DukeEngage Tucson student Austin Mattox reflects on the intersection of immigration and service
photo by Eric Van Danen
1. What drew you to this particular program or project?
The issues of immigration are not solely concentrated around the extensive border between the United States and Mexico. My local communities in Winston-Salem, NC and at Duke have needs that stem from the issues of medical care that arise from border policies. I am interested in the dissemination of emergency medical care to migrants as they make the treacherous journey across the Sonoran Desert and once they enter populous regions of Arizona. My placement this summer, No Mas Muertes (No More Deaths), works with a team of medical and non-medical volunteers to provide emergency first aid to migrants, place much needed water in desert locations, and teach the local community about how current immigration policy contributes to the rising number of migrant deaths in the Sonoran Desert.
2. What excited you about working with your community partner?
My community partners, BorderLinks and No More Deaths, have extensive experience and connections working with the border communities in Arizona and across the United States. I am incredibly excited to hear first-hand accounts about immigration and learn how the policies of the United States are contributing to the conditions along the US/Mexico border. I hope to put the knowledge gleaned from the BorderLinks education into practice as I start working with No Mas Muertes. I hope to learn by listening to stories and gain a true working knowledge about how to help migrants in need.
3. What benefit do you hope your service will have for your community partner and your host community?
I hope that my service to No Mas Muertes will show that listening ears still exist along the border and throughout the United States. By listening, I hope to be able to provide basic first aid when needed but more importantly making sure water is available for migrants crossing the desert. Through these basic acts of service, I hope to, even if invisibly, save the life of migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert and show that humanitarians in the United States truly care about each human life.
4. How do you hope to put into action what you learned through your DukeEngage experience once back at Duke?
The Durham community has a large Mexican and Latino-American population. I hope to share my stories of the border and the knowledge about immigration policy and reform via volunteering to educate the community, presenting murals of pictures taken while on the DukeEngage trip, and sharing stories of experiences I have had. Hopefully, I can work with the community to form an action group that educates members of the community about how they can work to transform the currently cruel borders to truly humane places that convey freedom of movement, freedom of human rights, freedom of culture, and freedom of humanity.
Learn more about the goings-on among DukeEngage students in Tucson this summer by keeping up with their blogs.
DukeEngage is featuring 18 students over the course of the summer participating in both group programs and independent projects. Check back weekly to view the latest student profile.