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BINATIONAL CLUB BLOSSOMS

Photo By Blanca Esthela Castañeda García / Staff

INTERNATIONAL RELIEF EFFORT—Members of the Southwestern College Binational Transfronterizo Club lead a beach cleanup in Playas de Tijuana.

By Blanca Esthela Castañeda García

Countless American College students cross town to get to campus. Some cross city limits.

Only Southwestern College students cross international borders.

Southwestern’s transfronterizos (border crossers) are so highly motivated to attend college they often wake up well before dawn, wait in grueling lines in the dark, take 3-4 modes of transportation, eat street food on the run and then repeat the process in the other direction each evening. They are used to being hungry, carrying heavy backpacks, being stuck in noxious traffic, being lost on the bus, and getting the stink eye for being late to class.

SC’s Binational Fronterizo Club is where border crossing students can find support and encouragement from others of their rare breed. Advised by ESL Advocate Specialist Angelina Barrera and ESL instructor Joanna Esser, the club can be a few minutes of sanctuary and understanding for the high-milage, high-stress transfronterizos collegistas.

Transfronterizos are bilingual, binational and tend to be global thinkers, said Esser. Tijuana and San Diego County are both international regions on their own. Together they are a global economic and cultural powerhouse. Binational students like Southwestern’s transfronterizos are America’s hope for an inevitable future that is multinational, multicultural and global.

The San Ysidro and Otay Mesa border crossings are magical transit zones that see more than 10 million people a year pass through in both directions. Southwestern Community College District encompasses the busiest international border crossing on the planet – the most crossed border in the history of humanity.

Despite that, la linea can also be a waking nightmare of bureaucracy, short tempers, corruption, incompetence, inconsistency and tie ups. Southwestern’s Office of Binational and International Programs is partnering with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to help make it easier and quicker for transfronterizo students to obtain lifesaving Global Entry/Sentri Cards.

Sentri allows card holders to enter special lines that are shorter, faster and less invasive. It can also alleviate problems like the ban on bringing food from home across the border and unexpected delays.

Camila Gutierrez, 19, said she is a fan of the Transfronterizo Club because members understand the challenges regular border crossers face.

“The club provides opportunities and solutions for transfronterizo students that are not generally part of the regular (college) experience,” she said. “Having support is very important. It motivates you to continue coming to school and to keep studying.”

Some transfronterizos are reticent to talk about their situation with Americans because sometimes they encounter racism or people who did not understand that American citizens of Mexican heritage may legally live in Tijuana and attend school in the United States. The Binational Fronterizo Club is a safe place to talk about experiences and strategies.

It is also a place to serve the community. Carla Gutierrez, 21, took part in a Tijuana beach cleanup with club members this spring. She said the project helped to connect her with the environment and some of the issues that transcend borders and plague both countries.

The Binational Fronterizo Club welcomes new members said Carla Gutierrez. Students may email either of the advisers at abarrera@swccd.edu or jesser@swccd.edu. The club’s Instagram account is @binationalfronterizoswc.

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