3/24/2018 0 Comments Friday, March 23, 2018This morning we had an early wake up and drove all the way to Tucson to spend the day. I think we can all agree that this was one of the coolest landscapes we’ve seen yet. A rough mountain line spanned the horizon and everywhere you looked there was another species of cacti. Maria called it a “cactus amusement park.” Our first stop was the home of Ed and Debbie, a couple that heads the Tucson Samaritans. The group drops water at popular trails for migrants crossing the border to Arizona. This dangerous trek kills three to four percent of migrants. Ed, a former geology professor, created crossing maps to determine where it’s best to leave water, mostly depending on where there are the most deaths in the area. The maps were interesting to see because they portrayed how systematic the crossings of the desert are, and how dynamic this trail system is. Trail popularity is constantly changing, and the success of the water drops largely depends on determining the timeline of the trail. We also talked about the issue surrounding the personal effort that border control workers put into diminishing these resources provided by the Tucson Samaritans. Border control slashes the water bottles dropped by the group, for no reason but to hinder access to water during the crossings. This brutality is often justified with the argument that the harder it is to cross the desert, the less people will attempt to come into the United States. The dessert was once thought of as a barrier between Mexico and the United States, and now more and more migrants are making the trek despite the increasingly arduous conditions. This goes to show that the situations these people face at home often pose greater risk to these migrants than the trek through the dessert. People will find ways to cross the border no matter how taxing the journey may be. After speaking with Ed, we moved to Debbie’s art gallery within the house. Debbie picks up belongings that she finds on the trails while dropping off water. There were discarded shoes, bibles, and water jugs. The story behind most of the artifacts was unknown, as well as the stories of those that left them behind. Debbie wanted to commemorate the stories of these people by embellishing the belongings with symbols of the migrant journey and Latin American culture. Looking at the belongings was humbling. It seemed that a lot of the objects left behind were brought with migrants as tokens of life in their home country. We imagined the stories of the owners and the hardships they could have experienced to leave these objects behind. Although many of the objects probably did not belong to people that passed away in the dessert, seeing them humanized the deaths we had been talking about in terms of percentages and numbers earlier. We were prompted to imagine who these people were. The one thing that we questioned about her art was whether the presentations of the artifacts would have been more compelling without turning them into “art.” By adding her own input through the symbolism of her embellishments, she was spinning the story of the artifacts in her own way, and I wondered whether the mystery of the objects is where they hold their power. When we returned to the church, there were asylum seekers who had just arrived from the detention center. Many of them were in bad shape due to mistreatment. The people had been eating solely cup noodles for a number of days, and hadn’t had access to showers or clean clothing. A man told us that when he tried to tie his daughter’s hair up at the detention center, he was prevented from doing so by ICE officers. The refugees had been completely dehumanized; each of them came in wearing an ankle monitor, in case they tried to escape the church. We attempted to comfort the refugees, giving them fresh food and clothes, helping the children shower, and listening to their stories. There was a lot of confusion regarding the batteries for the ankle monitors because ICE had failed to provide every person with a second battery and charger. The refugees without extra batteries were afraid of the disorder and having to face ICE officers again. Each of these refugees had to wake up around one in the morning, and walk to the church’s gate to pick up their batteries and chargers. Eleven ICE officers had come to deliver the batteries. We still don’t know the reason for why this many were needed. The church was severely lacking in Spanish speakers available to help these refugees. There were only three Spanish speakers from the church, with two of them being sanctuary members. Because there was so much confusion that needed be communicated in terms that exceeded basic Spanish, we wondered how the church usually deals with these situations, without having so many of us speaking Spanish. One of the men from the church said that usually they use translating apps or gesturing. I can only imagine this makes this process much more difficult and scary for the refugees. This experience was overwhelming for many of us. It was surreal to experience all of this the night before we needed to head back to school. Although our trip lasts a week, the stories of the refugees and sanctuary seekers are far from over. After being so consumed with their experiences, it is strange to think that soon our personal issues at Princeton could take priority. I’m still unsure how what I’ve learned during this trip will fit into my life back home. I think this is something a lot of us need to come to terms with. Author
Olivia Kusio
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3/22/2018 0 Comments Tuesday, March 20, 2018We started our Tuesday early at 6:30 in order to meet our first community partner of the day. In contrast to Monday’s meeting with Senator Flake’s office, we crossed the aisle and visited Democratic Representative Kyrsten Sinema’s office in the 9th congressional district of Arizona. Although she began as a Green Party activist, Sinema has had to choose her positions carefully as a Democrat in an solid red state. Sinema’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Michelle Davidson, was relatively honest about the political necessities of being a democratic representative in Arizona. Since senator Flake is stepping down, a senate seat is up for grabs in Arizona, and Sinema realizes that a more moderate tone is essential to having any chance in the senate race. That being said, Davidson made it clear that Sinema was solidly behind a “clean DREAM Act” in Congress. As it stands, the administration is demanding funding for a wall/increased border security in exchange for a two year extension for DACA. Davidson explained that increased border security is the only leverage for Democrats in an immigration deal. Meanwhile, Democrats still want to accomplish a full DREAM act, and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. A fragile, two-year extension according to Davidson, is simply not enough. After leaving representative Sinema’s office, we met up with street artist Francisco “ENUF” Garcia at Tres Leches Café. After finishing some refreshing drinks, we followed Garcia on a tour to see some street art around the area. Francisco Garcia is a current ASU student who is part of the street artist community in Phoenix. Through his art, Garcia expresses the culture and history of Chicanos, Indigenous peoples, and others. Garcia explained to us how studying ancient Mayan hieroglyphs and the art of Hopi Native Americans has influenced his own art. Garcia also draws influences from activists and major figures from Mexican and Native American history like Frida Kahlo and Red Cloud. By using art, Garcia expresses the struggles of modern day immigrants and members of the latino community by connecting their experiences to the struggles of the past. Our final stop of the day was at CALA, or Celebración Artística de las Américas. CALA is an organization associated with ASU that celebrates and shares the art of the local community as well as the Americas as a whole. We met with Casandra Hernández, the executive director of CALA. She explained to us the work of her organization as well as the political connections and implications of art in the Phoenix community. One of the most interesting impacts of CALA’s work was how it was trying to provide a cultural education to the kids in Arizona. Because a majority of youth in Phoenix are of latino descent, it only makes sense for them to learn about the history of their culture, a history that is not provided in the public education system. AuthorJJ Kim 3/22/2018 0 Comments Thursday, March 22, 2018Thursday was a really chill day! We only met with one community organization: Shadow Rock, the church in which we were staying. Shadow Rock serves as sanctuary for two immigrants and our main task on Thursday was to have lunch with both of them and then have dinner with the pastor, his congregation, and another college also doing a service trip in Phoenix. The girls and Will decided to take initiative in cooking lunch! We made chicken fajitas, plátanos, Mexican rice, black beans and guacamole. Cooking with them was definitely a bonding experience because I was able to learn about my peers' backgrounds and cultural connections with foods. Throughout the process, we had so much fun joking around, as well as reflect on the trip thus far. After cooking, we finally had lunch with the two people in sanctuary and learn about their personal experiences staying in the sanctuary for so long and how they came to the decision in staying at Shadow Rock. At Princeton, it is very easy to talk about immigration policy and what "comprehensive" immigration reform without really looking at how such political decisions can affect and become oppressive systems towards the undocumented identity. Hearing their narratives allowed me to see the bigger picture of the US immigration system and connect the politician and activist perspectives we had learned about.
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María José Solórzano Castro 3/21/2018 0 Comments Wednesday, March 21, 2018Young Center for Immigrant Children’s RightsOnce again another early wake up call to meet our first community partner. The Young Center's main goal is to is to promote the bests interests of unaccompanied immigrant children. An unaccompanied immigrant child is a child who arrived on to the US on their own. Up until 2008 US immigration law did not differentiate between children and adults. Although they advocate for change in the immigration system so that children in immigration proceedings are recognized as children, one of their more essential roles is as child advocates. They work with the children's bests interests in mind. After learning the child's story, child advocates partner with Young Center attorneys and social workers to make a recommendation for the child's placement. Immigration CourtOur next stop was at the Phoenix Immigration Court. The Phoenix Immigration Court falls under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge. The hearings we saw were master calendar hearings; each individual case hearing lasted about 15 minutes or less. This hearing is your chance to address any initial issues with your case, ranging from asking for additional time, to something much more serious, like challenging the initial accusations against you. If no issues are brought up, then the immigration judge will schedule your individual hearing. The backlog was so large that hearings were being scheduled for 2020. Another issue we witnessed was the subject of lawyers. Oftentimes this would be the first time lawyers interacted with their clients; we even witnessed two cases where individuals showed up to court without a lawyer, and had to navigate the legal system without them. AuthorSebastian Guzman 3/20/2018 0 Comments Monday, March 19, 2018 We began our Monday with a drive into Phoenix to the office of Arizona senator Jeff Flake. While the senator is currently busy touring for his potential presidential bid, we were granted an audience with Chris Stoller, his director of Hispanic Outreach. Over nearly two hours the director listened to and answered our questions, often with refreshing frankness. He occupies an intriguing position, often serving as a mediator between Arizona’s large Hispanic population and a Republican senator who often takes a conservative stance on immigration. To the credit of Senator Flake, and particularly this director, it did seem that many of their positions were heartfelt. For instance, Stoller claimed that tougher border security was in fact a humanitarian choice, because it would deter would-be immigrants from attempting to cross the dangerous Sonoran Desert into Arizona. While the conversation was civil and we found common ground, we did later contest some of the director’s arguments. For instance, while Jeff Flake has attempted to distance himself from Trump-era republicans, the main distinction seems to be largely rhetorical. This is especially evinced by Flake’s voting record, which hews very closely to the positions of Donald Trump. How much does rhetoric matter, especially when compared to action and legislation? Our second meeting, with ADAC(Arizona Dream Act Coalition), came at a fortuitous time. Earlier in the day, the United States Supreme Court had ruled against Arizona’s ongoing fight to deny DACA recipients driver’s licenses. After we had an hour-long discussion with the group about their struggle to secure rights for DACA recipients, we helped them set up for a press conference about the big news. We were even standing in the background as a succession of speakers celebrated the victory, and also talked about the limitations of this victory. The overall tone was hopeful, as was the message on the ADAC shirts many wore: They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds. It was a lot to process, so we were thankful for the opportunity to talk to James Garcia over dinner at a cozy Mexican restaurant. Having witnessed a lot of changes in Arizona, he told us about the trauma caused by the 2010 SB 1070 bill, which among other things mandated that police check immigration status during regular stops, and also seemed to encourage racial profiling. According to Garcia, this racist law earned Arizona the title of ‘the new Alabama’. However, as national attention has shifted elsewhere, Arizona has made strides to undo the problems wrought by the law. Now, there are encouraging trends of female and Latinx representation at all levels of power in Arizona. Our guest was so busy answering our questions that he hardly touched his spinach enchilada. AuthorAlonso Perez-Putnam Welcome to Arizona! After a journey from Princeton to the Philly Airport to the Phoenix Airport, we have made it to AZ! After spending the night at the home of one of our leaders, Matt, we enjoyed the sun! On Sunday, we didn't plan to meet with any community partners, so we had some time to enjoy ourselves and explore a bit! After we ate breakfast, we hung out in the back yard, enjoying the sun and tasting some fresh Arizona lemons. Some of us played some basketball as well, and others lounged around, simply taking in the beauty of the new day. Later in the morning, some of us decided to go to a religious service. We attended Christ's Church of the Valley. For some of us, this was something that we were used to doing every week, and for others, this was the first time experiencing a different form of worship than we were used to. Each of us learned something new and took something different away from the experience. Spring Training is in full swing (ha) here in Phoenix, so a few of us decided to take in a game! We watched the Miami Marlins take on the Cleveland Indians. The Marlins took a tough loss, but we enjoyed it nevertheless. After checking in with our host site (Shadow Rock United Church of Christ), it was time to grab some groceries for the week. We headed to Wal-Mart, and somehow managed to make grocery shopping quite the bonding experience. Sunday night meant one thing. SALSA DANCING. Basically, none of us knew what we were doing, so we got a lesson from the only person in our group who was competent. After that, we headed to a dance hall to show off what we learned. That really boiled down to us tragically trying to dance while watching the other people there that had just finished a lesson. We had a great time though! The last thing we had for Sunday was dinner! The crew took charge of the kitchen and made a FANTASTIC meal. On the menu was tacos, complete with homemade salsa, guac, and black beans. A fun family meal was the perfect end to a great day. Andra Turner '19
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