Volunteering to Assist Asylum Seekers in Tijuana

Guest blogger: Nicole Gorney, University of San Francisco law student, who recently volunteered counseling asylum seekers gathered in Tijuana.

Heading down to Tijuana for my spring break with Al Otro Lado, I didn’t know what to expect.  For the past few months I have been keeping up with the news about what is happening down at the border and along the way.  I was aware of “la lista” [seemingly controlled by the migrants, but actually by CBP with the Mexican government] and some other things occurring in border areas but I didn’t fully understand.  Before I saw it, I didn’t completely comprehend why the list is so problematic and also, illegal. 

After spending a week in Tijuana, I determined that our country, our government, has essentially turned the city of Tijuana into a refugee camp.  And now, we are now forcing the Mexican government and people to take care of it. 

My first day at El Chaparral (port of entry foot crossing), I watched three women from Haiti who were around my age, huddle together and change.  After speaking with some volunteers, they were preparing themselves to enter into the hieleras [ICE’s freezing holding cells] as their numbers had been called that morning.  Watching them and their bravery, I knew, whatever it is they are fleeing from, it must be worse than the prospect of what we just told them.  Worse than knowing that they were about to be entering into freezing cold holding area to then most likely be detained for months in an immigration detention center. 

 We think of our detention centers as terrible places, but during the week, conducting intake with individuals, I heard about many worse places they could be. 

I met with a woman from Cuba, who fled in early February after her job as a clerk at Western Union left her caught in between the Cuban government and certain groups of interest to the government.  Special police officers were coming to her work daily to try to force her to share information about the groups that were using Western Union to send funds in their opposition groups against the government.  She knew if she shared this information with them, she would then have to fear the wrath of the groups who would most likely know where the information came from.  Since she refused to comply with giving the officials the information, she was told by the government officials that they would treat her as someone who was going against the government and that she “knew what they did with people who are against us”. 

At the end of her intake, she asked me how far Miami was from Tijuana.  Miami is where she has an Aunt waiting for her in the United States.  She was confused when I explained that Miami was much closer to her geographically when she was in Cuba than when she was in Tijuana.  She next asked me how expensive it would be for her to purchase a flight to Miami.  After having fled Cuba about a month earlier, she had no idea still how many obstacles were remaining between her and a chance at living with her Aunt in Miami. 

For me, the week was challenging, on an emotional level.  A lot of what we were doing was delivering bad news and explaining terrible policies and actions to hopeful immigrants.  Typically, the United States has been known to those fleeing their homes as a country of refuge. 

Our Lady Statue of Liberty stands tall and reads “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”.  Many are traveling thousands of miles just to find out, they are not going to be welcomed with open arms.  Once they arrive, some may realize that what they just left might actually be safer than being forced to live in a shelter or on the streets of Tijuana for weeks while awaiting their number to be called. 

            We don’t know what will happen in 2020, and in what way the dialogue and laws will shift when we have a new administration.  What we do know is what is happening right now.  As advocates, one thing we can do is spread the truth, the truth about what is happening at the border, and the truth about what the future looks like for those seeking asylum the United States. 

            During my time in Tijuana, I kept reminding myself that I needed to be there, to help people, to see what was happening.  I had moments in my head when I questioned if I will be strong enough to do this type of work as a lawyer.  Fortunately, each time someone looked into my eyes when I explained to them something that moments ago was unknown to them, I knew, this is what I have to do.  Immigrants fleeing their homes deserve to have at least one person on their side, and they deserve to know the truth and their rights, before they make the decision to attempt to come to the United States.  

            I felt guilty when the week was over and I simply walked back across the border to the United States.  I was back in California within minutes, able to carry on my life and privileges so easily all because of what side of the border I was born on. 

When coming back into the States, the CBP Officer asked me what I was doing in Tijuana for the week.  I explained to him quickly what I had done for the week and his response caught me off guard.  He replied to me that he knows this is tough work, and he wanted me to know that they take no great pride in having to enforce these laws, welcome back. 

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