Nikki Myers
Tijuana, BC/ San Diego, CA
Al Otro Lado’s encuesta de riesgos is where our contact with clients begins, and for our clients, it’s the first step in a long process of finding resources for immigration. Due to the confidential nature of AOL’s processes, filling out the encuesta is basically a shot in the dark for clients seeking assistance.
Now that I’ve spent more time working directly with clients on Whatsapp, my work number has been passed around shelters in Tijuana. Some of the people who have contacted me out of the blue ask about their place within AOL’s processing system, while others haven’t even had previous contact with AOL and still need to fill out the encuesta.
These messages flow in at all hours of the day, often on weekends as well. Many clients spam my phone for weeks at a time, and oftentimes I can’t offer much information about where they are in our system or if/when they will be able to cross. It goes to show the level of desperation many migrants have to cross no matter what it takes or who they have to get a hold of. It doesn’t help that many shelters in the Tijuana area are packed completely full, with complaints of rats, roaches, and other unsanitary conditions. In Piedras Negras, another border city that we work with, there are no shelters available whatsoever and many migrants have faced continual harassment from police, which makes it even more difficult for AOL to locate migrants in that area.
This human aspect of working at a grassroots org like AOL is one of the most complicated parts of the work, both for clients and volunteers. While we try to keep everything running smoothly between the highly restrictive CBP system and our desire to ensure migrant justice, people move, get sick, change plans, and ultimately we can’t help everyone within our limitations. Despite my past experience working at NGOs, this is something that is really integral to the way AOL operates– having humans constantly communicating, trying to find the best way to support other humans while they navigate the difficult choices that come with migration.