BorderLinks

BorderLinks believes in popular education for the purpose of liberation. Through dynamic in-person and virtual programming which centers direct lived experience of local organizers and communities impacted by border militarization, we inspire action for social transformation across the US and beyond. We mobilize knowledge and resources to strengthen the migrant justice movements of the southern Arizona and northern Mexico borderlands region.

BorderLinks was founded as the educational arm of the sanctuary movement and hosted its first delegation in 1988. Located 60 miles from the Mexican border, BorderLinks facilitates place-based, popular education about immigration, borders, and social action with the explicit goal of liberation. Borderlinks offers responses to the profound dehumanization, extreme climate change, global displacement, militarization and legal and extralegal violence migrants continue to face.

Our popular education model sets the program apart; it is rooted in the material interests of communities of resistance and uses interactive, humanizing curriculum. Education is not neutral; therefore, our program is overtly critical of oppressive structures in society.

Throughout a 1-2 week delegation, participants engage in a variety of topics from border history and mass incarceration to power and privilege; they always end with action planning. A typical BorderLinks day includes the elements of Ver, Pensar, Actuar, or See, Think, Act. Participants thrive when they feel their agency and power, make mistakes and learn, see what is possible, and explore their role in justice work. Participants return home with passion and relevant frameworks for nuanced participation in movements for liberation.

The impacts of slow and steady movement building and the labor of critical framing ripple beyond our immediate work. Delegates turn knowledge gained into action through advocacy at their schools, churches, and communities; involvement in migrant justice initiatives; career shifts such as becoming authors or immigration lawyers; and by returning to Tucson and other border regions to work more deeply with organizations they became acquainted with through their time with BorderLinks.

We invite you to join us in providing critical education that changes lives and builds movements for migrant justice. Your gift today will have a long-term, transformative impact. Together we will work towards creating a more just world.

Testimonials

"My time at BorderLinks was deeply impactful. As a highschool student, this experience has shaped my morals and has made me a more empathetic and passionate individual." -Claire

"As an immigrant, I often feel like I know a lot of issues because I've experienced some of them, but in reality I really don't know a lot considering I was raised in this county. I've learned so many things. I can be a person that can better advocate for immigrant and refugee rights." Gia

"I never knew that I could be as involved with my community. Being able to go to the border up close and personal and just meeting a bunch of organizations was really valuable and important to me. I'm Mexican-American, so I always want to give back to the Latinx community." -Zarya

"My time at Borderlinks was an absolute eye-opener and gift to me. It was emotional and challenging everyday because I was constantly thrown into situations where I was forced to examine the privileges that have been granted to me." -Kristen

"This is the one [program] that people who care about immigration and social justice should [participate in]. I came home with concrete ideas to work within our community." -Paulina