Temple Law Students' Virtual Border Work

Hello! 

While this fundraiser is listed as organized by "Lauren Leiggi", it is organized by six Temple Law students. Along with fifteen other Temple Law students and one faculty member, we are remotely volunteering this spring break with Al Otro Lado to help asylum seekers on the Mexican/United States border. Al Otro Lado is a powerhouse for immigrant advocacy. 

Now more than ever, groups like AOL need additional support in fulfilling their important mission. While we are already donating our time, we are hoping that by sharing this page we can also raise funds to address the numerous other needs--legal and otherwise--of migrants at the border. 100% of funds will be donated directly to AOL. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me

Student Volunteers last year with Nicole Ramos (Center) Border Rights Project Director. 

What is Al Otro Lado?

Al Otro Lado is a bi-national, direct legal services organization with offices in Los Angeles, San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, serving indigent deportees, migrants, and refugees, that is deeply engaged in efforts to protect the familial rights of migrants. The not-for-profit organization is also a central player in litigation and other advocacy efforts challenging the systemic human rights violations brought about by governmental policies and practices that infringe upon the right to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico Border. Al Otro Lado’s Tijuana-based Border Rights Project provides legal orientation and know-your-rights training to asylum seekers in Tijuana who wish to present themselves to U.S. authorities to seek asylum, while also conducting human rights monitoring at the San Ysidro port-of-entry.

What will we be doing? 

Al Otro Lado is a small group of attorneys and advocates that rely on volunteers to help provide legal and medical assistance to those near the USA/Mexico border.  We will be volunteering remotely to support legal services for migrants at the border.

Particularly, we will be helping individuals who have been waiting in Mexico to seek asylum because of the Trump Administration's Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), better known as the “Remain in Mexico" policy. This policy has trapped tens of thousands of vulnerable migrants across the border – making it nearly impossible for them to exercise their legal rights. The Biden Administration ended any new enrollments in MPP and has implemented a phased approach to reintegrate those in MPP into the U.S. to await the decisions of their asylum claims safely. Currently, there are an estimated 28,000 people subject to MPP who still have pending asylum cases in U.S. immigration courts. To aid this phased reentry, the UNHCR has created an online platform that enables migrants subject to MPP to register for an appointment to be processed at the border. Those registering for appointments have to fill out a questionnaire, which has been created to sort out the most vulnerable (e.g., those in poor health) for priority entry into the United States.

We will be assessing these migrants still impacted by MPP to determine their priority for the phased approach and complete their registration with the UNHCR. We will also aid other asylum seekers to complete an I-589 application and increase their chances of obtaining asylum. We will work in pairs with one Spanish speaker to conduct our work. 

We will be sure to share the updates of our work! 

Thank you!

Lauren, Erin, Daniela, Elizabeth, Sarah, Mana.