Serving meals, water, and providing aid and medical assistance to asylum-seeking migrants at Whiskey-8, one of the four Open Air Detention Sites (OADS) in San Diego, located west of the San Ysidro Port-of-Entry. Pedro Rios
The US-Mexico Border Program advances the human rights and self-determination of migrant communities. We do this through base-building, alliance-building, documentation and policy impact.
AFSC established the US-Mexico Border Program (USMBP) in 1977 in response to increased migration in Southern California and on-going violence by state and non-state actors in the region against migrants and border community residents.
The USMBP incorporates a narrative change component to its work, where staff regularly comment on inquiries from media about immigration and border issues. Media includes local, regional, national, and international outlets, including radio, online, live, pre-recorded TV, and print sources.
We support local, community-based organizing campaigns. We train and accompany community-based leadership to educate, advocate, mobilize, and organize constituents to secure just and humane immigration policies. Using a human rights framework and in collaboration with community partners, we advance policies addressing immigration and border issues and build alliances to protect migrant and non-migrant rights.
The USMBP is based in San Diego. It has a strong regional presence in the local area, but our collaborative work with border-wide coalitions makes AFSC a trusted advocacy leader on border issues since we have extensive on-the-ground work experience.
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Atestiguar
Whiskey 8 is one of four open-air detention sites in the San Diego, California border region, west of the San Ysidro port of entry. The U.S. Border Patrol forces migrants who have crossed into the United States to wait at Whiskey 8 before being picked up for processing. In this enforcement zone, there are only four porta-potties and a makeshift water tank.
Since September 2023, the AFSC U.S.-Mexico Border Program, along with partner organizations, has been running a solidarity aid station that provides food, bottled water, and first aid. They also document the conditions migrants face in interactions with Border Patrol agents next to the secondary border wall at Whiskey 8. This short documentary, "Atestiguar," covers one Sunday night shift at the solidarity station. It was created by Danielle Cosmes, AFSC human rights program associate.
It's time to restore the right to claim asylum
