Walking the migrant path in Arivaca, Arizona

Last Sunday, I accompanied nine colleagues from The University of Scranton on a walk through the desert in Arivaca, Arizona. The walk was led by Fr. Pete Neeley of the Kino Border Initiative. We hiked for a little over two hours along a trail used by migrants crossing the southwest border. It's a powerful experience as we learned firsthand the suffering that many migrants endure as they cross the "open" border.

We started the hike about 9:00 AM. The temps were in the low 40s; they had dropped into the 20s the night before when migrants would have been crossing through the area. They might have been walking for a few days before they reached that point, let alone the weeks that they might have endured in Mexico.

It's not unusual for us to meet migrants in the comedor who have been traveling for two or more months. There were some Haitians in the comedor who had left their homes nearly two years ago. The terrain is hilly and littered with prickly bushes. It's not what you envision when you hear desert. Even though we walked during the day, helped each other, and followed a slow pace, it was not the easiest hike. Colleagues slipped and were cut by thorns. We had no idea where we were.

We came across baby bottles and baby clothing, as well as other items that migrants discarded as they traversed the dangerous route they hoped would lead them to safety in the United States. However, the most disorienting site along the trail was a stop at the rape tree. A rape tree is a tree or bush where female migrants are assaulted by coyotes or cartel members paid to bring them safely across the border. We saw bras and panties littered around the tree.

We took a few minutes to reflect on what led women and young girls to cross the border with the full knowledge of what they will most likely endure on the way. We also thought about who would inflict such harm upon such vulnerable members of our society. We prayed for the victims of such violence and for future victims. We will also take with us this very personal understanding of migration which we can use when our friends and neighbors speak about undocumented migration in the abstract.