My final day in Tijuana was a doozy. One of the most difficult things about being in the red tent area, where asylum-hopefuls gather daily to hear if their “lottery” number to the Ice Box gets called, was seeing the children. If your number gets called that day, you must be ready to leave immediately. So every day, entire families show up with all their belongings at 7am, day after day, after day. I learned some of the children’s names. They would smile when they recognized me and ask, “Como esta?” I saw the same babies in strollers being pushed by their parent or older sibling. I gave them nicknames to help me keep track. “One Zapato baby” (he only had one shoe). “Moana” (she was the spitting image of Baby Moana from the movie). My favorite, “Pink Bow.” I know her real name, but can’t say it publicly. Remember, she is a refugee, she and her family are running from someone who wants them dead.  There are also many pregnant women. They stand in line, for hours. We tell them about...

My mind is so full of information that I want to share with you all from my week in Tijuana. This post will be just that, information. Factual and first hand. Witnessed and experienced by me. Thousands of migrants from all over the world, mainly from Central America, have traveled to Tijuana’s west U.S. port of entry seeking safety, better economic conditions, and/or to be with family already in the U.S. My motivation for taking this volunteer trip was to help the families in the extreme asylum-seeking cases - those who live in terror and fear both IN their home country and FROM their home country. Gangs and governments work hand in hand to target and terrorize families for their own personal interests. There is a list. The list has numbers on it. Asylum seekers want to get a number from this list and they want their number to be called. Like a deli. I was incapable of finding answers as to who creates this list, who decides how many numbers are on the list, and basically any ot...

I spent 7 days in Tijuana, Mexico helping asylum-seekers at the border. I volunteered with a group called  Al Otro Lado . They offer free legal, and other services, to migrants hoping to be granted asylum in the U.S. I'll be writing my thoughts and first-hand accounts here. Hello friends. This is the end of my second day working in Mexico, but I feel like it’s been a week of a continuous, vertical learning curve. As an educated, English-speaking adult, I am in constant confusion about the instructions that asylum-seekers are given. Instructions feel largely random, made-up, improvised, and often conflicting with previously given instructions as well as with other organizations. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for foreigners to navigate  through this. To qualify for asylum, a person must not only say they have a fear for their life, but they must have very strong proof and documentation of this fear and threat. They must also show that their country’s local a...