Ten students and two teachers ventured to the United States - Mexico border this past week over Spring Break to volunteer their recess from education in service to the underprivileged migrants at the Kino Border Initiative in Nogales, Arizona.

The trip’s two chaperones were theology teacher Rob Garavaglia and math teacher Fernando Alvear, neither of whom had been on the trip before.

“My wife is a theology teacher at Cor Jesu, and my daughter was a student at Notre Dame High School,” said Garavaglia. “And they went on the trip in the fall to attend a joint mass between Mexican and United States bishops at the border. And so they told me about it, and that led me to really want to go visit the border myself and learn more about it. And so that's why I volunteered for this trip.” 

“The first reason I decided to go was that, in Chile, I worked with the Jesuit Refugee Service,” said Alvear. “We worked with migrants that were coming from Peru, Haiti, and Bolivia, and I found that work incredibly meaningful and necessary. The second reason was Ms. (Kate) Toussaint had come and talked to me and shared with me how good this experience was.” 

The reasons students signed up were numerous, but two main lines of thought were evident: language immersion and service.

“I wanted to sign up for this trip because I've been taking Spanish ever since seventh grade, and then I found that there was a trip to Mexico where I could use my Spanish,” said freshman Max Rankin. “I also found out that it was a service trip, and I love serving others. That is what God calls every person to do: to be men and women for others, even in the toughest times.” 

While in Nogales, the had a wide array of experiences.

“One day, we toured in Nogales, Arizona, just to get a feel for what was taking place in the US around the border,” said Garavaglia. “Another day, we toured Nogales, Mexico, which is the same city, divided by wall, on the Mexican side. We took a hike through the desert where a lot of people would cross, and some would die, and we met with somebody who was organizing a sanctuary movement that started in a church in Tucson, Arizona. Most of the time, though, we were at the Commodore at the Kino Border Initiative, serving breakfast or lunch. We also were able to visit with people, play with their children, and participate in some of the activities like a bread making class.”

One of the most interesting things the group did while at the border was attend a United States deportation hearing.

“It was a last-minute opportunity,” said Garavaglia. “We met with somebody who was a former ICE member and a part of border control. However, because of the lack of funding in the federal government, the border control is short staffed, so they couldn't devote a longer time with us. 

So, we decided that we wanted to take advantage of the time we had here by adding a last minute visit to the deportation hearing. We were able to meet with members of the defense, and we also got to meet with the judge who answered our questions. So it was really an in-depth look at the world of deportation.” 

More than just completing tasks to certify a global education credit however, those who went on the trip had their eyes opened to the complex world of immigration law and the trials and tribulations people face trying to enter the US.

“The most eye-opening moment of the trip for me was when we played a visa simulation game,” said Rankin. “The game showed us that you can only get a visa if you're coming here for a job or if you have family here, so the people who really need to come here to escape violence aren’t able to. This was especially impactful for me because I am a descendant of Irish immigrants who escaped the Irish potato famine, and if they were coming here today, they probably would not be able to come to the U.S. because of the lack of asylum.”

“Just listening to some of the people at the Initiative talking about tough decisions they have to make or worries they have, such as ‘Am I gonna be reunited with my family ever again?’ ‘

Is it safe to go to my homeland in Mexico because of drug cartels?’ and ‘I'm sick, but I don't have access to healthcare because I am now in Mexico, and I don't have status here yet.’ was the most moving thing for me,” said Garavaglia. 

One other crucial part of what the group learned on their trip was the effects of the policies of the current presidential administration on those in need at the border.

“I met a family with a couple of kids who had arrived in the U.S. a year earlier,” said Alvear. “

They were waiting on their turn to seek asylum in the U.S. because the app that the migration services created got shut down the day that President Trump took office. They were waiting patiently for their turn until that became an option. So, for me, talking with this family and playing with their kids gave me a perspective of how hard it is for them. They had come from a very violent place in Mexico and were looking for a better place to live, but they were having the door shut in their face.”

In the end, students and teachers alike came away with important lessons about what it really means to be a disciple of Christ and how that can be lived out at St. Louis U. High.

“The biggest lesson that SLUH students can learn from places like Kino is that no matter how different someone is from you, it’s always necessary to see and treat them as a person, not something less than you,” said sophomore Santi Guzman.

The Kino Border Initiative was started by the Jesuits, and so it is founded in this idea of ‘How can we find God present and active, even in a very complicated, very polarized situation?’” said Garavaglia.

 “And so, if we're gonna really live out our judgment mission, we can't shy away from difficult issues; we have to try to learn and understand as best we can, and look at it from all different perspectives. 

“I'm going to say that the biggest lesson I learned was that it’s important to hear all sides of the story and get to know the people who are most affected by this,” said Rankin. “This was not a trip that tried to make us think one way or another about immigration. Instead, it exposed us to the stories of the people who are affected by immigration, whether it's ranchers on the border, people coming here for better opportunities, and or anyone else involved in the process. The truth is, as Father Boyle said in his book Tattoos on the Heart, you should want to experience things like immigration rather than just take positions on them, because when you take positions on something but don't get to experience it, you're probably going to live the rest of your life like a fool.”