BorderLinks Statement on Safety
April 15, 2010Greetings from the borderlands! As an organization focused on experiential education on the U.S.-Mexico border, BorderLinks would like to respond to news that you may have heard about the border and to inform you about safety precautions that we are implementing on our programs. In particular, we want to address the Travel Warning that was re-issued by the U.S. Department of State on April 12, 2010 and the news of recent months reporting incidents of violence in Nogales, Sonora. We will also comment on how the nature of BorderLinks trips is inherently different than that of unsupervised, “spring break” types of travel.
Throughout our twenty-plus year history, BorderLinks has always maintained the safety of our delegation participants as our utmost priority. We have taken incremental precautions in recent years in order to avoid areas where crime is more common in Nogales and other border cities.
As some of you may have heard in the news, the level of drug-related violence began to increase on the Mexican side of the border in 2008. Although the primary concern of violence remains in larger border cities of Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana, Nogales has also seen a rise in violent incidents. In an ongoing State Department release issued in 2008, Nogales is listed alongside other cities that have experienced an increase in cartel-related violence.
The Travel Warning originally issued on March 14, 2008, warns U.S. citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the border states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango. Sonora, the border state that most BorderLinks groups travel to, is not included in the Warning but remains under Alert level. This Warning is now being re-issued on a monthly basis, with the most recent re-issue taking place on April 12, 2010. On May 14, 2010, the current Warning will expire and might be re-issued. The non-mandatory evacuations listed in the statement of U.S. consular personnel dependents from many border cities, including Nogales, is in specific response to the killings of individuals affiliated with the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.
In Nogales, Sonora, as opposed to larger border cities, violence associated with drug trafficking remains largely contained within competing cartel groups, and foreigners have not been specifically targeted. There were some incidents in December 2009 that have caused us to take additional safety precautions with our groups in Nogales. For example, to err on the side of caution, we just eat at the BorderLinks community center (Casa de la Misericordia) or with host families instead of at restaurants. We still do a wide variety of visits around the city, but we are more mindful about time spent in public areas. The trip leaders have all been trained in our emergency protocol. We continue to closely monitor the situation in Nogales, and we will be in close communication with upcoming groups about programming later in the spring. We are confident that we can continue running safe and educationally enriching delegations in the months to come by incorporating safety modifications into our programming. In addition to Nogales, there is an abundance of programming in other border communities and throughout Southern Arizona that we are incorporating into current delegations.
It is also important to note that while Nogales has seen an increased level of violence, the intensity and nature of the violence is drastically different from that seen in the larger border cities of Tijuana and Juarez. BorderLinks has been receiving several groups that have traditionally done immersion experiences in Tijuana or Juarez and are now electing to travel to the safer Sonoran border corridor.
Lastly, in response to the warnings issued to college students in spring 2009 by the University of Arizona against traveling to Mexico for spring break, it is important to recognize the significant differences between BorderLinks programs and university students traveling on their own to the border area to partake in recreational activities. BorderLinks programs involve supervised travel in our own transportation between designated venues (neighborhoods, agencies, etc) that are historically safe. All BorderLinks programs are led by at least one staff person from our U.S. office and one from our Nogales, Mexico office who are with the group at all times. All staff members are trained in specific protocol that will be followed in the case of a violent incident or other emergency. Alcohol consumption is prohibited while traveling with BorderLinks in Mexico. The University of Arizona did not issue a similar warning for the 2010 spring break.
Nogales is just one of the communities that our delegations visit, but we take our commitment to group leadership and hospitality very seriously. If you'd like to call to talk more about our emergency protocol, the current situation in Nogales, or anything else before the trip, feel free to call the BorderLinks office. If you are unable to travel to the border because of safety concerns, we can design quality programming for an immersion experience on the U.S. side of the border. Additionally, we offer custom-designed delegations for groups interested in traveling to the interior of Mexico. Please feel free to contact our Tucson office if you would like more information on these options, or if you would like to discuss this matter in advance of your border delegation.
Sincerely,
The BorderLinks Staff and Board
BorderLinks
620 S. 6th Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85701
(520) 628-8263
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