Agnes Stipetich, Donor and Volunteer By: Roxane Ramos As a volunteer and advocate for immigration reform, Agnes is almost busier than when she taught elementary and middle school for 32 years in Wisconsin. Far from the U.S.–Mexico border, one might think immigration would be a distant issue, but parts of the state rely heavily on farm workers from Latin America. Agnes discovered more about their trials when, as a literacy volunteer in 2009, she taught English to one of them, an … [Read more...]

By: Roxane Ramos Spending a day at the KBI puts visitors right where they can learn the most about the migrant experience—at the border. On a bright February morning in Nogales, Sonora, eleven students from Alma College in Michigan line up in the comedor (soup kitchen) with KBI staff and other volunteers to greet the migrants patiently waiting to enter. These migrants, many deported to Nogales from other points along the border, have endured long, often harrowing, journeys, and carry … [Read more...]

By: Roxane Ramos The KBI’s educational programs reach out to dispel myths about migrants and reinforce the connection among us. One of the most misunderstood and contentious issues today is immigration. People in both the United States and Mexico have strong feelings about the subject, either sympathetic to the migrants, resistant to reform, or somewhere in between. But wherever one falls on the continuum, misinformation abounds and there continues to be a basic misunderstanding about who … [Read more...]

By: Roxane Ramos West Cosgrove, Director of Education “If you want to learn about globalization, just come to Nogales,” says West Cosgrove, who summarizes his 35-year career and life passion in two words—border education. As West explains, the U.S.–Mexico border is the only place in the world where an industrialized nation borders a developing one. At those points of transition, the contrasts are stark and instructive. One trip to a Mexican maquila (factory), where shirts or auto parts … [Read more...]

By: Roxane Ramos Lucy Howell, Fund Development Committee Chair For Lucy Howell, working on immigration issues and advocating for more compassionate and just treatment of the undocumented migrants who cross into the U.S. is not only a matter of conscience. It is a matter of faith, gratefulness for the blessings in her life, and a conviction to help those in less fortunate circumstances. As a mother who raised four children and grandmother who dotes on four grandkids, she finds the plight of … [Read more...]