Menlo Borderlands - Immigration - El Paso

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

Hi! As we munch on some juicy watermelon, we'd like to report to you on our last full day of our trip, also the last blog day. Today, we first went to a mural in downtown Las Cruces. After, we went to a hospitality center and took a tour of the area. The building was split up into a common area, dorms, children's play area, and recreational areas outside. Half of us stayed at the hospitality center where we sanitized the kid play room, laid down cots for new guests, and organized supplies in the warehouse. The other half went to a hotel where the guests stayed previous to the opening of the new location. We helped clean up the place for an hour. After doing community service, we went to get lunch at a local tamal, burrito and donut shop.  After lunch we met with Leonardo Castañeda, a reporter for the ACLU-NM, who gave us a presentation about asylum in the US. He described how there are many ways in which the border system is ineffective because of the areas that don't have

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 say, sa

 

Hi Everyone! Thank you for following along on our adventures! After warming up to the program, the students have dedicated themselves to the task at hand. Namely, the study of immigration on the Texas/Mexico border and in the process, are having a lot of fun doing it.  Luckily we have our phones on us and can document along the way! Here are some more photos to enjoy :) - Mr. Nelson and Angela

Today was a day filled with eye-opening experiences and memories. We started off with a naturalization ceremony, filled with about 112 new American citizens. We were privileged enough to watch these new citizens through their new journey — with the help of Judge Strickland— accepting their U.S. Citizenships with wholehearted joy and happiness. Additionally, we were lucky enough to hear stories from Señor Carillo about his experience immigrating through the harsh conditions of the border, inspiring new immigrants to persevere through their future experiences as a new American citizen.  After a life-changing morning, we headed to Matteo's for some Mexican Food (P.S. they are moving to California so follow their instagram @matteosmexicanfood!) We all highly recommend their variety of agua frescas especially the blue ocean. We all are happily contended and eating extremely well here in Las Cruces. Our happy faces post lunch:) Lastly, we listened to Dr. Natividad— a professor from the U

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 Annunciation Hou

 Hi Students and Families! We are so excited to embark on this adventure with you next week!  To put a face to a name, here is who we will meet in El Paso, TX. We had a great touchpoint meeting earlier today and can't wait to be together. LaToya Miller and John Woodward are our facilitators with World Leadership School. Mica de la Rosa is from Border Servant Corp. Through the Borderlands trip, this blog will serve as a way for our students to stay connected with those back home in CA. We hope you read along and enjoy our experiences with us! Stay tuned for more!