On May 7, 2023, someone plowed a car into a group of migrants awaiting a bus outside a shelter in Brownsville, Texas. This made national news and left me sickened. Eight dead. Ten injured. Some were from Venezuela.
At the other end of Texas, three migrants recently drowned while crossing the Rio Grande River at Eagle Pass. Texan officials had refused access to Border Patrol at Shelby Park, creating conflict between State and National powers at our international border.
Our southern Texas border and neighboring Tamaulipas, Mexico are home to thousands of people on the move, of all ages, and from many different nationalities, and who have suffered terrible humiliations along their journey from South and Central America, and other countries across the world. All come in hope of a better future. All are tired, hungry, and poor. All are escaping atrocities and poverty back home. All believe that they will discover a new beginning and find work in the United States.
In June 2022, I visited Choluteca in southern Honduras, where I met with a group of migrants from Venezuela. The men were tall and strong, their clothes ragged and soiled. They were accompanied by their wives and children, and they carried cardboard signs begging for cash so they could continue their journey north. They were unable to practice their professions back home, having studied engineering, finance, and computers. Their country was gripped by terror and corruption.
The Venezuelans had crossed the Darian Peninsula in Panama, with its dangerous terrain, poisonous snakes and insects, and swamps leaving their feet with sores. In Nicaragua, they were attacked by thieves who left them penniless. In Honduras, they were detained in Choluteca because the government levied heavy fines for entering the country without the correct documents, before authorizing them to continue their journey north to Guatemala and Mexico. They were reduced to begging in the street or looking for odd jobs to raise money to pay off their fines and have food for their children.
I want so badly to find solutions to the complex issue of displaced populations, but I feel so helpless. I understand the push factors of corruption, poverty, hunger, and violence. And I understand the powerful pull factors of reuniting with family members who had migrated previously and sending money back home. These remittances represent billions of dollars annually and comprise a large percentage of their national economies. What country would want to stop that flow of money? Which banks want to stop the flow? Who wants to stop out-migration, if it results in money returning to the country of origin and income for governments, banking institutions, and local businesses?
How do I balance my emotional and intellectual concerns for addressing the humanitarian needs of vulnerable people fleeing deplorable conditions with the responsibility of countries to control their own borders with policies and systems that regulate those who enter?
The stories of tragedy at a border bus stop and border park sicken me but stir up a resolve to continue seeking people of influence who will convene problem solvers who identify solutions at the local, national, and international levels, by balancing their intellect with their emotions, balancing national and state interests with humanitarian service, and balancing anger with action.
Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by Elaine Hernandez, MEd, MPH, PhD, a public health and education professional with experience in international development focusing on maternal and child health, hunger, and emergency health and feeding. Hernandez has lived and worked with non-profit organizations in Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America, and Ukraine, and worked with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty at Baylor University serving as Regional Director for South Texas until her retirement in 2021. Hernandez is a grant writer, and recently published a children's book on development entitled "Her Butterfly Effect: When the Evergreens Blossomed Orange." She is a member of Rotary International's Cadre of Technical Advisors where she monitors projects funded by the Rotary Foundation.
