1. What are your thoughts on everything that is happening with the migrants?
2. Do you think it was a good idea to put them under the bridge?
3. Do you think the migrant caravan is affecting the border?
4. How would this affect us in the future?
5. What do you think would be a good solution?

Gisel Torres, 10

1. “I feel like they should get a chance because everyone deserves it but they should not be here just like that”
2. “I think it was inhumane  but it was the best to do at least right now”
3. “Yes, i do think that is affecting the border because now there is like longer lines and they might close the borders too.”
4. “I feel that this will affect us in the future by having a lot more people in the country.”
5. “I think a good solution for them is fixing their countries so they could go back but I don’t mean it in like a bad way.”

Alexia Corral, 11

1. “I think that it is unfair because they are still human and help and when people need help it’s like our instinct to help them right away.”
2. “No, I think that’s cruel to have people with children sleeping on floors, rocks and even not feeding them right. They should think about the kids and how that is affecting them.”
3. “Yes, because they are longer lines and in the cars they are waiting for at least 8 hours and kids don’t come to school because of the longer lines.”
4. “I think it’s going to affect how the government treats the migrants and that will be a total chaos because this people are just trying to find a shelter to be safe.”
5. “I think it would be better to give them shelter and try to find them a place where they can go because here it’s getting to crowded.”

Erich Valenzuela, Chemistry/Physics teacher

1. “Well, I think it’s sad that the migrants travel way too far to have a better life so I feel kind of sad.”
2. “I don’t think the migration is affecting the border but I think the president is making the migrants affect the economy and the border”
3. “I don’t think the migrant caravan is affecting the border but the president is making migration affect the economy and the border , that’s what I believe”
4. “I don’t think it was a good idea, I think they needed to be in a place where they had better conditions for living”
5. “I think we shouldn’t build the wall and we should embrace the immigrants since this country is full of immigrants”

Lucia Barba, 11

1. “I think that it’s a waste of time but they have their reasons for doing it”
2. “I think that, it will  affect it but not as much as they thought it would”
3. “I think it wasn’t”
4. “The bridge will close because the lines are longer now”
5. “I think a good solution would be if the immigrants were not aggressive”

Adriel Romero

1. “I feel that if we were in a different situation, and by different situation I mean different president, different rules and standards, that maybe things would be handled differently”
2. “To a certain extent but if it got excessive then it might pose a hazard”
3. “I do think it’s affecting the border because many of my friends that cross the border to come to school, tell me that they wait for hours just to cross, and they have to wake up super early, and sometimes they end up not crossing at all”
4. “General goods coming in and out of the country, we would lose all of the good avocados, and many other exports and imports”
5. “I don’t really know what would be a good solution”

Alex Hernandez

1. “Personally I do not agree because of they way they are being treated”
2. “No, because it’s not the best place to locate them, I’m not the best person to say were would be the best place to gather them”
3. “I think it affects the bridges because they are being shut down or it takes longer for people to cross”
4. “By crossing in a legal way they would e helping us because they can help by getting jobs to help the economy”
5. “I think the best solution would be to stay steady and try to do things the legal way”

Aldo Mena

1. “First of all I think there’s a lot of misinformation about the migrant caravans and stuff like that, a lot of people think they are crossing illegally but they are not, there is an asylum law, so these people are well within their rights, within the law to request asylum. The vast majority of the asylum request will be placed are going to be rejected and it’s not like these people are coming to the United States and then disappearing. The largest percentage of this asylum seekers in the 90s  show up for the court proceedings, it’s in their interests to show to the court proceedings so it’s not like we are being flooded with the migrants. There is a false generative being put up by the Trump administration and it is just inaccurate and compared to the levels of illegal immigration from the late 90s, the 2000s, the number that we perceptually dramatically lower than the levels we used to see in the late 90s and the 2000s. Unfortunately, the Trump administration is choosing to vilify people and push up false seneratives about what’s going on but the reality is this is not the crisis that he is trying to make it out to be.”
2. “No, I think that was a terrible idea, that is just inhumane there are better and more options and alternatives. It’s the Trump administration and the ICE and all these people who are trying to make this experience as difficult as possible for this immigrants. They are persecuting them unfortunately.”
3. “Unfortunately it is affecting the border because you see Trump making threats, you see him shutting a cargo lane on Saturdays which affects us. The narrative itself  him making it sound like there is a problem will affect business. There is a guy named John Burreal of the border complex, a non profit constitutional that promotes business on the border. Just the perspective and his narrative damaging the business in this country and the perception life here on the border. Unfortunately there are some negatives, not the fault of the immigrants but the fault of the Trump administration, he is painting us as a community under siege but it is not true”
4. “In the future I think a lot of people might think that it’s unsafe and it’s not a good place to do business here, just the uncertainty of Trump is that certainly introducing this situation people will realize why Trump should get mad and shut down the border. So if you are a manufacturing, enterprise and you have a set up shop in Juarez you might think twice because you never know they might be another closure of the border depending on what Trump is feeling that day. There is no coherence to the Trump policy is redirect cause his narrative is damaging an hurting us here in the border in a very uncatchable way but it is not the fault of the immigrants it’s the fault of the Trump administration who are trying to disgorge the narrative on this.”
5. “For the migrants I think they need to be supported as much as possible. I also think that Mexico for example, recently made the decision to invest 30 billion dollars in Central America to help with security and to sort of address the issues in Central America. Instead of just turning our backs in these and Trump is going to cut aids. These countries in Central America which is the wrong answer, we need to look into the issues that are causing this migration. These people are victims of violence in their homeland and that is why they are coming here because they are desperate and we shouldn’t turn our backs on them, they are on a very difficult situation, it’s not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Most of them stay here in El Paso, they come through here about 48 to 72 hours and then they’re dispersed to other parts of the country to stay with relatives and await a court-date.”