USD President's Report 2000

• mex1co

Chihuahua, Mexico l r

who learn the latest developmenrs in Mexi- co's inrricate legal system. And as part of his Mexican Law course, he invites Mexican attorneys to speak to his class and then takes his students to T ijuana to tour the co urts, vis it with judges and meer with law firms . "Ir's quite surprising to the students," says Vargas, a native of the Mexican stare of Chihuahua and an expert in immigration issues and Mexican history. "The Mexican court system is very differenr than ours. Ir is very informal - there are no steno- graphers, you testify before a judge who asks questions." His students also are amazed at the dif- ference surrounding a universal cultural

institution - marriage. In Mexico, couples must be wed twice, once in a civil ceremo- ny before a governmenr official and again in a church, reflecting the separation of church and stare. "Lawyers have co be prepared to learn from ocher legal systems," Vargas says, "and learning from foreign legal systems makes students appreciate our legal system." The complexities of the border and rhe call to justice drew Brother Tom Thing to campus ministry's Tijuana Breakthrough project. Conceived in the early 1980s as a way for students to put their faith into action by building homes for some of the city's poorer residents, T hing revamped rhe program five years ago to emphasize fa ith, international education and justice. USO students who participate in the week-long retreats not only assist in home- building, bur work in an orphanage, deliver food to prisoners and live among the home- less immigrants at Casa del Migrante, where those in search of a better way of life stay until they can find their dreams. "Many of these studenrs have never interfaced with the poor, the homeless. There is fear, anger, frustration and a feel- ing that their hands are tied," explains Thing, an associate minister and Franciscan friar. "For many, it's the first time they have put a name with the face of a migrant. Ir's an awakening - their eyes are opened, they understand a little bit more, and realize it is our responsibility to treat people with dig- nity and respect. " •

E ach day, thousands of people inch their way across the Uni ted States-Mexico border in search of something uniquely personal: work, profit, pleasure, escape. Among the throng are a USO grad u- ate student, a law professor and a Fran- ciscan friar, who on separate journeys cross the Tij uana border into Mexico in search of the same elusive thing - jus- tice. And their travels are as unique and personal as the sprawling, hectic border city itself. G raduate student Susan Jacobi began her sojourns across the Mexican border four years ago as coordinato r of the Tijuana Orphanage Project, which

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Monterey, Mexico

Tijuana, Mexico

Bahia de Los Angeles, Mexico

Guadalajara, Mexico

Since I964, USD students have immersed themselves in the culture ofMexico through the Guadalajara Summer Program, where for six weeks students live with local families and attend intensive language classes, developing a better understanding oftheir neighbors to the south. An international business graduate degree is truly that at USD, as graduate students spend at least one year at Alcala Park and one year at the Instituto Tecnologico y de £studios Superiores de Monterey campus in Mexico. Students emerge with two advanced degrees and superior under- standing ofboth country's cultures. In an effort to convince Mexican officials to designate Bahia de Los Angeles a sanctuary for the threatened whale shark, graduate student Jon Nelson spent weeks tracking the shark's feed- ing patterns in this tranquil bay to illustrate its value to the gentle species' survival. As part oftheir Spanish, business and political science coursework, USD students work side- by-side with students from the Universidad Iboamericana in Tijuana to put on a biannual carnival for children ofthat city's barrios. USD students also prepare and serve food at Casa de/ Migrante, a refuge in Tijuana for homeless immigrants.

Since the Tij uana communi ty is predom- inately Catholic, Jacobi began to develop a plan to provide res idents with more access to natural family planning. W ith the help of USO faculty, Georgetown's Institute for Reproductive Health, and a grant from USO 's TransBorder Institute - which coor- d inates grants, seminars and exchange pro- grams co better improve understanding between the United Stares and Mexico - Jacob i met with family planning experts and providers to furth er her study. "I'm nor trying to bring attention to this for people in Tij uana to have fewer children," Jacobi says. "Bu t if the majority of the population is Catholic, and if teach- ing about fam ily planning is accepted by the Catholic faith, it is on ly fa ir that the people have access to this information. " If she can secure additional funding, her next step is to partner with existing providers in Tijuana, survey couples to determine their needs and, ultimately, improve residents' accessibility to informa- non. "Economic factors will still be a problem, but since natural fam ily planning is rhe most affordable method available, it should be available to those who need it," Jacobi says. "USO 's Catholic idenrity prompts us to do everything we can to decrease a parent's need to enrrust their child to an orphanage. This project is si mply what I can do." What law Professor Jorge Vargas has done rhe past 20 years is improve access to rhe latest legal information for those who practice justice on both sides of rhe border. Vargas organizes a co nference ar Alcala Park each year attended by dozens of attorneys

Breaking down immigratio

provides students the opportuni ty to inter- act with the area's children. The project not only opened her fellow students' eyes to the problems of poverty, but prompted Jacobi, then an undergraduate, to take a closer look ar its causes. "After playing wi th the children, we'd go to the maquiladoras (factories)," says Jacobi, "and refl ect on the teaching of economic justice for all." Realizi ng that nearly 90 percent of the children in T ijuana's orphanages come from single-parent households in which the par- ent is worki ng but cannot afford to care for the children, Jacobi began to do some research. She discovered char maquiladoras routinely dispense oral contraceptives to workers, but that little information is avail- able on modern methods of natural family planning, or as ir is often called, the rhythm method.

Above: Students in Jan Bejar's Immigra- tion Clinic gain practical experience through interviewing, counseling and representing clients from Mexico and other countries with immigration-relat- ed problems. The clinic provides intense training in immigration law and proce- dure. Top left: Graduate student Susan Jacobi works with Dr. Inez Trejo, director of Centro de Promocion de Salud Esperan- za, which provides natural family plan- ning for Tijuana residents. Top right: Law Professor Jorge Vargas keeps American and Mexican attorneys up-to-date on the latest legal develop- ments affecting both countries through his Mexican Law Conference held each year at Alcala Park.

Tijuana's poorer residents and play with orphaned children during the week- long Tijuana Breakthrough project, which puts students face-to-face with issues of social and economic justice. Right: USD graduate student Jon Nelson tracked the feeding habits of the giant whale shark in hopes the Mexican government would declare Bahia de Los Angeles a reserve for the threat- ened species.

President's Report 2000 9

8 Univers ity of San Diego