Tattered jackets, sun-weathered water gallons and sardine can remnants line an incomplete fence right in the middle of the University of Arizona campus. These items were picked up by students as part of a volunteer trash collection service with an organization known as Humane Borders.

“It’s part of what we do to try to be good neighbors,” said Doug Ruopp, operations manager at Humane Borders.

The organization is known for it's water which stations volunteers set up and maintain in different locations along the Arizona-Sonoran desert. The organization has been providing this trash collection service for about eight years, Ruopp said.

The fence itself, which has come to be known as a, “mock border,” is part of a month-long educational effort, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

The purpose of the celebration is to appreciate the history, cultures and contributions made by American citizens who have ancestors from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America, according to the official National Hispanic Heritage Month website.

“This is not a protest,” said Jennifer Hoeffle, senior coordinator for the Social Justice Program. “It is an educational program to get people interested and wanting to know more.”

Aside from the items tied to the fence, also attached are statistics, photographs of immigrants and index cards which passers-by can write comments on. Every night for the two-week period that the mock border is displayed, the comment cards are taken down, laminated and attached once more.

Writing his own comments on one of the index cards was David DeCesare, a UA engineering math junior.

“I think this fence is pointless,” said DeCesare, “If you want to migrate, apply like a regular citizen.”

Other students are drawn to the fence out of curiosity. “There is a lot of stuff I didn’t know," said Stacia Buck, a pre-nursing student. “It makes you wonder what happened to the people.”

According to Oscar Angulo, an administrative assistant with Chicano/Hispano Student Affairs, the mock border itself was designed in a way that people could move to either side of it. Along with the Social Justice Program, Chicano/Hispano Student Affairs is the other main organization that worked to get the project on campus.

“No matter how long the wall is, there is a way to go around it,” said Angulo. “We have to do more than building a fence or border.”

The fence is the beginning of a much larger month-long series of on-campus events which will include films, documentaries, and presentations. To get the schedule of events visit the Social Justice Program’s website.


See more: Art takes on border issues