A View from the Border
Six UC Davis law students visited the U.S./Mexico border during Spring Break. Cassandra Lopez '08, Katie Ruhl '07, Sarah Farnsworth '07, Heather Chicca '07, Shay Fluharty '09, and Monique DeBrito '09 flew to Arizona on Saturday, March 17, and spent the week observing and learning about life along the border. The students maintained a blog, which was posted on ImmigrationProf Blog during the week long trip and are reprinted on the UC Davis School of Law Web site.
In the postings, they described visiting the Mariposa port of entry at Nogales, where they walked along the international border and visited a relief tent staffed by volunteers from Good Samaritans and No More Deaths and helped serve soup and water to migrants who'd been caught and deported back to Mexico. They talked to both migrants and volunteers and learned about the depleted condition many migrants are found: third-degree blisters on soles of feet; hypothermia from sub-freezing temperatures; severe dehydration; injuries severe enough to require amputation. They then drove the migrant trail and walked three of the miles. "A mile and a half into the trail, we came to an alcove in the side of a mountain where people set up a shrine. There was a crucifix and several rosary beads adorning pictures of families, notes to loved ones, candles, and prayer cards. We wondered why the shrine existed,” the students wrote. “Were these people who died on the trail?”
The students also went on a “ride-along” with a border patrol agent. Nogales is the busiest station in the Tuscon sector, and has 500 border patrol agents. Students found the agent fairly candid about his opinions. They noted in the blog that he acknowledged the futility of the proposal to build a wall along the border. “Overall, he seemed to think that most politicians haven't the slightest idea about the realities of the U.S./Mexico border." Students also visited the Nogales processing station and walked through a holding area where migrants were "contained in metal, chain-link cages."
On Days Three, students met with a volunteer with Humane Borders, which maintains over 80 waters stations throughout the border region. A brigade of volunteers make over 70 trips each week to provide water to stations during the peak season. The students noted that although the border patrol agent they rode with felt that organizations such as Humane Borders encourage migrants to cross the desert borders, the humanitarian organization believes that "people will cross whether there are water station or not."
A visit to Florence, Arizona, was planned for Day Four. The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project was created to provide attorneys to immigrants in deportation proceedings. The students wrote, “Meeting these amazingly dedicated lawyers, all brilliant young women, gave us some hope and a lot of inspiration. We were grateful for their time, and our introduction to this dusty prison town. I have a feeling some of us will be back soon.”
Click here to read the full entries by the student and view their photo gallery.
In the postings, they described visiting the Mariposa port of entry at Nogales, where they walked along the international border and visited a relief tent staffed by volunteers from Good Samaritans and No More Deaths and helped serve soup and water to migrants who'd been caught and deported back to Mexico. They talked to both migrants and volunteers and learned about the depleted condition many migrants are found: third-degree blisters on soles of feet; hypothermia from sub-freezing temperatures; severe dehydration; injuries severe enough to require amputation. They then drove the migrant trail and walked three of the miles. "A mile and a half into the trail, we came to an alcove in the side of a mountain where people set up a shrine. There was a crucifix and several rosary beads adorning pictures of families, notes to loved ones, candles, and prayer cards. We wondered why the shrine existed,” the students wrote. “Were these people who died on the trail?”
The students also went on a “ride-along” with a border patrol agent. Nogales is the busiest station in the Tuscon sector, and has 500 border patrol agents. Students found the agent fairly candid about his opinions. They noted in the blog that he acknowledged the futility of the proposal to build a wall along the border. “Overall, he seemed to think that most politicians haven't the slightest idea about the realities of the U.S./Mexico border." Students also visited the Nogales processing station and walked through a holding area where migrants were "contained in metal, chain-link cages."
On Days Three, students met with a volunteer with Humane Borders, which maintains over 80 waters stations throughout the border region. A brigade of volunteers make over 70 trips each week to provide water to stations during the peak season. The students noted that although the border patrol agent they rode with felt that organizations such as Humane Borders encourage migrants to cross the desert borders, the humanitarian organization believes that "people will cross whether there are water station or not."
A visit to Florence, Arizona, was planned for Day Four. The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project was created to provide attorneys to immigrants in deportation proceedings. The students wrote, “Meeting these amazingly dedicated lawyers, all brilliant young women, gave us some hope and a lot of inspiration. We were grateful for their time, and our introduction to this dusty prison town. I have a feeling some of us will be back soon.”
Click here to read the full entries by the student and view their photo gallery.