Week Two of the 2025 Encampment

The second week of the 2025 Encampment was packed with varied learning activities and field trips. The Encampers went deeper into the topic of immigration, asking the question “How did we get here?” and looking at U.S. immigration history to provide the understanding and tools to change the future. They explored key historical events and policies that have shaped immigration in the United States and identified major themes and patterns over time.

As always, the EFC approach emphasizes questions, such as:

What did we learn about the immigration system over time?
What patterns do you see repeating?
Why does immigration happen?
How does this history affect our communities today?
What surprised you or made you feel angry, confused, or hopeful?
What do you think needs to change in how we approach immigration in this country?

Second-year Encamper Ola introduces a session. Click for a video clip.

As the immigration workshop days progressed, the Encampers moved into creating role plays based on actual immigration scenarios taken from today’s news.

“We’re connecting what we learned about organizing to the actual structure of the immigration system in the U.S. — how power is organized, who has it, and how people are fighting back.” – Program Director, Jesus Salcido

The objectives were:

Understand the structure and internal logic of the U.S. immigration system today.
Break down the roles and powers of DHS, Congress, and the Executive Branch.
Analyze how institutional power is maintained, challenged, and influenced.
Use scenario-based planning to imagine resistance campaigns.
Practice articulating demands to those in power with different positions and priorities.

Encampers, staff, and interns split into five small groups. Each group received a realistic campaign scenario based on an immigration-related issue. They created brief campaign plans and prepared to role-play a meeting with two different power holders. Their task was to:

Identify the core issue.
Map the power dynamics — Who can change this? What roles do DHS, Congress, local government, or others play?
Design a short-term campaign strategy.
Prepare a pitch to be delivered in two role-plays: one to a sympathetic but hesitant official, one to a resistant but powerful one.

Encampers were also working in their creative groups: music, visual art, theater/dance; putting together presentations for the InterGen performance Saturday night. We will livestream on Facebook, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Pacific/10:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. Eastern. Facebook link: https://business.facebook.com/events/1081074290191689/

While the Encampers are focused on an important issues, there is always time for fun. Click to see a video of a serious game of rock, paper, scissors.

In an impromptu Encampment event, Education Director Jane Sapp and Dr. Chan Ho Yun, artistic director of the Montecito International Music Festival (MIMF), were excited to see each other on the Cal Lutheran University campus. Having worked together previously, they decided to collaborate again with the music workshop, joining the orchestra for their concert.

2025 Music Group with Dr. Chan Ho Yun (third from left) and Ms. Jane Sapp (on right).

“This was an exciting opportunity for the young people to be part of the MIMF and it was a unique experience because none of them had played with a string quartet before. To be invited to be guests of the festival was very special — I wish people could have seen the expressions on the young people who sang and the rest of the Encampers who came to support them. They were so proud — hugging and congratulating them! Many of them got to experience music they don’t usually hear — it’s a universal language and it spoke to them. They spent time with the musicians, asking about how long they had been playing and their instruments, and saying how much they enjoyed the performance. It was a mutual shared experience, moving beyond musical borders.” — Jane Sapp

Click for two inspiring songs from the concert. Jane Sapp wrote “We Have Come Too Far” and “There is a River in my Soul” was written by Rose Sanders.

Leslie and Braeden on ferry to Limuw Island.

“Our trip to Limuw (Santa Cruz Island) was an opportunity to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the land, with culture, and with ourselves. We journeyed together to this sacred ceremonial site for the Chumash people, where they were guided by Indigenous community members in learning about their history, relationship to the land, and ongoing cultural preservation.” – Jesus Salcido

Click for a brief view into this extraordinary field trip.

Encampers engaged in hands-on service and learning at the Rio School District Organic Farm in Oxnard, a model of how education, food justice, and environmental stewardship can intersect to serve community needs. Encampers contributed directly to a project that provides fresh, organic produce to families in the district, many of whom come from immigrant and working-class backgrounds. By working alongside farm staff and educators, Encampers gained a deeper appreciation for the labor that sustains communities and explored how schools and local governments can play a role in building food sovereignty. This experience reinforced key themes of our program, including sustainability, community care, and solidarity. It also allowed participants to reflect on how similar initiatives could be adapted to their own communities. The EFC’s Pesticide-Free Soil Project‘s director Florencia Ramirez and two interns joined the group on this field trip. PFSP staff and interns work at the farm on Saturdays helping with planting, weeding and harvesting in another collaboration with the Rio School District.

Annie and Jane Sapp at Rio Farm.

“I was impressed by the farmers’ attention to pesticide-free regenerative farming particularly in an area where environmental racism is so prevalent. I enjoyed talking to Farmer Edgar — his story, growing up working on his father’s farm, and his resilience in continuing to work in farming despite the setbacks. He has so much heart. We had an amazing opportunity to talk to his dad, who started as an immigrant and became a successful farmer. He is hard-working and proud of his status as essential worker. It is powerful to me that he is not succumbing to the stigma of farm work. It was cool to watch the Encampers do some weeding; after 30 minutes we were all exhausted! It was an experiential way to understand what it means to have a 12-16 hour work day as farmer and it brought us much closer to the topics we’re been discussing in our immigrant workshops.” – Imani Jimenez-Ireeta, 2025 Intern

“I liked the solidarity that the farm owners we met had with people who are undocumented, because it shows the ways they are connected with those who are doing the labor. I’ve seen that through Farmers Edgar’s father resisting forcing the workers to do a visa verification device.” – Noah

“I liked how we got to eat the strawberries, picking and eating them raw instead of having to wash [pesticides off] them.” – Myijade

“I felt compassionate doing a work I never did before. The next morning, I woke up with my forearms sore, which reminded me of the importance of the job these people do, which we often just ignore.” – Augusto

“The strawberries I ate from the farm were unlike any I’ve had before. They were so delectable, and hearing how free of chemicals and pesticides they were made them even more tasty. I also loved hearing about the impact [they program was] having on the Rio School District, being able to provide healthy, nutritious meals to K–8 kids. Learning about the Pesticide Free Soil Project [link] inspired me to look into establishing similar projects in my own community.” – Annie

In collaboration with our partner organization, Friends of Fieldworkers, the Encampers had a unique chance to learn more about farmworkers and their lives by talking with them directly. This was an opportunity for the Encampers to facilitate and participate in discussions directly related to the issues that are most important to them. They met in three groups with three farmworkers. Program Director Jesus Salcido translated for one group; we hired a translator for another group; and Encamper Vanessa translated for the third group. Each farmworker told their story of coming to the U.S. and described what it is like to be a field worker — the hours and nature of the work.

“Their stories were moving and resonated especially with the Encampers who are children of immigrants and/or are immigrants themselves. It also provided an opportunity for the Encampers who are children of immigrants to feel more connected to their families’ experience. Each speaker then asked the Encampers about their lives and where they are from, which really made it an experience of mutual sharing. They all had lunch together, provided by a taco cart , and the conversations continued throughout lunch. The power of hearing directly from the people impacted makes a huge difference in deepening understanding and compassion.” – Margot Gibney, EFC Executive Director

After lunch, the Encampers helped distribute food and supplies to farmworkers, many of whom are dependent on these supplies for survival. Approximately 100 farmworkers came to pick up supplies. This day encouraged Encampers to draw connections between immigration, labor rights, food systems, and their own communities — and built empathy, awareness, and solidarity.

ENCAMPER PHOTOS!

Limuw Island.

Thank you to the staff and Encampers! A special thank you to our intern Brooklyn Gentry who provided photos and video for this post! And, to interns Imani Jimenez-Ireeta and Maribel Mendoza who gathered Encamper quotes. Shout out to Margot Gibney for video and text additions. Thank you to Nik Pettye for videos. Ongoing gratitude for our copyeditor, alum Ruth Thaler-Carter. We are glad to acknowledge images and/or video from photo/videographers, Adriana Campos-Ojeda who can be reached at aoc.cinema@gmail.com and Elibet Valencia Muñoz who can be reached at: LUSTER OPTICS.

2025 InterGen Program

If you are curious to know what the Encampers are learning in our “Justice Knows No Borders” summer program, view our Facebook livestream: https://business.facebook.com/events/1081074290191689/

Saturday July 19, 7:00–9:00 p.m. Pacific/10:00 p.m-12 a.m. Eastern: Encamper Creative Presentations (live on Facebook for virtual participants. In this session, a favorite each year, the Encampers present what they have been learning in a creative form. This is a relaxed presentation that the Encampers put together with staff, where you can expect poetry, music, dance, visual art, and more.

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