Participants in several Alternative Spring Break trips and the Magis Immersion and Justice Program sponsored a week of events to share their experiences learning about the lives of immigrants and migrant workers.

The “Nothing Human is Alien to Me” project, which began Monday, aimed to address ideas about home, migration, unequal power structures and human dignity.

“What this week was hoping to convey [was] the human reality, the living experience, of people who go through this in their daily lives,” Thomas Scharff (COL ’12), co-leader of the Immokalee Migrant Worker Justice trip, said.

The Border Awareness Experience, Kino Border Immersion, Immokalee Migrant Worker Justice and MagisEl Salvador spring break trips focused on problems surrounding social justice in immigration law and the working conditions of migrant day laborers.

“All of the trips working on this project truly believe in the title we chose for the week, ‘Nothing Human Is Alien to Me,’ and wanted to raise awareness about these issues on campus and catalyze action to make sure that everyone is treated as a human being,” co-leader of the Border Awareness Experience trip Carly Rosenfield (COL ’14) said.

Last year, the trips held individual follow-up events, but this year, the group coordinators collaborated to organize the week. Events ranged from discussions of participants’ personal experiences and evaluations of the trips to reflections on the stories of individual immigrants and migrant workers.

“Migrants and refugees are our brothers and sisters. They deserve our help, and they have something to teach us,” Vice President of Mission and Ministry Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J., who went on the Kino Border Immersion trip, said.