Rituals At The Border
By Rev. Dr. Chloe Breyer
In preparation for the Sanctuary Caravan, a group of NYC religious leaders visited San Diego recently to meet with immigrants rights organizations on both sides of the border. We visited the San Diego ACLU and churches offering emergency shelter to immigrant families. Across in Tijuana we met with pro bono immigration lawyers and voluteers at Al Otro Lado an NGO for children that helps prepare asylum paperwork for immigrants seeking entry to the US.
In addition to the meetings, we were asked to assist at the weddings of seven couples, most of whom had travelled north with children and were in common law marriages. Marriage certificates, it turned out, could be helpful, crossing the border—especially where children were involved and a family needed to stick together.
After some preparations, New Sanctuary Coalition Board Member, Minister Kaji Dousa wrote out the wedding certificates; Al Otro Lado volunteers supplied cake and amplified iPhone wedding music; and Padre Fabian Arias, formerly from St Peter’s Lutheran, led the seven couples’ recitation of the marriage vows in Spanish as they held hands and faced one another, some holding back tears.
“En la riqueza, en la pobreza (for richer, for poorer)… en la enfermedad y en la salud (in sickness and in health)…hasta que la muerte nos separe (until death do us part).” In the shadow of a looming border wall covered with miles of concertina wire, these vows held new resonance.
For a moment, the threat of rain and disease and seemingly insurmountable obstacles ahead slipped into the distance. “Thank you” said one of the volunteers after during the celebration that followed, “I haven’t felt this much joy since coming here.”
