Posada gives students an up-close look at migration

By Nina M. Riccio

Like so many thousands before her, Amalia Guzman Molina and her husband came to the United States illegally from El Salvador, working under the radar and saving money so they could bring their three children across the border. But eight months after the children arrived, Molina and her husband were detained by U.S. authorities and spent 18 months in a U.S. prison, while their children - ages 13, 15, and 18 - were left to fend on their own in Los Angeles.

"It was very hard for us," said Molina. "Once you are detained by immigration, you are lost. We didn't know what to do." Molina emphasized that most of the 250,000 immigrants who are detained in the U.S. don't have legal representation and don't often get proper medical care. As an example, she cited her husband's case; she believes that doctors spotted his cancer at the detention center but did not tell him. He died six months after they won their appeal and were released.

Molina told her story at a three-day symposium held at Fairfield University last summer and sponsored by the University's Center for Faith and Public Life, the Association of American Jesuit Colleges and Universities, the U.S. Jesuit Conference, and the Jesuit Refugee Service. One hundred people attended the various sessions, which had three major goals: to examine ways Jesuit institutes of higher learning might collaborate in migration studies, research, and advocacy; to consider ways they might play an advocacy role in alleviating injustices; and to investigate ways to elevate the status of migration as an area for academic research and service learning.

That last goal has been embraced by professors in various disciplines across Fairfield's campus. Last semester, for example, while most of their fellow students were finishing finals, 15 Fairfield University students and alumni traveled to East Los Angeles and the Mexican border region with the Rev. Mark McGregor, S.J., assistant professor of new media film, television, and radio in the College of Arts & Sciences. Their mission: "To put a human face on the issues of migration," explains Fr. McGregor. The half-hour documentary, Posada, features Amalia Molina and her three children, among others, in a film that will advocate a more compassionate approach to immigration reform in the United States.

"Through this film, now in production at the Media Center on campus, we will be able to tell their story to the public. When people speak up, change can happen," says Fr. McGregor. As an example, he cites the fact that juveniles detained for immigration issues used to be incarcerated along with criminals; the injustice and public knowledge of this practice has led recently to separate detention centers for non-criminal detainees.

Posada, which means "shelter," refers to a pre-Christmas celebration popular in most towns in Mexico. Neighbors play the roles of Joseph and Mary and go from door to door asking for shelter. They are continually sent on their way. Each year, hundreds of people conduct a special posada at the border. "This year," says Fr. McGregor, "It was the turn of those on the U.S. side to play the part of the innkeepers, sending the Mexicans back whenever they knocked at the door."

Now back from their filming venture, the student participants will assist the production teams and do post-production work in the Media Center this semester. Fr. McGregor, grateful for the financial and in-kind support that made the trip possible (family, friends and alumni of Fairfield, and the Humanities Institute), anticipates a fall 2006 debut of Posada. It will be shown in schools, parishes, and universities, as well as on religious and Spanish television stations.