ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Center for Victims of Torture™ (CVT) has opened a new service in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, to support families who attempted to seek asylum in the United States but were stranded when they were not allowed to cross the border.
The new service provides care to individuals and families in Nogales and across Northern Mexico, helping them find safety and stability as they devise new plans for a future.
“Our clients fled torture and persecution in their home countries, hoping to exercise their right to seek asylum,” said Carlos Aceves, CVT country representative. “With the United States entirely closing the Southern border to asylum seekers, these people – many traveling with their children – confront incredibly difficult circumstances. Some are even facing deportation back to the dangerous country they fled.”
CVT México offers psychosocial support to these families, helping individuals, groups and families in mobility after being internally displaced or fleeing their homes. With specialized care for both children and adults, CVT is able to provide coping techniques and tactics for grounding during highly stressful times. In addition, the team offers social work services and referrals to organizations that provide assistance in many locations.
“Before fleeing, our clients survived a very complex set of traumatic experiences, from torture, intimidation, threats and a grim range of persecutions in their place of origin,” said Ariadna Gudino, psychotherapist/trainer. “Then, once they begin to make their escape, nearly all clients faced horrific experiences while making the journey to Mexico’s northern border. These are difficult, sometimes bleak, days for asylum seekers, and especially for their children. We are able to provide tools, support and some hope.”
CVT has long had clinicians based in Tucson, Arizona, providing destination case management and mental health support to asylum seekers lawfully present in the United States before the border closed. The Tucson team works closely with our staff in Nogales and our administrative office in Mexico City, making referrals for clients and coordinating across the border.
“We work closely with our colleagues in Tucson, especially since the Department of Homeland Security escalated its immigration enforcement so broadly,” Aceves said. “We had an asylum-seeking client who was in the United States with lawful immigration status who was literally dumped in Mexico after being moved out of Texas immigration detention facilities. No money, no identification, no passports. The ICE operations in the U.S. have created a whole new area of crisis and need for support.”
The team also provides trainings and services to build the capacity of partner organizations that support people in transit. Our partners are located in Nogales and throughout Northern Mexico and Latin America, frequently working with survivors of torture. CVT helps bring best practices for trauma-informed care for clients, along with effective resilience strategies for professionals who are doing difficult work in locations that are underserved.
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The Center for Victims of Torture is a nonprofit organization with offices in Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Uganda, United States and additional project sites around the world. Visit www.cvt.org
