For those of us who live in the states of California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas, we know something about the Mexican/United States border that other states don’t because the border is in our own backyard.  However, there are many issues revolving around the border that even people living in border towns might not realize.  As American Citizens, a drive across the border to get to a vacation spot is something we take for granted.  Besides the obvious reasons, the border affects many people’s lives as well as the environment.

Unlike most of the people headed south of the border for spring break 2009, I lead a group of nine Santa Clara students on an immersion trip to Arizona and Mexico to learn about something close to home, yet far away.  We met for a few months in advanced discussing articles about the border, the people crossing it, and immigration in general, but we were completely unaware about a lot of other ways the border affects life on both sides of the border.  We met with many groups on both sides of the border that are working together in an effort to make the border the most humane possible.

This hypertext is not stating my opinion on the construction of the wall or my stance on immigration.  I just wanted to share the knowledge I learned from my time in the borderlands and share different sides of the story as to how the wall affects different groups of people.

image borowred from http://www.borderag.com/images/border_states_map_roads.jpg