Borderlands - Day 3

Reframing the narrative on immigration was a key theme of Tuesday’s speakers at Abara House, the El Paso nonprofit that seeks to bridge the societal divide on that issue.

“Almost all of those displaced in the world end up in adjacent countries,” said Nate Ledbetter, who oversees partnerships and development at Abara House. Too often, he added, “fear over immigration divides us.” Abara’s objective is to replace that fear with understanding and empathy by creating spaces for connecting and learning, which could lead to policy changes.

Ledbetter used the example of Nelson Mandela, imprisoned in South Africa for 27 years for actively opposing apartheid, to make his point. After a man named Jack had guarded Mandela in prison for years, Mandela was transferred to another prison before his release. Jack was told he was to be Mandela’s personal chef there.  When the two men “began to break bread together,” it changed Jack’s life, Ledbetter said. Jack and Mandela became dear friends, and he now works for Mandela’s foundation.

Sami DiPasquale, Abara’s executive director, is used to bridging cultural divides. He was born to American parents in Jordan, went to high school in Cyprus and has studied and worked in Egypt and India. Naming what we’re afraid of puts fear into context, he said. Often events that capture media and social media attention are rare and unusual. But because they are captured vividly, “they can feel like daily threats,” DiPasquale said.

Immigrants, meanwhile, “are experiencing  dehumanization and ‘othering,’ in their communities,” he said.

A former U.S. Border Patrol agent and supervisor who retired in 2014, said comments that “everyone coming across the border is a criminal was shocking” to him. “I know this was not true,” said Michael Debruhl, an El Paso native who has worked in several border sectors and in Washington D.C. He assailed separation of children from their families and erecting border fences in areas where no one ever crosses.  He said the overwhelming majority of all drugs smuggled into the United States were coming in by cartel-outfitted trucks with secret compartments.  Of the fentanyl seized at U.S. ports of entry, he said, most of that is from U. S. citizens.

DeBruhl criticized efforts to subject more immigrants to expedited deportation. He called for a bipartisan solution that balances border security and humane practices, deters human trafficking and illicit drug smuggling and focuses on criminals. He said America should move away from mass deportation and widespread detention, permit foreign workers to fill gaps in the U.S. workforce, fix the asylum system and allow “Dreamers,”  who came to the U.S. as children, to attain legal status.

An aging American population, increased life expectancy and a lower birthrate mean more caretakers will be needed, jobs immigrants could fill, DeBruhl said. In 2023, America had 29 million foreign-born workers, according to statistics he cited. “Foreign-born workers pay taxes,” he said.