At the Respite Center, we have been working with a remarkable woman who I will call M.M. I think it is fair to call her nuestro jefe y mentor. One of her main objectives is that we understand the nuances and complexities of the "immigrant journey". Whenever possible, M.M. describes to us who is coming …
Los Traquerxs in the News
We want to thank Chris Goudreau for speaking to our team and writing this excellent piece for the Valley Advocate about the efforts of Massachusetts residents to take action on behalf of immigrants and asylum seekers. Halley Glier, a 22-year-old graduate student at Clark University from Shelburne Falls, is at the border now. She is …
Independence Day
At 8 am this morning, citizens of McAllen were already lining the streets in anticipation for the city's 4th of July parade. Inside the respite center just a block away, staff and volunteers were scrambling to make calls to maintain their flow of supplies and donations as drivers were cut off by the closed streets. …
Okay, So You Saw a Photo. Now What?
I'm grateful for the people who remind us not to exploit the most vulnerable in the pursuit of our political aims. I'm also grateful for the people who remind us that an appalling but humanizing image can rekindle our outrage over normalized atrocities. The needless deaths of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria …
Anticipations
Borders have always been political symbols. For years (long before Trump), politicians have offered images of immigrants storming the border to explain the high levels of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. In reality, most of the undocumented population is people who overstayed their visa—people who came in legally. Further, borders symbolically represent the limit to a …
La Posada: Becoming Refuge
A few weeks ago, I took a trip to Montreal, formerly known in the 1600s as Ville-Marie, or the City of Mary. The early Canadian settlement paid tribute to the biblical Mary for granting the colonists safe passage on the journey to North America. They built churches in her honor and spread the 'Good News' …
We need to know what’s going on
At our team's first meeting with professors Dr. Tim Downs and Dr. Sarah Mitchell, Tim initiated conversation by asking each of us to share why we were interested in this summer internship to the Southern Border. We each shared our thoughts, but collectively we shared a single sentiment: We need to know what is going …
Hello!
Thanks for being here! Please head over to the About page to read more about us, or follow us using the signup form on the right to be notified of new posts. We've also set up a GoFundMe through which your generous support will help us maximize our capacity along this trip. Stay tuned for …
Los Traquerxs 