{"id":2497,"date":"2023-03-28T17:18:01","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T17:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/?p=2497"},"modified":"2023-04-14T21:38:37","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T21:38:37","slug":"you-call-this-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall-768x432.png\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall-1280x720.png 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall-768x432.png 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"A photo of a tall steel wall along the border between the U.S. and Mexico\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  <p>A tall steel wall marks the border between the U.S. and Mexico <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  &#8220;You call this democracy?&#8221;\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n          <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span>Leo Guardado, Ph.D.<\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">March 28, 2023<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 4.0350275 0 1.5167124.60096154 2.9475732 1.68841575 4.0350274 1.058837 1.0874543 2.51831502 1.6884158 4.03502747 1.6884158 1.44087681 0 2.80427251-.5423678 3.86936601-1.5289606l.1656615-.1594552 2.2321428-2.2321428-1.6311813-1.6311813-2.2321429 2.26076c-.6581959.658196-1.5167124 1.0016026-2.43246332 1.0016026s-1.7742674-.3434066-2.43246337-1.0016026c-.65819597-.6581959-1.00160257-1.5167124-1.00160257-2.4324633 0-.8547009.2991453-1.6595442.87416905-2.2981957l.12743352-.1342677 2.23214286-2.2321429zm6.88661855-.40736607-5.26116068 5.26116075 1.61881868 1.6188186 5.2611607-5.2611607zm1.3837569-5.54501488c-1.4408768 0-2.8042725.54236779-3.869366 1.52896062l-.1656615.15945513-2.23214282 2.23214286 1.63118132 1.63118132 2.2321429-2.23214286c.6581959-.65819597 1.5167124-1.00160256 2.4324633-1.00160256s1.7742674.34340659 2.4324634 1.00160256 1.0016026 1.51671246 1.0016026 2.43246337c0 .85470089-.2991453 1.65954419-.8741691 2.29819559l-.1274335.1342678-2.2321429 2.2321428 1.5739469 1.5739469 2.2321429-2.2321428c1.0874542-1.058837 1.6884157-2.5183151 1.6884157-4.03502751 0-1.51671245-.6009615-2.94757326-1.6884157-4.03502747-1.058837-1.08745421-2.518315-1.68841575-4.0350275-1.68841575z\" transform=\"translate(-3 -3)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Copy Link<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                                <a class=\"a2a_button_facebook\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#facebook\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Facebook\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_facebook\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m23.9512 6h-16.9024c-.57923625 0-1.0488.46956375-1.0488 1.0488v16.9024c0 .5792362.46956375 1.0488 1.0488 1.0488h9.10024v-7.34768h-2.46772v-2.87584h2.46772v-2.11508c0-2.45404 1.49872-3.79012 3.68828-3.79012.7389668-.00263323 1.4775241.03516995 2.21236.11324v2.56348h-1.51392c-1.18788 0-1.4174.56544-1.4174 1.39612v1.8316h2.84772l-.37088 2.87584h-2.47684v7.34844h4.83284c.5792362 0 1.0488-.4695638 1.0488-1.0488v-16.9024c0-.57923625-.4695638-1.0488-1.0488-1.0488z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" transform=\"translate(-6 -6)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Facebook<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                                <a class=\"a2a_button_twitter\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#twitter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"X\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_twitter\">\n              <svg version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\"\n\t y=\"0px\" viewBox=\"0 0 30 30\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 30 30\" xml:space=\"preserve\" width=\"19\" height=\"19\">\n<path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M14.5,16.2l-0.8-1.1l-6.3-9h2.7l5.1,7.3l0.8,1.1\n\tl6.6,9.4h-2.7L14.5,16.2L14.5,16.2z M16.9,13.4l7.4-8.7h-1.8l-6.5,7.5L11,4.8H5l7.8,11.4L5,25.2h1.8l6.8-7.9l5.5,7.9h6L16.9,13.4\n\tL16.9,13.4z\"\/>\n<\/svg>\n\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">X<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                                <a class=\"a2a_button_linkedin\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#linkedin\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Linkedin\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_linkedin\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m25 21.4220779c0 1.974026-1.6038961 3.5779221-3.5779221 3.5779221h-11.84415582c-1.97402598 0-3.57792208-1.6038961-3.57792208-3.5779221v-11.84415582c0-1.97402598 1.6038961-3.57792208 3.57792208-3.57792208h11.84415582c1.974026 0 3.5779221 1.6038961 3.5779221 3.57792208zm-14.5584416-12.21428569c-.98701295 0-1.60389606.61688311-1.60389606 1.48051949-.12337663.8636364.49350649 1.4805195 1.48051946 1.4805195.987013 0 1.6038961-.6168831 1.6038961-1.4805195 0-.86363638-.6168831-1.48051949-1.4805195-1.48051949zm1.3571429 12.70779219v-8.6363636h-2.83766234v8.6363636zm10.2402597 0v-4.9350649c0-2.5909091-1.3571428-3.8246753-3.3311688-3.8246753-1.4805195 0-2.0974026.8636363-2.4675325 1.4805194v-1.2337662h-2.8376623v8.6363636h2.8376623v-4.9350649c0-.2467532 0-.4935065.1233767-.7402597.1233766-.4935065.6168831-.987013 1.4805194-.987013.987013 0 1.4805195.7402597 1.4805195 1.974026v4.564935z\" transform=\"translate(-6 -6)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">LinkedIn<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                                <a class=\"a2a_button_bluesky\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#bluesky\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Bluesky\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_bluesky\">\n              <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"50px\" height=\"50px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\">\n                <path fill=\"#00000\" d=\"M12 10.8c-1.087-2.114-4.046-6.053-6.798-7.995C2.566.944 1.561 1.266.902 1.565C.139 1.908 0 3.08 0 3.768c0 .69.378 5.65.624 6.479c.815 2.736 3.713 3.66 6.383 3.364c.136-.02.275-.039.415-.056c-.138.022-.276.04-.415.056c-3.912.58-7.387 2.005-2.83 7.078c5.013 5.19 6.87-1.113 7.823-4.308c.953 3.195 2.05 9.271 7.733 4.308c4.267-4.308 1.172-6.498-2.74-7.078a8.741 8.741 0 0 1-.415-.056c.14.017.279.036.415.056c2.67.297 5.568-.628 6.383-3.364c.246-.828.624-5.79.624-6.478c0-.69-.139-1.861-.902-2.206c-.659-.298-1.664-.62-4.3 1.24C16.046 4.748 13.087 8.687 12 10.8\"  fill-rule=\"evenodd\" \/>\n              <\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Bluesky<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                                <a class=\"a2a_button_email\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#email\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"E-mail\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_print\">\n              <svg height=\"12\" viewBox=\"0 0 18 12\" width=\"18\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m8.14285714 9.42857143c-.17142857 0-.34285714 0-.51428571.08571428l7.28571427 6.34285719c.3428572.2571428.6857143.2571428.9428572 0l7.2857142-6.34285719c-.0857142-.08571428-.2571428-.08571428-.4285714-.08571428zm-1.28571428 1.11428567v.1714286 8.5714286c0 .6857143.6 1.2857143 1.28571428 1.2857143h14.57142856c.6857143 0 1.2857143-.6 1.2857143-1.2857143v-8.5714286c0-.0857143 0-.0857143 0-.1714286l-7.2 6.3428572c-.7714286.6857143-1.8857143.6857143-2.6571429 0z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" transform=\"translate(-6 -9)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p><em>Editor\u2019s note: IACS DePaul Fellow Leo Guardado, Ph.D., recently led a group of Fordham University faculty to the U.S.-Mexico border for a week-long learning experience focused on migration. In the dispatch below, he describes how migrants are forced to wait at the border and the adverse effects of the new CBP One phone app that all asylum seekers must use.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>NOGALES, Mexico \u2014 \u201cHow has the journey been for the kids?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a question my colleague asked the mom of three children with whom we had started to speak after we finished serving lunch at the <span style=\"color: #990000;\"><a style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kinoborderinitiative.org\/\">Kino Border Initiative<\/a><\/span> in this city near the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy daughter takes it like it\u2019s a walk&#8230;she doesn&#8217;t know what&#8217;s going on&#8230;they&#8217;re innocent,\u201d responded the mother in Spanish, pointing to her three-year-old daughter, the youngest of her children. Along with another mother who was journeying with her baby in her arms, these two women and their kids had left their respective towns in the southern tip of Mexico to seek asylum in the U.S. One came from Chiapas and the other from Campeche.<\/p>\n<p>Our group witnessed more than a hundred people come through the dining hall of Kino, encountering not only a warm meal but also a sense of community in addition to legal, medical and psychological support. We asked migrants what it was like to be around so many others who were living through similar circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome are happy because they are going to cross, but the two of us don\u2019t even have an appointment yet\u2026we knew nothing about the asylum process so we just presented ourselves to border patrol [at the port of entry],\u201d one of the mothers added. \u201cI don\u2019t want to risk crossing [the desert] with my children. I only knew about this place [Kino], but nothing else about crossing or asylum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since these two women were running from gender-based violence and threats of kidnapping tied to local governments, we asked if they had already applied for asylum, only to find out that getting an appointment can take up to six months.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">***<\/p>\n<p>Nogales. San Ysidro. Eagle Pass.<\/p>\n<p>Each port of entry was listed as an asylum interview location on the cracked cell phone screen that one of the mothers was holding as she looked at me with exasperation in her eyes, adding \u201cone has to do this all day every day.\u201d Her friend quickly added that clicking away on the screen takes up the whole day, wasting the phone battery, only to then wait to charge the phone. In shelters for migrants where dozens or even hundreds of other asylum seekers are also trying to charge phones to click away the day on the CBP One app, finding a free outlet can be challenging. Some, we were told, get up in the middle of the night to try their luck.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2503\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2503\" style=\"width: 420px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/?attachment_id=2503\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2503\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2503 \" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/crosses-where-migrants-have-died.png\" alt=\"A photo of wooden crosses in the desert near the U.S.-Mexico border honoring migrants who have died. \" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/crosses-where-migrants-have-died.png 1500w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/crosses-where-migrants-have-died-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2503\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wooden crosses in the desert near the U.S.-Mexico border honor migrants who have died. Photo courtesy of Leo Guardado.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>According to officials from the Biden administration, <span style=\"color: #990000;\"><a style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2023\/01\/05\/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-border-enforcement-actions\/\">the CBP One app online appointment portal<\/a><\/span> is meant to \u201csignificantly reduce wait times and crowds at U.S. ports of entry and allow for safe, orderly and humane processing.\u201d The app is focused on maintaining \u201corder\u201d at ports of entry by more effectively controlling who can approach to ask for asylum. By keeping the physical bodies of asylum seekers away and delegating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2023\/03\/24\/comment-proposed-rule-department-homeland-security-dhs-and-executive-office\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">the reception of their presence to a digital app<\/span><\/a>, the U.S. is trying to argue that it is still technically fulfilling its legal responsibilities to those who seek asylum. In fact, when we crossed on foot into Mexico through the port of entry at Nogales we saw two CBP agents stationed exactly at the point where Mexico and the U.S. meet. Their job was to turn away any asylum seeker who approached without a CBP One app appointment.<\/p>\n<p>In &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/great-movie-ikiru-1952\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">Ikiru<\/span><\/a>,&#8221; the classic 1952 film by Akira Kurosawa, a group of women spend their days approaching local government bureaucrats asking them to actually do their jobs as public servants. The women want to improve the living conditions of their children by having a local cesspool cleaned up and a playground built over it. Each department disavows their responsibility and passes them on to another office \u2014 \u201cgo to the parks department,\u201d \u201cit\u2019s a matter of sanitation,\u201d \u201cit\u2019s for disease control,\u201d \u201cit\u2019s a problem for the sewage department,\u201d \u201cgo to zoning,\u201d \u201cto the city councilman,\u201d \u201cto the deputy mayor,\u201d \u201cgo to public affairs,\u201d \u201cvisit public works.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the patience of one of the mothers in the film breaks and she exclaims: \u201cHow dare you, stop giving us the turnaround\u2026 we\u2019re not idlers like all of you\u2026all you do is laugh at us\u2026you call this democracy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">***<\/p>\n<p>Laredo. El Paso. Brownsville. Hidalgo.<\/p>\n<p>Four more choices to pick from for an asylum appointment. But when you click, the screen displays: <em>No hay franjas horarias disponibles<\/em> [there are no time slots available]. You try again, and again, and again, until the battery dies. The ritual will continue when an outlet becomes available and you are able to purchase more data for your phone.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe app is a digital border wall \u2014 one more attempt to keep the physical presence of asylum seekers away from ports of entry.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>For asylum seekers, the CBP One app is now their first direct interaction with the United States of America, which sets forth the social grammars that will condition future interactions between \u201cthe state\u201d and its poor clients. In his book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dukeupress.edu\/patients-of-the-state\"><em>Patients of the State<\/em><\/a>, Javier Auyero argues that \u201cseemingly arbitrary, ambiguous, and always changing state requirements\u201d (p.9) are meant to create subordinates of the state, and thus, waiting is not simply wasted or \u201cdead\u201d time created by an inefficient system, but rather, it is productive time for the state to make subjects into patients \u2014people who know in their flesh the condition of long suffering and who recognize that the state is the source and possibility of their (legal) existence.<\/p>\n<p>With the mothers from Kurosawa\u2019s film <em>Ikiru<\/em>, we can ask: \u201cYou call this democracy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The mothers at Kino will use the time of waiting to find jobs, likely in maquiladoras at the border. They will take turns caring for each other\u2019s children while they work. In small ways within enormous constraints, migrants exercise their agency, at times simply by showing up without appointments, or by attempting to cross the borders and ports of entry of the U.S. Each attempt resists the mundane bureaucracy that threatens genuine democracy.<\/p>\n<p>The CBP One app is <span style=\"color: #990000;\"><a style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/21\/us\/biden-asylum-rules.html\">a digital bureaucratic replacement of the much-maligned Title 42 policy<\/a><\/span> that justified the expulsion of asylum seekers, and which is set to end on May 11, 2023. The app is a digital border wall \u2014 one more attempt to keep the physical presence of asylum seekers away from ports of entry. Bureaucracy, as is known from 20<sup>th<\/sup> century history, can serve as an effective and efficient tool of death, controlling who lives, who is killed and who is left to die. Francisco Cant\u00fa, an ex-border patrol agent and author of <span style=\"color: #990000;\"><a style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/555764\/the-line-becomes-a-river-by-francisco-cantu\/\"><em>The Line Becomes a River<\/em><\/a><\/span>, reminds readers that \u201cviolence does not grow organically in our deserts or at our borders. It has arrived there through policy\u201d (p.258). The violence of forced expulsion and the months of waiting in the borderlands can be understood as a U.S. policy designed to break the spirits and bodies of migrants, <span style=\"color: #990000;\"><a style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"https:\/\/insightcrime.org\/news\/desperation-desert-migrant-smuggling-us-mexico-border\/\">leaving them as targets of organized crime<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2508\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2508\" style=\"width: 176px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/?attachment_id=2508\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2508\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2508\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/cbp-one-screen-capture.jpeg\" alt=\"An image of the mobile app used by migrants attempting to gain legal entry into the U.S. \" width=\"176\" height=\"322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/cbp-one-screen-capture.jpeg 226w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/cbp-one-screen-capture-164x300.jpeg 164w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 176px) 100vw, 176px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2508\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The CBP One App is used by migrants attempting to gain legal entry into the U.S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As I spoke with the two mothers from the southern tip of Mexico, their kids were running in the dining area of Kino, laughing and chasing each other to expel the deadly boredom they are made to endure. A mural at <span style=\"color: #990000;\"><a style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100077748548981\">Casa Misericordia, a migrant-run shelter<\/a><\/span> in Nogales coordinated by Sr. Angelica (\u201cLika\u201d) with the <span style=\"color: #990000;\"><a style=\"color: #990000;\" href=\"https:\/\/azdiocese.org\/cruzando-fronteras\/\">support of various Christian denominations in Arizona<\/a><\/span> captures the holiness of joy expressed by the children: \u201cEl mejor lugar para vivir es donde no tienes miedo de nadie y de nada, donde puedes correr sin miedo y no correr por miedo\u201d [The best place to live is where you do not fear anyone or anything, where you can run without fear and not run because of fear].<\/p>\n<p>For now, the children must run in the shelters, making joy from boredom, while their mothers smile, momentarily distracted from the cracked screen on the phone that will need to be clicked, again and again in the months to come.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2513\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2513\" style=\"width: 423px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/?attachment_id=2513\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2513\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2513 \" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/mural-at-kino-02.png\" alt=\"A photo of a mural at the Kino Border Initiative headquarters depicticting happy children. \" width=\"423\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/mural-at-kino-02.png 1500w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/mural-at-kino-02-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 423px) 100vw, 423px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2513\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural at the Kino Border Initiative headquarters depicts happy children.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>No app is needed to have a life-giving encounter with the humanitarian organizations at the border and with the migrant communities who temporarily dwell there. Most of these organizations and shelters are faith-based, and they rekindle hope in a religion that too often resembles the dehumanizing bureaucracy of the state. The source of the hope is migrants themselves, whose agency as subjects of their own history is manifest in their struggle for life and freedom, despite the persecution they face on both sides of the border. Migrant communities and the organizations with whom they work point to the grassroot foundations of a genuine democracy that may still be possible if we are willing to imagine and construct ways of being with each other that do not depend on countless clicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":2498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[171,25,143,117,148],"class_list":["post-2497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-insights","tag-border","tag-depaul-fellowship","tag-insights","tag-migration","tag-reflections"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A dispatch from the U.S.-Mexico border detailing experiences of migrants from IACS DePaul Fellow Leo Guardado, Ph.D.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border - Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A dispatch from the U.S.-Mexico border detailing experiences of migrants from IACS DePaul Fellow Leo Guardado, Ph.D.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IACSUSC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-28T17:18:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-14T21:38:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Douglas Morino\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@IACSUSC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@IACSUSC\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Douglas Morino\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#\/schema\/person\/a1f2af155dd5c8b8e708fd53a5b14bb2\"},\"headline\":\"An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-28T17:18:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-14T21:38:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/\"},\"wordCount\":9,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall.png\",\"keywords\":[\"border\",\"DePaul Fellowship\",\"insights\",\"migration\",\"Reflections\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News &amp; Insights\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/\",\"name\":\"An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border - Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-28T17:18:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-14T21:38:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"A dispatch from the U.S.-Mexico border detailing experiences of migrants from IACS DePaul Fellow Leo Guardado, Ph.D.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall.png\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":1125,\"caption\":\"A tall steel wall marks the border between the U.S. and Mexico\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/\",\"name\":\"Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC\",\"description\":\"A global research center located in the academic heart of the University of Southern California\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"IACS USC\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC\",\"alternateName\":\"IACS\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2021\/08\/IACS-Logo_Secondary_Gradient-RESIZE-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2021\/08\/IACS-Logo_Secondary_Gradient-RESIZE-1.png\",\"width\":750,\"height\":263,\"caption\":\"Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IACSUSC\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/IACSUSC\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/iacsusc\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/iacsusc\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@iacsusc\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#\/schema\/person\/a1f2af155dd5c8b8e708fd53a5b14bb2\",\"name\":\"Douglas Morino\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/author\/dmorino\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border","description":"A dispatch from the U.S.-Mexico border detailing experiences of migrants from IACS DePaul Fellow Leo Guardado, Ph.D.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border - Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC","og_description":"A dispatch from the U.S.-Mexico border detailing experiences of migrants from IACS DePaul Fellow Leo Guardado, Ph.D.","og_url":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/","og_site_name":"Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IACSUSC","article_published_time":"2023-03-28T17:18:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-14T21:38:37+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall.png","width":1024,"height":768,"type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Douglas Morino","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@IACSUSC","twitter_site":"@IACSUSC","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/"},"author":{"name":"Douglas Morino","@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#\/schema\/person\/a1f2af155dd5c8b8e708fd53a5b14bb2"},"headline":"An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border","datePublished":"2023-03-28T17:18:01+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-14T21:38:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/"},"wordCount":9,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall.png","keywords":["border","DePaul Fellowship","insights","migration","Reflections"],"articleSection":["News &amp; Insights"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/","url":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/","name":"An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border - Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall.png","datePublished":"2023-03-28T17:18:01+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-14T21:38:37+00:00","description":"A dispatch from the U.S.-Mexico border detailing experiences of migrants from IACS DePaul Fellow Leo Guardado, Ph.D.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/03\/33-ft.-border-wall.png","width":1500,"height":1125,"caption":"A tall steel wall marks the border between the U.S. and Mexico"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/2023\/03\/28\/you-call-this-democracy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An IACS Dispatch from the Southern U.S. Border"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/","name":"Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC","description":"A global research center located in the academic heart of the University of Southern California","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#organization"},"alternateName":"IACS USC","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#organization","name":"Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC","alternateName":"IACS","url":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2021\/08\/IACS-Logo_Secondary_Gradient-RESIZE-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2021\/08\/IACS-Logo_Secondary_Gradient-RESIZE-1.png","width":750,"height":263,"caption":"Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IACSUSC","https:\/\/x.com\/IACSUSC","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/iacsusc\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/iacsusc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@iacsusc"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/iacs\/#\/schema\/person\/a1f2af155dd5c8b8e708fd53a5b14bb2","name":"Douglas Morino","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/author\/dmorino\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2497"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3147,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497\/revisions\/3147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}