Families separated by border reunite on Rio Grande riverbed

About 4,000 borderland residents met on the Rio Grande riverbed. Families walking through the mud to see each other for only three minutes after being separated for years.

Families split by the border hugged, cried, and caught up. The Border Network for Human Rights organizing the event bringing families together for the second Hugs Not Walls meeting.

For some it had been as many as 15 years without seeing each other. Many family members met for the first time, from great grandparents and babies to brand new brothers-in-law.

“They have mixed legal status, or they do not have legal status in the United States so they can’t travel to Juarez. And the ones in Juarez they cannot get visas, it is very difficult to go get visas to visit your family,” said Fernando Garcia, the executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights.

Watching over the families was the border patrol. Even with thousands of people mingling in the river agents say the job was easy.

“The Border Network for Human Rights has done a great job in coordinating this event, making sure people follow the rules and regulations involved with this type of event, so for us it’s easy to maintain this type of event,” said Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero.

After their three minutes were up everyone had to go back home, white shirts to Mexico and blue to America, not knowing when they’ll see their families again.

“Being in the US is a privilege, but it’s like a golden jail cell: you have everything but don’t have your family,” said one man who hadn’t seen his mother in eight years. He is now a father of three,

This was the second Hugs Not Walls event. The Border Network for Human Rights hopes to have a third one but a date has not been set.