Fronteridades Part 2: Raíces
How the Confluencenter is funding internships to help undergraduate students support humanitarian work in the Borderlands
This six-part series on the Fronteridades program is sponsored by the University of Arizona Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry
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UA Confluencenter Interns Alivia Alexander, Elisabeth Clark, and Belen Muro Quijada. Photo credit: El Sur
With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Fronteridades grant, the University of Arizona Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry has created an undergraduate internship program that is connecting college students with community based organizations doing crucial humanitarian work along the U.S.-Mexico region.
Experiences like these are helping students gain a better understanding of the complexities of the borderlands, an area with a rich and complex history.
Last year, the Confluencenter’s undergraduate internship program welcomed eleven inaugural student interns from various academic programs, including the College of Law, Science, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Fine Arts, Humanities, and Eller College of Management.
On the one hand, college internships are critical to a student's career development, creating opportunities for learning and getting hands-on experience. On the other hand, nonprofit organizations benefit from undergraduate students' knowledge and skills, creating a virtuous and productive circle for both parties. The downside is that most organizations lack the funding streams to compensate the students, which can demotivate them and make them look for work alternatives where they do not necessarily put their knowledge into action.
This is where the University of Arizona Confluencenter comes in. In addition to connecting undergraduate students with nonprofit organizations, the Confluencenter compensates them for their work.
El Sur sat down with three of last year’s interns Alivia Alexander, Elisabeth Clark, and Belen Muro Quijada, at the historic Sosa-Carrillo House to hear about their experiences and how this internship has helped them develop and grow.
Alivia Alexander participated as a 2024 intern with Salvavision, an immigrant rights organization providing support to asylum seekers and people who have been deported by helping them access housing, essential resources, medical care, legal assistance, and financial stability. Alivia is majoring in Spanish and Portuguese and minoring in music and Theatre Arts.
El Sur: Tell us about your internship.
Alivia Alexander: “My work involved keeping track of families' needs. Salvavision provides resources for people who have migrated to the United States, mostly from Spanish-speaking countries, in Tucson and an assistance center in Sasabe, Sonora. The hub in Sasabe is for folks who had to return to Mexico, where some women do embroidery and artistry in exchange for fair wages. In my case, I supported families who live in Tucson. I speak Spanish, so I helped staff with event tabling and whatever my supervisor asked me to help with (laughs). I also designed a brochure with information for people who started moving to the U.S. and translated a legal document.”
El Sur: It sounds like migrant families really appreciated having a person to stay connected with.
AA: “Yes. I called and asked how they were doing, where they were living, what they needed at the time, and what their expenses were. I took notes and translated them into English to show donors how we were helping people. I also put them into a spreadsheet and consolidated all the information in one place for family documentation. Dora, the Director of Salvavision, would follow up with them.”
El Sur: How did you create this information system?
AA: “I would ask them their first and last name and general questions like 'Where are you living?' 'Who with?' 'How many members of your family, and how are you dealing with the process [of moving into the US] in general? '¿Que te hace falta? ¿Que necesitan?' They would say if they needed a lawyer, for example. I would ask them about their legal status. Most of them had been processed and had a sponsor, a few had a work permit, and a large portion sought asylum; they got it but were in court process. They were here looking to get their work permit, somewhere on the way; others needed help figuring out where to start.”
El Sur: Can you talk a little more about your internship experience in terms of your task and flexibility?
AA: “Dora does so much for these families but, at the time, didn't have a centralized place to keep track of so much information. So, I created this spreadsheet with all the information I collected from the families, and it is now categorized. In terms of flexibility, I worked eight to ten hours a week. All my work was directed by Salvavision and was something I did from my dorm.”
El Sur: It sounds like your work has made a huge impact.
AA: “Dora Rodriguez does the most work as the Director of Salvavision. There are five folks who are consistently volunteering and helping people get food, transportation, all sorts of things. They also help people in their home countries sustain themselves so they can keep living there.”
We spoke with Dora Rodriguez one night as she was driving back on State Route 86, which connects Sonoyta, a border town 150 miles west of Tucson.
“Alivia was amazing. We have about 50 families that we support who are seeking asylum, and she gathered all of their information. Alivia called families, gathered data, and tried to figure out their needs and welcome them to this community. She speaks beautiful Spanish, and families were very happy with that.”
Dora Rodriguez is the Director of Salvavision, a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid to asylum seekers and people who have been deported. Fleeing the violence of El Salvador’s civil war in 1980, Dora Rodriguez was one of thirteen survivors who was found near death while crossing the border through the Sonoran Desert.
Rodriguez talked about the challenges migrants face as she drove through the pitch dark desert where she almost once lost her life. She knows how disorienting the desert can be.
"After walking for miles, migrants don't even know where they are," she explains. "Once they are picked up by the Border Patrol, they are processed and deported to the other side of the border to places like Nogales, Agua Prieta, Naco, and Sonoyta."
The conversation tugs on an emotional chord, and she can't help but shift into her native Spanish.
“Es muy triste. Los agentes de migración les quitan su ropa y se las tiran a la basura. Los mandan más que con una bolsita de plástico y su identificación a veces. Hay mucha crueldad, es muy duro,” she adds.
“Estamos con tanto trabajo. Con la repatriación nos están mandando mil personas todas las semanas por la nueva Orden Ejecutiva que entró en junio están siendo repatriadas. Todas esas personas son del sur de México: Guanajuato, Querétaro, Chiapas, Guerrero.
She explains the devastation created by cartels as people flee Mexico, seeking safety. When they are sent back to Nogales, the migrants often don't even know where they are.
"We are trying to figure out how to get them back home," says Rodriguez.
At that moment, it becomes clear just how important the work of interns like Alexander is to the broader narrative of what's happening along the border. I imagine Alexander sitting at her computer in her dorm, clicking away on her spreadsheet, each cell a life hanging in the balance.
“For us, having Alivia provide those hours was really great. I am the boots on the ground, but I need a lot of support. She put all of this information in a file and now we can go back and see how families are doing. Alivia was incredible for us,” she added.
Appreciative of the opportunity to praise her intern's work, Rodriguez is temporarily buoyed by its impact.
"Nos vemos en la lucha," see you in the fight, she says as she hangs up.
El Sur also spoke with Elisabeth Clark and Belen Muro Quijada, who graduated from the University of Arizona in May. In 2024, both were interns with the Arizona Southwest Center working closely with Dr. Robin Reineke on Proyecto Esperanza, an educational resource for families of missing persons in the U.S.
Reineke is one of the leading experts on borderlands forensics.
Missing persons and unidentified human remains have been described as the nation’s silent mass disaster. It is estimated that thousands of families can end up waiting months or years for information about their missing loved ones.
Proyecto Esperanza helps families of missing migrants as they go through the difficult task of trying to locate their loved ones. Based on years of experience supporting families of missing migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Esperanza team provides education, resources, and support free of charge to any family of a missing person who disappeared within the US.
Dr. Reineke explains that for families of those who experienced marginalization due to migration, mental health, or substance abuse challenges, it can be particularly difficult to access the U.S. missing person system.
In addition to providing educational resources, Proyecto Esperanza also serves as a clearinghouse for data about missing migrants and unidentified human remains in Arizona. Project staff collect, manage, and share data about missing migrants with forensic practitioners along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, with particular emphasis on Southern Arizona.
“Working with students like Belen and Elisabeth is my favorite part of my job at the University,” says Dr. Robin Reineke.
“These students brought a lot of heart, commitment, and eagerness to our new initiative,” says Reineke. “In addition to helping us with project tasks, they also contributed fresh perspectives and new ideas that will be baked into the project for years to come,” she added.
Reineke’s research uses ethnography, oral history, photography, videography, digital media, and forensic techniques to better understand communities directly impacted by border violence.
This type of work is interdisciplinary, and interns like Clark and Muro Quijada bring complementary skill sets. While Clark brought a background in Anthropology and Spanish, Muro Quijada’s background in fine arts brought a different and equally important lens to this work.
“While at Proyecto Esperanza, I have had the opportunity to learn from others working in this field who have immense experience, knowledge, and compassion to share,” says UA Confluencenter intern Elizabeth Clark. “Doing this work alongside them and learning from them has been the most impactful experience of my education.”
El Sur: It sounds like you were doing lots of upfront work.
Elisabeth Clark (EC): “Usually, we met with Dr. Robin Reineke or Mirza Monterroso once or twice a week. It is a new project. We were doing lots of work with the setup. We reorganized documents and research guides for families of missing migrants. We researched Facebook pages of people doing this work and what this looks like as we start communicating with families of the missing.”
El Sur: How do you explain this project to those unfamiliar with what’s happening along the U.S./Mexico border?
EC: “This is a new project we’re developing at the Southwest Center, a clearinghouse for cases where it’s likely that someone’s loved one has died while crossing. We are focusing on the Arizona-Sonora desert, but we are in contact with other people doing similar work in Texas, like Operation Identification at Texas State University.”
El Sur: What drives you to do this work?
EC: “I started this work and internship at the suggestion of Dr. Robin Reineke. I started to become interested in working with her. What drives me is that because we live in this area, I feel the responsibility of doing what I can. This is a huge human rights crisis, so many people have stories of suffering. If I can do this one small thing and contribute to this project, it’s important to do so.”
Belen Muro Quijada, UA Confluencenter Intern.
El Sur: Belen, how did you become involved with this work?
Belen Muro Quijada (BMQ): “I was introduced to this opportunity by my professor from the School of Art, David Taylor, with whom I worked for three years. My work focuses on migration, gentrification, and displacement, and when I heard about Robin and her research work,
I became interested in the Southwest Center and others helping the community and building something. I come from a family of migrants, and I am a first generation, so this topic is very near to my heart and very personal. It's close to home, and I understand it personally. And now, I'm seeing such a broader understanding of other people's experiences.”
El Sur: It sounds like this work is deeply personal for you.
BMQ: “Working at Proyecto Esperanza means I finally get to give back to my community by empowering them with knowledge of their rights and helping them navigate language barriers—something I’ve personally experienced. I’m honored to work with such a passionate group of women who continue to inspire me and give me hope for a brighter future.”
El Sur: How does your background in design inform the work you are doing?
BMQ: “What I’ve been doing is design structuring. My research has focused on how communities have built things like Facebook groups and Pages. Pages can only be posted by the director. With Facebook groups, whoever joins the group can post there. It’s a difference in the control of media being displayed. There is more control with Pages. Directors censor stuff; they are more ethically produced, whereas there are desperate family members who just want to get their family members’ faces out. There are also scams that we have been alerted to. They are using Artificial Intelligence to create these scams.”
EC: “They make a video of their family member from AI taken from photos that they have posted to the Facebook page!”
El Sur: You are seeing this now?
BMQ: “People take pictures, contact family members, and use them to negotiate. They say, ‘I have your family member; he’s safe; he’s alive. Pay me this much money, and we’ll send you this evidence that they are alive.’ They use AI to animate images. We are building this clearinghouse to provide correct sources and alert families of possible scams. Sometimes, they literally crop the face and use a different body. Sometimes they use videos and audio, which is just crazy to us.”
EC: “Families are being taken advantage of because, more than anything, they want to find their missing.”
BMQ: “Their desperation is used to target them.”
As for their future plans, Muro Quijada says she’s going to take a break to get some more experience before applying for graduate school and is appreciative of, “the community we’ve built between our own team and the outside community that we have all built,” she adds.
Clark wants to continue volunteering and points out that finding a community of people working to address the issue of missing migrants was so valuable to her.
“It’s not enough; it’s never enough because people keep dying. But there are so many people who are doing this work who care so deeply. It’s been such a wonderful experience to know that people are doing something,” added Clark.
The Confluncenter is getting ready to welcome its next cohort. Participating organizations in 2025 include the Blue Lotus Arts Collective, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences of the University of Arizona, the Southwest Center, Humane Borders, and the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos.
The deadline to apply for the 2025 Fronteridades Undergraduate program is November 15th at midnight. Those interested can apply here.
If you or someone you know is searching for a missing migrant, please contact the Esperanza Project at busqueda@arizona.edu.
