Anthropology Class Explores "The Migrant Journey" in Arizona for Spring Break

By Lindsay Smith

Eight students from Dr. Frank Hutchins’ “The Migrant Journey” anthropology class spent their spring break in and around Tucson, Arizona, exploring and learning about the experiences of migrants at the Arizona-Mexico border.

            “We read over this stuff in class, and we go over slideshows and lectures, but seeing it in person connected the words on the page into what I’m seeing in real life,” sophomore Yash Patel said.

The trip exposed the students to the multiple sides of the U.S. southern border.

Group exploring the deserts where migrants pass

         “Waking up and seeing mountains every day is really beautiful. The sky is stunning even when it’s raining,” sophomore Maggie Gladding said, “but the hard thing is when you’re looking out on the absolutely gorgeous scenery, you know that it’s potentially taking someone’s life.”

            Both said their favorite experiences were the people they met and the connections they made.

            “We met three incredibly inspiring women on this trip,” Patel said. “Even at the age that they were at, they were doing so much for their community and for the work that they are doing providing so much hope and assistance to these migrants who come in with nothing.”

Yash Patel overlooking the desert

            “[We met] Alvero Enciso [who] creates crosses,” Gladding said, “and we placed the crosses at places were migrants have died.”

            The biggest takeaway was the new perspectives they all walked away with, Gladding and Patel said.

"I feel like its cliché, but it like humanizes the situation because it doesn’t really hit you,” sophomore Colin Ray said. “For me, it didn't really hit me until we went to the camp and saw people talking about their experiences and seeing the tears in their eyes, which is much different than reading it in a book or an article."

Freshman Lauren Frazier said she learned about how ineffective certain policies can be.

“The biggest takeaway for me was the shocking amount of uninformed people," she said.

Gladding said that she recommends the trip to anyone, regardless of major.

“When you meet someone for the first time, you have no idea what their journey is because these migrants come in all colors, shapes, and forms,” Gladding said, “and it connected me with people and idea that are super important no matter what field you choose to go into.”