Category: Posts

The Problem:
Thousands of refugees are fleeing organized crime and gang violence in Central America. In fact, the numbers seeking protection are staggering: in 2013, Mexico received just over 3,000 applications for asylum; this year, Mexico is expecting to receive over 80,000.1 We understand why so many are turning to the Mexican asylum system for help. For those that successfully receive refugee status in Mexico, the opportunity to rebuild is real: refugees with status can live safely, move freely and work legally.  While we are pleased that over 80,000 will be able to request asylum in Mexico, this only tells a part of the story. Many refugee families are never able to present an asylum application before being detained and deported.

Between 2015 and 2018, over 500,000 people were deported back to life-threatening situations in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala; 117,000 of them were children. Based on our own clientele, Asylum Access estimates that nearly 80% of those deported had a viable claim to asylum. This situation is complicated by the over 81,000 people who are waiting in Mexico for access to the US systems – while they wait, these individuals do not have access to protection, and are also subject to detention and deportation. Indeed, refugees on Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala all the way to the northern border with the United States are struggling to access the system that carries the promise of a long-term solution.

The Mexican institutions responsible for this are acting in violation of Mexico’s laws and institutional mandates. Their actions need to be exposed, and solutions need to be found, so that refugee families can begin a process of rebuilding their lives meaningfully within Mexico.

The Solution:
Together with our civil society partners and the Rights and Opportunities Foundation, Asylum Access aims to increase access to asylum and reduce the use of detention and deportation by facilitating the building and rollout of a Mandatory Asylum Protocol in Mexico. A Mandatory Asylum Protocol will clarify the steps all frontline government workers must take to identify and protect asylum seekers, and require they undergo adequate training. In order to ensure the Protocol is effective, Asylum Access and partners will not only support the development of the Protocol, but also its rollout: by soliciting critical buy-in from key government officials and personally delivering high-quality government trainings, we will increase the likelihood the Protocol is practically enabling refugee families to access safety and begin to rebuild their lives.

Through our partnerships with Mexican civil society and The Rights and Opportunities Foundation Asylum Access will:
• Support the development of a Mandatory Asylum Protocol, which will include clear steps for frontline officials for identifying those in need of international protection, expedited guidelines for children, special provisions for those waiting in Mexico for access to US systems and more;
• Build relationships with government officials who can implement the Mandatory Asylum Protocol, including SRE (Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores) and it’s INM (Instituto de Nacional de Migración), and COMAR (Comisión Mexicana de Ayuda a Refugiados); and
• Deliver trainings to COMAR on Child Protection. Then, together with COMAR, deliver Child Protection training to INM. Through these trainings, we can start to promote the Mandatory Asylum Protocol, including specific and expedited protection for children who are in detention and/or facing deportation.

We are optimistic we can make progress toward a Mandatory Asylum Protocol within the next year. The Mexican government has committed to implementing such guidelines both through the Universal Periodic Review and Brazil Plan of Action processes. Furthermore, we have early indication from SRE and COMAR that they are interested in collaborating with Asylum Access and our civil society networks (Grupo Articulador México – Plan de Acción de Brasil, and Grupo de Trabajo Sobre Política Migratoria) in the development and implementation of a Mandatory Asylum Protocol.

is a Partnership between Big Sur Land Trust, the Rights and Opportunities Foundation, and artists Juan Carlos Gonzalez (Urban Arts Collaborative), Jose Ortiz (Hijos del Sol), and Enid Ryce (CSU-Monterey Bay), along with local assistants and youth interns, to create an art installation in support of the development of a community park at Carr Lake. The purpose of this Partnership is to leverage art and the creative process behind artmaking to dialogue with the local community about the ecologies, histories, cultures, and inequities related to Carr Lake- and to expose the social justice opportunities inherent in the Carr Lake Project.
The guiding document for this Partnership is “Convergence : A Story of People, Place and Opportunity at Carr Lake” by Peter Forbes (August, 2018). Big Sur Land Trust proposes that the Rights and Opportunities Foundation participate through dialogue, sharing expertise, and financial support.
The envisioned Project is an installation in the centrally-located Salinas Center for Art and Culture, consisting of a collaboratively-created centerpiece mural, community contributions (art, photos, similar), bilingual science interpretation elements, and resident engagement activities that echo Carr Lake and the themes described above. These Project components are intended to enhance each other synergistically and provoke a heart response among residents to the Carr Lake Project, sparking reactions and conversations that ultimately drive project outcomes through the incorporation of the audience’s voices into the Park design process. The nature of an exhibition setting for the work produced during this Project gives the Project partners the chance to engage with a greater spectrum of residents about how the Carr Lake Project can be further refined to achieve community goals in addition to conservation outcomes. In this way, the community’s vision for the 73-acre site Carr Lake is honored and manifested in the design plans for a culturally­ relevant park space that magnifies local people’ s hopes, stories, and identities. This Project also generates community support of the project necessary for Big Sur Land Trust to complete environmental permitting prior to park construction, which is key to implementing the Carr Lake Project overall.
Framing questions for this Project include: What would it mean for the communities around Carr Lake to be less siloed and more unified? What does the convergence of cultures look like at Carr Lake? How do the various historical timelines of Carr Lake play into the landscape and residents’ way of life? If people and nature were in harmony at Carr Lake, how would this change the community? The creative inquiry and artmaking processes will be documented, as well as the final resulting mural. Progress updates will be submitted throughout the process.