Welcome, you reached the homepage of Advocate Visitors with Immigrants in Detention (AVID) in the Chihuahuan Desert. We are distinct from the UK migrant visitation program with a similar name. Centered in Las Cruces, with volunteers in El Paso and surrounding communities, AVID in the Chihuahuan Desert is a migrant rights advocacy and immigration detention visitation organization. Our activities entail:
- visiting individuals confined in immigration detention
- corresponding with detained migrants as pen pals
- advocating for immigrant’s rights, and
- working to end immigration detention.
As tens of thousands of individuals are confined in immigration detention every day, we are always seeking additional volunteers to help end the isolation of confinement. Please participate in our current action items.
Current Press Releases
- PRESS RELEASE: Allies Join Campaign to Call for the Release of Families in Detention (4/3/2020) - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Friday, April 3, 2020 Contacts: Gabriela Castaneda, Movement Mujeres Fellow (915) 494-4213, gabbycastaneda19@gmail.com, avid@chihuahuan.org, dmscelpaso@gmail.com El Paso, TX– Now more than ever, members of our beloved community fear for the well-being of their loved ones currently detained at the El Paso Service Processing Center in ... Read morePRESS RELEASE: Allies Join Campaign to Call for the Release of Families in Detention
- Immigrant Advocates and Attorneys Call for Release of Cuban Asylum Seekers (12/2/2019) - For Immediate Release December 2, 2019 Contact: avid[at]chihuahuan.org In October Cuban asylum seekers at the Otero County Processing Center staged protests demanding their release from imprisonment. In response, ICE transferred a third of the men to distant detention centers in New Mexico, and kept several of them in solitary confinement at Otero for nearly a ... Read moreImmigrant Advocates and Attorneys Call for Release of Cuban Asylum Seekers
- Cuban Protest Letter (10/22/2019) - Below is a complaint letter sent on 18 October 2019 by Cuban asylum seekers protesting at the Otero County Processing Center (OCPC). A scan of the original Spanish letter is provided first followed by an English translation. By last week, at least three individuals engaged in serious self-harm by lacerating their wrists using their identification ... Read moreCuban Protest Letter
- Cubans at Otero County Processing Center Protest Detention (10/17/2019) - Hunger strikes, sit-ins, and suicide attempts Protests of prolonged detention, denials of release, and lack of due process are underway yet again at the Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral, New Mexico. On Friday, October 11 at least 15 Cubans refused to come back inside from their outside yard time. Reportedly wearing multiple uniforms and ... Read moreCubans at Otero County Processing Center Protest Detention
- Gurjant Singh released after 75-day hunger strike (10/1/2019) - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 1, 2019 Media Contacts: Jessie Miles, 915-801-6181, jessie@milesimmigrationlaw.com AVID, Avid@chihuahuan.org Indian asylum seeker Gurjant Singh released after 75-day hunger strike On Monday, after a long struggle that included a 75-day hunger strike, Gurjant Singh was released from the El Paso Processing Center in El Paso, Texas. He had broken his hunger ... Read moreGurjant Singh released after 75-day hunger strike
