Melín Moreno de Kaufmann
Trans-National Resident
Lives in San Diego

A native of Guadalajara, Melín has lived in San Diego for 4 years with her American husband, Michael, and three children. Melín and her family ultimately settled down in the exclusive gated community of Fairbanks Highlands, in the North coastal section of the city, after several years living in her hometown as well as Los Angeles where her husband owned and operated shoe manufacturing and export businesses.

As a busy mom who works from home as an administrator for her husband’s designer shoe business, Melín rarely goes to Tijuana except to go to the airport to catch a non- stop flight to Guadalajara or to the seaside resort of Puerto Vallarta where her family owns a vacation home. According to Melín, "Flying out of Tijuana is so much easier and more convenient than San Diego for designations like Guadalajara and Vallarta with more direct flights and, more often than not, better prices." Melín’s only frustration are the long border delays upon her family’s return home, "the wait can often be as much as 2 hours on a weekend and with three young children this can be very emotionally nerve-wracking." She continued, "I’ve thought about getting the SENTRI pass but we don’t go down to Tijuana enough to justify the cost."

As Melín noted, "it is sort of a catch 22. If we had the (SENTRI) pass, I know we would go down more often as Tijuana has so many wonderful restaurants now and the cultural attractions advertised frequently in Spanish language radio and television are very inviting…but because we don’t have SENTRI, again, we don’t go."

While Melín’s contact with Tijuana is limited to two to three trips per year, her connection and ties with Mexico are frequent and multi-faceted with a tight circle of friends who were all born in Mexico but now reside in their own suburban enclaves of La Jolla, Del Mar, and Carmel Valley. Melín’s family members in Guadalajara travel to San Diego on a regular basis and when they are not here, they communicate on almost a regular basis through internet thanks to a new video teleconferencing package she recently got on her home computer.

Alejandra Ricardez
Trans-National Resident
Lives in Encinitas CA

A native of Oaxaca, Ale Ricardez has lived in San Diego for 15 years. Ale arrived to the area in 1987 settling in Encinitas with her mother and father who had been traveling back and forth for over a decade before between the small town where Ale was born in the Valle Central de Oaxaca and California's Central Valley.

Ale’s initial challenges were many from building new friendships and learning a new language to being the first one in her family to complete college and graduate school. Collectively these represent the most significant challenges in building a life that reflects and embraces the "here" and "there" of a binational existence. "This part of the process seemed to be much more difficult because I used to think I had to choose between one or the other", Ale says.

Determination, hard work, family support, and a desire for a better life have collectively shaped Ale’s drive and the way she confronts challenges. Ale graduated from Cal State San Marcos (CSUSM) with a Bachelor in Sociology in 1997. She later went on to earn a Master’s degree in Urban Planning at UCLA. Ale is now looking to pursue a Ph.D. and a career in academia.

A co-founder of a grassroots organization called Indigenous Communities from Oaxaca, (COCIO in Spanish) based in North County San Diego, Ale is active in promoting issues impacting the life of her Oaxacan compatriots in San Diego. In Ale’s words, COCIO creates a space that validates indigenous culture, instills pride for genuine indigenous ways, and constitutes a key element in building community for indigenous Oaxacans in San Diego. "It’s like finding a space in our contemporary life for our traditions that teach us to embrace a good life".

Ale currently works at North County Health Services where she is actively serving the migrant agricultural community of the region. Though Ale agrees that the life and situation experienced by this particular segment of the population is very harsh, she trusts that through her work progress will be made to help her community. Ale points out that these efforts could be advanced tremendously if policymakers made an effort to better understand that many economic, social and other issues tie San Diego not only to Tijuana but also to other regions in Mexico like her native Oaxaca.