[Feb. 23, 2019] LOS ANGELES – More than 75 healthcare workers traveled Saturday, Feb. 23 from Los Angeles to Tijuana, Mexico for a humanitarian mission to provide first aid to some of the thousands of Central American refugees gathered in the border city.

The caregivers provided first aid and pediatric care, blood-pressure and glucose screenings, and delivered first aid supplies to refugees living at shelters in the city. Their trip was sponsored by SEIU Local 721, a union of Southern California public sector workers, and SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, a union of California healthcare workers. The unions sponsored a similar trip to Tijuana Dec. 22, 2018.

“The crisis at the border is not going away, but we used our skills, training and compassion as healthcare workers to help alleviate the pain and suffering of the families gathered in Tijuana,” said Omar Mairena, a licensed vocational nurse from Downey, Calif. who joined the mission.