PHOTOS: MATTHEW JOHNSON
An elderly gentleman dragged
a wagon behind him filled
with a few hundred white,
wooden crosses, names and
dates painted in the center
of each one in simple black
lettering. About 50 of us were
gathered in a circle on the
side of a highway in Douglas,
Ariz., expectantly looking to
him for instructions.
It was raining and cold—maybe 40 degrees. He spoke
calmly and methodically into the center of the circle,
delivering the instructions that he gives each Tuesday at 5
p.m. “We will walk in a line down the sidewalk. Everyone
will take a cross, face the oncoming traffic and shout the
name out loud that is written on the cross. The rest of
us will respond by shouting, “Presente!” Then, place the
cross on the road, leaning it up against the sidewalk gutter
with the name facing the traffic.”
Each week a dozen or so residents of Douglas, a
town on the U.S./Mexico border, gather on Tuesday
evenings to hold a prayer vigil for every person who has
died in that county while trying to cross the border. They
meet on the side of the highway, about 100 yards from
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