In light of Dia de los Muertos, Movimiento Estudiantil Chinaco de Aztlán (MEChA) will host a vigil to honor the lives of migrants lost at the United States-Mexico border. The vigil will be held outside of the UP Bookstore from 7-8 p.m. on Nov. 3.
The vigil will serve as a space to reflect on the death of people at the border and bring attention to what causes these tragedies, according to Benjamin Barrero, MEChA co-coordinator.
“We wanted to utilize our cultural practice of the other El Dia de Muertos to honor those who have tried going through the border trying to fight for a better life," Barrero said. “I think it's especially important to remember their names and stories and pray for the ones who are going through the hardest times right now."
Additionally, the club is also displaying an ofrenda inside Clark Library to honor the lives lost at the Mexican-American border. The ofrenda will be available until Nov. 5.
Ofrendas typically have pictures of the people being honored. Instead of pictures, MEChA added monarch butterflies with the names of each person who died crossing through the Arizona desert into the U.S. in 2024.
The club chose to represent the migrants this way because monarch butterflies can symbolize migration.
“[The ofrenda is] both showing how many butterflies, showing the number of people who have passed away and the injustice of that, but I also think it's beautiful to see how many butterflies keep on flying,” Barrero said.
The club also added a white, wooden cross to the library altar. This is a practice borrowed from the non-profit No More Deaths, which places a white, wooden cross in the places where migrant bodies are found. Based in southern Arizona, the organization works to raise awareness of the issues that lead to migrant deaths and that cause migration in the first place.
MEChA co-coordinator Jessica Arevalo Ontiveros emphasizes the vigil and ofrenda are not only about suffering, but they’re also about honoring the lives of the people who have died.
"It's not just about their suffering,” Arevalo Ontiveros said. “It's about honoring their fight and their resilience for their search for a better life.”
Samantha Zavala is the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at zavala27@up.edu
