On Wednesday morning PFFS-University students participated in a school-wide border immigration simulation (from BorderLinks) with 6th and 7th graders playing the role of family members in the Mexican countryside making economic/survival decisions to move north. Eighth graders played key support roles in the countryside, at the border and in the US. Several SRI ‘Winter Meeting’ participants joined us in the simulation.
After the border simulation and debrief with the students, the SRI ‘Winter Meeting’ visitors met with PFFS-U Principal Santo Nicotera to discuss their experience and participate in some Q&A about education issues at the US border with Mexico. Later they all met Dr. Anita Fernández (Prescott College/XITO Institute) at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Tucson to observe ‘Operation Streamline’. The observation of the US government’s deportation process and the debrief afterwards made a deep impact on everyone.
To learn more about US/Mexico border crossings read IN THE SHADOW OF THE WALL: Family Separation, Immigration Enforcement and Security – from the UA Center for Latin American Studies (discussion of Operation Streamline begins on page 29).
