Since our founding, West Fund has dreamt of having a billboard to combat the shame and stigma associated with abortion access. This month, our dream has became a reality - with not one, but six billboards. We’re even more proud that this billboard campaign was done in collaboration with our sister fund on the border, Frontera Fund.
It’s been many months of planning and as border funds, we wanted to highlight the intersections of abortion access and immigrant rights to emphasize what makes us unique from the rest of Texas. With this campaign we wanted to stress that the immigrant journey isn’t over when they reach the US. In fact, we've seen that it only becomes more difficult once they make it to El Paso. After struggling to make it to this side of the border, people face hateful policies that separate families, sanction tent cities, and fund child detention. The immigrant journey should be met with compassion. Everyone deserves access to healthcare, regardless of their immigration status - including people seeking abortion.
The fight for reproductive justice includes immigrant justice. Abortion access and quality healthcare shouldn’t be determined by where you live or citizenship status. Anti-immigrant policies are undermining people’s health and safety, much like restricting access to reproductive health services only fortifies social inequalities. Anti-abortion and anti-immigrant policies hurt people, they hurt families and they hurt our communities.
The fight for immigrant justice includes reproductive justice.
We ask folx donate time or money to organizations on the ground who do the work everyday, regardless of the political climate of the time. Want to do more? Sign our petition and engage with us online. We’d love to see your support on social media. Spot anyone of our three local billboards and share a pic with the hashtag #WestFundBB.
In solidarity,
Mariel
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Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee- liberation activists building community to practice solidarity with detained migrants, challenging the inhumanity of the US migrant detention system, its practices, and policies, by holding a visible presence and raising awareness of abuses in our community
Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center- 31 year-old, homegrown, non-profit dedicated to serving the legal needs of low income immigrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, victims of crime, and families seeking reunification.
Border Network for Human Rights- one of the leading immigration reform and human rights advocacy organizations in the United States. Based in El Paso, Texas, the BNHR has a membership of more than 700 families, or close to 4,000 individuals, in West Texas and Southern New Mexico. It also helps organize other civic-minded groups along the border and is the force behind the Texas-wide Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance.
Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services, Inc. (DMRS)- the only full-service immigration legal aid clinic serving low-income immigrants and refugees residing in the southwestern United States. The following links contain additional information regarding our current work and history serving migrants and refugees in the region.
Mariposa Fund- founded in 2016 by a group of abortion care providers in Albuquerque, NM. They recognized the extraordinary barriers that exist for undocumented people trying to obtain reproductive health services, including abortion. Specifically, undocumented people face obstacles such as fear of criminalization, lack of access to health insurance, economic insecurity, linguistic barriers, and oppression rooted in white supremacy and xenophobia.
Frontera Fund- provides practical support to people seeking abortions in the Rio Grande Valley and to Rio Grande Valley residents who travel to other clinics in Texas; it advocates for reproductive justice by funding lodging costs for people seeking abortion services.
