Recently, Al Otro Lado’s @binational_deportee_program, in collaboration with community partners, Espacio Migrante, Otros Dreamers en Acción, Grupo de Identidad y Educación-Promotoras, Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migración, & Dreamer Moms TJ, came together for a week of advocacy on behalf of the deportee community. Our collective mission is to ensure a dignified return to Mexico sending a powerful message to those who have been deported & separated from their loved ones: that they are neither alone nor forgotten.
During this week of action, the team met with dozens of recent deportees in the repatriation center of the Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INM), providing know-your-rights information & social service referrals to individuals who had been deported only moments before.
Over the following days, members of the deportee community were able to meet with an immigration attorney from @imumi_mx, for 1-on-1 immigration consults in Al Otro Lado’s Tijuana office to learn what options might exist for them to reunite with family members in the U.S.
The coalition also held a round table meeting with members of civil society & representatives from government agencies, including INM, the Civil Registry office, Office of Attention to Migrants, & the Secretary of Public Education. Pricila Rivas, Al Otro Lado’s Binational Deportee Program coordinator, a deportee herself, spoke of her own deportation experience 13 years ago, noting the failure of government agencies to coordinate around integrating deportees into Mexican society, & provide a safety net from which they can rebuild their lives in Mexico, & how this leads to feelings of isolation, vulnerability, & limits deportees’ upward mobility, while also denying Mexico the benefit of their talents & experiences as bilingual & bicultural citizens. While a challenging conversation, it was a necessary step forward. Government officials expressed willingness to work together on this issue & we intend to hold them to their word with the hope that our collective efforts could lead to a better future for those navigating the harsh realities of deportation. Porque aquí los sueños también existen.