How Should Clinicians Express Solidarity With Asylum Seekers at the US-Mexico Border?

• Published in: AMA journal of ethics Vol. 24; no. 4; p. E275
• Main Authors: Martinez, Carlos, Carruth, Lauren, Janeway, Hannah, Smith, Lahra, Donato, Katharine M, Piñones-Rivera, Carlos, Quesada, James, Holmes, Seth M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-04-2022
• Subjects: COVID-19; Humans; Mexico; Pandemics; Refugees; Transients and Migrants; Mexico
• ISSN: 2376-6980
• DOI: 10.1001/amajethics.2022.275

Migrants along the US-Mexico border have been subjected to transnational violence created by international policy, militaristic intervention, and multinational organizational administration of border operations. The COVID-19 pandemic compounded migrants' vulnerabilities and provoked several logistical and ethical problems for US-based clinicians and organizations. This commentary examines how the concept of transnational solidarity facilitates analysis of clinicians' and migrants' shared historical and structural vulnerabilities. This commentary also suggests how actions implemented by one organization in Tijuana, Mexico, could be scaled more broadly for care of migrants and asylum seekers in other transnational health care settings.