WOLA’s collaborative work with partners at the border, and in Mexico and Central America, means we can connect voices on-the-ground with influential policymakers, who otherwise wouldn’t have access to those perspectives.
Borders should not be barriers to human rights.
The Trump administration’s cruel and illegal policies of deterrence created a humanitarian disaster at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The damage is deep, and will take time to undo.
There are commonsense policies that the U.S. government can now pursue, in order to handle migration at its southern border in an orderly, rights-respecting way.
There are longstanding problems at the U.S.-Mexico border that preceded the Trump administration.
Trump’s cruel and illegal policies of deterrence made the situation much worse.
However, there’s a rights-respecting way forward, to better protect asylum and enable orderly and safe migration.
Click on our areas of thematic work below, for context on the longstanding problems at the U.S.-Mexico border and recommendations for a rights-respecting way forward.
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When you support WOLA’s Beyond the Wall campaign, we will be able to:
1.) Provide rigorously researched materials to changemakers (including litigation efforts, Members of Congress, Biden administration officials, and top-tier journalists) at critical moments, in order to cut through the noise of polarized debates.
2.) Connect partners in Central America, Mexico, and at the border with U.S. policymakers who wouldn’t otherwise hear their views.
3.) Collect data that reveals how Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras can better transform into stable, safe, and prosperous countries with accountable governments, where people aren’t forced to flee for a shot at a dignified life.
Your donation will help ensure that major decisionmakers receive the information they need to protect human rights at the U.S.-Mexico border.
This requires reforming the institutional culture of U.S. border security agencies like Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Border Patrol, and taking migration processing out of the hands of security agencies and the military.
This requires getting serious about effective alternatives to detention and ensuring people who migrate receive due process in immigration court.
Ensuring the safety of people who migrate and asylum seekers as they transit through—or choose to stay—in Mexico means: working with the Mexican government to strengthen its asylum system, ending support for militarized border enforcement strategies, and partnering with Mexico to dismantle mechanisms of violence against people who migrate.
This requires ensuring that U.S. assistance is strategically targeted, wisely invested, and properly implemented, and that the governments of Central America are doing their part to meet key progress indicators for accountability and reform.
WOLA protects the human rights of asylum seekers and people who migrate through our unique access and longstanding relationships with Members of Congress and other influential policymakers; our close partnerships with colleagues in Mexico, Central America, and at the U.S.-Mexico border; and our ability to reframe debates, provide deep expertise, and timely analysis to changemakers at the right time.