Soap Vet Eva LaRue Reports From The Southern Border

Longtime soap opera veteran Eva LaRue recently took a trip to the Mexican side of the United States Southern Border because she said she wanted to see beyond all the media noise and know for herself what is happening at this crucial place in our national and international conversation.

Eva LaRue: Her Journey

LaRue, who made her daytime comeback this year on The Young and the Restless, reported back and what she learned via Instagram, giving us stories of asylum seekers, what they are fleeing, and the difficulties they have with our immigration system. Let her tell you for herself what she found.

Via video we can see her as she walks over the bridge from El Paso, Texas into Mexico as she shows and tells us what she can see. Read and listen to her words as she has an important tale to tell.

“Week before last, I went to visit the El Paso/ Juárez border as part of a delegation from the Tahirih Justice Center and the Center for Civil and Human Rights. I wanted to see & learn about this humanitarian crisis for myself,” Eva La Rue said on her Instagram page.

“‘Remembering and telling the truth about terrible events are prerequisites both for the restoration of the social order and for the healing of individual victims’ were the words ringing in my head as we walked across the border into the City of Juárez with the 2nd highest murder and kidnapping rates in the world.”

What She Saw

Her videos also show you the conditions in Juarez, Mexico as asylum seekers wait months and sometimes years for a better life.

“Of course we can’t allow everyone within our borders, fundamental immigration reform is desperately needed, and advocating for improved legislation is imperative,” Eva LaRue continued. “The opinions on immigration are endless, but I really felt the need to be a compassionate witness to this Spiritual crisis.

“It was three days of what felt like a firehose in the face of info. We were guided by boots on the ground lawyers, NGO’s and advocates guiding us through tent cities, detention centers, immigration courts, and refugee shelters, while trying to educate us on the tangle of new policies meant to shut the doors on the most vulnerable asylum seekers (women, children, families) — many with a right, according to US law, allowing them to legally seek safety in the US based on immediate need-fleeing extreme violence, cartel trafficking & persecution.”

In a second posting, she told the story of a family she met and their difficulties navigating the asylum-seeking system.

“This photo is of unbelievably courageous women who shared their stories with us that day, of fleeing unfathomable violence and torture, only to find themselves in living in constant fear of being kidnapped, raped and/or trafficked by cartel running the border(faces are blurred for their safety).

“Heartbreaking stories of escaping Gangs in their countries threatening to take daughter’s if a cartel “tax” isn’t paid, which of course, they couldn’t afford. Stories from El Paso/Juárez of US Border Patrol of Mexican/American descent with families from Juárez having their families threatened by cartel.

“So much I can’t even say here that make this hell on earth! 55K asylum seekers from more than 35 different countries waiting for months if not years on the border in complete squalor, trying to navigate a system that is a living nightmare of separation, detention and roads to nowhere.

“While we were visiting immigration court, one family broke down in tears when their lawyer never showed and they realized they had given their last dime as a retainer to a law firm that didn’t exist.

“They had waited 6 months on the border for that court date and won’t get another now until March. This family had already escaped a kidnapping and was now facing being separated by the court from their teenage son (who was shaking & crying). This isn’t a matter of politics, it’s a matter compassion for our fellow human beings. There is room in everyone’s heart for many different causes like Homelessness & children in extreme poverty in America..I don’t have to choose 1 over another, I can choose all. Hearts should be borderless and boundless.”

See all of what the courageous actress wrote, as well as her photos and videos in the Eva La Rue Instagram posts below.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Week before last, I went to visit the El Paso/ Juárez border as part of a delegation from the Tahirih Justice Center and the Center for Civil and Human Rights. I wanted to see & learn about this humanitarian crisis for myself. “Remembering and telling the truth about terrible events are prerequisites both for the restoration of the social order and for the healing of individual victims”, were the words ringing in my head as we walked across the border into the City of Juárez with the 2nd highest murder and kidnapping rates in the world. My account of the things I witnessed and learned are in NO WAY an invitation to start a political IG war. Of course we can’t allow everyone within our borders, fundamental immigration reform is desperately needed, and advocating for improved legislation is imperative. The opinions on immigration are endless, but I really felt the need to be a compassionate witness to this Spiritual crisis. It was three days of what felt like a firehose in the face of info. We were guided by boots on the ground lawyers, NGO’s and advocates guiding us through tent cities, detention centers, immigration courts, and refugee shelters, while trying to educate us on the tangle of new policies meant to shut the doors on the most vulnerable asylum seekers (women, children, families)- many with a right, according to US law, allowing them to legally seek safety in the US based on immediate need-fleeing extreme violence, cartel trafficking & persecution. I was surprised to find that after visiting a detention center in El Paso, that my tax money is paying almost $250 a night per bed ( x34,000 center beds) to a private company that runs the Detention centers! So it behooves them to keep those beds full.. for as long as 9 years because the immigrants have little to no access to lawyers! These centers are supposed to be “non-punitive“, but they are operated like prisons & run by the same guards. Who am I to say, but a more efficient & human way could be w/ ankle monitors and local hotels at less than $150 a day, while they wait for their cases to be heard. More to come on what’s currently happening at the border- Stay Tuned #bordercrisis @tahirihjustice

A post shared by Eva LaRue (@imevalarue) on Nov 30, 2019 at 7:51pm PST

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Border Trip: Part 2 With so many false narratives in the air, I felt it was incredibly important to see this crisis in person. This was our visit to a shelter in Juarez, Mx guided by an incredible organization called @lasamericasimmigrantadvocacy. This photo is of unbelievably courageous women who shared their stories with us that day, of fleeing unfathomable violence & torture, only to find themselves in living in constant fear of being kidnapped, raped and/or trafficked by cartel running the border(faces are blurred for their safety). Heartbreaking stories of escaping Gangs in their countries threatening to take daughter’s if a cartel “tax” isn’t paid, which of course, they couldn’t afford. Stories from El Paso/Juárez of US Border Patrol of Mexican/American decent with families from Juárez having their families threatened by cartel. So much I can’t even say here that make this hell on earth! 55K asylum seekers from more than 35 different countries waiting for months if not years on the border in complete squalor, trying to navigate a system that is a living nightmare of separation, detention and roads to nowhere. “Metering”, a legal way of procuring a number and waiting for your day in court, put a daily limit on seekers, processing only 20 a day. Those with legal aid are 5x more likely to be granted asylum. Only 1.2% in Mexico have managed to retain Lawyers and only 22% of those that have made it into the US. While we were visiting immigration court, one family broke down in tears when their lawyer never showed and they realized they had given their last dime as a retainer to a law firm that didn’t exist. They had waited 6 months on the border for that court date and won’t get another now until March. This family had already escaped a kidnapping and was now facing being separated by the court from their teenage son (who was shaking & crying). This isn’t a matter of politics, it’s a matter compassion for our fellow human beings. There is room in everyone’s heart for many different causes like Homelessness & children in extreme poverty in America..I don’t have to choose 1 over another, I can choose all. Hearts should be borderless & boundless♥️

A post shared by Eva LaRue (@imevalarue) on Dec 3, 2019 at 9:21pm PST

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