A member of Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen said the group is at the U.S./Mexico border to assist in local efforts that are providing humanitarian relief to the thousands of asylum-seekers and other families who have been forced to wait in Mexico due to Trump administration policies.
Chef Tim Kilcoyne, director of chef operations for World Central Kitchen, said in a video that the organization is collaborating with Team Brownsville, a local humanitarian group that for over a year now has been feeding families who are waiting in a camp in Matamoros, Mexico. Kilcoyne said in the video that relief efforts have recently become more difficult for Team Brownsville and advocates, due to the increased number of families being forced to continue waiting in Mexico due to U.S. officials.
“In the beginning, numbers were right around 100, 150, so they were more manageable for their organization,” he said in the video. But “over time, the numbers have grown immensely. Right now, there’s about 2,500 people that are here at the border, waiting, legally to get across.” Many of these families are not only trying to deal with the trauma of why they’re seeking safety in the first place, but must now also deal with added dangers due to waiting in Mexico, like kidnappings and other violence.
Behind Kilcoyne, small tents where families are living are visible. He scans the camera to further reveal a large white tent where he said authorities are moving some families for better protection from weather, as well as another larger tent where relief workers can set up food tables so that children and families can eat food together in dignity.
In response to devastating wildfires in Australia, World Central Kitchen has also sent relief workers to assist local chefs and organizations with food preparation and delivery. “We will do whatever we can to support affected residents and the firefighters on the front lines of this war with our changing climate,” Andrés said in a tweet. “We’re here, we have a food truck, we have a team that’s in place,” Kilcoyne continued in his video, pledging to be of assistance to Team Brownsville in whatever way possible.
“We should be cooking in the next few days, again trying to integrate and work with Team Brownsville, because they’ve done such an amazing job, so we just want to compliment them,” he continued. While these families ultimately need is the Trump administration to stop denying them a fair chance at asylum, the work of these humanitarian workers is bringing some relief to their lives. Watch the video after the fold.