Thread: Mexican children cross Texas border to attend school

30 January 2015 Last updated at 20:58 ET

Mexican children cross Texas border to attend school

By Thomas Sparrow BBC Mundo, El Paso, Texas

Febe Ara crosses the border every day to study in the US

Febe Ara lives in one country but goes to school in another.

This 16-year-old girl begins her day in Ciudad Juarez, in northern Mexico, before crossing one of the most active international borders in order to study in El Paso, Texas.

"I wake up about five in the morning, and I cross the bridge at about half past six," she tells the BBC shortly before her school day starts at the Lydia Patterson Institute, or La Lydia as it is more commonly known.

For her, changing countries every day has become a routine.

"We've gotten used to crossing the bridge, but when it's cold - wow! - it's worse because it's freezing and we have to get up early," she says.

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El Paso

It is one of those days today. Febe is sitting next to her brothers, Emanuel and Angel, at a very long table where her classmates are rushing to finish their English vocabulary homework, chatting loudly in Spanish and eating eggs and toast for breakfast.

A few minutes earlier, Febe had arrived at school with about 15 of her friends. They had all met at the border in Juarez, paid the four Mexican pesos (about 18 pence) required to cross each time, stood in a long line, shown their documents to the immigration officers and walked across the international bridge.

Like Febe, many of La Lydia's students have Mexican passports with a US student visa.

And like Febe, thousands of people every day cross the border between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.

According to US officials, in 2011 around 4.2 million pedestrians used the three bridges that link the two cities. El Paso is considered to be the second-busiest port of entry into the country by passenger volume. Many cross the border to work on the other side, buy groceries or go to school, like Febe and her brothers.

Mexican children receive a commuter student visa to study in the US

"El Paso and Ciudad Juarez form the largest true bi-national community in the world, or at least any place we have been able to determine," says El Paso Congressman Beto O'Rourke.

"There are three million people sharing the same water source, the same airshed, the same mountains, the same valley in which we live," he tells the BBC.

But just behind O'Rourke stands perhaps the most powerful sign that not everyone thinks the two communities are so symbiotic. There is a big wall topped with barbed wire, the wall that divides the US and Mexico and highlights the very different stories that can be found on either side of the border.

Juarez came to be known a few years ago as one of the most dangerous cities in the world. El Paso has been described as the safest big city in America.

In 2010 there were five murders in El Paso. In Juarez there were 3,075.

This contrast is still evident for those who cross the border on a daily basis, like Febe Ara and her school friends.

"It's safer here than over there in Juarez," she says. "There are many problems over there and many deaths, but not here.

There are more policemen patrolling the streets."

In the last few months, border security has become a particularly hot topic in the US, after thousands of unaccompanied minors arrived at the south-western border near McAllen, Texas.

US President Barack Obama announced in November he was going to increase resources in order to prevent another surge in illegal immigrants and make the border more secure. And at a recent meeting with Mexican President Pena Nieto at the White House, Mr Obama added he would be "much more aggressive at the border in ensuring that people come through the system legally".

Meanwhile, Mr O'Rourke says the border is safer than at any time in the country's history and adds that the administration has doubled the number of border patrol agents, from 10,000 to 20,000.

Nevertheless, he believes that prioritising militarisation of the border partially diverts attention away from the commercial and cultural ties between the two cities.

Millions cross the border between El Paso and Juraez every year, but there are obstacles

At school, students and teachers also think the increase in security has affected them, especially when it comes to waiting in line at the bridge.

"There weren't any problems before," says Cristina Woo, the school's assistant principal, who has been working here for 43 years and says 80% of students live in Juarez.

"I could come and go in five or 10 minutes without having to get in line. But unfortunately everything changes with time."

Febe Ara also says lines sometimes get so long that she doesn't get to school on time. But she still crosses the border every day because she says studying in El Paso is "padre" (cool in Mexican Spanish).

"There are more opportunities here than over there," she stresses.

And just before the bell rings at 8:20 in the morning to signal the beginning of classes, she explains her dream.

Even though she lives in Mexico, she wants to keep studying in the US.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31051630

It is so good of US citizens to pay their property taxes to provide a free education for Mexican Nationals.

Originally Posted by Newmexican

It is so good of US citizens to pay their property taxes to provide a free education for Mexican Nationals.

In this instance, it's actually income taxes. This school is a 501 C 3 "charity" as a college preparatory high school funded by the tax exempt United Methodist Church! They charge $2400 a year in tuition, so the large balance is paid for by the 501 C 3 from church money and other tax exempt donations, which means it's our income taxes underwriting it, not our property taxes. 80% of the students in this school are from Juarez, Mexico, and I'm sure they'e first in line to take seats in our US colleges and universities with a foreign student visa.

Yet another reason I support the FairTax which shuts down this 501 C 3 crap.

Originally Posted by Judy

In this instance, it's actually income taxes. This school is a 501 C 3 "charity" as a college preparatory high school funded by the tax exempt United Methodist Church! They charge $2400 a year in tuition, so the large balance is paid for by the 501 C 3 from church money and other tax exempt donations, which means it's our income taxes underwriting it, not our property taxes. 80% of the students in this school are from Juarez, Mexico, and I'm sure they'e first in line to take seats in our US colleges and universities with a foreign student visa.

Yet another reason I support the FairTax which shuts down this 501 C 3 crap.

The so-called Fair Tax plan is not all rainbows and pretty ribbons. There are just too many negatives that come with the plan to make it a 'good thing' in my opinion.

Originally Posted by MW

The so-called Fair Tax plan is not all rainbows and pretty ribbons. There are just too many negatives that come with the plan to make it a 'good thing' in my opinion.

Actually it is all rainbows and pretty ribbons. It's all the things most Americans want from a federal taxation program. It taxes consumption spending instead of earned and investment income. It's paid at the point of sale like a sales tax with no fuss, no muss. You want it, you pay for it. No paperwork, no returns, no forms, no fees, no expenses, no effort, no time, no worries. It taxes the goods and services instead of you. You remain anonymous, so your privacy and liberty are intact. States collect it from the businesses who collect it, both the states and businesses are paid a % of the collections to compensate them for the service. Imported goods and services are taxes exactly the same as domestic produced goods and services which balances the trade playing field for our companies by charging the same tax on foreign produced goods and services as what our goods and services are taxed at. It brings $14 trillion of capital presently stored offshore back to the United States where it belongs, and it brings our industries and manufacturers back home where they belong. It encourages foreign companies to produce here what they plan to sell here. It removes the corporate tax lobbyists from Washington DC and reduces the influence corporations have on our government for tax reasons. It shuts down these phony 501 C 3 tax frauds. It gives American Workers a 23% advantage over illegal aliens, pushing illegal aliens out of the job market since they won't be able to undercut our workers as easily if at all because illegal aliens are excluded from the Rebate. By eliminating the income tax, we eliminate all this tax credit welfare for individuals and businesses. It increases the net take home pay for all workers, earners and companies. It robustly funds Social Security and Medicare and the funds are earmarked by statute so these funds can never be siphoned off and used to fund general revenue securing these programs for retired workers. At the 23% rate, it generates revenue at the 1999 tax levels before the Bush tax cuts so will generate enough revenue to balance a budget and stop the increases in the national debt. By eliminating the IRS, it reduces the cost of government while increasing revenue and rejuvenating the economy.

There has never been a more perfect federal taxation plan introduced into the US Congress, and it's time Americans spent the time to understand how it works to benefit them and our nation as a whole.

There is a huge tax lobby comprised of billionaires who have made their fortunes off a fruitless destructive income tax system and the misery of our citizens and businesses. They've worked hard to maintain their wealth stream so have prepared websites and letters and so forth comprised of distortions and lies and erroneous statements about the FairTax. This was and is to be expected, but Americans are smarter than that, and if everyone will spend the time to understand the FairTax as it really is, learn how it actually works, understand the many ways it benefits our people, businesses and nation, they will see through it and support it whole-heartedly. And, rightly so.

To learn more about the FairTax, HR 25 in the US House of Representatives with 64 sponsors and S 155 in the US Senate, go to www.fairtax.org.

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