SAN JUAN, Texas - Sister Norma Pimentel believes impediments to immigration and economic activity between the United States and Mexico need to be relaxed, with border security moved 25 miles inland to checkpoints such as Sarita and Falfurrias.
The executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley gave interviews to reporters at the San Juan Basilica soon after being named one of the 100 most influential people of 2020 by Time Magazine.
Veteran reporter Ron Whitlock asked if Pimentel would like a return to the days when people moved freely between South Texas and Tamaulipas.
“The checkpoint was 25 miles inland, further inland, there was an economic security zone between those two checkpoints. The river was not a dividing line,” Whitlock reminisced.
“I remember those days and I think it was so perfect for us,” Pimentel responded.
“We knew that in this space land between Mexico and Sarita, it was a space for us to be ourselves. We had good partnerships and relationships with Mexico, back and forth. We did not have to worry.”
Pimentel said back in the day, the real border was at the Sarita checkpoint.
“People knew that you could not go beyond that point. They allowed us to go back and forth (between Mexico and the United States), to celebrate life, to celebrate our culture, celebrate our food, people and families, without feeling that something is wrong. It was a beautiful way to be. To have taken that away from us, it is almost as though they took away a part of who we are.”
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