The facts speak for themselves. Since 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began, nearly 3,000 people have died due to Operation Gatekeeper, according to the American Friends Service Committee. Meanwhile, recent cruel and unjust immigration laws, in conjunction with criminal convictions based on the racially-biased War on Drugs, have made immigrants the fastest-growing segment of the California prison population.

The historical amnesia of US immigration policy and the lamentable way that immigrants are treated in this country is perhaps the US's greatest contradiction--that a nation of immigrants has turned its back to the same kind of people who built it, and has, in effect, turned its back on itself.

Global Exchange works with grassroots organizations and communities across California to illuminate the intersections between "free trade" policies, immigration and the criminal justice system. At the same time, Global Exchange is trying to overhaul US immigration laws to ensure that every person's rights, regardless of nationality, are respected and protected.

Through our Exploring California program, Global Exchange also organizes educational Reality Tours that support grassroots organizing statewide. During visits to the US/Mexico border, Central Valley farming communities, or the garment industry sweatshops of central Los Angeles, these socially-conscious travel opportunities offer participants a first-hand view of the different perspectives of the California reality. By doing so, GX hopes to educate and motivate individuals, especially youth, to involve themselves in the growing movement for social justice.