“For me it’s like a family reunion. Because before the border between Pasos Lajitas, Mexico, and Lajitas, Texas, was closed, it was like a big family. Everybody knew each other; some people worked in the United States and lived in Mexico. They came back and forth without anybody stopping them to make sure they had documents.
But after 9/11, in May 2002, the border was suddenly closed and people got separated. So the community decided that we should have a family reunion every year on that date.
When we arrive, we put up a little shade. For me, I cannot cross to Mexico, but my familia does, my Mexican family does cross over. And what we do is we eat, we talk with our families, hug—just have fun with them. We catch up with how their life is going because we haven’t seen each other for a year. And we cook and share our food.
At the beginning, the priest stands in the river and he blesses everybody from this side and from that side. I think it’s a symbol of peace. We’re not here to fight; we’re all brothers and sisters.
It’s like a picnic and we stay there all day until 6, which is the hour we have to pick up everything. When 6 o’clock comes, it’s like Cinderella: You have to go back. The people who crossed from Mexico go back to Mexico and the people who are from here pick up everything and we go home. And we don’t do it again until next year.”
The author is a Mexican woman living in the U.S. who wishes to remain anonymous. She spoke with Sojourners associate editor Betsy Shirley about the 2019 Voices From Both Sides festival, which takes place every year in the Rio Grande between Pasos Lajitas, Mexico, and Lajitas, Texas.
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