The following appeared in a CLUE Justice newsletter on October 6:
| Day Seven Reflection – 90/96 Miles Walked Birthdays, Birth, and the Gift of Being Together by Rev Andy Schwiebert, Pastor, Immanuel Presbyterian Church On this 7th day of the pilgrimage, the sacredness of birthdays spent together have been on my mind. Today Suzuki of Nikkei Progressives and David of the Pasadena Mennonite Church spent their birthdays in community on the walk. It made me think about what it means to mark a life—to be surrounded by people who care about you, to be present for one another in the moments that matter. Today, as this 96-mile pilgrimage took us through Arcadia, we walked past the hospital where both of my daughters were born. I found myself remembering the sacredness of those moments: being alongside my wife Allison, watching my children enter the world, and sharing those first hours together as a family. Rob Muthiah’s youngest child was also born there so he and I reminisced, showing each other (and anyone nearby!) the brand new baby pics taken at that same hospital. That sacredness stands in contrast to the pain of families separated by detention. I thought about Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University activist who spent more than three months in immigration detention last year. When he was detained, his wife was eight months pregnant. He was sent to a detention center in Louisiana and missed the birth of his child, experiencing that moment only through a phone call with his wife. “Such cruelty,” he said last week on NPR’s Fresh Air. Birthdays ought to be occasions of joy and connection. Birth is supposed to bring people together. Yet detention can take those sacred moments away from families. I thought, too, about a young UC Riverside engineering student whose 21st birthday I spent accompanying him and his mother Lupe (a member of the church I serve) to visit his father Jose in detention in Adelanto. On the day of his visit, after the 2 hour drive up, it took another 4 hours of waiting to get in to see him. Jose had been ill and was not getting medical attention and I could see the worry on the faces of all 3. That separation and suffering is no way for a son—or a parent—to celebrate a birthday. As we walk these 96 miles, we carry those families with us. May we all do what we can to shed light on this suffering and on the horrible conditions inside and organize and pray and fight for change. This pilgrimage is also reminding me that separation is not the end of the story. Community can make a way toward reunion. CLUE’s Detained Immigrant Bond Fund helped free José last December, and helped many others regain their freedom and return to their families. A bond payment may look like a financial transaction, but behind every bond is something much more sacred: a family reunited, a birthday celebrated together, a child able to hug a parent, a person able to come home. Please consider supporting CLUE’s Detained Immigrant Bond Fund. Your gift can help turn separation into reunion and give families back the ordinary, sacred moments that detention takes away. |