Paper short abstract:

Clinicians who work with asylum seekers along the Mexico-US border face the dual challenge of the refugee crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. I examine their experience of improvisation, attending to basic needs, and rapid development of communications networks.

Paper long abstract:

The first crisis of concern in this paper is the crisis of refugees and asylum seekers at the western edge of the border between the United States and Mexico, where Tijuana and San Diego face one another. Since March of 2020, another crisis has emerged within that crisis – the coronavirus pandemic. The two crises are both highly political and politicized, and I will discuss them from the perspective of our ongoing study entitled “Tracing Asylum Seekers’ Experience and Trajectory” (TASET). Interviews with clinicians who work with asylum seekers show them pivoting to face the challenge in a way that includes improvisation in acquiring medical supplies, attending to basic needs such as food and shelter, and rapid development of communications among governmental, non-governmental, and university groups amidst the failed national coordination of effective policy and action.