is higher wage they can earn for a season and then return. Some stay longer than they thought, but “permanence” happens for other reasons. “Migration” seems to describe what people set out to do, and can be observed in the short/medium term; “Immigration” is observed over the long term. This ordinary movement, of course, is disrupted or intensified when high-stakes border walls or barriers are put in place.
2. Migration as a problem and as solution are probably two sides of the same coin. A fitting phrase, maybe, since this often stems from things financial or economic.
As a “problem,” it is often said that when people move, it can leave people disoriented, vulnerable, can lead to family disintegration, and so on. The labor rights activist César Chávez, whose family crossed a border when he was young, would argue that moving can weaken a commitment to make things improve and/or gives business an opportunity to exploit people who don’t have a legal recourse. When people are able to make it work where they most deeply rooted, without the need to move elsewhere, the “problem” of migration is avoided.
As a “solution,” a strategic move can put someone in a more financially or socially advantageous position. You travel to Costa Rica, at a border point of entry or a blind spot, spend some doing agricultural work that involves oranges, coffee, pineapple, and then come back home to Nicaragua with money in your pocket, or you send it routinely back to family members. This year, the Ministry of Labor in Nicaragua increased minimum wages, which are divided by categories of work, by 10.4%, but the lowest category, agriculture, will only reach a minimum of US $4.49 for an 8-hour day of work. If there’s a better deal somewhere else, people will naturally move.
3. From a theological point of view, we say it’s important for God’s people to stand with the sojourner. Like the previous, awkward U.S. decades-long policy towards Cuba, the church also has a “wet foot, dry foot” conundrum. While people are living in challenging situations, we ask how we can support them so they can stay. When people decide its time to go, we ask how we can help them leave. Staying and migrating are both options people deserve, or rights. Maybe part of the “immigration problem” is when we who can travel freely are tempted to make the decisions for others.
Cuatro Cruces, Upala, Costa Rica. Derrick Charles.
South of the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border, I was encouraged to hear about the Cuatro Cruces church’s social action committee, who has built a community bus stop and installed bathrooms along the community soccer field. They also responded to a blind Nicaraguan man who was living nearby and didn’t qualify for Costa Rican benefits. They built him a house. There was another young Nicaraguan man who came with his family when he was younger, who went through local public schools and married a Costa Rican woman, but he can’t work the better paying jobs because he doesn’t have proper documentation. He’s a DREAMer, Central America style. The church built their family a house too.
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Interested in learning more about how MCC works to respond to migration? Check out other stories on the blog, check out the Washington Office Migration Update, or consider taking part in a Learning Tour to see firsthand. Contact us if you would like more information.