United States

Most people trying to seek asylum at the US southern border must request an appointment using a mobile app known as CBP One. The app has been riddled with problems and delays, leaving people stranded and waiting for appointments for months in dangerous border cities in Mexico. For some, the risk of staying in Mexico is too high and they decide to walk north across the Arizona desert.

In the United States, an MSF team supports Tucson-based nonprofit groups that are bringing humanitarian aid to migrants and asylum seekers crossing the US-Mexico border near the Sonoran Desert. We are identifying current needs, helping to boost supplies at sanitation and hydration points, and supporting training on basic wilderness first aid. Additionally, the team is assisting mental health providers with training in psychological first aid in addition to supporting social work, health promotion, and addressing issues related to sexual violence.

“We determined that migrants along this route are extremely vulnerable and are in dire need of additional support,” said Adriana Palomares, MSF head of mission in Mexico and Central America. “We observed pregnant women, children as young as eight months old, and people who need access to medication for diabetes, hypertension, and asthma trying to walk this treacherous route across the desert.”

For over a decade, MSF has provided medical care and psychosocial support to people on the move along the migration routes through Central America to the United States. MSF has long documented the challenges faced by migrants on these routes, including US policies that create barriers to the right to seek asylum. In recent years, MSF has called on the Trump and Biden administrations respectively to uphold the right to seek asylum and build a safe and humane immigration system. As an independent and impartial humanitarian organization, MSF speaks out based on our direct witnessing and medical care for people on the move through the Americas.