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Travel Day Reflections

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Ryan: To be honest, I had quite a lot of apprehensions about how invested I would be in immigration going into this trip. Reflecting on those concerns now, I'm realizing that they were all relatively unfounded. By conversing with various speakers, from professors to actual immigrants who have crossed the border, I was able to incorporate their stories into an enriched personal worldview regarding the asylum seekers. I can't express how thankful I am for this opportunity to get a first-person perspective into the issue of immigration and will continue to study it in the future. Abby: Looking back on this trip, I don't even have the words to describe how it has expanded and changed my worldview. Most importantly, it has taught me to embrace the humanity of people. Instead of viewing migrants and asylum-seekers as a mass of individuals with one sole purpose - to cross the border - I've now learned to embrace them with empathy and realize that each person has their own purp...
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Day 5: Sand Dunes

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Hey everyone! We just finished our fifth full day and we had a lot of exciting activities in our itinerary today. We started off the morning in our kitchen with local activist, Carmen Hernandez, who taught us her traditional recipe for her homemade gorditas. We mixed and shaped the dough with our hands and then filled them with meat, potatoes, onions, lettuce, and tomatoes.   We then sat down with Carmen where she told her story of how she immigrated to America in search of medical care for her daughter. She touched upon themes of spirituality, socio-economic deprivations, and the faults of materialism. This connected back to the gordita making because we didn't use any machines to make the gorditas, only the tools we needed, our hands. Then, we drove out to White Sands National Park. The views of the sand dunes were breathtaking and they looked like something out of a movie. We all bonded over sledding down the dunes and watching the sun set over the landscape. Needless to sa...
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El Paso Day 2!

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Day 2 of Borderlands El Paso is in the books!  After a good night's sleep, we started the day with a delicious breakfast. Although the night temperature was certainly variable, the air mattresses were quite comfortable. We then drove to the border wall and heard a presentation from Hope Border Institute Formation and Engagement Coordinator Abi Ray about the uphill battle asylum seekers face. It was interesting hearing how much of a role religion, especially Christianity, plays in providing asylum seekers faith and shelter. The groups also interviewed Abi for their final projects relating to the border.   After that, we headed to Cafe Mayapan for a tasty Mexican lunch. We enjoyed enchiladas, flautas, and salsa, along with a variety of Mexican candy, even if it took a while to come.  After lunch, we traveled to an undisclosed location to visit Ruben Garcia at the Annunciation House: a local shelter for asylum seekers. Garcia spoke about his journey as the director of Annunc...
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