Knox College Students Provide Aid on Recent Border Trip

Knox College students, under the direction of Szold Distinguished Service Professor of Modern Languages (Spanish) Robin Ragan, spent part of their summer break visiting the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this summer to volunteer with a variety of nonprofit organizations.

The students interpreted at detention centers and at the ProBar office in Harlingen, Texas. The group also worked with a migrant advocacy and support organization, Madrinas de Justicia (Grannies for Justice), to help organize and distribute donations for migrants at the border. 

“I thought it would be a good opportunity to give back to my community in some way,” said business administration major and Spanish translation and interpretation minor Jennifer Orduna ’27. “There have been a lot of people getting detained by ICE, and I know how hard it is for Hispanic/Latino communities to get help.”

Students used their Power of Experience Grant to take the 10-day trip, which allowed them to immerse themselves in an important issue while applying classroom knowledge to real-world situations.

“Using some of the skills I learned in class along with helping people is what made me interested in coming,” said anthropology and sociology major and Spanish and interpreting and environmental studies minor Dylan Lussem ’27. “I think in a lot of ways, a lot of us have the border and the situation with immigrants on our minds right now. I wanted to see if I could help in any way, but also I wanted to see for myself what is going on. This trip presented the opportunity to go there, use some of my skills, and also get a better understanding of what is really happening.”

Students attending the trip took multiple courses in Spanish and in Spanish translation and interpreting and had to pass oral examinations. Ragan also provided realistic mock scripts based on her experience working with immigration lawyers on asylum cases. 

“It was sobering, but I would say overall I had a good experience. I learned a lot, the lawyers were very accommodating, and I learned so much from Dr. Ragan,” Lussem said. “We were directly confronted with a lot of things; you think you understand what is happening, then you have a direct experience with it.”

The group of students is not the first Ragan has taken to the border to volunteer with humanitarian aid or translation and interpretation. Still, the realities of the experience do not change.

“It’s an interesting lesson for the students to see—you see caring people putting in sweat and hours to help,” Ragan said. “We met with several people, other activists, allies, people working on immigration issues. We met a couple of pastors, heard from people waiting for their deportation day, listened to a lot of life stories, visited a shelter on the U.S. side, and took a few side trips to learn about the area's geography. We went to a beach on the border, and people were just fishing off the Mexico side. There were no wires or fences, just people living their lives; then we went to an area where it’s much more built up militarily, with fences and razor wires.”

The experience also helped students learn more about their own backgrounds and how they can continue to help those in need. 

“I grew up with migrant parents and getting to hear the stories of the people I interpreted for was very hard,” Orduna said. “They have really rough stories of why they had to flee here, and knowing that some of them still don't have a chance of staying here is harsh. It was really rough, but I would love to go again. I wish we had had more time to do more.”

“If you really want to know about the border, the best people to ask are the people there now and people in the immigrant community who are willing to talk,” Lussem added. “I learned a lot, but I also have a lot more to learn. I’m not a policy expert, but I learned about the everyday human experiences and heard their stories.”