A Special Report

Articles:

The Other Face of Immigration
by Tim Vanderpool

Soluton Minded
by Sarah Beaudry

The Border Film Project
by Sarah Beaudry

Divided Lives
by Margaret Regan

The University of Arizona Alumnus — Fall 2006

Roberto Gudiño with Oscar Lujan, executive director of the UA Alumni Association’s Hispanic Alumni Club.

Solution Minded
Alleviating illegal immigration by providing jobs for Mexicans in Mexico.
by Sarah Beaudry

When senior Roberto Gudiño transferred to the UA a year ago, the issue of illegal immigration to the U.S. from Mexico was just starting to ignite in the media.

“I kept hearing questions like: ‘Why are so many illegals coming here and why are they trying to take our jobs?’” says Gudiño.

“It was frustrating to me because these people don’t come here because they want to. They come here because they can’t feed their families and are looking for a better way of life. Jobs in the U.S. are the only things that offer that.”

Gudiño was inspired to share the story of a cooperative, Just Coffee, which helps alleviate illegal immigration by providing jobs for Mexicans in Mexico.

“Rather than focusing on policy or the problems with illegal immigration, Just Coffee is proactive and solution-focused,” says Gudiño.

A B.F.A. student in film and television production, Gudiño produced a short documentary film, called Just Coffee, about the cooperative and the economic issues that drive illegal immigration.

As described in the film, coffee prices in the region of Salvador Urbina, Chiapas, in the southern Mexico region have dropped dramatically in the last few years. The culprits, according to Gudiño, are the coffee conglomerates who cut prices and put small growers out of business. With their local economies eroding, many Mexicans have left their homes, fleeing to northern Mexico and the United States in search of better economic opportunities.

As an incentive to keep people home, partners in both Mexico and the U.S. organized the Just Coffee cooperative. It hires local people at a fair wage and provides optimal profits for growers.

Organic Arabica coffee is grown in Chiapas and then shipped to northern Mexico to the Sonoran border town of Agua Prieta, where it is roasted, ground, and packaged. From Agua Prieta, the coffee is shipped over the border to Douglas, and sold to customers throughout the U.S.

According to the film, the coffee is grown in a spirit of justice and just prices, thus the cooperative’s name, Just Coffee.

“Instead of putting up walls and fences, Just Coffee offers a solution that not only helps out the individuals involved, but both countries — the U.S. and Mexico,” says Gudiño.

Gudiño’s documentary travels from the coffee fields of Salvador Urbina to Douglas; we meet business partners from both sides of the border who share their hopes for Just Coffee. Along the way, with carefully crafted cinematography, the film captures the beauty of Mexico’s green, lush lands.

“I wanted to show how beautiful not only Chiapas is, but really how any place that you call home is beautiful,” says Gudiño. “I wanted to get across the idea that people don’t leave their homes and families in Mexico unless they have to.”

In the film, the story of Just Coffee is never isolated from the devastation of poverty in Mexico and the ensuing migration. We meet one woman who is seeking to improve the life of her family by leaving Mexico for the U.S. Her comments, tears, and story of heartbreak are set against the background of people laying crosses and flowers along the road for loved ones who have died crossing the desert into Arizona.

“We’ve been talking about amnesty for decades,” says Gudiño. “It has happened before and people say illegals just keep coming back. I wanted to show why they keep coming back. They are fulfilling a need. A need to eat and a need to take care of their families. If we can help provide jobs in Mexico, we can help provide a solution.”

The film, Just Coffee, was produced and directed by Roberto Gudiño and edited by Eli Cordova. Cordova is also a senior at the UA, working toward a B.F.A. in Media Arts and B.A. in Theatre Arts with an emphasis in directing.