We The People Ride

One week ago today, we completed the We The People For Common Good Immigration & Border Practices Cross-Country Bike Ride.

In the nine and half weeks and over 3,159 miles that we rode, we met so many wonderful people doing great work for the neediest people impacted by our country's border policies and practices.

This ride was a story-telling effort, and I want to tell you a bit of the back story of how it came about and let you know where the story will go from here.

Would you please read on and join me in giving thanks for all the people who made this effort a beautiful reality?

Two truths became clear to us on the ride: There is so much work to do: and it is going to take us all to build a new coalition of action to get that work done.

In the coming months, we will continue to invite people across the United States to care about the issues facing those seeking to become part of this country's collective "We." And, we will invite people to express that commitment when they vote in 2022 and 2024.

Immigration has not always been and need not be a partisan issue. Unfortunately, the current expression of Trump-infused Republicanism is still committed to a war on immigrants and a fixation with an immoral use of militarization on our Southern border. So, we do all we can to call voters of faith and conscience to vote so that Republican policies do not again become the law of the land.

This ride took a large and ever-growing group of people to become a reality. I am so encouraged by the commitment and effort of the team that came together around this ride. The impact of this work was only possible because of their incredible work and dedication.

Thank you for being one of the hundreds of donors who believed in our efforts and indeed kept us on the road.

Thank you to the awe-inspiring team of partners we met along the border who are doing first-hand work. Please follow and support the work of these incredible people and groups.

Jon Huckins with Global Immersion - https://globalimmerse.org/donate/recurring/

Maria Singleton with the Ajo Samaritans - http://www.ajosamaritans.com/support-our-work.html

Dora Rodriguez with Salvavision - https://www.salvavision.org

Sister Lika and Randy Mayer with La Casa Misericordia - https://fronteras.azdiocese.org

Mark Adams and Febe Moldonado Escobar with Frontera de Cristo - http://fronteradecristo.org/donate/

Sami DiPasquale and Nate Ledbetter with Abara Borderlands Connections - https://www.abarafrontiers.org

Tiffany Burrow with Val Verde Humanitarian Coalition - https://vvbhcoalition.com

Alma Ruth with Practice Mercy - http://practicemercy.org/donate/

This ride was also made possible by the incredible team that worked to design and execute the tour. Thank you to Bing Huo and Mary Beth Kennedy for their outstanding planning and organizing before and during the tour.

Thank you to Jennifer Pavlovitz, Britain Miethe, Dan Dietrich for all of our website, social media, and video work that told this story.

Special thanks to the dedicated and tireless road team of Mario Andreoni, Tim Gillman, Brandon Pfeiffer, Ruben Pagitt, Robb Ryerse for driving and caring for our vehicles and bikes (and Tim, thanks for our "daily bread" in the form of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches).

Thank you to Kim Sullivan and Clayton Brown for documenting the ride for the forthcoming full-length documentary!

Thank you to all the riders who gave your time, energy, and legs to share these stories.

Wanda Tekell, Ruben Pagitt, Mario Andreoni, Anthony Flora, Dan Dietrich, Danny Strong, Adam Glickman, Shane Claiborne, Dave Gibbons, Anna Galladay, Bryan Kim, Carol Frazier, Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, Vanessa Ryerse, Joel Simpson, Shelley Pagitt, Brian McLaren, Alicia Mannes, Cliff Chenfeld, Abe Bonowitz, Charles Keith, SueZann Bosler, Joe Carson, Brandon Pfeiffer, Meghan Tepas.

May we, together, find a way of faith, hope, and love that leads us beyond our walls and borders.

This Sunday we finish the We The People ride - a 3,200 mile bike ride along the entire U.S. / Mexico border and along the U.S. coastline. In this 67 day journey, we've listened and learned, and we want to share some of the lessons we've learned with you.

Will you financially support our work and our ride so that we can continue to make a difference for Immigration policy? This need is urgent and life-changing.

Without further ado, here are some of the lessons we've learned.

1) We learned that the U.S. / Mexico border is safe - on both sides.

"People have the impression that [this area] is lawless, that there are shootings all the time," said the Mayor of Douglas, TX. "Nothing could be further from the truth."

The media and politicians dredge up fear that the border is a war zone. It simply is not.

2) Unfortunately, the second lesson we learned is that the people for whom the border IS unsafe are migrants.

The policies of the U.S. government has put migrants at incredible risk. The migrants coming into our nation are vulnerable - there is constant danger of sexual assault, death, and starvation.

3) We learned that non-profits are doing MORE than their fair share.

The United States government is just not doing everything that needs to be done to help migrants - not even close. Non-profits have had to step in to fill this gap and provide life-saving services, or else the already horrible death toll of immigration would only exponentially grow.

Want to learn more about the heroes we met on this journey, the lessons we learned, and the next steps for what needs to be done? Click on the photo above to watch our full video about these lessons and the We The People ride.

This Sunday we finish our ride, but our immigration work is just beginning. Will you chip in and help us make a change? Unless we take immigration seriously as a battleground issue in 2022 and 2024, we will lose our ability to do something about these critical policy decisions, and as a result, many more will lose their hope, their chance at the American dream, and ultimately their lives.

we crossed 3,000 miles!!! Will you help us celebrate by inviting your contacts and assisting us in raising $3,000?

We’ve learned lessons to last a lifetime over our border ride, and now, as we come to the final 500 miles, we know what we need to do.

Border policy will be a battleground issue for 2022/24, and it’s time to prepare.

Will you help us continue the work?

This weekend, we saw a sign - literally and metaphorically.

We saw a sign on our ride of a nation that urgently needs help. A nation that is heading into 2022 and 2024 still wrestling for its very soul. A nation that will decide the future of its immigration policies, and one that is quick to hate rather than to welcome.

2022 and 24 will see immigration be a key battleground issue, and that's why we're already on the ground, speaking with lawmakers, migrants, and border communities.

We're sowing seeds for substantial change, and we're learning about which policies would make an immediate impact for these communities.

Will you help us make an immediate impact? Invite 5 friends to chip in today - even $10 gets us closer to our goal as we celebrate our final 500 miles on our ride, and plan for the next chapter of work to come.