California Immigration: Day 1

By Tommy and Henry:

Our first full day started with breakfast in the hotel lobby, but quickly got serious as we met with agents from the Border Patrol. They explained to us what their mission is and how they conduct it while we visited their local headquarters. We were shown the rooms where they monitor the border wall cameras and watched them process new detainees and witnessed firsthand the conditions that migrants are kept in, as well as the agents’ regard (or lack thereof) for their wellbeing. After this, we visited the border wall itself and learned how migrants scale the wall and attempt to evade agents in pursuit. We were rushed into vans and driven quickly to a major vehicle crossing point and watched as agents apprehended four people crossing the border illegally. We watched the people get detained, held at gunpoint, and told to march back across the border.

Once we concluded our meeting with the border patrol agents and ate a delicious authentic Mexican lunch, we met with locals from the city of Calexico. They took us on a walking tour of the city including community growth projects such as the local branch of the University of San Diego. One of our guides was a member of the city council who was elected to replace a member arrested for corruption. They detailed the level of corruption that the city council contained and how they refuse to fix basic community issues like a lack of public bathrooms in the city. We learned about migrant farm workers and how they travel across the border early in the morning and late at night after being bussed to and from American farms. We were told that large lithium deposits had recently been found nearby and detailed the legal fight currently ensuing between large mining companies wanting to dig up sacred grounds for profit. The day concluded with a trip to In-N-Out and some fun in the pool.