Encountering the Human Side of the Law: Students Explore Border Migration Through Vincentian Service Immersion

On a week-long service trip to El Paso, TX, St. John’s Law Professor Adrián E. Alvarez and students Paola Alvarado ’28 and Priscila D. Ruiz ’26 explored the human realities of border migration and reflected on how the law shapes—and is shaped by—those human experiences.

Organized by St. John’s Institute for Vincentian Impact in partnership with the nonprofit Abara, the five-day Border Encounter service immersion, or Plunge, program was designed to deepen empathy and understanding at the U.S.–Mexico border. The Law School cohort shared the experience with a group from St. John’s University that included six undergraduate students and Janae Antrum, a graduate student who co-led the trip with Professor Alvarez.

It was a long-awaited opportunity, Professor Alvarez says. “I’ve always been drawn to Catholic social teachings—particularly this idea of social action inspired by the Gospel. Before going to law school, I was an aid worker for Catholic Relief Services in Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka. In deciding to come to St. John’s, a big draw was the University’s Vincentian mission. So, I had it in the back of my mind that one day I would like to lead one of the Plunge trips.”

The week’s itinerary included visits throughout El Paso. The group explored the historical significance of migration and border crossings and the current realities faced by those at the border. They also participated in a prayer vigil outside Camp East Montana Detention Center and met with University of Texas El Paso students, who shared their experiences of border identity. Concluding the week with the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, the Plunge participants spent time at a homeless shelter before joining the sisters in their home for dinner, prayer, and reflection.

For Professor Alvarez, the service immersion provided an opportunity to see his hometown through a different lens. “Growing up in El Paso, I was always proud of my identity as a fronterizo—someone from the borderlands who is completely bicultural and at home on either side of the fence,” he recalls. “I went to the barbershop in Mexico, I watched cartoons on NBC and Televisa, and every year for my birthday my parents would take me to el Mercado Juárez where they would haggle over the price of a Spiderman piñata. As an adult, I came to recognize my privilege—not everyone who grows up on the border is able to pop back and forth the way I did as a child. And a part of that realization was understanding that I had been largely sheltered from the stories of profound human suffering.”

Those stories of lived experience, told by clients she represented as a student in the Law School’s Refugee and Immigrant Rights Litigation Clinic, resonated for Priscila Ruiz as she stood by the 30-foot border fence surrounded by surveillance cameras, sensors, construction, and patrol trucks. “Learning about human stories behind immigration in the Clinic shaped my understanding of the law by highlighting the need for maintaining people-focused policies,” she says. “My experience in El Paso further emphasized that, although difficult during polarizing times, border security concerns do not necessarily have to be incompatible with humanitarian obligations.”

The Plunge experience was also formative for Paola Alvarado. “As someone whose family crossed the border to create better opportunities for me, this trip felt especially significant,” she shares. “I was drawn to the opportunity to step outside of the classroom and engage directly with communities impacted by immigration policy. Witnessing life at the border showed me that behind every case is a real person navigating fear, uncertainty, and hope. It pushed me to think more deeply about the kind of lawyer I want to be—someone who leads with empathy, understands people’s experiences, and is committed to advocating for those who are often overlooked.”

Reflecting on the service trip, which he calls a “Lenten pilgrimage of sorts,” Professor Alvarez says: “I hoped our students would come back with a commitment to using their law degrees to stand with those who find themselves on the margins of society, to listen to what those voices are saying about their needs and desires, and then to use their skills, talents, and resources to help make those needs known. I was thrilled to see them as moved and motivated by this meaningful week of service as I was.”