This #Giving Tuesday, DSA San Diego asks you to make a gift to El Comedor, an autonomous migrant-run kitchen in Tijuana that serves meals and provides other resources to asylum seekers and people in need. The collective that runs this kitchen, Contra Viento y Marea, was born out of the self-organization of caravan members during the siege of Benito Juarez in December 2018.
The Central American exodus of 2018 and the caravans that followed brought a number of asylum seekers to Tijuana. The US and Mexican governments have been coordinating to flout international asylum laws and criminalize migration – they do not allow asylum seekers to present themselves at ports of entry and instead funnel them into an illegal metering system. This has resulted in a number of asylum seekers being stuck in Tijuana, waiting in line to enter the US and unable to go back.
This past year, DSA San Diego via the Immigration Working Group has been building ties across the border with organizations and collectives made up of and serving the members of the migrant caravans. El Comedor is an especially close connection, as its emphasis on collective governance and mutual aid resonate with DSA’s priorities.
El Comedor is a community kitchen, garden, and donation center serving the impoverished Zone Norte neighborhood of Tijuana and is supported solely by donations. Your contribution will help pay for rent, utilities, and food. This autonomous space provides hot meals, distributes donations of clothes and hygiene products, and serves as the location of a medical clinic. Aside from feedings migrants, individuals deported from the US, and Tijuana’s unhoused community, El Comedor also provides survival goods like blankets, warm clothes, shoes, sleeping bags, tents, and toiletry kits.
The migrant crisis persists and many migrants seeking asylum in the US find themselves stranded in Tijuana with little to no access to resources from the government, a situation gravely exacerbated by the Trump Administration’s Remain in Mexico policy, which forces asylum seekers to return to Mexico until an asylum decision has been made – a period of many months, even years. A donation of any size will be a commitment of compassion, justice, and global community.
You can donate now to the Gofundme page created to support El Comedor’s rent and other regular bills, or via Venmo @tjrefugee-support.