Local College Students Learn First-Hand About Life On The US/Mexican Border

By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Lots of college students spend Spring Break partying, some other working, but a group from LaSalle will be learning about immigration by going to a Texas border town.

Ten students in the course "Life on the US/Mexico Border" will see it first-hand, as they'll be in El Paso, Texas for a week, starting today.

The students will be staying at a church at the center of the immigrant experience, says Political Science Professor Miguel Glatzer.

"We'll speak with church advocates, who are part of the Sanctuary movement, who are trying to improve the lives of people who come across the border and then we'll also speak with US Border Patrol, with immigration lawyers. We're going to try to get into a federal immigration detention center, so the idea is to expose students to a variety of stakeholders."

Another experience may be a trip to a "colonia." a make-shift community of immigrants who often don't have electricity, water or sewer because they're off the grid.

In:
• Mexico
• Education
• Spring Break
• Philadelphia