A required educational field trip to Nogales, Sonora,
Mexico
with the non-profit educational organization BorderLinks will
add
an innovative and exciting dimension to this course. This full-day
excursion
will be tailored to our course topic and may include activities such
as:
orientation in Tucson at BorderLinks; interview with the US Border
Patrol
or Grupo Beta (Mexican Border Patrol); visit to a migrant
shelter/community
center; lunch with families in a colonia squatters' settlement; visit
to
a maquiladora; exercises such as a market basket survey comparing cost
of
living on both sides of the border; discussions with migrants and US
and
Mexican experts and officials about migration issues. The opportunity
for
this trip undoubtedly will enable us to bring home through an immersion
experience
many of the topics studied in the course.
As indicated on the ASUW Course Schedule, a fee of $75.00 per student
is
required
(check or money order made out to "BorderLinks," to be
collected
in
class by Feb. 9). A hired bus will transport us to and from Tucson,
about
$15-25
extra.
Please arrange your schedule and obligations to
enable you to attend this important part of the course!
BorderLinks Trip Schedule
Trip Leaders: Madre Alma, Brook, Holly and
Lauren
All times are approximate and all visits subject
to
change.
6:30 Bus departs
from ASU West campus for Tucson
8:30 Arrival and
orientation at BorderLinks, Tucson
9:00 Talk with Kat
Rodriguez from the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos
10:00 Depart for Nogales
11:30 Visit to US Customs and
Border Protection
12:30 Cross the border for
lunch with families
in the colonia Bella Vista and drive thru
Colonia
Kennedy
2:30 Depart for
Curtis, a maquiladora (foreign-owned
assembly plant), for a 3 pm tour with Rosario Roldan
4:00 Leave for the
Casa de la Misericordia (The
House of Mercy), BorderLinks' community center in Nogales, to go over
the
market basket survey, a cost of living exercise
5:00 Light dinner at
the Casa with Kiko Trujillo,
BorderLinks Mexico Executive Director, lifetime resident of Nogales who
worked
in the maquilas for years
6:00 Depart for the border
8:30 Bus from Tucson
to Phoenix
