Los Papeles No Trabajan The Papers Don’t Do the Work

Photo by Michelle Yang Donald Hones & Persida Cifuentes

Photo by Dalinda Melo Guzman Photo by Dalinda Melo Guzman

Ellos tienen papeles, yo no. Pero los papeles would have used up their water supply by of these children have crossed the border no trabajan. / They have papers, not me. the time they reached this pass, and they themselves. For teachers and other educa- But the papers don’t do the work. would still have two-to-four days of walk- tors, the Supreme Court decision of Plyler —Mario Jimenez, deported to Agua Prieta, Sonora (August, 2010) ing in the desert in front of them. v. Doe (1982) has set the precedent that all Lying on the ground, amidst the children in the United States are entitled In the Desert jumble of empty bottles and bits of cast-off to a public education, regardless of their clothing, was a black backpack in good con- immigration status. It was just a few hours after sunrise dition. Inside were the usual folded black Nevertheless, undocumented immi- in the Sonora Desert, but the day was al- garbage bag and a toothbrush—nothing gration remains a highly polarizing issue, ready promising to be a hot one. Bernardo, more. We called out: and the struggles of immigrant children Jessica, and I (Donald Hones) had been and their families often takes a back seat to Fernando! Jose nos mando! Tenemos agua, following the migrant trail along a dry y comida, y medicina. Si necesitas algo, nos political posturing. It is an act of both cour- watercourse for about an hour, climbing avise! / Fernando! Jose sent us! We have age and solidarity for teachers to provide steadily up into the hills, searching for any water, food, and medicine. If you need support for undocumented children and signs of Fernando. My two companions had anything, let us know! their families. But it is also a moral duty been here the previous afternoon, but we supported by international human rights There was no answer, save the wind whis- wanted to go further now, all the way to agreements signed by the United States. tling through the rocks. the top of the pass described to us by Jose, The following research study does not Fernando may have met up with an- another migrant, the spot where Fernando suggest specific ways to teach English to other group, and made his way out of the had been left behind by his coyote. non-native speakers. What it does is raise desert. He may have been picked up by the Bernardo, a recently retired police- questions about how we serve and support border patrol and taken back to Mexico. Or man, had taken down the explicit details the children and families who arrive in our he may have been claimed by the desert, of the terrain and description of Fernando: schools and communities with or without leaving behind his bones like thousands a 62-year-old man, balding with some papeles, “papers,” documentation of their of men, women, and children who have white hair, black shirt, blue jeans, black legal entry into the country; about how much attempted this crossing in recent years. backpack. We reached the top of the pass, we will tolerate the abuse, neglect, and death As volunteers with the humanitarian and looked south across a long valley to the of men, women, and children who attempt group, No More Deaths, we would probably mountains on the Mexican border, perhaps to cross our border with Mexico; and about seven miles away. Many border crossers never know. We only knew that we needed to put out more water along the trails, in the hopes that those who were thirsty The photographs accompanying this article were Donald Hones is a professor would find it. taken by Dalina Melo Guzman and Michelle in the College of Education and Human Services Yang along the Mexico-Arizona border. The at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Entitled to Public Education photographs show the landscape of that region, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. participants at the No More Deaths camp near Persida Cifuentes is an educational assistant Schools across the United States serve Arivaca, Arizona, and several artistic expressions at Friends School of Minnesota, children from families that have crossed on the Mexican side of the border wall. Minneapolis, Minnesota. the U.S. border without documents. Some

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 2 Los Papeles No Trabajan The Papers Don’t Do the Work

Donald Hones & Persida Cifuentes

Photo by Dalinda Melo Guzman

The Border, Human Rights, & Lessons for Teachers of Immigrant Students

how we will see ourselves as Americans, an the other author is an immigrant from time, many other Mexicans journeyed oft-called “nation of immigrants,” in an era Guatemala, now a citizen of the United north to the United States to find work where immigrants are so readily demonized States, who works as a teaching assistant in the growing economy of places such as by politicians and media. These are ques- and is on the board of directors of a Latino California, Arizona, and elsewhere. After tions that teachers, and all members of a Community organization in the Minnesota 1929, the onset of an economic depres- community, need to address. Twin Cities. sion, coupled with anti-Mexican hysteria, This study describes our involvement We gathered, edited, and now pres- resulted in hundreds of thousands of with a humanitarian organization on the ent these stories about the humanitarian Mexicans being forcibly deported, some of Arizona border with Mexico, and what crisis on the Arizona border. Following the whom were actually American citizens. we learned from our conversations with stories, we suggest ways in which educa- Then the Bracero Program brought ranchers, border patrol agents, Mexican tors and others can utilize border studies thousands of guest workers to the United officials, and the migrants themselves. to engage their students and colleagues, to States during and after World War Two. In We begin with a brief history of the border better inform themselves, and to begin to 1986 the Immigration Reform and Control area, an area that has witnessed a tremen- ask fundamental questions about who we Act allowed for three million undocument- dous flow of undocumented immigrants want to be as a nation and how we propose ed immigrants to regularize their status through the Sonora Desert in Arizona. to get there. and pursue citizenship, while also expand- Next, we chronicle the work of organi- ing the Border Patrol, an organization that zations working to face this humanitarian A Brief Border History had its origins in the Texas Rangers. crisis, groups such as No More Deaths, In 1994, shortly after the passage of that have developed the concept of civil People have lived in the U.S.-Mexi- the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement initiative—the responsibility to assist vic- can border region for thousands of years. (NAFTA) between the United States, tims of human rights violations when the Many native peoples, such as the Tohono Mexico, and Canada, the United States government itself is the violator. Civil O’odham, still inhabit both sides of the bor- began Operation Gatekeeper, which, along initiative includes placing water along der in the Sonora Desert region. The pres- with Operation Hold-the-Line, effectively trails, providing medical assistance, and ence of today’s security fences, high-tech shut down popular border crossing points documenting abuses at border stations for watchtowers, and fleets of border patrol in California and Texas. As the 1990s came returned migrants. vehicles is the latest physical manifesta- to a close, and as undocumented immigra- Using methods of narrative in- tion of a political boundary established tion increased due to a worsening economic quiry (Clandinin, Davies, Huber, Rose, & in 1848. In that year, through the Treaty situation in much of Mexico, the border has Whelan, 2001; Hones, 1998; Polkinghorne, of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States been increasingly sealed off by fences and 1995), we present immigrant stories from expanded greatly its western territory at patrolled by armed agents of the Border the border area, with all names changed the conclusion of a war against Mexico. Patrol (Nevins, 2002). to protect confidentiality. We recognize our Together with the Gadsden Treaty of 1853, The main gap in this border control own perspectives influence this research: this established the current boundary remains in southern Arizona, where One author is a teacher educator, born in between the United States and Mexico. the Sonora Desert provides what many the United States, who has worked exten- Through these treaties, over 100,000 thought would be a natural barrier to sively with refugee and immigrant groups; Mexican citizens found themselves within undocumented immigration. Yet, despite the boundaries of the United States. Over

FALL 2012 3 Bird Camp Located about one-half hour from the town of Arivaca, Bird Camp sits close to some established migrant trails which follow routes from Sasabe, on the border, to Highway 19 and Tucson. Volunteers typically go on a morning and afternoon patrol each day. Trucks are loaded with water, and members of each patrol bring a GPS, a cell phone, maps of the area, and a medical kit. Each patrol member car- ries extra water and food packets for any migrants who may be encountered. Participants must be physically fit and capable of walking eight-to-10 miles daily in temperatures that can reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The camp is equipped with a medical tent and supplies, in order to provide first aid to migrants. Medical Photo by Dalinda Melo Guzman conditions seen at the camp typically range from large blisters on feet, to insect and the desert and the mountains and the high Civil Initiative animal bites, to diarrhea, dehydration, and cost of the journey (up to $3,000 per person On arrival in Tucson, volunteers with heat exhaustion. for the crossing), hundreds of thousands of No More Deaths attend an orientation Mexicans, Central Americans, and others where they learn about border history, le- On the Border: continue to enter the United States each gal issues, medical issues they are likely to Perspectives and Testimonies year through this dangerous land. Migrant encounter in the desert, and the organizing death data compiled by the Pima County principle of No More Deaths, civil initia- Alternative Spring Break, Forensic Science Center in Arizona sug- tive. Civil Initiative is a concept that has Sonora Desert, March, 2010 gests that, although numbers of border grown out of the humanitarian response, In March, 2010, I (first author) re- crossings have decreased substantially in first to the influx of refugees from Latin turned to the desert with a group of univer- the past two years, the number of deaths America in the 1980s, and now to the crisis sity students for alternative spring break. remain high (No More Deaths, 2011). posed by hundreds of thousands of men, After a 36-hour odyssey through airports women, and children crossing through in the Midwest, mountain states, and Pa- Humanitarian Aid in the Desert dangerous desert terrain in order to get cific coast, we arrived in Tucson and were into the United States. Millions of Mexicans, Central Ameri- sent southward to our camp. This camp, Civil Initiative differs from Civil Dis- cans, and others have attempted to cross on national forest land, was reached by a obedience in that, rather than consciously into the United States through increasing- one-hour ride up a rocky, semi-developed breaking a law that is morally wrong, those ly hostile terrain in the last decade (Scharf, road that threatened to seriously damage engaged in Civil Initiative seek to protect 2006; Urrea, 2004). As deaths in the desert our rented vans. the human rights of immigrants, when the have grown, various humanitarian organi- When we reached the camp we were government has been the violator of those zations have stepped in to provide water, so excited to be on solid land again that rights (No More Deaths, 2009). No More food, and medical assistance to migrants we didn’t notice the forest service vehicle Deaths and affiliated organizations seek to who are in distress. These organizations approaching in the distance. The forest provide humanitarian aid in settings where include Humane Borders, the Samaritans, service agent got out, walked over to us, the government is failing to do so, as well and No More Deaths. and asked us what we were doing there. as raise public awareness regarding the Each organization puts out water at I said, “We are volunteers. We plan to do tragic and often abusive realities facing im- certain spots along the migrant trails. humanitarian work this week.” migrants in the border region (Bhemji, 2009; No More Deaths also maintains a desert “Well,” replied the agent, “If you plan Michalowski, 2007; Scharf, 2006). camp during the summer months, and on putting out any water along these trails No More Deaths relies on volunteers to sends out foot patrols to walk the trails I am telling you now that I will slash the provide on-site humanitarian aid at border and maintain remote water drops. The bottles and return the water to the desert. stations where immigrants are returned organization also helps maintain aid sta- If you place plastic gallons on these trails to Mexico; to maintain a desert camp, with tions at border crossing points in Nogales you are littering and subject to fine and food, water and medical supplies; and to and Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico. The work arrest. I need to see some identification undertake daily patrols along migrant of No More Deaths has been discussed in from everyone here.” trails, setting out gallon jugs of water, and books and the organization’s documenta- “What if we don’t show you our ID?” looking for any migrants who may be in tion of the violation of human rights has asked one of the long-term volunteers. distress. Each of these sites is ideal for hu- been presented before Congress (Castillo, “That is fine. If any of you don’t want man service providers, especially those with 2011; Regan, 2010). to show your ID, just go stand over there. some medical training or some fluency in The following descriptions of the You will be under arrest.” the Spanish language. organization’s activities are drawn from My students looked at me. I knew the personal experiences of the authors. this agent had no basis to arrest us, as we hadn’t done anything. Nevertheless, I

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 4 thought of the promises I had made to my As the agents walked off, Wilson said us that several of his brothers are also students’ parents, that they would be safe to us: “I learned that from my dad. He employed on the farm, but that many of and out of trouble. We had literally just said that whenever you are stopped by his wife’s relatives refuse to do such work. arrived. I handed over my ID. Everyone the police or the military, try to get them He explains, else followed suit. The forest service agent to laugh. That way they aren’t as likely to Ellos tienen papeles, yo no. Pero los papeles took down the information from everyone hurt you.” no trabajan. / They have papers, not me. in our group, then handed the IDs back, But the papers don’t do the work. told us to take down the camp, as it had Agua Prieta Border Aid Stations, been there over 14 days, and left. August, 2010 When migrants are picked up by the We headed back down that awful Border Patrol, they are held for perhaps 24 It is evening on the border. The crowds hours, and then turned over to Wackenhut, stretch of road for two or three more hours of school children who daily make the trek of driving to reach the long-established a private bus service which transports the across the line to Douglas, Arizona, are migrants to border crossings at places such Bird Camp, which sits on private land. now home with their families. Most of the The mood in my car was angry, but I was as Nogales, Agua Prieta, and Naco. During ambling vendors have also disappeared peak season crossings four or five years very proud of our students. They kept their from the border zone. From the rubble cool, and dedicated themselves to making a ago Nogales saw 3,000 returning migrants of the adjacent lot we have watched the in a day. Migrants must walk back across difference during their stay in the desert. sun set gloriously behind the Huachuca Our group from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the border, often without having been given Mountains in the west. much food and water since their arrests, defied stereotypes: all of the students were Now, inside the Centro de Migracion, either immigrants themselves or children and typically with untreated medical needs. just over the line in Agua Prieta, Mexico, No More Deaths, the Mexican Red Cross, of immigrants. We were a group of four we sit and chat with Mario Jimenez. He Mexican Americans, one Guatemalan and other Mexican support groups have has dark hair, dark brown skin, brown established aid stations at these border American, two Hmong Americans, one eyes, and a serious expression on his face Lebanese American, and one Israeli Ameri- crossings in order to provide needed first that only occasionally breaks into a smile. aid, as well as food and water, to migrants. can. By our third day in camp Ma Lee, He wears a red Chivas cap, broken down whose parents had navigated the danger- There are also some shelters provided for shoes, and clothes soiled by days of travel men, women, and children migrants. ous jungle paths out of Laos, was leading in the desert. He has lived in the United patrols. On one of these patrols we had At the Men’s shelter in Agua Prieta States for years, but returned to Michoacan we meet Guadalupe from Guatemala. He returned to the dirt trail and were waiting for his mother’s pancreas operation. He has to be picked up, when two border patrol is about 60, with graying hair and serious been trying for two months to cross back eyes, the elder statesman of the men at the agents approached, their rifles drawn. We over. Border politics has separated him greeted them. One said, “We thought you shelter, and he is quite reserved when we from his mother and now his daughter. first meet him. He warms up considerably were illegals until we heard you laughing.” Yesterday Mario arrived at the Centro Wilson, a young man whose parents when he learns Persida is also from Guate- in need of food, water, and medical atten- mala, and they began a happy conversation had immigrated from Guatemala, smiled tion for blisters. Tonight he is more relaxed and asked the agents: “Do either of you about the country that they both love, the and ready to talk about his home in Cali- nation they had to leave. know any White guy jokes? Because we fornia, where he lives in a nice house with have been telling jokes about Latinos, and We learn that Guadalupe is a former his wife and daughter on the huge farm in newspaperman who was detained after Asians, but we don’t know any White guy the San Joaquin Valley where he works. jokes.” crossing the border in an attempt to join He is a master of mechanized cultivation his children living in the United States. The agents looked at him, and one, and can operate and maintain any of the who was Latino himself, cracked a small We also learn he is an artist. After our machines necessary to produce a wide first visit we go shopping at the Walmart smile. “Nope,” he said. “We got to get going. variety of vegetables and fruits. He tells We are in the zone.” in Douglas, and return with paper and colored pencils for Guadalupe. With the grace and dignity of those who have few possessions, he thanks us. On our next visit he gives us two of his drawings, one containing a message, in English, of peace and cooperation between the peoples of the United States and Latin America.

Mariposa Crossing, Nogales, Sonora, July, 2008 It has been a quiet night at the Mari- posa truck crossing, at least for those of us hanging around the Mexican Cruz Roja/No Mas Muertes tent where water, a little food, and some first aid is available. We wait for the next Wackenhut bus full of returned immigrants to show up. Besides Gregg, Alfred and myself, the usual crowd is there: Mexican volunteers and coyotes occupy their ill-defined sepa- Photo by Dalinda Melo Guzman

FALL 2012 5 rate spaces, but they are close enough to them off the road, and when they left the car some will spend time in prison, and fami- exchange pleasantries and confuse those she was thrown to the ground and smacked lies traveling together will routinely be of us new to the border as we try to learn in the face. I listen to her, fixing her blisters, divided and sent back to border crossings who is who. There are a variety of children while Gregg takes down her testimony. This hundreds of miles apart. who come and go, mostly poorly dressed is the only answer we have for the degrad- Our brothers and sisters in Latin and some showing signs of drug addiction. ing treatment she has received. America first have to sadly accept that We occupy a rise, which turns into a A steady stream of trucks carrying there is no work and they cannot survive cliff across the street, where most of the goods rolls through the border all night economically in their countries. They bor- coyotes do their business. Below them, in long, south to north, south to north. row money for the trip, often putting up the canyon, a new series of walls and fences their houses as collateral. These are the is under construction, and powerful lights Persida Cifuentes’ Testimony telephone conversations overheard when shine throughout the night. On the far side from Nogales Centro, Sonora, March, 2010 such immigrants speak to those from the hills rise again. Away in the distance After spending five days with No More whom they have borrowed money: we spot a lone border patrol car. They, too, Deaths in Nogales, I have learned just how Don Jose, the migra caught me and I was are waiting for business. much the human spirit of these people has deported. Can you give me a little more Into this rather grim scene walks been harmed. I interviewed various people time to pay you everything back? Thank Esmeralda, a bright-eyed child in a beauti- who were deported from the U.S. to Nogales, you Don Jose, God bless you. ful pink dress, carrying her Princesas de Sonora for different reasons. I understood Disney coloring book and some colors. She People crossing the desert must survive from what I had seen and from the testimo- the harsh, inclement climate, hot, dry and tries to interest Julio, an aging drunk, to nies given that this is a war zone: the mili- color with her. Then Oswaldo, head of the dusty during the day and cold at night. tary presence, the humiliations, the verbal, The vegetation is spiky, and the terrain is Mexican volunteers, sends her to color with physical, and psychological abuses, and the me. We chat about the different princesses rocky and dangerous. They are threatened overall abuse of power by the authorities by animals such as coyotes, scorpions, and (Jasmine is my favorite) and which colors and others give a clear image of a violent to use. In this way we pass half an hour. rattlesnakes, and are in constant danger war of values waged against immigrants in from bandits, kidnappers, and drug dealers. When she skips off, Alfred comes over to the border area. tell me that while we were coloring, Esmer- The results of this journey are blisters As a witness to these violations I must as large as their feet, spines in their bodies alda’s mother, locally known as La Colocha, ask myself, where is the human spirit of has escorted two groups of people across from cactus, and bones bruised, sprained, those who represent the United States? and broken, often at the start of the jour- the border. On what basis do they have the authority The wind picks up just as two Wacken- ney when they must jump the wall. They to abuse and maltreat others for breaking end their journey with spirits as damaged hut buses arrive and we are inundated with an immigration law? What does a system about 80 returned immigrants, all hungry as their bodies from the mistreatment of justice mean when the violation of the received from bandits, authorities, and and thirsty, many with blisters. We work human right to defend oneself, to receive with a Guatemalan woman named Rosa. sometimes their own guides. medical assistance, and to be treated hu- During her journey in the desert Her feet are blistered, but she also suffers manely or simply receive a cup of water is from a bruised, painful blow to the face. In Marta came across a woman lying in a ignored and such violations tolerated? state of agony. She looked helplessly into the high wind the electricity goes out, and Marta, Lorena, Victor, and Salvador we work by the light of our headlamps. her eyes and watched her die. Marta told become wetbacks, criminals, deportees. me that “those eyes you cannot erase from Overcoming her fear and pain, Rosa These new names help erase their rights recounts to us her ordeal: her group had your mind.” When she turned the body over as human beings. If they are found crossing Marta discovered that the woman had died made it across the desert and into a waiting the desert they are in violation of immigra- vehicle. The border patrol gave chase, ran with her child of six months in her arms. tion laws, some receive criminal charges, Did they die of thirst? Did they die of ex- posure or from the bites of animals? Did this mother leave more children behind in Mexico or the U.S.? A few yards further along the trail was the body of a man. Was he the father of the child? Or perhaps another immigrant who wanted to help them? Did someone kill all three of them? These questions will prob- ably never be answered. Three more sets of bones are added to the long list that the desert has taken. Immigrants crossing the desert face border patrols, zetas (drug cartel), mules (drug carriers), coyotes, “guards” (who pro- tect them from the zetas at a price), com- mon criminals who will kidnap them for money, police dogs, and extremist groups such as the Minute Men. Mario describes his arrest by the bor- der patrol: Photo by Michelle Yang

MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION 6 They broke my clavicle when they de- tained me. I was hit with the butt of a rifle and fell to the ground. I got up and said that it hurt, and they told me to shut up, put on my backpack, and start walking. Immigrants will be detained, humili- ated verbally and physically, with the sole purpose of “teaching them the lesson”: Do not try to cross this border again. When they are put into the back of the border patrol vehicles, the so-called perreras or dogcatchers, immigrants suf- fer from the heat without air conditioning, from thirst because they are not given water, from lack of medical assistance, and from high speeds over very bumpy terrain. Ricardo recounts: They drove like crazy. Once they stopped Photo by Michelle Yang to chat with other border agents in an- other car while we waited in the stifling aim is to break the spirit of the individu- ing” in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife perrera. One young man was so sick that als charged with illegal entry. Our laws Refuge. These volunteers were caught he vomited on everyone packed tightly condemn those who enter this nation un- leaving sealed gallons of clean water along near him. Thus we arrived at the prison. documented and at the same time violate migrant trails notorious for immigrant Marta states that human rights as defined internationally. I deaths. In their court appearances, vol- was witness to these violations of human unteers have argued that humanitarian . . . in the prison it was air-condi- rights. assistance is not a crime. These court cases tioned and we were very cold. They Any one of us could be an immigrant have brought the group into the regional took our jackets from us and gave us some day. I am one myself. All of us are and national spotlight (Gandossy, 2009). dirty, lice-filled blankets. They gave human beings. What present do we want The need for humanitarian assistance us each a cold hamburger and we to forge for this generation? What future remains very high, and volunteers will find slept on our feet for lack of space. do we want to create for the next? that they will use all of their skills and develop new ones in this important work. Juana, age 13, described the detention Donald: I remember when my son For human service providers as well as center: Orion and I visited the immigration court institutions training them, there are some in the summer of 2009: the laughter of They put plastic handcuffs on us. They key issues to remember. Furthermore, the guards, the lawyers dressed in black hurt my wrists a lot because they were there are lessons in the border experiences so tight. fluttering about like so many crows, whis- for all educators. pering into the ears of their clients, the Rosalba described the coercion of signing judge’s seat set high above us all, cold and 1. Humanitarian assistance is not papers: distant. The immigrants themselves were against the law, but work with organizations They told me to sign a paper but would not so polite, thanking the judge after he was such as No More Deaths may be seen as let me read it first. They said only that if through with them, as they were about to controversial. This is the case at our uni- I didn’t sign I would spend up to a year in be led out in their chains. versity. Therefore, institutions interested prison. They said I could call my consulate Then two women among the prison- in providing service learning experiences on but what is the point if they are not going ers passed us. One looked directly at me the border may wish to go through organi- to do anything for us? with the eyes of a mother who was worried zations that are more overtly educational, about the fate of her children. I remember such as Borderlinks (www.borderlinks. Streamlining: The Dialogue turning to Orion and saying, that could be org). Borderlinks will provide an excellent Persida: From the detention centers your mother. Where have we landed as a introduction to the border issues, as well as 70 immigrants are chosen each day to go nation when mothers who try to feed their introduce students to the work of groups through “streamlining,” a rapid trial in children are led off in chains? such as No More Deaths. immigration court that will go on their Many of our summer volunteers had records. If caught crossing the border ille- Crossing Borders: their first border experience through gally again, they will be charged as felons. Suggestions for Educators Borderlinks. If you would like to bring The immigrants enter the courtroom with and Human Rights Advocates a group to the border, consider spring hands and feet chained. This scene brought break (March) or the summer months, as Undocumented immigration into the to my mind the days of slavery. In the these are the deadly months in the Sonora United States is a hugely controversial silence of the courtroom the only sound Desert, and volunteers will have a huge issue. Those who seek to take a humani- were the chains when the prisoners moved. impact. If you have some fluency in Span- tarian stand and participate in efforts As they were charged, their lawyers stood ish or some medical training, your skills to provide medical assistance, food, and behind them, translating, whispering the will be well-utilized in the border area. water to migrants may find their efforts correct answers to the judge’s questions. University Spanish language programs met with skepticism or outright opposition. As a citizen of the United States I feel and nursing programs could find that Indeed, since 2008, 15 volunteers with guilty for my part in this system whose some time spent on the border would be No More Deaths have been cited for “litter-

FALL 2012 7 beneficial to students and relatively inex- Boal, A. (1979). Theater of the oppressed. New pensive. York: Urizen Books. Castillo, M. (2011). Report: Border Patrol abuses 2. The border experience is a place for widespread. CNN, (September 22). Retrieved individual growth and reflection. We have at http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/22/us/border- found that it has had a tremendous impact patrol-allegations/index.html?iref=allsearch on our own perspectives regarding immi- Clandinin, D., Davies, A., Whelan, K., Huber, J. gration and on our teaching. For example, & Rose, C. (2001). Telling and retelling our stories on the professional knowledge land- in Minnesota and Wisconsin we prepare scape. Theory and Practice, 7(2), 143-156. teachers and human service providers who Fitz, M., & Kelley, A. M. (2011). The nasty ripple will work with the large Hmong, Somalian, effects of Alabama’s immigration law: H.B. 56 and Latino communities in our area. The is bad for the state and a losing strategy for border experience helps us to get a better its supporters. Center for American Progress glimpse of the trials and perseverance of (October 27). Retrieved at http://www.ameri- those Mexican and Latin American immi- canprogress.org/issues/2011/10/alabama_im- grants who have crossed through the desert. migration.html Gandossy, T. (2009). Man sentenced after leaving It also gives us some additional insight water bottles for immigrants. At http://www. into the dangerous crossing in Laos of the cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/13/arizona.immi- Mekong River, a journey made by many of grant.advocate/index.html the members of our Hmong community, as Hones, D. (1998). Known in part: The story, the well as the flight of Somalians through the teller, and the narrative researcher. Qualita- drought-stricken landscape of East Africa. tive Inquiry, 4(2), 225-248. Mathew, J., & DeVivo, D. (2006). Crossing Ari- 3. The impact of the border reaches zona: Where do you draw the line? A Rainlake into communities far to the north. As such, Production. Photo by Michelle Yang border issues would be ideal for social McIntyre, D. L., & Weeks, J. R.(2002). Environ- studies units and literature study groups mental impacts of illegal immigration on ics of the border after learning first-hand of secondary students or educational pro- the Cleveland National Forest in California. from their colleague Persida Cifuentes. Professional Geographer, 54(3), 392-405. fessionals. For example, in an upcoming Students investigated immigration issues Michalowski, R. (2007). Border militarization university course, we will compare Kao and laws, and presented their findings and migrant suffering: A case of transnational Kalia Yang’s The Latehomecomer (2008), through hand-made picture books, papers, social injury. Social Justice, 34(2), 62-76. about the Hmong refugee experience, and oral presentations and dramatizations. Nevins, J. (2002). Operation gatekeeper: The rise of Regan’s (2010) The Death of Josseline, the ‘illegal alien’ and the remaking of the U.S.- which begins with the death of a 14-year- Mexico boundary. New York: Routledge. We Are All Border Crossers old in the Arizona desert. No More Deaths (2009). Volunteer resource book. There is something universal about Tucson, AZ: No More Deaths. Some have called the struggle to defend No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes at www.no- the border crossing experience, something the human rights of undocumented workers moredeaths.org. that needs to be addressed and explored the new civil rights movement. Alabama No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes (2011). October by those of us who have not been com- has approved a law that criminalizes un- Newsletter. Tucson, AZ: No More Deaths. pelled to leave our native land. It can documented workers and their families to Polkinghorne, D. (1995). Narrative configura- increase our understanding of ourselves, such an extent that thousands have fled the tion in qualitative analysis. In J. Hatch & R. and provide us a sense of the everyday state, leaving furnished homes behind and Wisniewski (Eds.), Life history and narrative heroism present in our immigrant and classrooms empty of children (Fitz & Kelley, (pp. 5-23). Bristol, PA: Falmer. refugee communities, a heroism that Regan, M. (2010). The death of Josseline: Im- 2011). Florida is pursuing legislation that migration stories from the Arizona- Mexico should be acknowledged and honored. would deny in-state tuition to American borderlands. Boston: Beacon Books. citizens whose parents are undocumented 4. Curriculum that incorporates Scharf, D. (2006). For humane borders: Two (Vazquez, 2011). themes of justice, human rights, and what it decades of death and illegal activity in the Clearly, teachers are placed in the Sonoran Desert. Case Western Reserve Jour- means to be an “American” is appropriate front lines of the issue of undocumented nal of International Law, 38(1), 41-172. for children at all ages in school. The Line immigration. Teachers, which way will Schneider, W. (2006). Along the border, No middle Between Us: Teaching about the Border and you turn? Do you still believe in the idea ground. National Journal, 38(11), 60-60. Mexican Immigration (Bigelow, 2006) pro- Urrea, L. (2004). The devil’s highway. New York: of a nation of immigrants? Are you willing vides a variety of curriculum ideas, many Back Bay Books. to look past los papeles to see the human especially appropriate for middle and high Vasquez, M. (2011). U.S.-citizen children of im- being that stands before you? To what school. Crossing Arizona: Where do You migrants protest higher tuition rates. Miami lengths will you defend the human rights Draw the Line? (Mathew & DeVivo, 2006), Herald (October 23). Retrieved at http:// of your students and their families? What www.miamiherald.com/2011/1/23/2468655/ is a documentary film that combines the borders are you willing to cross? us-citizen-children-of-immigrants. perspectives of a variety of stakeholders html#ixzz1dL2YNIQU on the Arizona immigration debate with Yang, K. K. (2008). The latehomecomer: A Hmong emotion-laden scenes of migrants prepar- References family memoir. Minneapolis, MN: Coffee ing to cross, losing their way in the desert, Bhimji, F. (2009). Contesting/negotiating power House Press. and being taken into detention. It would and domination on the US-Mexico border. be appropriate for audiences from middle Cultural Dynamics, 21(2), 107-132. school on up. Bigelow, B. (2006). The line between us: Teaching At Friends School of Minnesota, teach- about the border and Mexican immigration. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools. ers in various grades have addressed top-

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