RAICES Global Sanctuary Network
RAICES Global Sanctuary connects displaced asylum-seekers with credible NGOs and legal services providers along the Texas-Mexico border.
Written by Lily Cabrera
What problem does the idea help to solve and how does your solution work? (2,000 characters maximum)
Geography of focus (500 characters)
The RAICES Global Sanctuary will address displaced persons making the journey through Mexico to seek asylum at the Southern Border of the United States. We will launch the Sanctuary network through collaboration with NGOs and legal services providers along the Texas-Mexico border, with a particular focus on border/close to the border cities. These communities are of particular importance because of the level of vulnerability of POTM under MPP.Building Bridges: What bridge does your idea build between people on the move and neighbors towards a shared future of stability and promise? (500 characters)
RGSN builds bridges between displaced people intending to apply for asylum at the Southern border of the US and US-based immigration law and social service providers. The MPP policy threatens to cut off what little access refugees still have to claim asylum at the US/Mexico border. Whether an asylum applicant is ultimately able to succeed in their case is often determined by their ability to secure legal representation, a safe place to live, and a connection with a welcoming community.What human need is your idea solving for? (1,000 characters)
The lack of due process is a human rights violation against migrants. By further marginalizing POTM through MPP, migrants are pushed into the shadows and denied basic rights such as health care, housing, and education. They are exploited and afraid to seek help from authorities. RGSN goes beyond meeting basic needs to promote hope and dignity by returning self determination to POTM by connecting them with the knowledge that they need to understand their legal rights as asylum seekers and to advocate for themselves. We promote self empowerment from fostering POTM’s connection to resources that were originally built for them but that they can no longer readily access due to recent policy changes. By working with the communities of focus to understand their needs, developing a resource guide and a network of immigration legal services and social services providers, we put the knowledge back into their hands. This creates a bridge of opportunity for those who will come next.What will be different within the community of focus as a result of implementing your idea? (1,000 characters)
RGSN creates a hub to assemble diverse efforts into a holistic, connected, and wraparound experience that better facilitates POTM’s permanent resettlement in a location where they can be free from deprivation, harm, persecution and threat to their lives and abilities to achieve sustainable, healthy, productive and happy lives. We will identify providers of direct services to POTMs on both sides of the Texas/Mexico border and conduct a needs assessment, convene service providers from both sides of the border to build connections and community, and track legal and social outcomes of a cohort of program participants and compare them to published statistics on similar populations. Further, by providing training (informed by POTM experience) to our network of partners, we ensure that best practices, learned experience, and advancements in the provision of sanctuary services can be effectively integrated into the practices and procedures at every stage of displaced people’s journeys.What is the inspiration behind your idea? (1,000 characters)
The Remain in Mexico policy and other anti-immigrant policies recently enacted by the US presidential administration have created a barrier between displaced people and communities and resources in the US. As a result, the experience of many POTM is equivalently or even more perilous post-departure when compared with the circumstances they escaped in their home countries. The outcome of many such experiences is humiliation, suffering, death, detention and/or deportation back to the original locus of harm. RAICES aims to curate resources, build a strong connected network, and get resources to the people that need them, thus restoring POTM’s sense of dignity and hope and providing them with safer passage.Describe the dynamics of the community in which the idea is to be implemented. (1,000 characters)
This idea seeks to reach people fleeing nations in Central and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe who have traveled to the Texas/Mexico border with the intention of requesting asylum protection in the United States and who have been or may be enrolled in the MPP program. These individuals suffer poor access to basic resources, security, and connection with the local community. Completing the community are multiple NGOs offering services to asylum seekers/refugees on both sides of the Texas/Mexico border that each can provide one or more solutions to the many challenges faced by POTM. Due to the lack of information and orientation among POTM, and lack of coordination among service providers on both sides of the border, the power and resources within this larger community is unrealized. RGSN aims to harness available resources and enhance communication and collaboration. We will use the IDEO Community Research Toolkit as part of our planning process.How does your idea leverage and empower community strengths and assets to help create an environment for success? (1,000 characters)
Strengths in the POTM community include courage, resilience, and family as a value. For organizations serving migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees on both sides of the border, we share a common mission. Our experience over the past decade with a succession of large refugee arrivals has resulted in internal plans and protocols that can be shared, adapted, and replicated. We can dovetail value by using existing/available resources (e.g., better connectivity and coordination between shelters in Mexico and legal service providers in the U.S. can add significant value with minimal investment). Further, the cities and towns in the border region have deep historic ties as bi-national communities, we can leverage those ties to bridge organizations across borders. NGOs and shelters on the Texas side of the border can connect with networks of similar service providers across the United States, thus serving as important hubs within a national system.What other partners or stakeholders will work alongside you in implementing the idea, if any? (1,000 characters)
RAICES provides direct services, in the form of legal representation, social services, and case management in Texas and, through a network of partner agencies, pro bono attorneys and volunteers, across the US. Through our work and the work of our partners, RAICES supports refugees and displaced people in their resettlement in the US. RAICES' work also brings it in colleague with organizations, shelters, community groups and individual volunteers across North America and Central America who each interacts with and assists our clients before, during and after their experience with U.S. immigration detention, the U.S. Immigration Courts and the U.S. Immigration Service. Current partners: Casa Misericordia, Laredo; Casa Marianela, Austin; City of Laredo. Future partners we hope to work with: Doctors Without Borders and Casa Indi, Monterrey.What part of the displacement journey is your solution addressing
- Being on the move, crossing borders, and/or temporarily settled
Tell us how you'd describe the type of innovation you are proposing
- Platform: Creating a community or market that facilitates interaction between users and resources
Idea Proposal Stage
- Blueprint: We are exploring the idea and gathering the inspiration and information we need to test it with real users.
Group or Organization Name
The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES)Tell us more about your group or organization [or lived experience as a displaced person?] (1000 characters)
RAICES fights for the assurance of immigrants' human rights by defending and amplifying the voices of the most vulnerable immigrants, strengthening communities, and empowering individuals everywhere, every day. Founded in 1986 by community activists as the Refugee Aid Project, RAICES has grown to be the largest and one of the most significant immigration legal service providers in Texas. We have offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio, and our pro bono network extends a longer reach. Lawyers are the first line of defense for migrants seeking asylum at the Southern border of the US. We have heard our clients and expanded our programming to include social services and advocacy. This puts us in a strong position to lead a network of NGO and legal service provider partners to address the unique needs of displaced people as they approach or as they manage their asylum cases under MPP.Website URL:
https://www.raicestexas.org/Type of submitter
- We are a registered Non-Profit Organization
Organization Headquarters: Country
United StatesOrganization Headquarters: City / State
San Antonio, TexasIn preparation for expert feedback: What are three unanswered questions or challenges that you could use support on in these categories? These questions will be answered directly by experts matched specifically to your idea. (600 characters)
-What measures should we take/consider to ensure the safety of our clients and staff and reduce operational risk (operating in insecure conditions in border cities)? How can we best vet RGSN partners? - How can we best determine the correlation between access to RGSN and 1) those individuals matched with any service/connected to any NGO, and 2) those individuals granted asylum/successfully proceed? -As a US-based organization moving into doing international work and operating across multiple borders, what regulatory considerations should we be aware of during our due diligence process?Did you use the resources offered during the Improve Phase (mentorship, expert feedback, community research)? (2000 characters)
In what ways would potential BridgeBuilder funds allow you to pursue your idea that other funding opportunities have not? (1000 characters)
BridgeBuilder funds would be essential in pursuing the RGSN idea precisely because of the opportunity to be a part of a small cohort of organizations testing solutions and implementing ideas to help POTM. The funding would allow us to continue to effectively plan the project with the help and guidance of mentors, experts, and the IDEO community with the appropriate amount of flexibility in implementation. This funding and process accommodates experimentation and iteration, which are critical elements to meeting the need on the ground in a rapidly shifting policy environment. The 36 month implementation period is unique in comparison to other funding opportunities because the structure gives us the ability to plan, test, rapid prototype, and iterate our idea for a specific community with the aim of adapting the model and scaling to meet the greater global challenge for POTM.What aspects or proportion of the overall idea would potential BridgeBuilder funds primarily support? (1000 characters)
BridgeBuilder funds would primarily support increasing RAICES’ capacity via dedicated staff time, travel for program staff, the development of new communication tools and coordination mechanisms, and operational expenses to expand into cross-border, international operations. Funding would allow us to build a network of interconnected NGOs and to leverage volunteers (ranging from pro bono attorneys to advocates to people just wanting to help) to meet the urgent need on the ground in border cities and encampments along the US-Mexico border. Grant funds would support prototyping and testing, and would provide support for initial implementation and coordination with RGSN partners. We expect that these aspects represent about 20 to 30 percent of overall project expenses (over a period of three years).What are the key steps or activities for your idea for implementation in the next 1-3 years? (1000 characters)
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Lily Cabrera