Borderlands with Deb Hansen

Join us at the Carnegie Building at 6:00pm on Thursday, June 26, to welcome Deb Hansen, a northern Michigan resident and first-time author, as she discusses her memoir, Borderlands: Storeis From an El Paso Shelter. Deb has spent four winters offering practical support and care to individuals and families fleeing violence and economic and political instability. She plans to return to the border for a fifth winter. 

What's really happening at the U.S./Mexico border?

Borderlands is the story of the courageous people who risk everything for the safety and well-being of themselves and their families, and the people of El Paso who accompany them. While the media saturate the news with antagonism and images of violence, the volunteers at Annunciation House and other organizations provide hospitality and care for those who leave their homes behind at great personal cost. Rather than seeing the stranger as enemy, they meet their guests as relatable, complex human beings like themselves.  

Deb Hansen is a descendant of European immigrants, an Interfaith chaplain, coach, and a spiritual companion who travelled to El Paso to volunteer at Annunciation House. Borderlands takes us along on her journey, introducing us to the people she met and came to love.

Migration is both a natural and an unnatural phenomenon. Borderlands reveals why people leave their homes, culture, and language behind, as well as insight on how wealthy countries inflict harm and contribute to conditions that fuel migration by destabilizing economies, governments, and relationships. 

Borderlands is heartbreaking, inspiring, and life-changing. Along the way, readers might even hear echoes of the stories and journeys of their own ancestors. Find out about the people rolling up their sleeves and actually doing something in the spirit of solidarity.