Protect Asylum
Under present-day immigration policies, asylum seekers must apply for humanitarian parole at the US-MX border to enter the United States and pursue their asylum claims for international protection. To facilitate this process, every day, seven days a week, the Al Otro Lado team can be found:
- Assisting migrants to submit humanitarian parole applications
- Coordinating COVID testing for 40 migrants per day whose applications for humanitarian parole have been approved.
- Identifying the most medically vulnerable migrants and advocating for their needs
- Ensuring language access for non-Spanish speakers
- Providing legal orientation to all asylum seekers whose parole has been approved
- Advocating for families at risk of being separated
- Providing childcare for young children at our early childhood learning center, operated in partnership with The Nest, where young children can safely play and learn while their parents go through legal orientation. Previously this space was only open 2 days per week, and with your support, is now open six days per week.
- Providing meals to migrants undergoing testing and legal orientation.
- Providing shelter and social services, including medical care referrals, to both Spanish-speaking and Kreyol-speaking migrants
Accessing the border should be free, and we provide all of these services free of charge to our clients. The work is both time consuming and costly. This is where you come in as a monthly donor.
Without dedicated funding, this work cannot continue. It requires additional staff hours, food, childcare, covid testing, personal protective equipment for all participants, and significant logistical planning Every day, we help approximately 40 migrants take the next step in their journey towards safety. We are able to do this work because of the support our monthly donors are All in for Asylum!