Five of us were waiting to board the flight. “How many seats are open?” “Four.” It was a fairly busy October weekend for an impromptu trip someplace. I was working at the Salt Lake International Airport to help pay may way through college at the University of Utah. One of the perks of working for an airline is the travel benefit and getting to share passes with friends. I had never tried to fly standby with a group of five before, but I had checked the flights and there was a good shot at one destination that evening — El Paso. As we were drawing straws to see who we would leave behind, another seat opened up and all five of us rushed down the “Y” of the E terminal to board the 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet.

As we descended into the El Paso airport, the sun was setting. We felt the warm air as we deplaned and remembered the flight attendant’s recent warning to us to “Be careful out there.” The flight attendant’s inquiring and reasonably concerned mind wondered what a group of five college boys were up to. We had shared that we were planning to take a taxi across the border to Juarez, Mexico, for the night and fly back the next day. The concern was well placed.

We hailed a taxi and crammed inside and headed for the border. It took us about 25 minutes to get to the border and enter into Mexico. We asked the driver to take us to an area where we could find a motel. We ended up somewhere near Boulevard Teófilo Borunda at what probably was a two-star hotel and crashed in a single room. We explored some the next day and ran into a group of high school students enthralled with the young American tourists, and they invited us to come visit their school.

One of the students had an old van that we crammed into, and we became show-and-tell for a good part of the day. We found some local food and visited some local markets before they drove us to the border. After clearing customs, we walked across the Puente Internacional Córdova De Las Americas bridge over the Rio Grande River and found another taxi back to the airport to fly home. It was an interesting adventure that I will not forget. This experience helps me understand a piece of the picture at our southern border.

Congressman Will Hurd, R- Texas, represents El Paso. Speaking last week to an organization that gives young women the tools to expand their networks and pursue their professional goals, he said, “Don’t run just to run. Don’t run for the title. Don’t run to wear the pin. Run for a reason, run for an issue.” Rep. Hurd is a former undercover CIA agent and currently represents a 550-mile area along the US-Mexico border between San Antonio and El Paso.

Rep. Hurd’s encouragement is on point and also carries some irony for those running toward and entering our country without authorization through Mexico. In this increasingly contentious debate over the care and comfort of those seeking asylum and being held in the United States and the hyperbole surrounding it, there is one thing that is certain. Those running from places like Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to the United States are also running for a reason.

It would be ignorant for any politician to deny this fact. These immigrants are often fleeing such terrible living conditions and impoverished circumstances and gang violence that there is not much that will deter them from trying to make it to the United States. We should remember our definitions of freedom and how we balance human rights with our rights as citizens of the United States.

Freedom to me is traveling. There is nothing more freeing than being able to go to a new place and experience the food and culture and surrounding scenery. The local politics, differences in local governance and corporate culture of foreign places fascinates me. Traveling has enabled me to appreciate where I came from and better understand the world in which I live, work and raise my family. Someday I hope to return to Juarez and feel safe and secure. That would mean Mexico has done its part to help solve the crisis at the border and address its corrupt culture of drug and gang violence. Until that day happens, there are plenty of reasons to run.

Dustin Manwaring is a business and estate planning attorney in Pocatello and served in the Idaho Legislature from 2016-2018.