Two parallel fences line either side of the Tijuana river. The southernmost barrier roughly marks the international boundary between the United States and Mexico, between San Diego, Calif., and Tijuana, Baja California.
The area is patrolled 24/7 by U.S. Border Patrol agents in S.U.V.s and helicopters. Cameras monitor the area to spot anyone who might try to cross the border illegally.
But it was not always this way, according to Deacon José Luis Medina, the administrator of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in San Ysidro, a San Diego neighborhood just north of the border. Deacon Medina was born in Tijuana.
“We have a good relationship between Mexico and San Diego,” Deacon Medina told America. “A lot of people come from Tijuana to go shopping here. We’re not very happy with the wall.”
“The president wants to build the wall, and we want to build a bridge,” Deacon Medina said. “We are Christians. Our faith tells us that everyone is a human being.”
Our Lady of Mount Carmel will be the site of a 40-foot “Welcome the Stranger” sculpture. The monument to the Virgin Mary, which will be surrounded by a meditation garden, was inspired by the Statue of Liberty and commissioned by the San Diego Organizing Project. Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego supports the project.
“The president wants to build the wall, and we want to build a bridge,” Deacon Medina said. “We are Christians. Our faith tells us that everyone is a human being.”
The sculpture will stand in stark relief to the increasingly militarized border. During his presidential campaign, Mr. Trump vowed to build a “great border wall.” Earlier this year, the president visited San Diego to see eight border wall prototypes, but community members say the “Welcome the Stranger” statue is not meant as a political statement.
“This has nothing to do with politics,” said David Gonzalez, who has been a parishioner at Our Lady of Mount Carmel for 20 years. “This is who we are and what we believe in. We welcome people.”
It is personal for Mr. Gonzalez, whose mother was born in Mexico. He also has undocumented friends in the community who “are doing very well, helping the economy and everything,” he said. Some of his family members are immigrants and have also integrated into their communities in the United States.
“I feel a love for two countries. I believe there is so much culture that can be shared,” Mr. Gonzalez said. “People are coming to find liberty and to have a better life.”
The California Endowment, a private health foundation, has already donated $1 million toward the $2-million goal, the Los Angeles Times reports. In addition to crowdsourcing, memorial bricks are also being sold to raised funds.
Parish and community members like Mr. Gonzalez gathered with artist Jim Bliesner to collaborate on the sculpture’s design. Mr. Bliesner, who has been involved in what he called “advocacy by design” in the past, has had work exhibited around the world. He produced several pieces of public art in San Diego and Tijuana.
The “Welcome the Stranger” sculpture may be the most complex. It is meant to be a beacon of hope, a welcoming hand and a memorial to international immigrants, he said.
“The experience of the migrant is a hard one,” Mr. Bliesner said. “That experience cuts across cultures. The motif starts as religious, but it is a universal statement.”
The “Welcome the Stranger” sculpture may be the most complex. It is meant to be a beacon of hope, a welcoming hand and a memorial to international immigrants, he said.
The challenge will be to go from the existing four-foot model to something 10 times as large, Mr. Bliesner said. They wanted a taller monument, but it would have been in the way of two flight paths. The project is scheduled to break ground in January.
“Fundamentally, people of our culture welcome the stranger. We’re all from somewhere else and we’ve learned to get along,” Mr. Bliesner said. “That’s part of what makes this country what it is. We might fight, but in the end, we work it out.”
This article appears in November 26 2018.
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