Border Patrol are Once Again *Not* Detaining People in the Open

minutes south of where I live. The it's probably worth grounding this discussion in the various claims and counterclaims. So there are about two hundred people in between the two boarder fences right now. People I spoke to were from Azerbijan, Turkmenistan and Zbekistan, Turkey, China, Vietnam, Hondoors, Guatemala. Yeah. Like the reason that sometimes these lists of people sound like,

you know, you're singing Washington bullets. Is because these are all countries that we have destabilized in one way or another, saying we qua the United States, not we as CAOL zone media, we were spire to de stabilized regimes.

from Vietnam. But hard to conduct a full interview, especially when folks are guarding their phone charge, which they are because exactly the same as last time, they need the phone to do CBP one. They need the phone to interact with their families, let them know they're safe. Some of their families, I guess don't know that they're traveling. I was helping people charge phones yesterday. So we can talk. Let's talk a little bit about mutual aid response, and

then we'll get onto the border patrol, you know. So there are two groups down there right now, and I think it's very impressive the services they're able to provide because because Border Patrol claim these people are not detained, that means that they are therefore not obliged to provide

any services to them. Right So that would mean they don't have to give them water, they don't have to give them food, they don't have to give them shelter or like salitation, which salitation is the one that's really hard to cover because everything has to go through a fist sized gap in the fence. So that's still like an unmet need. But these two groups free Ship Collective, they're free Ship pebe on Twitter, and also American Friends

Service Committee. I've spoken about them before. They're a Quaker group that they're really great like in terms of turning up and helping people who need help. They're constantly there and they they're a good place to send your money even if you're not a Quaker yourself, like check out the Twitter. Like Actually, they're probably aligned with a lot of people who listened to show on a lot of things.

I think their prison abolitionists. So those two groups were there and they would At first there was myself, one person from American French Service Committee and two older volunteers who would come in about one hundred and fifty to two hundred people. So most of the ideas kind of helped because I think in that situation is more important to help than necessarily like get the best audio for

your podcast. So we handed out water, handed out food, handed out those emergency survival blankets, and it was about all we had at first, some like medical stuff people had medical and a bit later free ship people came and Xavier came. I'm not sure what Zavier's org is, but I will tweet it when I find it. I'll put it in the show notes to He's great. I've spoken at his events before that he holds down by

the Border. We had a border media round table. He turned up with a massive generator, so that was great. We're able to charge phones. And what's really I think like notable is how much the people in between the fences are able to participate in distribution of goods and

helping each other. So like they have a person who volunteers to be the coordinator for the water distribution, and one who volunteers to coordinate for the organizing people into lines and making sure people don't cut the line right, and then one person who was the phone captain who was doing like an incredible job of they'd get the cell phone right right the name of the person and then sign them a number in the line, and that person would also have that name and number written on

their hand, and it's written in duct tape that's taped to them and tape to the phone. And then when their turn to charge comes, he would shout the name of the number. They would come from wherever they were in between the walls. They'd come and we would charge the phone, and then once they've got above fifty sixty percent, we'd switch it out and he'd call them again and they come get their phone. So lots of that is stuff that was learned in May and has been like

implemented again much more like. It's less chaotic than it was before, and fewer people are able to provide better help, which is really good that it doesn't mean that those people don't need like donations, because they do. I know, the free ship people came with dozens of blankets, but there weren't enough blankets for everybody, so we were prioritizing families with children and pregnant women to have a blanket. It was cold yesterday, it was raining, and people didn't

have anything to shelter under. There were a few tarts, but not very many, and it's a pretty like there were very young babies there. Right, it's a pretty difficult place to sleep with Like, people were very keen to get their hands on cardboard boxes to lie down on to sleep. That gives you a sense of how kind of underserved they are. There's obviously no toilet facilities because you're just in a dusty kind of desert area by

the border. So if people are familiar with Lass Americas, the Discount Moll, we're like maybe a mile west of there along the dirt road, and it's just kind of dusty field, so very rocky, very difficult people to sleep, very exposed to the elements. Right, it was hot today, like I was out earlier, and it's ninety one, so they won't be having any shade today. They didn't have any shelter from the rain or al ways to keep warm last night. They're not allowed to start fires either,

even if they have the means to do so. So the situation of these people, I think is something worth discussing because it's not exactly super duper clear what role this plays in the immigration process. And there were a couple of examples to illustrate that. So I was able to talk to one person. They presented themselves from like they came into the parking lot walking and they looked looked very concerned, and so I approached him as, hey,

do you need anything, can we help few? And they had experienced some kind of medical condition and been taken to hospital, which Customs and Border Protection will do that, right, Like, if those people are there and they're having an emergency, they'll open the gate, take that person out and transport them to hospital somewhere in San Diego. That person had then been released from hospital to a taxi, which hospitals in San Diego have a habit of doing this. They'll

dump homeless people. Right If you anyone in San Diego will have seen this, you'll be familiar with that. People dumped out of hospital in Hillcrest wearing a hospital gown and maybe having very little other possessions. It's every single day this happens. Unfortunately, people have passed away on being released by the hospital before in Hillcrest. So they release these folks and I guess they often give them a bus pass or they pay for a taxi. In this case,

they paid for this person's taxi. They asked for a taxi to the border. The command of English was pretty limited. They asked for attacks to the border. They were taken to like the formal border crossing the Sanisudur, which is a mile and a half east of where we were. And then they walked down the dirt road to where

we were. But obviously because there was a fence in between US and the people being detained, then they weren't able to access that area, right, So that leaves them in a conundrum, right that they're now in the United States without without any status they were able to want Bodiptroll agent advise them to return to Mexico. Obviously, that would constitute an entry to Mexico in between portsland entry, where you'd be illegally entering Mexico. It's not bot of

Patrol's job to enforce Mexican laws. But that person was in the United States and presented a claim for asylum.

border patrol for people. I just want to read the statement that Border Patrol made to me this morning this was like a couple of hours one recording this, recording this on Tuesday. CBP has built and retrofited facilities along the Southwest border to enhance our capabilities in this regard.

CBP has also significantly increased the number of medical personnel along the Southwest border and those providing other wrap around services, all to better support ensuring getting people appropriate care as quickly as possible. Border Patrol has prioritized the quick transportation of migrants encountered in this environment, which is partially dangerous, particularly dangerous uring current weather conditions, to border patrol facilities

where individuals can see medical care, food, and water. It is important to note that migrants who are between the border barriers are not in border patrol custody and are at liberty to return to Mexico if they desire. We have some audio of border patrol addressing the migrazine between defenses that Daniald's going to drop in right after this person.

Obviously it's Tuesday, so they would get a bracelet which has a color and a day, and they process people in order of priority. The people who arrived on Monday first seale process on accompanied minors. I didn't see any obviously, some eighteen year old people. It could be hard to tell how exactly hold they are, but seventeen whatever, But I didn't see any people that young on their own. After that, they will process single mothers with children sor

a few of those, quite a few of those. After that, they will process like a family, which they defined to consist of a man or woman and children. After that they will process men on their own. I guess women on their own, then men on their own. They had initially separate people. They had people just like they had last time, right in like families and those with children,

and then single men were somewhere else. But it seemed like people were able to come to travel in between the fences down to the place where I was, because that was the only place that they were able to access services, right And I guess the claim of border patrollers that these people could go back to Mexico. I'm not sure how because obviously that they're in between these thirty foot walls right right, you could.

So yeah, it's this is what they've claimed. It's worth noting that like Border Patrol, a number of representative from the Hispanic Caucus like requested Border Patrol clarify this after what happened in May, and their letter they noted that the conditions violate agency guidelines for detention, which they do, and that Boderpatol isn't supposed to hold people in his own custody for more than seventy two hours, which some people were held for longer than that in May, and

CBP responded, I'll just read it out. The individuals in question had not made contact with US Border Patrol personnel and were not constrained from further movement. At the time of this incident, the US Border Patrol San Diego sector facilities were experiencing capacity issues and some transportation challenges which have since been remediated. Border Patrol agents encountered and apprehended

these migrants as soon as there's operationally feasible to do so. Again, like they were dropped off in May by Border Patrol vehicles in the place where they were being detained, And it's simply not factually correct to suggest that they had not come into contact with Border Patrol. I have video of it. I've published video over on Twitter, We've used audio of it on the podcast. I think it's just

not true. So Border Patrol essentially are claiming that this isn't happening when it continues to happen, right, and this time they've taken that to it's like they've al readly doubled down on that status. I guess because they're not providing any services, which is probably a good time for us to hear from some products and services. Oh yeah, fucking magic, Look at that taking a victory lap. I'm quitting now never podcast again. I enjoy these adverts. Yeah

it's me, I'm back. Everyone else is still here too. Now we're talking about the mutual eight response to what's happening at their border, right And as I said, a border patrol aren't providing anything. And as I said, at least when I left, I left after it got dark, quite a long time after it got dark last night. It was there for probably seven six or seven hours, and I saw more and more people arriving in that time, and it was a really wide dispersed group of people.

Like I would say, maybe the majority were Spanish speaking, but a lot of people with Vietnamese. I was speaking to some Francophone African people at various nationalities right before I left, Like I said, lots of people from Tadjikustan, Azbekistan, as Abijan, places like that. Those people were pretty prominent. So it's fairly hard for volunteers to communicate with all of them, and they don't have any information right about what's happening to them. Can they expect to be separated.

In some cases they can. Can they expect how long can they expect to be there? We don't really know. I heard one bord of patrol agents saying that some of the people who arrived on Monday could expect to be taken out maybe by Wednesday, So that's at least two hours two days, right, So all of the services they're being provided, they're being provided through mutual aid right now, which is exactly the same thing that happened last time.

Right Sometimes, Border Patrol last time gave them a granola bar. We haven't come back with their granola bars this time. And I think it's really worth us like taking a moment to consider the scale of what like two hundred people is not that many people, but it was more than two thousand people in May, and that was provided

for by mutual aid. And I think it's a really good like getting off point for maybe us to have a little talk here about how we do mutual aid, because the only thing that enabled like little babies to have like a blanket is someone messaging someone else on signal and being like, hey, this is happening again. Do

you have stuff? Can you come down and someone who I don't know, weeks ago, I guess was like, oh, these people are doing nice things, let me send them some money, because without that, those people would just be

sleeping in the in the in the dust. I think it's really it's it's admirable, I think, and it's something that like, I don't know how to say this, that we should take into consideration when we're discussing things like religion and then like doing this course, and like it could be really easy to get like into like full

readit atheist mode. I'm not a person who believes in religion particularly, but like, the only people who are helping at some point are people who are at least part of religious organizations.

you know, them listen to a spiel. I don't really you know, it could be a church, who gives a fuck, right, like, I'm glad they're there, you know, yeah.

they still seem to be putting people in there. I think it's not supposed to be too hot this week, like we had triple digit days last week. I think over the weekend was pretty hot. Yeah, it was. It

was very hot on the weekend. So, like, the possibility for this to get much worse is still there, right, The possibility for people to get the person I spoke to who had to go to hospital had become deep hydrated, Like that's how they needed because you don't when people were come when we first at least when I first got there, people were very hungry and very thirsty and like really desperate for a drink of water because often they'd come from some of those other holding areas and

like walked down because this was the only place where they could access stuff. So like, yeah, I guess the potential for this to turn into something as sad and completely unnecessary as what happened in May is there again.

dangerous place to be. They're they're moving around, they're usually doing stuff. Obviously, it's a much more worse situation in a lot of ways. But like the degree to which being in this limbo messes with their heads and depresses them and traumatizes them is And again I'm not saying like it's better for kids to be in an act of war zone, but like that is trauma as well, and I think in a lot of ways an equivalent trauma.

Even though the danger to their body is less, the trauma they face being stuck in a place and not having any idea what the future is and not having any ability to influence it. Really right being you know, these kids up at this fence are totally they have no control over their future or their lives.

safe place to grow up. And like, I don't know. It's the first time I ever realized that I was having a trauma response, and it was not a good one. Was in twenty eighteen with the migrant caravan, when like I had been there was one little child where I speak about a lot, but she was obsessed with my hair. If people haven't seen, paces of me have long hair, and like wanted to braid my hair every time I

went there. And so she'd come and she'd sit on my shoulders and I would just do shit, and she would braid my hair while I was, you know, handing out water bottles or you know, talking to people, doing what I could do. And like, I saw that girl every day for months, right, And then I remember once coming back to a Christmas party and just wanting to

fucking scream at everyone. It's a juxtaposition from being seeing this little kid like deprived of so many things that chord should have, warmth and shelter and good food and a safe place to be, and then going home, you know, twenty minute drive across the border, drive home and see people just like going about their lives. It's it's a really challenging duality. We can't stop it, right, Like it's not in our power to stop this, but like it is in our power. One of the things I hear

people being like, it's like welcome to America. Like it's pretty fucked up way to be welcome to America, right, But like, like, I'm an immigrant. My my arrival here was very different, and like Sharene, you came here when you were younger, right, I was.

It's have changed return no jokes aside, Like I came to America very differently from this and like, uh, I recently became a citizen after a long time, and like you always feel very precarious when you live here and you're not, so I just went Like one thing that I noticed was that so many of the folks down there at one point, all of us one pot I

didn't know. We're also people who had come here themselves and like had different stories, and we talked about Like another thing I think is really important, actually, it's like just because people are in a shitty situation doesn't mean that they are not like people. Like sometimes it can be really easy to be like bottle of water, buy bottle of water, he goo, bottle of water. Chairs, Like let's want to fucking talk to you and like how is your day or like what's your favorite football team?

Like like that can be a really valuable way of being like, look, I understand that the government is treating you like shit right now, and that's not with my consent, Like.

It was it was a good time. But yeah, it's I think that common humanity is super important if people have language skills and they want to help, Like there are always organizations to help migrants, so American Friends Service Committee is a really good one. I don't think they would care if you were not a person of faith. I think lots of the people helping out with them are not. They're just nice people. So there are so many.

cell phone apps. The person who had been taken to a hospital was Vietnamese and was just doing a stalwart job of Like obviously they were to the north of the border, so among the volunteers basically, and we were using our phones to talk and they were helping us distribute shit, right and then helping explain to the Vietnamese people, hey, like you have to be in this line if you want this, at this line if you want that, and like so that was nice, and it's always like great

to see like people empowered by that process, Like they're not just like asking for stuff, they're also helping get other people stuff, and I think that that helps both parties. So like this means of like I guess like people call mutilated solidarity not charity, which I think that illustrates

really well. You know, like all these people are there to be in solidarity with people who they consider to be members of their community, not not to like gain some camic reward or whatever like people, And I think that's a really laudable thing. It's something we should all participate in if we can stand there everyone's near the border.

But like, yeah, we can't change this that we're all supposed to vote for Joe Biden because he wouldn't be a piece of shit to migrants, and he's been a complete piece of shit to migrants for the entirety of his time in office, and I sincerely believe he will be a piece of shit to migrants if he is elected again. So you can't fucking change this by voting for someone. I wish you could. I wish it was that easy, but like it sadly, it requires your active participation.

And yeah, I'm just constantly impressed by people who will Like the people from Free Shiit Collective, they bought their entire family. Right I send them a message, They were like, yeah, we're on our way, what do you need blankets? Okay, we have like one hundred blankets and a generator, and within an hour there's at least some of those people. I had a warmer place to sleep right before that, I was giving out the blankets I had for camping in my truck. But I have two sleeping bags in

my truck. It's not enough. Yeah, I think that's something we can all do in our own communities. But right now, again, I guess Biden's administration are back on the bullshit at the border, and it's important that people just pay attention to it.

when no other media folks will be there today. Folks who haven't been there since May will roll up again, right, who haven't covered the border, who don't have a working knowledge of like what's happened since Title forty two, which is apprehensions have dropped, by the way, like travel across the border has got a lot lower since Title forty two, which is what we were told that to opposite of what every off ed told us was going to happen,

because people maybe should not be ranting about the border when they live in DC or New York. But yeah, Biden will come back to the border next time he gets attacked by Republicans on boarder stuff, and until then, like these people will be treated as if they're numbers or if they don't matter, and like each of them has a story and a reason for being here, and

they're not just numbers. They're all people. And every time someone dies trying to come to its country to be safe, it's a tragedy, and it's a preventable tragedy, and it's one that the Democrats are justice complicit as Republicans in Yeah, you know, we've spoken a lot about groups you can you can go to, right, Like we spoke about border Kindness, we spoke about Borderlands Release Relief Collective. Like there are in one ways to help or detail them all now.

But yeah, it's something that like we can't erase the Like I feel genuinely ashamed every time I'm down there, you know, to be American now. But it's just hard when people are like, hey, what's going to happen, you have to be like, well, we don't know, but like you might be separated from your family, you might be detained. They're probably going to take most of your clothes. They might take your belt off. You know, you can wear

one jacket, one shirt, your pants, and your shoes. They might take your shoelaces and venues go into the fucking abyss of processing. Right, there might be years till you get your core date and you might not have a right to work until then. But it might cost you tang twelve grand to get a lawyer to represent you. How do you get that money? Fucked you? I know, you know, And yeah it's deep. I feel really ashamed, but yeah, all we can do is just try and

help however we can. Yeah, yeah, all right, Yeah, sorry that was really depressing, was that? No, No, it's good.