Mexico-U.S. Border Immersion Experience

(2 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This is the first part of a Catholicism and the Disciplines (CAD) seminar about immigration issues—especially those related to the México-U.S. border. For this part (two credits), we will meet in class to read and to discuss social scientific research about such topics as why migrants leave their home countries, what they encounter and experience when attempting to cross the border, the responses of U.S.-based citizen groups to unauthorized border crossings, and the effectiveness of current U.S. enforcement policies. We also normatively evaluate these responses and policies, particularly from a Catholic perspective (but also from other faith, non-religious perspectives). Lastly, we will process and reflect on our immersion trip to the Southern Arizona borderlands. (the co-requisite class, Mexico-U.S. Border Immersion Experience, requires separate registration and takes place over the semester's mid-term break), including discussing what a uniquely Catholic border policy would look like, strategies to raise awareness about what is going in these borderlands, and migration issues and responses to them in other parts of the world. Immersion Description: This is the second (experiential-learning) part of a Catholicism and the Disciplines (CAD) seminar about immigration issues—especially those related to the México-U.S. border. Like the first corequisite part (Mexico-US Border Seminar), students will receive two credits for successfully completing it. Over the semester's mid-term break, we will travel to the Southern Arizona borderlands for a weeklong immersion trip. Among the activities in which we will engage on the trip are: (1) observing Operation Streamline legal proceedings; (2) attending a humanitarian aid training; (3) touring a Border Patrol facility; (4) going to the border wall and learning about its environmental impact; (5) hearing from Catholic and leaders of other faith traditions about their social justice work along the border; (6) visiting Arivaca and Nogales to experience everyday life in a border community; and (7) participating in a Samaritans' humanitarian desert trip. Students will be notified about their acceptance status via email after submitting the application. There are fees associated with this seminar. This is a graded course.