SAN DIEGO — Eighteen-year-old Vanessa Flores still remembers stumbling over her words on her second day at San Diego City College (SDCC) last fall when the Border Patrol agent in San Ysidro, a district in San Diego just north of the border, asked her where she was going. At first she thought about saying she was going up the coast to Oceanside to visit her grandmother. But all she could manage was that she was going to high school, and when he asked her which one, the only name that came to mind was “pirate” — the mascot of her school in Tijuana.
“He was doing his job,” said Flores, “but I got nervous.”
Wondering if they’ll say the wrong thing to officials is a daily reality for youth who cross the border to attend school, whether it’s high school or college. For Flores, so is waking up in the dark in order to reach the border by 7 a.m., getting on the trolley and making it to her 8 a.m. class on time. “You never know how long it’s going to take,” Flores said.
Transborder youth were often born in the U.S., may have lived on the U.S. side of the border at one point, and have spent their lives crossing the border to visit relatives or go shopping. But their families live in Tijuana, Mexico, largely because it’s more affordable. In K-12 schools, as well as in college, many families maintain or use an address in the U.S. to establish residency. “It’s like everyone in Mexico has an aunt here,” Flores said.
