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Salzburg Global Fellow Michelle Rumbaut proves how a commitment to compassion can create "hope spaces" for migrants
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This op-ed was written by Michelle Rumbaut, who attended the Salzburg Global American Studies program "Beyond the Nation-State? Borders, Boundaries, and the Future of Democratic Pluralism" from September 19 to 23, 2023.
For the past seven years, I have been volunteering with the Interfaith Welcome Coalition (IWC) at the bus station in San Antonio, Texas. In this role, I receive, welcome, orient, and support asylum seekers who are newly released from detention.
Last year, the IWC assisted over 92,000 migrants. This year, we expect to assist at least 50,000. Since 2017, I have had one-on-one contact with over 3,000 asylum seekers at the station. These past years have been exceptionally challenging, with surges of unaccompanied minors, sudden increases of migrants from countries affected by political upheaval or climate disasters, and large numbers of refugees who have little more than the clothes on their backs.
My front-row seat at the bus station has illuminated the outcomes of intentionally cruel and harmful US government policies created for migrants crossing the southern border. The long journey to cross “La Frontera” is perilous, at times involving kidnapping, rape, extortion, theft, malnutrition, dehydration, physical exhaustion, and atrocities of the Darien Gap.
Upon crossing the border, most refugees turn themselves in to legally apply for asylum. The US government policy dictates that males and females are separated and placed into the aptly nicknamed “hielera”, Spanish for refrigerators, which are rooms with inhumanely cold temperatures and 24-hour overhead bright lights. Extra clothing and shoes are confiscated, and outside communication is difficult. The conditions in the subsequent for-profit detention centers are better, but refugees are treated as prisoners and sometimes sequestered for months.
The lucky ones who make it this far and pass their credible fear interviews are released from detention to reunite with family in the US. As bus tickets are the cheapest form of cross-country travel, many make their way to the San Antonio Greyhound hub. Here, they experience the contrasting “hope space” that the IWC volunteers have created, providing the physical and moral support they need for the next leg of their journey.
An array of other grassroots local organizations has been an essential part of our support system, providing commitment and resources that are nothing short of phenomenal. Not coincidentally, the City of San Antonio signed the International Charter for Compassion in June 2017. The charter sets forth a commitment for the local government, religious and volunteer organizations, businesses, the community, and educational institutions to unite in recognizing the importance of compassion, as well as to create a shared ethos and safety net for its most vulnerable citizens.
The City of San Antonio, churches, and volunteer groups such as the IWC have collaborated to effectively respond to each new immigrant crisis; these efforts have included revamping buildings into migrant resource centers, establishing systems for food, clothing, and medical care, and ensuring social work support to connect migrants with separated family and find short- and long-term shelter.
The premise of the charter is deceptively simple - to treat others as one would want to be treated themselves. This philosophy is notably absent from the State of Texas's approach to vulnerable populations, particularly immigrants. This premise is also lacking from our politically divided and stagnant federal government, without even a conversation about how to reform our broken immigration system. It is also intentionally absent from the many narratives that are propagated by politicians striving to create a fear-based “us vs. them” immigration story.
How can societies identify spaces of inclusion, civic engagement, and representation for marginalized communities, including immigrants? Perhaps a larger challenge is how societies and communities can create spaces of inclusion, engagement, and representation. I suggest that such action cannot begin until there is first a philosophical commitment to compassion.
In this context, and within the Charter for Compassion that has been adopted by 440 cities in over 50 countries, the underlying directive is for justice, equity, and respect, alleviating suffering, and a positive appreciation of diversity. The charter specifically condemns hate, violence, exploitation, and denigration of others.
An intentional commitment to compassion can guide communities on how they view and treat vulnerable populations. This, in turn, can result in the positive outcomes I have seen at the San Antonio bus station, with migrants feeling respected, grateful, engaged, and eager to give back.
It could be seen as naive and simplistic to expect such a basic philosophy to transform societies, but a lack of compassion is the foundation for ignorance, exclusion, and a guaranteed repetition of the worst chapters of human history.
Within just a few weeks following our program in Salzburg, there was an escalation of war, climate disasters, violence, and rising authoritarianism across the globe. In order to prevent further mass tragedy, it is essential that governments, leaders, and the most advantaged populations intentionally commit to creating mutually beneficial, compassionate safe places of hope for those living on the margins.
Michelle Rumbaut has been volunteering since 2016 with the Interfaith Welcome Coalition in San Antonio, welcoming newly arrived refugees at the Greyhound bus station. She has worked since 1986 at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center in Seguin, currently in the role of project administrator, and has also served the boards of various non-profit organizations with environmental and cultural missions.
Michelle attended the Salzburg Global American Studies program on “Beyond the Nation-State? Borders, Boundaries, and the Future of Democratic Pluralism” from September 19-23, 2023. The 2023 Salzburg Global American Studies Program focused on the contestations and renegotiations of boundaries beyond the nation-state, and how they are changing the representation of democratic pluralism.