Thread: La Prensa: Immigration and Diaspora

Immigration and Diaspora

By Rebecca Marcus and Alison Ecker
University of Oregon
August 22, 2008


(Editor’s Note: A University of Oregon class of 15 students, headed by Edward Olivos of San Diego, spent a week at the Tijuana/San Diego border for a week of hands-on training and understanding on the issue of immigration. During the week, students spent time on both sides of the border, helping with relief efforts and interacting with immigrants.


We invited the students to share with our readers their experience and their perspective on the immigration issue.)

When most people think of Tijuana and college students, what comes is mind is tequila, parties, and wild abandon. Who would believe it then that a university professor would lead a class to this infamous party town with actual educational intent?

We are two seniors from the University of Oregon, both coming from families that are generations removed from the immigration experience. Between the two of us our fields of study include geography, environmental studies, ethnic studies and Italian. So what drew us to a class on immigration and diaspora?

When we found out an education studies class was going to be offered as a week-long intensive field studies course in San Diego and Tijuana, we jumped at the opportunity to learn first-hand a piece of the immigrant story.



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The 11 Uuniversity of Oregon students at Chicano Park with muralist Salvador Barajas.
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My (Rebecca) interest in immigration comes from researching Russian and Ukrainian immigrants and refugees in Oregon through the Department of Geography. I chose to take this class because I wanted to learn about a different immigrant story, one I could not relate to, that of Latinos coming to the U.S. I wanted to humanize the immigrants I too often look at only as statistics and to meet the people and organizations that support these immigrants in their journey.

As an ethnic studies major (Alison), I found out about this class almost right away through a department email, and was one of the first students to sign up. I love my field of studies, which allows me to study diversity issues and gain a new understanding and cultural awareness of minority groups. I had not studied immigration issues in depth, especially relating to Latinos, but it was a topic that I was extremely interested in, and a group of people that I have had the most contact with in my own community. But probably the most important and appealing aspect of this class was the fact that it was a hands-on experience to take place in San Diego and Tijuana. I felt like this was a unique opportunity to make the immigrant experience real, one that I just couldn’t miss.

Our home state of Oregon, especially the Western part, is often thought of as white, liberal and less touched by immigration than the Mexican border-states of California, Arizona, and Texas. However, immigration is becoming more real to many Oregonians, drawing strong voices from all sides of the issue due to the increasing immigrant population in the state.

The strong emotions surrounding this topic are present even among students, surfacing in one incident when an article was published in the student newspaper highlighting the immigration research by a university professor. The article drew heavy criticism and racist comments simply because of its headline, which called the city of Woodburn (north of the capital of Salem), a “Little Mexico,â€

Students in the Spanish classes at Florida Gulf Coast University go to the Dominican Republic annually on their spring breaks. But they go there to help the centers which serve as safe-havens for the street kids, who are from poor families that cannot afford to feed them. These students did everything from painting the centers to teaching the kids about the dangers of AIDS and the importance of self-esteem as sexual abuse of these street kids is rampant.
These FCGU students seem much more worthy of acclaim than UO, as we have enough taxpayer studies of everything, including the flight patterns of the Frisbee.

You don't have to go to Mexico to hear sad excuses as to why someone broke the law, just go to your local jail. I worked at a jail for three years and only met one guilty man, but he had a good excuse as to why he broke the law but the judge explained to him "poverty is not an excuse to break the law!"

It is time our government enforce the law equally on immigrants and citizens alike,if they did we wouldn't have this problem.

If they actually got to study American History they might learn alot about immigration and stories than make some of these a walk in the park...stories where people endured alot worse and came here for freedom......not job services. Who came here for a chance with no guarentees and didn't have food banks and hospitals and free education and everything else handed to them. Then they might understand why these people aren't true immigrants and amnesty for millions is a slap in the face to all those who came the right way and would never demand anything or fly a foreign flag here.

Ask your true 'native American, the Indians, how well uncontrolled immigration worked out for them.

The law should be applied EQUALLY and fairly to Citizens and law breakers alike. Refusing to enforce the law is the way to ruin for ALL people.

Berretta said it best, " If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.