www.borderlinks.org

BorderLinks is a bi-national, nonprofit educational organization at the U.S./Mexico border dedicated to raising awareness and inspiring action around global political economics.  Our programs focus on cross-border relationship building opportunities, issues of immigration, community formation and development, and social justice in the borderlands between Mexico, the U.S., and beyond.  On average, nearly 1,000 individuals participate annually in BorderLinks learning opportunities which fall under two broad areas:
 
Experiential education programs on globalization and the impact of the global economy—especially in reference to migration—through the lens of the border. These programs include our short-term delegations, academic immersion programs and community workshops.                             .           

Development, education and service in Mexican border communities via Casa de la Misericordia, our community center in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.
 
Our Story

In 1988, BorderLinks began providing educational seminars at the U.S./Mexico border. These first trips focused on educating church groups across the United States on the conflicts taking place in war-torn Central American countries at the time and on the difficulties encountered by Central Americans fleeing persecution across the U.S./Mexico border.  

By the early 1990s, our mission had broadened as we developed deeper relationships in Mexican border communities and directed our attention to helping participants understand the implications of the global economy for residents of communities at risk along the U.S./Mexico border.  By experiencing first-hand life in communities like Nogales, Sonora, our participants have been able to wrestle with the complexity of life on the border.  In meeting with workers and newly arrived migrants, government and immigration enforcement officials on both sides of the border, and business people in the maquiladora sector, participants are challenged to reexamine their own assumptions and beliefs.

In 1998, BorderLinks reached its long-term goal of becoming a bi-national organization.  With the help of dedicated churches, schools, individuals and other organizations pitching in to raise funds, we were able to purchase the Casa de la Misericordia—BorderLinks’ large community center in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Acquiring the Casa and gaining official recognition as a nonprofit organization by both the U.S. and Mexico governments meant that our mission dramatically expanded once again.

Our Mexico programs concentrate on service, education and action, and are developed to respond directly to the community's needs. The Casa's Children's Food Security Program provides 100 of the neediest children in the surrounding neighborhood of the Casa with a healthy and nutritious meal every day of the school year, and also serves as a way to strengthen the children's involvement in community formation programs such as week-long educational kids camps, classes amd sports. The Casa also hosts government-sponsored classes for the unemployed, wherein participants learn computer and English skills, receive financial support for their participation, and earn a certificate from the National Institute of Work. The Casa also partners with local border organizations in Mexico to provide much-needed services.

BorderLinks Tucson has expanded its educational immersion opportunities to include not just delegations for self-organized groups, but also delegation opportunities for individuals.  These programs—referred to as BorderLinks II delegations—are designed to target specific populations, such as our Educators Seminar; to respond to particular group interests and themes, such as our Faith and Justice in the Borderlands program; to extend beyond the Arizona/Mexico border by bringing participants to new locations, such as the Chiapas program; or to delve deeper into particular border-related issues, such as our Immigration and the Prison Industry program. BorderLinks’ more in-depth, long-term educational programs include academic immersion programs designed for college students.

Our Faith

At BorderLinks, our commitment is to build bridges across borders - national borders, religious borders, and ideological borders - and to test our perceptions against the reality of what we experience. The faith-based position of BorderLinks, which grew out of the movement to offer Sanctuary to Central Americans fleeing war and unrest in their home countries, still inspires and informs our work.  It also requires us to work respectfully with all persons who come to our programs with a sincere interest in learning more about the people and issues of the borderlands.