Border BLAST’s mission is to provide legal services to and learn from immigrant communities residing within the US-Mexico Border.
Border BLAST will send a group of students to Tucson, Arizona to work with a grassroots partner organization, the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project. The Florence Immigrant &; Refugee Rights Project provides free legal and social services to detained adults and children under threat of deportation.
Every year, thousands of people are detained by the Department of Homeland Security in Arizona. The children primarily come from Central America, while the adults come from many different countries around the world. Many of them travel to the United States seeking protection from violence and persecution in their home countries. Having language barriers, little understanding of U.S. law and court procedures, and limited financial resources, they face tremendous obstacles to winning immigration relief.
The work law students will have the opportunity to engage in may include: conducting legal intakes, participating in group workshops, completing country conditions research, preparing applications for asylum, and other direct representation. There will also be networking opportunities with Berkeley alumni and immigration attorneys.
Border BLAST also hopes to volunteer with two other organizations serving immigrant communities in the border region. We hope to work with the Kino Border Initiative and Iskashitaa, who provide basic necessities to immigrants and refugees in the Arizona/Sonora border region.
Time Commitment: The time commitment would be approximately 40 hours for the entire trip. Prior to our trip, we anticipate having a training session with FIRRP and a couple of one hour BLAST meetings to get to know one another and go over logistical information for the trip.
For more information, please contact the student leaders at borderblast@berkeley.edu