US-Mexico Border

Maquiladora workers

“A very appealing feature of the CFO philosophy is that they never impose an agenda on the workers, but instead respond to needs that workers articulate. They say ‘Always go to the workers with empty hands’—equivalent to our idiom of an open mind.” - Judith Rosenberg, Co-founder of Austin Tan Cerca de la Frontera

AFSC-Austin has supported grassroots initiatives among workers, migrants and activists for over a decade.

Austin Tan Cerca de la Frontera group

Austin Tan Cerca de la Frontera

Austin Tan Cerca de la Frontera (ATCF) organizes quarterly delegations to visit maquiladora workers and communities along the Mexico-U.S. border. The Comité Fronterizo de Obreras (CFO: Border Committee of Women Workers) hosts each group’s visit, enabling U.S. delegates to meet with workers who are defending human rights, justice and dignity in a harsh labor environment.

The quarterly delegations rotate between five border cities: Ciudad Acuña, Piedras Negras, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, and Ciudad Juárez.