Al Otro Lado recently received word that Border Patrol has set up a new open air detention site, in the Otay Mountain Wilderness, just north of the Mexican border and east of San Diego. The area is extremely remote, and not accessible to vehicles without 4-wheel drive. There is no food, no water, no bathrooms-- absolutely no infrastructure in place. Migrants are staying there sometimes as long as 48 hours, without food or water, trapped on a mountaintop with no protection against the cold, and nowhere to go in an emergency. The other night, a volunteer called 911 for a pregnant woman in distress so that she could be taken to a hospital. Who knows what might have happened if there had not been a volunteer there to help?
You can help by volunteering! If you're interested and available, please click on this link for the application page: Volunteer — Al Otro Lado
Please let them know that you're an RPCV and send an email to this link Contact to let PCC4R know that you are volunteering.
If you are not available to volunteer, but want to help, you can donate to help purchase a reliable vehicle with 4-wheel drive, to transport humanitarian aid to the remote open air detention sites. We also have an ongoing need to purchase food, water, and blankets to ensure that migrants’ most basic survival needs are met while they are detained by Border Patrol in the high desert of Jacumba and the Otay Mountain Wilderness.
When you go to the donation page, you can select "Humanitarian Aid" from the drop down menu to direct your donation to these efforts. Here is the link for donations: AL Otro Lado - Al Otro Lado Fund
