BLAST South Texas will volunteer with Karnes-RAICES over Spring Break. If travel is possible, we will travel to a detention center to provide assistance to attorneys working at the border and help clients apply for asylum. This work may include tasks such as conducting client intake interviews, speaking with Spanish-speaking clients, and completing asylum applications. Like all BLAST students, this trip will be responsive to the demonstrated need on the ground, but students can expect to gain intake and interviewing skills as well as experience filing asylum applications. In the event of a remote Spring, we will work to provide opportunities for remote research on country conditions and/or remote direct client services.
Fall participation in BLAST will be fully remote. We will host several virtual trainings throughout the year, including workshops on vicarious trauma, asylum law, and legal Spanish. In addition, we will provide social context to our work by discussing art, culture, and literature surrounding migration, with a focus on the US-Mexico border. We want all BLAST South Texas participants to enter the detention center with an appreciation of what detainees have been through by staying informed of relevant country conditions, reading local South Texas news, and critically analyzing the impact of US imperialism on Latin America and global migration.
Time Commitment: Students can expect 2-3 hours per month with more time spent closer to the departure date in the Spring. Generally, there will be 1-2 meetings per month during the lunch hour.
For more information, please contact the student leaders at blast.southtexas@berkeley.edu.