Migrant and Asylum-Seeker Stories
Through storytelling, the Migrant and Asylum-Seeker Stories Program help us learn about others and understand and empathize with them and their situations. The Undocumented Migration Project-Colibrí Center for Human Rights, the Coalción de Derechos Humanos, and the UArizona Binational Migration Institute provide the tools to or tell the stories of those who don't have access to mainstream media and help them amplify their voices in their terms.
Historias y Recuerdos
Historias y Recuerdos is a testimony project for families of those who have been lost on the U.S.-Mexico border. The program, led by the partnership between the Undocumented Migration Project and Colibrí Center for Human Rights, allows families to reflect, remember, share, connect, and find empowerment in their stories. The finished products are powerful, both for the families to have and for the public to gain a more humanized perspective on death in the borderlands.
UMP-Colibri brings Hostile Terrain 94, a global pop-up exhibition about America’s humanitarian crisis at the Souhern border. The project raises awareness via participatory exhibitions. The Confluencenter and UMP-Colibrí are working on creating a higher education and adult education curriculum about UMP-Colibrí's work and the border context, and the archiving of the stories.
Migrant and Asylum-Seeker Justice Project
The Migrant and Asylum-Seeker Justice project elevates migrant and asylum-seeker personal narratives through plays, the collection of migrant and refugee testimonies, the creation of a border mural, and the installation of a monument commemorating migrants who have lost their lives crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The program, led by the human rights advocacy organization Coalición de Derechos Humanos, shares the perspectives and experiences of marginalized residents to change policies and practices that violate their human rights.
Binational Migration Institute Speaker Series
The Binational Migration Institute is a research unit of UArizona's Department of Mexican American Studies. The Institute's Speaker Series bring scholars working on issues in the U.S.-Mexico border to the UArizona campus for free, public lectures. The lectures provide interdisciplinary academic perspectives on the sociopolitical factors driving migrants and asylum seekers north and help to contextualize their experiences on this journey. Presenters also engage with UArizona graduate and undergraduate students interested in understanding the challenges and expanding their experiences at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Speakers Series complement Colibri's Historias y Recuerdos program and Derechos Humanos's Migrant and Asylum-Seeker Justice Project.