Immersive Learning Trip

We all have a migration story.

Every individual that lives in the United States has been impacted or engaged in immigration in one way or another.

Whether through forced migration (as in the kidnapping and enslavement of African peoples during the Atlantic slave trade or the displacement of Indigenous peoples as in the Trail of Tears), or through chosen migration, in which people self-select to move away from their country of origin, the transition and journey is often full of uncertainty, fear, and danger.

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What does that mean for those of us who have come through to the other side of that experience?

What role do we have in creating more humanity and safety at different points along that path?

What responsibility do we have to care for those currently navigating that journey?

How do we provide them with access to knowledge and resources that will guide them to a successful transition?

These are some of the questions we grappled with during our annual Board retreat. As a foundation committed to high engagement grantmaking, we believe that our deepest impact can only come if we are proximate to the work we support.

For our most recent trip, the JGF Board and select staff went on immersive learning experience to the Arizona/Mexico Border. The purpose of the trip was to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the work as part of our Immigration & Human Rights portfolio. The trip was curated by our grantee partner, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’ Rights and they did a wonderful job of replicating at a very high-level, the experience of the journey someone would make when they arrive at the border to seek asylum in the US.

We started out by crossing the border into Mexico to meet with an organization named Kino Border Initiative (KBI)– they provide essential services to families as they arrive on the Mexico side such as showers, a hot meal, and a fresh set of clothes. These families have already been through a treacherous and traumatic journey over thousands of miles, mostly by foot. KBI offers support in navigating the asylum request process and helps them prepare to cross the border into the US and navigate the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) process. Our group did some volunteering while there and served lunch to the families that were temporarily residing at the shelter.

As I ladled salsa onto plates, I couldn’t help but think of my own children, and how I too, would travel to the end of the earth for their safety.

We also visited several detention centers, which is where folks end up to either wait for their asylum hearings or wait to be deported back to their home countries. This was a very heavy and emotional experience as we had several folks in our group who had family members or they themselves, were detained and/or deported from these facilities. 

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As we stood on the sidewalk outside of a maximum security detention center we shared stories and held space to care for our team; officials from the institution threatened to detain our entire group. The exchange brought to life the harsh reality of our national attitude toward migrants as problems to be solved instead of people in need of care and dignity.

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