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Join Us for a Border Encounter
From El Paso to Juárez, these experiences foster honest dialogue, shared learning, and lasting connection.
A Transformative Experience at the U.S.-Mexico Border
At Abara our work is guided by a commitment to dignity, mutuality and dignified storytelling. Every encounter is created in partnership with local leaders and reflects the humanity, resilience, and wisdom of border communities. We seek to hold space where voices from the borderlands are honored, relationships are nurtured, and participants are invited into meaningful reflection and action.
"The experience humanized migrants on a level I did not anticipate."
— Border Encounter Participant
Schedule a Border Encounter
Join us for a three-day, immersive experience at the US-MX border—designed to deepen understanding through listening, learning, and human connection.
Have questions? Check out our FAQs section.
Schedule a Personal Visit
Are you local or in town for a few hours?
We’d love to host you for a personal walk-thru of Abara House and share more about our work for connection and peace.
What You
Will Experience
Learn how to engage with dignity and respect.
Explore ancient themes of hospitality and forced displacement.
Understand the systemic push-and-pull factors shaping global migration.
Gain insights from immigration attorneys and border experts.
Visit key landmarks, including the border fence and historic Hacienda.
Engage in thoughtful discussions and guided reflection sessions.
Opportunities Include
- Authentic meals prepared by local neighbors
- Historic Hacienda Restaurant
- Q&A with Border Patrol officers
- Circle processing and reflection spaces
Sample Border Encounter Schedule
Day 1: Understanding the Border
- Orientation & Welcome
- Root Causes of Migration
- Border Realities
- Immigration Law 101
- Reflection & Discussion
- Dinner & Community
Day 2: Crossing into Juárez
- Dignified Storytelling
- Juárez Migration Realities
- Lunch with Local Residents
- Exploring Juárez
- Dinner in Juárez
Day 3: Reflection & Action
- Theology of Migration
- Healing & Resilience
- Border Perspectives
- The Future of Abara House
- Final Debrief & Closing Dinner
Border Encounter FAQs
A Border Encounter is a three-day, four-night immersive experience designed to deepen empathy and understanding at the U.S.–Mexico border. Through site visits, guided dialogue, and dignified storytelling, participants rehumanize migration beyond the headlines.
We enter spaces as guests—not saviors—centering the voices, wisdom, and resilience of local leaders, asylum seekers, and shelter partners. We aim to listen well, reflect deeply, and build relationships across borders.
Our Core Commitments
Local Partnership
We work in long-term collaboration with more than 30 shelters and grassroots organizations on both sides of the border. Programming emerges at their invitation and according to their guidance. We do not enter spaces uninvited. We create encounters that work to center dignity to avoid re-traumatizing those experiencing displacement.
Community Economics
All meals are sourced from neighborhood vendors, many of whom are families or local cooks. Transportation, accommodations, and services are purchased from the local community to ensure economic benefit flows back to El Paso and Juárez.
Accommodations
Guests stay in simple, clean, and safe apartments, not a luxury retreat facility. We intentionally avoid creating a comfort-first experience and instead prioritize accessibility and community benefit.
Programming and Ethical Storytelling
Speakers and practitioners from the borderlands are not “subjects” but co-designers of the experience. They determine what stories are shared and how, and they are compensated fairly for their expertise. We maintain strict boundaries around photography and storytelling to prevent voyeurism.
Trauma-Informed Education
Participants do not “tour” or “volunteer.” Instead, they learn through dialogue, history, and systems-level perspectives. The focus is understanding root causes, resilience, and faith, not consuming someone else’s pain.
Narrative Change
Abara seeks to honor the resilient joy and beauty of the borderlands, a community too often described only through pain or crisis. Even in the midst of struggle, the border remains a place of welcome and creativity where many have gathered for centuries. We invite participants to enter as co-learners, listeners, and neighbors, embracing the fullness of this beloved community.
We Live Here
Abara’s approach is deeply local. With guidance from a binational team and Wisdom Council, nearly all of our staff, board, and leaders call the border home.
Land and Memory
With our Wisdom Council, we listen for the voice of the land. The borderlands carry both wisdom and wounds, holding memory of resilience and pain. Honoring those who have gone ahead, we recognize that our flourishing is bound with the flourishing of earth. In this place of welcome and struggle, we’re learning to let the land lead us toward care, restoration, and
- Lodging in Abara guest apartments
- Meals & snacks
- Local transportation to/from programming
- Honorariums for speakers, shelter support, and legal aid
- Administrative and staff costs
2026 Rates
- Groups of 6–9: $845 per person
- Groups of 10+: $795 per person
- Additional nights: $40/night
- Choose your preferred dates.
- Submit a $250 non-refundable deposit to hold your spot.
- Schedule a planning meeting to go over details.
To begin booking, email: hospitality@abara.org
Groups typically stay in Abara’s fully furnished guest apartments, located above our offices. Each includes bathrooms, kitchens, bunk beds, and gathering spaces.
Yes, we have what is called combination groups.
Programming is typically Tuesday–Thursday. Mondays and Fridays are recommended travel days. We do not offer programming on weekends or during July.
Daily programming runs 8:30 AM–6:00 PM, including lunch and dinner. Breaks and changes of scenery are built in throughout the day.
Yes. We’re committed to making Border Encounters accessible and offer reduced rates to accommodate different economic circumstances. Please inquire directly.
Yes! Donations to our BE Scholarship Fund help make these experiences available to those who may otherwise be unable to participate.
Yes. Additional nights can be arranged at an affordable rate. Contact Angelica “Lica” Acosta Garnett at hospitality@abara.org for more info.
Yes. You may stay offsite, and we’ll provide transportation from your accommodations to Abara House during programming.
To request a detailed PDF of our full Border Encounter FAQs or to begin planning your visit, please contact:
We’re here to help you take the next step in this journey of connection and learning.