Category: Border/Detention

The San Ysidro Port of Entry is one of the most heavily trafficked border crossing in the world. A few miles to the north, the Otay Mesa Detention Center (OMDC) detains migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. These carceral spaces shape the social fabric of the region and manifest in mundane forms, such as the borders that mark the contours of neighborhoods and border checkpoints. These oral histories describe the experiences of living in and navigating these spaces.