[border wall header art]
© Leslie DeGrassi
THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2027
7:30 am Registration & Field Trips—Arrive at The Good Shepherd (Scroll down for descriptions)
7:00 - 9:30 pm Film Screening & Discussion on Migration and Resilience: "The Culture of Border Humanitarian Work" by filmmaker Julia Ortiz-Tzul
Julia Ortiz-Tzul is a first-generation student at Georgetown University's College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in Anthropology and Philosophy on the pre-law track. She is from Tucson, Arizona, where her family settled after migrating from Guatemala. She plans to attend law school and practice immigration law.
This ethnographic documentary examines the culture of humanitarian aid work in Southern Arizona, following volunteers with groups as they carry water into the Sonoran Desert. The film asks who does this extreme volunteering, what draws them to it, and what sustains them, and it traces the logistical, legal, and public pressures these groups face. It also considers how border communities, including the Tohono O'odham Nation, live with the immigration crisis in their own backyards during a time of expanded federal presence in the borderlands. And how volunteers weigh legality against morality in their work.
Moderated by Professor Ofelia Montelongo
Associate Editor Bilingual Press | Editorial Bilingüe (BP|EB) Hispanic Research Center
Arizona State University
After the 40-minute screening, participate in a conversation with Julia to discuss the stories shown in the film, address the challenges faced by border communities, and highlight the importance of advocacy and support in fostering social change.
5:00 - 7:00 pm Dinner on your own
FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2027
8:30 - 9:00 am Registration
9:00 - 9:15 am Welcome and Orientation
9:15 - 10:15 am Alex La Pierre -"How We Arrived Here: A Short History of the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands"
Alex La Pierre is the founder of Borderlandia, an organization that promotes cross cultural experiences along the US/Mexico border.
The Arizona-Sonora borderlands are more than a line dividing two countries. They are a region shaped by Indigenous nations, Spanish colonization, Mexican independence, U.S. expansion, migration, trade, and generations of people whose lives have crossed and connected the border. This presentation offers a brief history of how the modern Arizona-Sonora border came to exist and how its legacy continues to shape the region today.
This talk will begin with the Indigenous peoples who lived across the region long before the United States or Mexico existed, then trace the arrival of Spanish colonizers and the incorporation of the area into Mexico following Mexican independence. There will be an examination of how the U.S.-Mexico border was established in the nineteenth century through war, treaties, and territorial expansion, including the Mexican Cession and the Gadsden Purchase.
10:30 - 12:00pm John Quiñones - "Key Moments in Impactful Journalism"
Discover key moments in impactful journalism with this seven-time Emmy and Peabody Award-winning ABC News veteran. Quiñones is known for his compelling storytelling. He has covered high-profile stories and led recent coverage of controversial U.S. immigration enforcement cases. Most notably, he reported on the detention and subsequent release of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, as well as the Gámez-Cuéllar family of teenage mariachi musicians. Their separate detentions during routine check-ins sparked bipartisan outrage and gained national attention. This year, he landed an exclusive, on-camera interview with 95-year-old civil rights icon and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, who broke decades of silence. Quiñones is the host of ABC’s “What Would You Do?” And former migrant child farmworker. Quiñones provides a unique perspective on the challenges and successes of the Latino community.
12:00pm - 1:00 pm Lunch: tamales and tacos for sale on the patio
1:00 - 2:30 pm. Alvaro Enciso -"Where Dreams Die: An Educational Exploration of Migration at the Southern Border"
Alvaro Enciso is a social justice and multi-media contemporary artist living and working in Tucson, AZ. His work deals with the American dream, migration, cultural identity, and bilingualism.
H has been working for the past 12 years on a conceptual, land art project titled, "donde mueren los sueños (where dreams die),” which marks the locations in southern Arizona and New Mexico, where migrants have lost their lives in search of that elusive American dream. Alvaro has planted more than 2,000 crosses in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, where the bodies and remains of migrants have been recovered.
Alvaro will discuss and shed light on the complex realities faced by individuals navigating the treacherous landscape of migration in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.
Moderated by Anita Huizar-Hernández
Associate Professor of Latin American & Border Studies
Arizona State University
2:45 - 4:45 pm Classes and Workshops
4:45 - 5:45 pm Free Time
5:45 - 6:45 pm Dinner provided by the Sahuarita Food Bank
7:00 - 9:30 pm Musical Event with Gertie and the T.O. Boyz
Gertie Lopez Is from the Chuichu Village, on the Tohono O’odham Nation and has become a prominent public figure and a leading force in the performance and preservation of Tohono O’odham culture and Waila music. She Is affectionately known as the “Queen of Waila” and was recently inducted into the Tucson Musicians Museum's Hall of Fame.
Gertie is the only female band leader on the Tohono O’odham Reservation. She has traveled to New York, Washington D.C, Caborca Mexico, and many places in the United States to share her Waila Music.dedicated to exploring migration issues and the deadly consequence for thousands who have crossed to shed light on the complex realities faced by individuals navigating the treacherous landscape of migration in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2027
8:30 - 9:00 am Registration
9:00 - 9:15 am Gathering, Announcements and Orientation
9:15 - 10:00 am TBD
10:00 - 11:00 am Border Fair on the Patio (a time of meet with local humanitarian groups)
11:00 am - 12:00 pm Melinda Palacio - Interview about her novel "Ocotillo Dreams"
Author talk with writer Melinda Palacio, whose powerful debut novel, "Ocotillo Dreams," explores themes of identity, prejudice, and the complex relationships that shape our lives. With her rich background as an award-winning poet and former Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara, Palacio brings a unique perspective to her fiction, drawing from the vibrancy of the desert culture and the often-unseen stories of its inhabitants. Her journey takes readers to Chandler, Arizona, where Isola, the protagonist, unravels the intricate tapestry of her late mother’s life and the hidden narratives of those impacted by immigration.
Moderated by filmmaker and author David Damian Figueroa
12:00 - 1:30 pm Lunch: tamales and tacos for sale on the patio
1:30 - 3:30 pm Classes/Workshops
3:30-4:30pm Erick Meza - "The Movement to Stop Border Wall Construction"
Erick Meza Erick is a passionate desert environmentalist who has been an instrumental part of the movement to halt border wall construction especially in the Lochiel area where activists have stopped construction of the wall by standing in front of construction graders. He will speak about the multiple efforts to stop border wall construction along the 2000 miles of US/Mexico Border.
Erick Meza is the current Borderlands Coordinator for the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter and Permaculture educator from the Sonoran Desert. Over the last year he has been actively following and protesting the building of border walls along the US/Mexico Border. Especially near Lochiel where he and cadre of activists have been protecting the Cottonwood Grove that is over 200 years old. He will be speaking about the ecological damage of building the border wall and the destruction that falls in its wake.
4:30 - 5:45pm Free time
5:45 - 7:00 pm Dinner provided by Sahuarita Food Bank
7:00 - 9:30 pm Closing Comments by Pastor Randy Mayer
and Music by Trio los Waldos
Trio los Waldos es un trio romantico de calidad con instrumentos de cuerda como requinto, guitarra, contrabajo y voces.
FIELD TRIP OPTIONS (Thursday)
Field trips are designed to give different perspectives of the border, immigration, and the humanitarian work that takes place. For groups coming to Common Ground, group members should choose a variety of trips, so they can bring back an assortment of experiences to their community.
Please arrive at The Good Shepherd by 7:30 am.
Attendees will need to bring their own lunch and snacks. Dinner will be on their own.
THURSDAY TRIPS
1. Walking Tour of Nogales, Mexico (max 18)
Spend a meaningful day in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico with Anna Maria Vasquez walking along the streets of Nogales. *Participants should wear good walking shoes. Bring cash for shopping and non-hosted lunch. Be able to walk up to 3 miles on uneven sidewalks and streets. Must have a valid passport.
2. Humane Borders Water Stations (max 15)
Humane Borders was founded in 2000 to help stop the suffering in the desert by putting water out on well-traveled migrant trails. Spend the day with Humane Borders on one of their trips and experience the harshness of the desert, hear stories of migrant realities, and learn first-hand what Humane Borders provides. *Participants must wear closed-toed shoes and bring a water bottle.
3. Samaritans Water Drop (max 4)
Accompany Green Valley/Sahuarita Samaritans as they deliver water and food to locations along possible migrant trails in the Sonoran Desert. *Participants must wear closed-toed shoes and bring a water bottle and snacks.
4. Trip to the Border Wall (max 11)
Accompany Green Valley/Sahuarita Samaritans to experience the visual impact of the border wall along the US/Mexico border. *Participants must wear closed toed-shoes and bring a water bottle and snacks.
5. Desert Search (max 16)
Accompany Green Valley/Sahuarita Samaritans as they drive along trails in the Sonoran Desert while possibly providing humanitarian aid to the people in need and learn about the Desert Search program. *Participants must wear closed-toed shoes and bring a water bottle and snacks.
6. La Casa de la Misericordia (max 30)
Visit this migrant shelter in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico run by Sister Lika. This trip will be led by pastor Randy Mayer. You will have opportunities to meet migrant families staying at the shelter while awaiting the next steps along their journey and to learn about the work of the shelter. *Participants must have a valid passport.
7. Rancho to Table Feast at Carumal Ranchito: A Taste of Sasabe, Sonora, Mexico (max 20)
Join us for an authentic culinary adventure brought to you by the bi-national Sasabe Empowerment Project of the GVS Samaritans. Experience the true essence of Mexican flavors at Carumal Ranchito in Sasabe. Delight your senses with a delicious meal featuring tacos de tinga, quesadillas, beans, rice, and salsa, all paired with refreshing aguas frescas. Indulge in traditional homemade Mexican regional desserts, lovingly crafted by Las Mamás de Sasabe, using traditional family recipes. Enjoy this unique dining experience under a ramada adorned with grapevines, Mexican regional music in the background, where every bite tells a story of cultural tradition and community resilience and spirit. Don’t miss this opportunity to savor the taste of authentic borderlands Mexican cuisine in a picturesque desert setting!
*Participants must have a valid passport
8. Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (This trip meets at the church at 12pm) (max 30)
"Forensic Pathology: Addressing Border-Related Deaths”
Join Dr. Greg Hess, Pima County Chief Medical Examiner, for a presentation exploring the role of forensic pathology in Pima County, where border-related deaths pose unique challenges. Learn methods for investigating and identifying migrant remains, as well as innovative techniques for tracking heat-related deaths in an area experiencing extreme temperatures. He will also address the nationwide shortage of forensic pathologists, highlighting his office’s successful staffing strategies and advocating for education. The session will conclude with an overview of the new Pima County Medical Examiner facility.
9. Migrant Memorial Walk (max 12)
As migrants move across the Sonoran Desert many have lost their lives due to the harsh conditions of this area. Jennifer Clarke will lead a memorial walk near her home to sites where crosses have been placed honoring those that have died along their journey. *Participants must wear closed-toed shoes and bring a water bottle and a hat is recommended. The trail is rocky and uneven.
An Introduction to Ethnobotany in the Sonoran Desert with Alex La Pierre ( Friday)
For thousands of years, the Indigenous peoples of the Sonoran Desert—such as the Tohono O'odham, Akimel O'odham, Opata, Apache and Seri—have relied on the land’s plants for food, medicine, tools, and ceremonies. Join us for an engaging presentation on how desert plants have shaped daily life, survival, and cultural traditions.
We’ll explore the many uses of iconic desert plants like saguaro, mesquite, creosote, and agave, from traditional foodways to healing remedies and basket weaving. Learn how this knowledge passed down through generations remains relevant today.
Alex La Pierre is the founder of Borderlandia, an organization that promotes cross cultural experiences along the US/Mexico border. Alex’s earliest memory is a family visit to Tijuana as a young boy, an experience that sparked a lasting fascination with the people and heritage of Mexico. His professional experience spans the nonprofit sector and government, including work with the National Park Service in New Mexico and Arizona in historic preservation and interpretation. A graduate of the University of Arizona, Alex has focused his studies and research on the Hispanic cultural heritage of the American Southwest and Mexico.
Writing the Sacred - Word and Wonder, Anger and Amazement on the Border with Ted Virts (Saturday- Max 12 people)
This is a hands-on writing workshop for people who love words as writers or readers: poetry, prose, diary, prayer, letters, essays and more.
Join retired pastor and author Ted Virts as he offers readings, prompts, suggestions, and conversation to explore the link between the Sonoran Desert, immigration realities, and the feelings and thoughts that have occurred to your being in this place at this time. How might Common Ground find its way to your reading and writing? How might you get started or re-started on your writing journey?
Ted Virts is a retired United Methodist pastor with 30 years’ experience in the local church and pastoral supervision. In addition to decades years of sermon writing, he has studied writing in retirement with noted Oregon writers, including Ellen Waterston, the current Poet Laureate of Oregon. His poetry collection Window and Mirror was published in 2024, and received a starred and favorable reviews from Independent Book Review and Reader's Favorite. His poem Sonora received an honorable mention in the 2023 open poetry competition of the Oregon Poets Association. He and his wife Charlene moved to Green Valley in 2024.
Weaving a Desert Memory with Charlene Virts (Saturday - Max 12 people)
Fashion a piece of art that will remind you of the beauty and the harshness of the Sonoran Desert. In this workshop you will create a woven piece using cactus, bark, vines, grasses and found objects from the desert. Whether you participated in a trip to the wall or visited the mission or wandered the desert on the memorial walk, this weaving will be a reminder of your time there. All materials provided.
Charlene Virts is a fiber artist who has been weaving and creating pine needle baskets and sculptural pieces for 40 years.
Bridging the Border/How Can You Help with Rita Danks (Friday)
Many people ask how they can help. This class will present various ideas on how to help those at the border, as well as those in your community. Different examples will be shown in class from the various projects currently in use to serve many. Ideas will also be presented on how to network and obtain donations.
Rita Danks has been an active volunteer with Samaritans and Voices from the Border for over 10 years. She has created various projects to help those most in need. She was also very involved with immigrant activities in the Cleaveland area before moving to Green Valley.
"Receta de Mi Madre / My Mother’s Recipe: Crafting Authentic Migrant Farmworker Lunch Burritos”
with David Damian Figueroa (Saturday)
Join David as he shares his mother Antonia's cherished recipe, blending Mexican American culinary tradition with heartfelt memories from his childhood as a migrant child farmworker. Experience the aromas and sounds that shaped his mornings as you learn to create a delicious lunch burrito from a traditional family recipe. It's a Mexican American family recipe tradition. “The sky is still dark, I remember our journey from Buckeye, Arizona to the fields at LVL Ranch near Gila Bend, but before heading out, I would wake up to the sound of my mom and aunts whispering in Pig Latin, along with the aromas of cooking, bubbling coffee and the scent of bleach from the freshly mopped floors. Then come soft echoes of my mom and aunt singing in harmony in Spanish, the sizzling sounds of carne molida on the stove, and the thud of the rolling pin against the table as they made tortillas de harina.”
David Damien Figueroa is a filmmaker, GVS Samaritan volunteer, and former child migrant farmworker
Border Theology & Other Spiritual Thoughts with Randy Mayer and Father Ray Rider (Saturday)
Father Ray Ridings and Rev. Randy Mayer will be sharing some of their thoughts and reflections about the border and immigration through the lens of faith and action. Both Ray and Randy are active Samaritans spending lots of time in the desert and with thousands of migrants and volunteers. In the midst of that work the holy and sacred have appeared.
Randy Mayer is pastor of the Good Shepherd UCC and longtime humanitarian along the US/Mexico border. Father Ray is a Catholic priest who spent years doing ministry in Latin America and is now doing ministry along the border.
The Sacred Journeys Project with Gale Hall (Saturday)
With a focus on children and families, Sacred Journeys will provide a foundational understanding of forced crisis migration. In addition to exploring videos, books, articles, stories, and artwork, participants will engage in discussions and hands-on activities that will build empathy and the heart to make a difference. This 11-session faith-based curriculum culminates in the creation of individual and group action plans that allow people to strive for justice and peace for all people. Upon completion of the program, individuals will be prepared for leadership in their own spaces and collaboration with others across the country as they advocate for migration with dignity.
The curriculum is facilitated by 2 people with a group of 8 – 10 participants in individual churches or communities. A group of 9 churches around the country piloted the curriculum in 2026. The revised curriculum is based on their thoughtful feedback. In this workshop you will participate in one of the activities explored in the curriculum to get a better understanding of how the course engages participants. You will learn about the topics of each session and how to organize a cohort to take this journey together.
Gale Hall, a retired professor of early childhood education created the Welcome Quilt Project in partnership with Voices from the Border to offer a counternarrative to dehumanizing language aimed at immigrants. Currently, as part of the Episcopal Migration Caucus she is developing curriculum for a church wide formation project on migration with a focus on children.
A Singing Movement Can’t Hurt with Ted Warmbrand (Saturday)
When folks uniting to solve a social problem sing the right song at the right time they build spirit commitment and courage. We will look at what songs need to do that job and learn from those who came and stood fast before us. All the better to face the present.
Ted Warmbrand is a Tucson folk musician using songs to build community, protest injustice and bring joy to those around him.
Empowering Sasabe Project: A Community Resilience Workshop with the Samaritan Team Members (Friday)
This workshop is about the transformative initiatives of the Sasabe Project. Local residents along with the Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans bring new life into the community which has been deeply affected by violence and displacement. This project promotes literacy, nutrition and collaborative goal-setting. Residents are rebuilding their homes and restoring their lives. This workshop includes discussion about sustainable community and integrated programs based on local community engagement.
Beginning Pan Pipes with Anna Maria Vasquez (Saturday)
The pan pipes is an ancient world instrument that has its roots in many countries around the world. It was clearly an instrument of the regular people and not an instrument of the elite. This means that everyone can play! In this class, you will learn some of the basics as well as a few traditional songs. Come prepared to have fun.
Anna Maria Vasquez is an eco-artist, anthropologist and musician. She grew up in Colombia and Florida and has a love of travel and learning about the world. She spent time in Peru and it was there that she learned how to play the pan pipes. She lives part of the year in Magdalena working with children at an orphanage, and the other part of the year she travels, sharing her gifts and working for peace and justice. Anna Maria is the co-founder of Bridges Across Borders and she is involved in many other causes.
Making Crosses with Alvaro Enciso (Friday - Max 12 People)
We will examine the cross not only as a symbol of faith, but also as an object of art, and as a point of departure for exploring other ideas such as personal loss, remembrance, and honoring. We will also deconstruct the cross as vertical and horizontal lines, connections, sculptural implications of space, or simply as containers for memorie, feelings, endings, and more. Participants will have blank wooden crosses to experiment with decorative options and finishes using found objects, paper, fabric, paint, pencils, etc. Limit: 12 participants. A $10 material fee will be collected in class.
Alvaro Enciso is a multi-media contemporary artist living and working in Tucson, AZ. In addition to his studio practice that deals with the American dream, migration, cultural identity, and bilingualism, he has been working for the past 12 years on a conceptual, land art project titled, "donde mueren los sueños (where dreams die),” which marks the locations in southern Arizona and New Mexico, where migrants have lost their lives in search of that elusive American dream. Alvaro has planted more than 2,000 crosses in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, where the bodies and remains of migrants have been recovered.
Coffee, Building Relationships Across the Border with Adrian Gonzalez (Friday)
Come and learn about a coffee cooperative in Mexico, and how this may be one of the best examples of how to address the immigration crisis and be successful at it!
Adrian Gonzalez was born and raised in Aqua Prieta Sonora, Mexico. He has been the Director of Customer Relations for Café Justo since 2003. He's been working building relationships across the border since he was a teenager; volunteering for different ministries like shelters for migrants, deportees ,and refugees. He enjoys nature, traveling, photography and supporting social issues. And he drinks 5 cups of black coffee a day, obviously Café Justo.
The United Church of Christ and Beyond: Moving Ecumenically in Advocacy with Megan Bergert (Friday)
Join the National Ministries of the UCC Minister for Refugee and Migration Services, Megan Bergert, in a conversation about the various places and ways in which the people of the UCC are active in immigration justice. On the migrant’s often-long and arduous journey to the border, how are Global Ministries and partners offering support and accompaniment? How have UCC churches across the country joined in ecumenical and community coalition to stand with their migrant neighbors in welcome? When migrants are deported or choose to return to their homelands, what programs offer community care for that time of transition? Hear from Megan and UCC partners about how the UCC is uplifting and amplifying the advocacy and accompaniment of migrants’ whole journeys as we work together to offer extravagant welcome to all.
In her position with Global HOPE, Megan Bergert (she/her) resources the advocacy and accompaniment work of UCC conferences, associations, and congregations, supporting the UCC’s call for an extravagant welcome for all, and working in collaboration with the UCC D.C. Office for Public Policy and Advocacy and with Rev. Noel Andersen. Megan’s professional background includes a decade as a public high school teacher before earning her M.Div. and MSW; she then served as Education and Learning Supervisor with the International Rescue Committee resettlement office in New Jersey.
Accompanying People in Immigration Detention with Bob Kee, Heath Spencer and Father Ray Riding (Friday)
Conditions in immigration detention centers, stories of accompaniment, and ways you can support people who are in detention facilities will be the centerpiece of this workshop.
Bob Kee joined the Tucson Samaritans in 2005. He started volunteering at shelters in Nogales Mexico in 2008, including Kino Border In Initiative. His visitations to Florence and Eloy Detention Centers began in 2013 where his is still active today. Heath Spencer is the Borderlands Education Coordinator for the West Coast Region of Mennonite Central Committee, and volunteer with Eloy Visitation and Accompaniment, Salvavision, and the Tucson Samaritans. Since Father Ray came to the borderlands in 2024 he has provided spiritual guidance for Salvavision in their accompaniment of families program in the Tucson area. Weekly, he has offered pastoral support at the Eloy and Florence Immigrant Detention Centers.