EDINBURG, Tex. — The Hawks wore blue. The Foxes were in green. The teams gathered outside in the pit, in the shade beneath a collection of trees. The dust was soon flying in a game of gaga ball, a summer camp staple that is a fast-paced, low-slung version of dodgeball, and the campers were having too much fun to ponder the what-ifs.

In this case, if the Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly camp, based in the Texas Hill Country, had not traveled five hours south to them, these teenagers would not have attended.

Growing up in the summer of 2019 on the Texas-Mexico border, in the shadow of migrant shelters and amid a rolling national conversation about immigration, is to grow up with a stigma. These teenagers see, hear and feel the stereotypes: They must be poor. They or their parents must not be in the United States legally.

But like the border region itself, they are much more than a headline. Many of the older campers have parents who are in the country legally but either cannot afford the Hill Country camp or cannot make the trip because of their work schedules.