BY María González Amarillo
The event “Letters from the Wall-Cartas del Muro” was launched on both sides of the border last Saturday November 21 at 11am. The goal of the theatrical show was to tell the real stories of people affected by the existing physical and legal wall between the United States and Mexico.
“We do cultural, religious, music events. One per month”, Enrique Morones, founder of Border Angels, says. “For this one, we used three real letters that were represented by actors in both sides. There is a father who says goodbye to his children and a deported veteran. We wanted to put them on because there are many people who don’t know what is going on.”
A double binational performance was presented in the American side at the Border Field State Park in San Diego and in the Mexican side in the vicinity of the Guadalupe Hidalgo Monument by the non-profit organization Border Angels, or Angeles de la Frontera in Spanish, in association with DaveyBoy Productions, Amigos del REP and the theatre Caem in Tecate, Mexico.
“There are no borders for love but people sadly keep separated from their relatives because of the lack of a reform that was blocked by republicans”, Morones says. “The United States proclaims itself as an advocate of human rights but it doesn’t follow that here. We want to show that with these letters.”
Border Angels will spread this event through future representations and by reaching acting schools since for the time being they only have around five actors at each side. The organization encourages the public to continue sending them letters through the website www.angelesdelafrontera.org.
“It was really dramatic and humanistic. It was a great pleasure to see the reaction of the audience”, Morones describes. “They didn’t know what was going to happen and when they saw the performance they started to think about their own stories. People often think that they are the only ones who go through those experiences. In fact, three or four attendees came to me with tears in their eyes.”
According to Morones, a person wrote to him talking about his mother, who was approaching death. Some people asked him for help to see their families a last time. He is even currently working on the case of a couple who would like to marry. However, she lives in Mexico, he is in the United States and none of them can cross the border.
“We want to touch people, we want people to not feel alone and to receive their stories about what is happening and what happened to them even twenty years ago”, the founder of the non-profit says. “All our activities are artistic and pacific and they look for a reaction. You never know which one will make politics to develop a human immigration.”
The founder of the studio DaveyBoy Productions and member of the Border Angels’ Board of Directors Dave Rivas was the director of the theatre performance. 25 people attended the event at the American side due to space limitations and 50 people attended it at the Mexican side. Enrique Morones hopes that media will spread their cause.
“It wasn’t about having a lot of people coming but about having a binational audience, waking up the media coverage and letting people know about this”, Morones remarks. “In the nineties, the United States built a wall that increased deaths for crossing from one or two per month to one or two per day. In 2008 we launched an event to try to reopen the Friendship Garden. We achieved it but under many conditions. We keep fighting against restrictions.”
Border Angels has all kinds of activities. Last year the foundation welcomed kids who were refugees from Central America through concerts by the San Diego Symphony and the Baja California orchestra. It also got the Friendship Garden’s emergency door, right in between both sides, opened for 15 minutes to celebrate The Kid’s Day.
“We celebrate The Kid’s Day on April 30 in Mexico but it’s not celebrated in the U. S. The door will be opened during the ceremony on Sunday before next April 30”, Morones says. “I remember a kid hugging her dad the first time we achieved opening the door. She lives in Mexico and never saw him until that moment.”
Also, Border Angels offers different services that include free consultations to immigration lawyers every Tuesday at the organization’s office and the first Sunday of each month at the Friendship Park. This location was chosen to be able to help deported people or people who cannot access the office for any reason.
“We do massive protests, we give food, we provide with psychologic attention. We will give a binational mass at the park on December 12, the Day of the Virgin Guadalupe. We focus on this border but we work everywhere. I have just come back from Europe after seeing the Syrian refugees”, Morones says.
The creator of Border Angels invites people of any race and origin to join the 5000 volunteers they have. Most of them are from the United States and Mexico but there are also people from all over the world who want to collaborate in the immigrants-related solidary mission of the organization.
“We launch campaigns and people donate things but we always need help. And we want everybody to know that we are here to assist them. Everything we receive goes to immigrants”, Morones says. “In the end, the person who will make a difference in the world is the one we see in the mirror each day. Each of us has a huge responsibility.”