Border Rights Project

Al Otro Lado’s Border Rights Project provides legal orientation to refugees in Tijuana, Mexico, regarding the process to seek asylum in the United States. The project empowers refugees with information about how US asylum, policies and border enforcement practices may apply to them, including policies such as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), family separation and prolonged incarceration in immigration detention centers. We believe that refugees are brave and resilient, but in order to fully assess the risks of seeking asylum in the US, refugees must have all the information needed to assess that risk. 

The project works with refugees who are waiting to present themselves to US immigration authorities as well as those who have been impacted by MPP, assisting them to complete their asylum applications, translate their case evidence from Spanish to English, and connecting them to pro bono forensic evaluations and legal representation. The project also provides accompaniment for refugees identified as at-risk, including refugees who are medically vulnerable, experiencing mental health issues, refugees who are unaccompanied minors or LGBTQ+ persons, and those who have experienced human rights violations at the hands of US or Mexican immigration authorities, or are at risk of family separation. 

The project also documents human rights violations committed against refugees at the US-Mexico border. The data that the project collects forms the basis for several of Al Otro Lado’s class action lawsuits, Freedom of Information Act litigation, and advocacy efforts before international human rights monitoring bodies, and has been cited by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and numerous academic institutions studying the US-Mexico border. 

We could not do this work without our community partners including Haitian Bridge Alliance, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Border Kindness, Refugee Health Alliance, Prevencasa, Families Belong Together (Mexico) and Espacio Migrante, as well as our collaboration with numerous universities, including UCLA Law School, Temple Law School, University of California Irvine Law School, Northwestern Law School, Northeastern Law School, University of San Francisco Law School, New York Law School, University of Chicago Law School, and the University of California San Diego. 

We welcome volunteers of diverse backgrounds to help support the project’s critical work. Due to COVID19, all volunteer opportunities are remote. To volunteer, please complete our volunteer application here. 

We also regularly host volunteer groups from academic institutions and other associations. If your group is interested in volunteering, please email volunteer@alotrolado.org 

We have three internship cycles per year (Winter-Spring / Summer / Fall-Winter). Students of a variety of disciplines as well as community members who are interested in deepening their understanding of immigration advocacy at the US-Mexico border are all welcome to apply. To apply for an internship position please fill out our Volunteer / Intern Application.