More on Purdue's Humanigration Program

You read about the Humanigration program at Purdue University in the June issue of La Voz. Christa Wessels talks a bit more with Maricela Alvarado, director of the University's Latino Cultural Center (LCC) and discusses the program's impact.

Christa Wessels: As I understand, the Latino Cultural Center has been taking students on the Humanigration trip with Borderlinks for three years now. What has been the greater impact on the Purdue community following the students attending this program?

Maricela Alvarado: As the director, I am privileged to see students grow on almost a daily basis so the trip is something that has really transformed students’ way of thinking, their identity, and leadership. A few of the Humanigration students are currently involved with the issues related to undocumented students attending higher education and being able to have a path to U.S. Residency. Their activism is contagious and thus other students seem inspired to learn more so student organizations have had movie screenings, speakers, and information tables set up in the student union to get the word out.

C.W: How does this fit into the bigger picture of undocumented students and their struggles and the DREAM Act?

M.A: I think we are beginning to see some of the fruits of our labor from the Humanigration trip because students seem to be more concerned with what their peers and their families are going through in regards to immigration laws. As students, some have the privilege of being a resident or citizen and those students are realizing that they have peers that do not have the day to day privileges that they sometimes take for granted. They are more conscious of the world outside of themselves and understand that they have to have a voice to affect change. Their leadership thus develops through their own initiatives and passion which I believe is something they need to do to transform their own leadership skills through action. In March, students have held several movie screenings, had speakers, and are traveling to Washington DC in support of the DREAM Act. What is wonderful about this is that most of this was initiated and planned out by the students themselves.

According to Maricela: "The title Humanigration was made up to reflect the experience students will have on the trip, by connecting human aspects to the legal (or illegal) aspects of immigration. The students will learn a great deal through first hand experiences such as an overnight stay with families in Nogales who live in Colonias, which is squatted land due to people migrating north to either cross the border or work at the maquiladoras (factories) and settle in the border town of Nogales. We will also visit maquiladoras which increased in numbers along the border when the 1994 NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) legislation was enacted. Many of the maquiladoras are U.S. owned/managed companies. All of the students are required to read "The Devil's Highway" by Luis Urrea, prior to the trip. This book is now used as part of the training for Border Patrol because it is an inside true account of what many people know as the Yuma 14, a group of migrants crossing the treacherous Sonoran desert, which is where the Humanigration participants will travel to. "

According to Alvarado, participants were also scheduled to meet with Mexican border security officials (Grupo Beta) and ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) officials on the U.S. side. They were also scheduled to "attend court proceedings regarding Arizona's "Operation Streamline" which is a faster deportation process through the courts." Alvarado also said the group would meet with Mike Wilson, "arepresentative of the Tohono O'Dom reservation to talk about the immigration issues that affect reservation land and people. We'll also be able to do a short desert walk to have a better idea of what people experience walking in the desert while they cross the border."

Alvarado says budget cuts have forced the university to limit participation to five students this past spring, down from an average of 11 in past years. The program, now in its third year, will be expanded into a class next spring (2011) in the Latin American and Latino Studies Department.

For more information on the Humanigration program, visit the Purdue University LCC website.