Rivers, Walls and Bridges--Eagle Pass, Texas



Rio Grande River





The Wall

 Last Thursday I went with a small delegation from the Peace Not Walls group of my church to visit and learn about the Lutheran churches at Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras.  We also wanted to see the impact of the Wall that was proposed and begun along the Rio Grande between the US and Mexico. 

At Eagle Pass the “Wall” is a rather attractive metal fence that does not block the view and is probably fairly easy for healthy young people to climb over which is hardly necessary as it is only a mile and a half long.  The most impressive thing about this separation wall is its cost which is said to be eleven million dollars.  At 1½ miles long, this fence cost $1,389 per foot.  Even if they had gotten a whole 2 miles for the $11million the cost is still just fractions of a penny under $1,042 per foot.  And this beautiful fence and the road beside it still have to be maintained on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.  I have not seen the cost to benefit analysis that went into this project, but it must be a remarkable piece of work just in and of itself. 

The impact of the wall varies tremendously depending on the area in which it is built.  At the original international bridge in Eagle Pass, the fence marks off the parking lot for tourist who wish to walk across the bridge and the area used for the local flea market which is held every Friday and Monday. From there the fence marches off into the trees and disappears over a hill.

A Visit to the Water's Edge

On Thursday afternoon when Pastor Bailie of Iglesia Luterana San Lucas stopped to show us the “Wall” on our way to Cristo Rey mission in Piedras Negras, the only vehicles in the large parking lot were two Border Patrol vans, but we did not pay much attention to them, or even to the wall.  What caught our attention was the herd of cows coming down the bank on the Mexico side of the river and going down into the water.  We were all holding our breath, waiting for them to swim across the river—wondering what sort of international incident that would cause.

There is a nice boat ramp right off the parking lot, so, I went down it to see if I could get a better picture of the cows, the river and the wall from there.  While I was trying to decide if I was going to wade into the river, a boat from down stream came into view.  At McAllen you can take tourist boat rides up and down the river, so I was curious about the boat coming into view. 

But this was not a tourist boat.   It was the Border Patrol. 

I started taking pictures and was waiting for them to get in front of me for a good picture when suddenly they swung around and gunned the motor straight at me.

My first impulse was. “Run!”   
          However, my second impulse,

                 “Oh boy now I’ll get a really good picture”,
         won out. 

 

 They turned aside and nosed into the bank a little down stream from where I was.  

Then Pastor Bailie joined me and we considered the possibility of using the area for baptisms.  And after baptizing our feet in the Rio Grande, we went on to Cristo Rey.

Reflections on our Trip

It was not until the next morning I remembered that there was an empty boat trailer hitched to one of the Border Patrol vans.  It had been right after lunch when we were at the river, and I wondered, “Had those two men in that boat had their lunch yet?  Or, did they have to get the boat back up on the trailer before they could eat?”  When they couldn’t scare me off by threatening to run me down, they had just waited patiently until we left.

There was no wall, no barrier that anyone could see between me and the two men in the boat, but something prevented them from easing in a little closer and saying, “Excuse us, but we need to get to that boat ramp, would you mind moving so we can get in safely?”

But, when the threat did not work, it seemed there was nothing else for them to say and an invisible wall went up.  The two men with a gun at the ready and wearing their flack jackets hid behind that invisible wall while a white haired lady took pictures of cows and baptized her toes in the river.

How many invisible walls do we erect between ourselves and other people?  What are the bricks and mortar we use to build these invisible walls?  Is it time to stop building walls and to start building bridges?

Concluding Thought

Actually, the bridge has already been built.  When his disciples were afraid they did not know the way, Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth and the life.” 

 John 14:6

We do not have to walk on water or swim a river, we just have to be willing to cross at the bridge and the walls will fall down.

For he is our peace;

in his flesh he has made both groups into one

and has broken down the dividing wall,

that is, the hostility between us.

Ephesians 2:14

 

Lesson We Took Home with Us

To do ministry on the US-Mexico border,

you do not have to walk on water. 

                       

                                        Or swim the river,

you just have to be able to cross a bridge.

Additional Information

A link to a program aired on the Religion and Ethics program in 2008 as the bridge was begun. 

Eagle Pass Border Wall

This is a very well done, balanced discussion of the Wall and relations between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras at the inception of the Wall.  This short video (under 10 minutes) features interviews with the many different people in Eagle Pass including the mayor, a priest, retired Border Patrol agents.  Some are in favor of the Wall and some are not sure about it.