Conversations
About
Migration
In
Northern
Arizona
Listen to migrant and immigrant stories.
Hear about their joys, dreams, and vision for this country.
Learn directly from our Arizona neighbors about their economic contributions and the realities of sometimes living in the shadows.
Facts & Acts
Episode ONE - November 18, 2025
Dora Rodriguez
Across the Border & Beyond
Dora braved the desert three times in her drive to escape civil war in El Salvador. She reached the US in 1980, one of 13 survivors found near death in the Sonoran Desert. The other half of her group did not make it.
Dora's interview moved us with her personal journey. She also inspired us with the more than 40 years she has spent saving lives along the border and working to help her new country live up to its promise.
Dora's full story is detailed in Dora: A Daughter Of An Unforgiving Terrain. Learn more at DoraRodriguez.org. The non-profit organization she founded, which provides humanitarian aid to asylum seekers, is Salvavision.
FACT ONE:
More than 13% of Arizona residents are foreign-born, making up about 16% of Arizona's labor force. Immigrants support the state's economy in many ways.
[They account for 22.6% of entrepreneurs, 19.6% of STEM workers, and 29.3% of the agriculture workers in the state.]
Source: American Immigration Council
FACT TWO:
On July 30th, 1975, university students protesting repression and occupation of the university by armed forces were attacked by Salvadorian government troops. Estimates are that at least 100 people, including students, teachers and staff, were killed and many more injured.
Sources:
ACT:
When you meet someone you think may have immigrated to the US from another country, start by learning their name.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Migrant versus Immigrant
Words matter. So what IS the difference between migration, immigration and emigration?
Migration is the broadest term and includes any movement, any directions. Farmworkers go to farms in harvest season. Birds fly south for the winter. Snowbirds come to Arizona for the winter.
Those are all migrants.
(Also included in this category are immigrants and emigrants, but they usually get their own specific label, depending on whether they're coming or going.)
An immigrant is someone who moves IN and is usually used for people moving between countries. Emigrants are moving OUT. So someone leaving one country for another is both. For example, Stephanie's grandfather emigrated from Poland and immigrated to the US.
First Generation American
Who gets the title "first generation American?"
On the CAMINA, we'll generally use the standard definition: children of immigrants are First Generation, because they are the first generation born in the USA.
(Some people use the term for relatives who were the first to arrive in America, or the first to become citizens, so it can get confusing.)