San Diego Law Review
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Day in and day out, across administrations at all levels of government, a cadre of impassioned change agents, including advocates, service providers, community stakeholders, and grassroots organizations, are called to action to fight. Through exhaustion and fatigue, this group unequivocally continues to center humanity and uplift sustainable solutions.
As a “border attorney,” I have been proximate to this work and space for more than fourteen years, the entirety of which has been at Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS), a refugee resettlement organization, pro bono legal service provider, and operator of the San Diego Rapid Response Network Migrant Shelter Services respite shelter. The shelter welcomes with dignity and compassion between 200 and 300 new non-citizens daily, whom we refer to as our guests. I have the immense privilege of leading a 170-person team that compassionately cares for and fights alongside many immigrant communities.
As a collective, we are often not in the room where decisions are being made, but instead, frequently the subjects of misinformed headlines in the media, and of course, front and center for the continued game of political football for all things immigration. Living and working on the borderlands daily, we do not have the privilege of being anything other than problem solvers or innovators—people’s lives are on the line and, frequently, government at many levels has failed us.
This note seeks to uplift reflections, challenges, and solutions from advocates working on the frontlines in the borderlands—the border attorneys, the Department of Justice-accredited representatives, the incredible legal support staff, the shelter operators, and all the other remarkable humans who have dedicated their careers to being part of the solution, despite all odds.
Recommended Citation
Kate Clark & Reilly Frye,
Operational Solutions to Everyday Problems from Border Advocates at Jewish Family Service of San Diego,
61
San Diego L. Rev.
929
(2024).
Available at:
https://digital.sandiego.edu/sdlr/vol61/iss4/6
