"I Need to Keep Me and My Mother Safe": The Asylum Crisis at the US-Mexico Border

In Tijuana, Mexico, 16-year-old Joaquin, a refugee from El Salvador where LGBTQ people are persecuted, was hoping for asylum in the United States based on sexual orientation. But as a volunteer physician in Tijuana, I had learned hard lessons about the asylum process-or lack thereof-at the US-Mexico border. In 2020, there was a list of over 15,000 asylum seekers at the border in Tijuana seeking a chance at a new life in the United States, but few requests were granted. The lack of transparency about the realities of this system left thousands of families stranded in Mexico without basic rights such as health care. Health care professionals should be aware of the ongoing asylum crisis and be an active faction in the fight for its reform.