Ecologies of Care: How Cross Border Humanitarian Organizations Support Asylum Seekers in Arizona-Mexico Border Towns

Abstract

In early 2019 the Trump administration implemented the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP), also known as the Remain in Mexico Policy. As a result of this rule, asylum seekers are now being sent to wait for their US asylum proceedings in Mexico (Ahmed, 2018). 647,919 individuals were apprehended during fiscal year 2021 with 110,400 individuals detained in May alone (Nationwide Enforcement Encounters, 2021). Since 2014, Southern Arizona has seen an unprecedented influx of asylum seekers, mainly from Central America, prompting a large public humanitarian response involving both the public and private/non-profit sectors. This research explains the emergence and dominance of private organizations for supporting migrants in the United States. It also explains the contextual and personal challenges confronting private organizations that support migrants in the United States. With this I seek to understand the varied landscape of care surrounding asylum seekers between the state, non-governmental organizations, and the public. This thesis is a qualitative study utilizing semi-structured interviews with leaders and volunteers of non-profit organizations involved in receiving asylum seekers on the Arizona-Mexico border. The main goal of this project is to document the motivations and impacts of this broad humanitarian effort in southern Arizona and to put a spotlight on organizations that work to humanize the border reality.