Jimenez Selected as Watson Fellow

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2009

RICHMOND, Ind. — Earlham College senior Eva Jimenez will use her Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to help her determine the kinds of changes she wants to see in U.S. immigration law.

Jimenez’s project “Migration and Narration: Understanding the Reasons Behind Immigration” was one of 40 proposals selected to receive $28,000 stipends for a year of independent study and exploration outside the United States.

“I will visit Spain, Ecuador, Morocco and Poland and talk to people about the reasons they immigrated,” she says.

“I want to know why people are leaving their countries, and what happens to the people they leave behind. “I want to know how the countries are receiving the new populations coming in, and how this compares to Mexico and the U.S.”

Jimenez, a Latin American studies major with a legal studies minor who was born in Mexico and raised in Chicago, says her interest in immigration began after a series of events during high school. Her visa expired at about the time she was accepted to a summer math program at Mount Holyoke in South Hadley, MA. Because of her expired visa, she says she was afraid even to travel domestically. She also took a course on immigration while in high school.

“The more I learned, the more I wanted to know,” she says. “Learning about immigration has been my way of procrastinating.” Indeed, Jimenez follows and speaks easily of bills, acts, and other government rulings that affect immigration and is equally able to discuss the history of early migrations.

Jimenez, now a U.S. citizen, says she thought about going into politics or becoming an immigration lawyer.

“I realized that I would be defending laws that I am not happy with,” she says. “The laws seem so unfair. I understand that countries need to protect their borders, but for one reason or another that isn’t working out. People are still finding reasons to migrate.”
The laws need to change, but Jimenez says even after all her research, she doesn’t know what change needs to take place.

“After a year of studying and comparing the situations in other countries, I will have a better idea of what I want that change to be,” she says. “Poland is a developed country with a lot of people leaving and a lot going back. Spain is a country like the U.S., receiving migrants from all over the world, and Mexico serves as a bridge in the same way that Morocco does for the southern parts of Africa into Europe.”

While at Earlham, Jimenez has been active in Amigos, Richmond’s Latino center. In 2007, she started Corazon Latino, a youth group for Spanish speaking middle and high school students, with a Faith, Vocation and Leadership grant. She is co-host of the radio program Amigos en el Aire, which airs on Sundays on WECI-FM.

“It’s a weekly Spanish radio show that began in ’03 where we talk a lot about services that are available,” she says. “We know there are a lot of listeners because we get so many calls requesting songs or just callers wanting to send shout-outs.”

While participating in Earlham’s Border Studies program, then situated on the U.S. –Mexico border in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico, Jimenez volunteered with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and worked mainly with children.

“I learned a lot about immigration laws while I was there,” she says. “Especially after the Border Studies experience I wanted to get out and act. I realize I need to learn more about policy and constitutional law and in every way balance my urge to go and do with my need to be prepared.”

While teaching may be her calling, Jimenez says she will not be able to enjoy it to its fullest until the immigration laws are changed.

“A lot of people tell me I will be a politician, but I am doubtful of policy,” she says. “I will advocate for education in the community. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part, but we have a lot of work to do as human beings — not as Mexican or U.S. citizens — just human beings working together. We can acknowledge that we are different but don’t exploit our differences.”

The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program was established in 1968 by the children of Thomas J. Watson, Sr., the founder of International Business Machines Corp., and his wife Jeannette K. Watson, to honor their parents’ long-standing interest in education and world affairs. In the history of the program, about 2,600 Watson Fellows have been given the opportunity to test their aspirations and abilities and develop a more informed sense of international concern.

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Contact:
Mark Blackmon, director of media relations
765/983-1256 — E-Mail Mark