El Paso - Flashpoint in the Debate

I have been fortunate enough to receive a college education that took me to amazing places and taught me complex and fascinating subjects. I studied U.S.-Latin American Relations, I visited Guatemala, I studied U.S. immigration policy, interned for an NGO in Cape Town assisting refugees, and more. Immigration is a part of my life. Both my parents are immigrants and ancestors on both sides of my family have been displaced, expelled, and some even killed. This was purely because of their religion. This is why I have family in Israel, South Africa, Brazil, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, etc. I am fortunate enough that I had never experienced such turmoil and to have grown up in the United States. I think this array of experiences and family history grants me a say in the debate. So, it’s now finally time for me to visit the U.S.-Mexico border.
In a way, I want to offend both Democrats and Republicans. I want to offend them because the immigration debate has grown to be very toxic. Immigration is a complicated topic being viewed through simplistic means.
If you’ve made it this far and haven’t wandered away from my blog post, I hope you will join me on this journey. In El Paso, I will be visiting different people and organizations that operate on the border. I hope that we both learn from this journey and that we seek to better our discussion on immigration policy. I cannot promise you I won’t get political. That simply is not possible. What I will do is present to you the information I’ve received and try my best to reflect what I have witnessed. There may be parts that Republicans would agree with and parts that Democrats will agree with. I honestly can’t tell you what this will lead to. You also have no obligation to like what I say and while I am open to constructive criticism, my experiences will be reflected here and it’s possible I won’t take your criticism. I don’t want you to fully agree with me. What I want is you take what I have seen and learned and use it to challenge your thoughts and biases you may have in relation to the border. Please leave comments and stay tuned to what I will post. I hope we both grow from this experience and I hope we may some day have an immigration system that works. For now, let’s go see the border.