Author: garciay

Whether it was Sarah’s loud, musical burps, Maggie’s cat noises, the uncountable times our ASB team has bonded on a personal level, or the amount of insight we have gained dealing with all aspects of immigration in the United States. I thought I was decently informed about the issue before the trip, but it turns out that I was vaguely educated.

For starters, San Juan, Texas was very welcoming. I felt at home seeing a vast population of Hispanic people, reading signs in Spanish, feeling the warm, invigorating weather, and – most importantly – eating homemade Mexican food! I appreciated the fact that our learning partner, John-Michael Torres, who works for the non-profit organization LUPE (La Unión del Pueblo Entero) we partnered with, taught us about immigration in the US without sounding politically biased.

I won’t forget the march we did on Martin Luther King Day (how convenient :) ), which was to celebrate and accept individuals of different races, economic backgrounds, citizenship status, and sexual orientation. I was dumbfounded when I realized that it currently takes up to more than 10 years to be granted citizenship/residency here, especially in terms of marriage. Also, I did not realize how privileged and lucky I am after hearing stories from undocumented immigrants who live in “colonias” and strive to attain a college  education.

Witnessing “colonias,” low income communities established outside city limits with large populations of migrant workers, was eye-opening to me. I thought it was cruel and inhumane to see that undocumented immigrants do not have proper plumbing and electricity nor someone to pick-up their trash. The whole time I pondered, “This is the United States?” I honestly felt like I was in a third-world country. It is inspiring that immigrants still try to make the best out of their lives here.

I am eternally grateful for being part of this service-learning project, but I know I can do more by educating students on campus or spreading the word about the impoverished lifestyle in colonias. I hope our team will be able to bring all the experiences we had with LUPE to Lafayette.

Yanel Garcia

January 14, 2013

There are only five days left until I embark on a memorable, educative journey. I have longed to have an opportunity to learn about immigration reform and immigrant rights in the borderline between Mexico and the United States. The reason being is that I come from a Mexican-American background, and both of my parents are immigrants from Mexico. Going to San Juan, Texas will allow me to meet and interact with Texas residents/immigrants of my same ethnic background and understand the immigration that occurs in the US-Mexico border wall.

My parents’ process of legal immigration to the United States went smoothly and appropriately. However, through my young-adult life, they shared past stories with me about friends and family coming to the United States from Mexico illegally, all in search for a better life. I have also been told stories from former classmates in high school that they witnessed US Immigration being cruel to Mexican immigrants and that they struggled to make it alive as they hitchhiked from Mexico with their families.

After being told these interesting yet heartbreaking stories, I asked myself, “What can I do to be well-informed about this social issue?” and “What can I do to promote equal rights for them?”

The moment I read through the application for ASB Texas, I knew this trip will fulfill my aspiration of knowing the lives of Mexican immigrants in other specified locations, besides my hometown Chicago, and helping them in any way to impact their lives; I simply took the “Cur Non?” initiative.

After this trip ends, I hope I return to Lafayette with the mentality that I was somehow a role model to my family and the Mexican-American community for sticking to my roots and treating immigrant rights as a topic I am devoted to.