Menlo Borderlands- El Paso 2024

Dear Family and Friends, Last night, the group bonded more than we have all trip with a game of truth or truth. We shared many heartfelt moments and funny memories, concluded with a coke can exploding on a tree! On our last morning of the trip, we were able to work with kids who had immigrated into the United States in the last 48 hours. We drew pictures with them, danced, and played outside. For many of us, this experience was the highlight of the trip. We were able to hear many stories about the children's immigration experiences with their families and practice our Spanish (and Latin) skills. We also saw firsthand how bittersweet immigration could be for children and families. Next, we drove to the El Paso airport and had the opportunity to print boarding passes and walk immigrant families to TSA. Miraal might have saved four people's lives and Elianne might have worked faster and better than Google translate itself! We also saw a few of the same families that we had met dur

Hola Padres (y madres),  We had such an informative, busy, and cool (ironically very hot) day today. It all started with a beautiful hike (lol .5 walk) to the top of Rim Road to see a view of the border between El Paso and Juarez. We took some dope action shots, and also compared the style of architectures between towns. From there, we headed to Downtown El Paso to meet with Border Servant Corps, and saw the port of entry for immigrants. We learned about BSC's expansive support systems for new arrivals and walked to the entrance of the port of entry. Wow were we inspired by the commitment of BSC volunteers (in fact many of us want to come back and volunteer). As a little pit stop (because we get tired real easily) we stopped by El Paso famous Bowie's for delicious baked goods (pan dulce, cake, muffins, fresas con crema). We then headed to eat lunch in Chamizal National Park (with a frisbee game led by Brett and Declan). We took some time to learn about the Chamizal territorial

 Hi parents and guardians- Today was a full day of fun with the theme “Joy in the Borderlands.” Our schedule was so full that we didn’t get back to our lodging place with enough time for our student leaders of the day to write a full blog before their bedtime. Instead, we are adding tons of pictures from the day below for your enjoyment. Students got to see more of the Border culture by visiting a local Farmer’s Market, a museum about Farming & Ranching (big part of the culture) and White Sands National Monument to see the beauty and enjoy some sand dune sledding. Your kiddos have been respectful, inclusive and engaged. Tomorrow we go right back to more educational content, with a visit to the Border Wall and a Point of Entry to the US.  Our student leaders of the day still wanted to send their individual shoutouts: Malia: Hi mom and dad, I miss you guys and I hope you have fun during Memorial Day. Tell Kellan and Ry I say hi. I’m having the best time, and I can’t wait to tell you

 Dear friends and family,     ¡Hola de Las Cruces! Today (some of us) woke up bright and early at 6:30am before we all ate breakfast and headed out to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico in downtown Las Cruces. We watched nearly 3 hours of criminal court proceedings, ranging from probation violation to Entry Without Inspection prosecutions. Watching the dozens of immigrants facing legal actions was emotional but also very eye-opening. One man came to the U.S. because he wanted to work to pay for his mother's surgery bills, and his testimony had to be remotely translated from his indigenous language from central Mexico. Afterwards, we got to interview the judge about his decades on the bench in New Mexico, from trying tribal cases in state court to sentencing federal crimes as a magistrate judge now. The rest of the day was spent exploring and shopping in the historic Old Mesilla. We later met a public defender that works extensively with immigration cases, and we

Dear friends and family,  Today as trip leaders we were greeted by the local cat we named Chunky, when we woke up bright and early at 4:30am (Josh) and 7am (Alex and Ellie) to wake up our pals by screaming and pounding on the door. We went to breakfast at 8am where we had french toast, cereal, and bacon. Shortly after, we met Ashley, the immersion coordinator at BSC, who took us to the Hospitality Center where we made cards for the incoming immigrants and got a tour of the facility. Brett had a creative idea to make a Dr. Seuss card. Good job Brett! We had lunch at Santorini, a Mediterranean hot spot for NMSU students, where we bonded and played fun games together. Later on our journey we visited Weaving for Justice, hosted by a local church, where we learned about the many challenges the people of Chiapas, its partners, experience. There, several of us bought pieces of their art including bags, shirts and turtles. At around 2pm, we took a much needed brain break at Milagro's Coffe