Spend one week in Dilley, Texas at the largest family detention center in the country. Volunteers spending a week “on the ground” at a detention center will be received and supervised by our partner organizations’ local staff members.

Locations Dilley, Texas - South Texas Family Residential Center (with Proyecto Dilley)

Hours and Duration 1 week, from Sunday afternoon to Friday evening; 12- to 15-hour days

Volunteer Role Volunteers are critical to providing services to the thousands of women and children detained at this facility after fleeing persecution in their countries of origin. Volunteers help screen the families detained at Dilley and prepare them for their credible and reasonable fear interviews. The volunteer work is extremely demanding. Volunteers will spend long hours in the detention center’s visitation trailer each day. Work varies depending on the needs each week. Volunteers need to report to the on-the-ground staff and be willing to follow their direction and take on a variety of tasks ranging from data entry and scanning to preparing clients for credible and reasonable fear interviews. Flexibility is a must. For more information, see our Proyecto Dilley page.

Types of Volunteers Needed Attorneys, Law Students, Paralegals, Interpreters, Mental Health Professionals, and Licensed Clinical Social Workers

Interpretation/Translation The vast majority of the clients we see in Dilley are Spanish speakers, and we therefore require that almost all of our volunteers speak Spanish. We do have limited spots for non-Spanish speakers, but because they fill up quickly, we may need to schedule your volunteer week farther into the future. We also ask that volunteers who do not speak Spanish secure their own interpretation for the week. This could mean inviting a Spanish-speaking friend or colleague to accompany you or to be available to interpret by phone for various blocks of time throughout the week.