Irene Routte '08 sat with her boyfriend's family on Monday night, fear and anger washing over her as President Bush pledged to dispatch 6,000 National Guard troops to patrol the Mexican border.
For Routte, the nationwide immigration debate hits close to home: Her boyfriend is Guatemalan, and though he's been living in town for five years and speaks fluent English, under the law, he is an illegal immigrant.
"I wish that every lawmaker in Washington had someone they cared about that was under the same pressure they put illegal immigrants under," Routte, who is half-Dominican, said.
She met her boyfriend, a construction worker, at a party held by Pa' Delante, an English tutoring and activist group run by the Princeton Justice Project. He attended the event because his mother was one of the Latino students.
For the past four months of their relationship, Routte said she has found a second home with her boyfriend's family. But it has been more difficult for him to fit in on campus.
"He was very apprehensive and intimidated to come onto Princeton's campus," Routte said. "I think people are critical, saying 'Oh, he doesn't go to college; he's not an academic person.' "
Routte said that while not everyone understands their relationship, he has taught her a lot about the importance of family, not just about academics and ambition.
Though Routte's relationship is the exception rather than the rule, Pa' Delante is one of the many ways the University has connected with the local Latino community. From education to activism, volunteering to cultural exchanges, students are becoming increasingly involved with the immigrant population.
Learning the language
Sara Holloway '06 and Rebeca Gamez-Djokic '05 founded Pa' Delante in fall 2004 to bridge the gap and build trust between students and workers on campus.
"We also aimed to serve as a general resource connecting [Pa' Delante] participants with the resources offered to low-income and immigrant residents of Princeton," Holloway said in an email, explaining that English classes were the best way to share that information.
Holloway tutors Olga Carillo, who crossed the Mexican border on foot 15 years ago.
"I came here alone with three children. We came here for a better future," said Carillo, one of about 20 eating club workers who take classes with Pa' Delante. "We have our papers, thank God."
Carillo, 50, has worked at the eating clubs since she moved to Princeton Borough from Guatemala City in 1991. After working for 12 years at Ivy Club, she now works at Cloister Inn serving dinner. Twice a week, following her shift, she walks from Cloister to the Carl A. Fields Center to study English.
"We're very good friends," she said of her relationship with Holloway. "We go dance salsa and get coffee sometimes."
Holloway said that though Pa' Delante has grown through word of mouth, the students are still working out organizational issues.
"There's a lot of inconsistency with people that have come through, but haven't stuck with it," Holloway said. Though the participants want to learn English, she said it is difficult for them to commit after working 12 to 16 hours a day.
"Many of our participants arrive tired and are frustrated with the slow process of learning a new language," she said.
Rallying for rights
Maribel Hernandez GS has spearheaded campus efforts to support immigrants' rights. With the help of President Tilghman, the group hopes to deliver a petition to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist '74 with more than 800 signatures from students, professors and local community members.
"We are very privileged to be at Princeton and to have everything we need," Hernandez said in an email. "Yet, with such privilege comes the responsibility to help others, especially those who can't speak for themselves for fear of being deported."
On April 10, the newly named National Day for Immigrants Rights, Hernandez and a coalition of students from Chicano Caucus, Ballet Folklorico, College Democrats and the Black Graduate Caucus wore white shirts with red letters reading "Immigrants Rights Now," and set up tables in front of Frist Campus Center.
The group attracted about 250 students to its May 1 panel discussion titled "Undocumented Immigration in the United States," which featured three professors and Dan-El Padilla Peralta '06, who revealed his illegal status in a front-page Wall Street Journal story in April. After the panel, they collected money to contribute to Padilla's legal fees.
Hernandez also attended the immigrants' rights solidarity rally in front of Nassau Presbyterian Church earlier this month to support efforts by local activists. While students and professors turned out for the event, she was surprised that few Latinos from the local community showed up. Fear of retaliation from immigration services, inadequate publicity and conflicts with Saturday jobs were three major reasons for lack of Latino representation.
Carillo said she was not comfortable attending rallies, and would rather make a statement in personal ways.
"If there's a protest, I'm not going there because there could be problems," she said, citing violence in the crowds or police involvement.
Translating at the clinic
The Student Volunteer Corps program at University Medical Center at Princeton brings 29 students to the hospital on a weekly basis to serve as volunteer couriers and translators.
"They really rely on volunteers a lot," said program co-coordinator Elizabeth Washburn '08. "If they're not there, communication doesn't happen."
Washburn said she originally started working because she was premed and wanted to get clinical experience.
"Since then, I'm not premed, but I find it so enriching. I like getting to know a lot of Latinos in the community who I wouldn't get to talk to," she said.
Washburn works in the examination room, where she translates between doctors and patients. She had to get over the initial embarrassment of not knowing the words for all body parts, but hand signs help, she said.
Washburn cited the center's Charity Care financial aid program as an important amenity for many patients who can't afford to pay full price for necessary drugs.
"We don't have a dual standard," said Fredy Estrada, who has been the translating coordinator for the outpatient clinic for 10 years. "We treat patients same with and without insurance."
Washburn, however, said the program sometimes fails to cover the drugs a doctor prescribes, forcing patients to settle for a less effective option.
"It just breaks my heart every time that happens. The doctor is forced to prescribe something that won't do enough," she said.
Connecting through dance
Ballet Folklorico, the University's traditional Mexican dance group, has emphasized community involvement since its 1991 inception.
"We'll perform for free for schools to promote the idea of Mexican culture and dance ... so that they can know that their culture is alive and kicking, even in a place like New Jersey," member Juan Gonzalez '06 said. The group usually charges $300 to $400 for a performance.
He said audience members always approach him after shows thanking the group for sharing Mexican culture with their children. Many immigrants worry that their children will grow up Americanized and lose touch with their local traditions, he added.
Ballet Folklorico performs about five times in the local community each year, and 10 times in greater New Jersey at schools, community centers and Latino festivals.
Gonzalez said that though his group focuses mainly on Mexican culture, "we are still immigrants and supportive of these issues when they come up."
He said he perceives many Latino students at the University as lacking a presence. "All of the eating clubs have immigrants, and yet many students are against immigration reform," he said. Terrace Club was the only eating club to give its workers the afternoon off on May 1, International Workers' Day.
Gonzalez described the Princeton Latino community, concentrated around Witherspoon Street, as small and "much more in the shadows," when compared to the Los Angeles community from which he hails.
But, he added, the growing local Latino presence "is going to be a permanent thing for the Princeton community."
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