For many people traveling through the Americas in search of safety, crossing the southern border into the United States marks the end of a dangerous and uncertain journey—but the start of another that brings its own challenges.
In August, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) resumed collaboration with local humanitarian organizations in Arizona that assist people crossing the southern US border from Mexico, delivering essentials like hygiene products, food, water, and psychological first aid.
Many migrants describe a flood of emotions and relief for having arrived, but also sadness and anger over the difficulties they have experienced and homesickness for what and who they left behind.
Below, Athena Viscusi, a clinical social worker in MSF’s psychosocial care unit working in Arizona, answers questions about our work with people crossing the border, their needs, and what they tell her about their journeys to the United States.
What are some of the needs that asylum seekers have right after they cross the border into the US?
We talk about post-traumatic stress in people on the move. But for those who are just crossing the border, it’s not post-traumatic. They are still in a kind of traumatic reaction, which is a physical and mental state. And they should be. They are hyper alert, and ready to run at any moment after what many of them have gone through.
At this point, it's important to restore that sense of control and agency. They've been completely disempowered and at the mercy of other people. Some have been brutalized repeatedly. And if not themselves, they have witnessed other people being brutalized. Some have been under a constant threat of violence for days, weeks, or months.
There is also physical exhaustion. Some of them have been sleeping outside or not sleeping at all, traveling on the floor of a car, or just walking for miles. They really have such overwhelming physical needs that need to be fulfilled: food, water, and rest.
