“Next Please”: Cuban Asylum Seeker Is the Sole Doctor at Mexico-USA Border

At a pop-up clinic in an encampment connecting the Mexican city of Matamaros to the United States, a Cuban asylum seeker became the area’s first – and only – full-time doctor.

The clinic was set up in October 2019 by international non-profit organization Global Response Management. Doctor Dairon Elisondo, 28, works every day of the week helping thousands of migrants in need of medical care. “This is perfect, perfect,” he says. “It’s what I know. It’s what I do best.”

Rotating volunteers, the doctor sees around 50 patients a day. The group recently upgraded their pop-up from a tent to a mobile medical unit in early December, with fold-up examination tables, ultrasound machines and equipment to perform basic diagnostic blood work.

Dr. Elisondo has a specialty in critical care and is used to working in challenging environments thanks to his medical training in Cuba. The young physician is confident he will win his asylum case on his own, learn English and potentially start practicing medicine on the other side of the United States.