Narrative:

We were cleared for visual approach to runway 22 at elp. The ILS to runway 22 was NOTAM'd out of service. High on final; PF began a left s-turn. Bif (biggs aaf) prevented turns to the right. Elp tower indicated that left s-turn was approved; and may have used the word 'east' during the garbled transmission. Tower transmitted; at least once; possibly twice; to other company call sign (not our callsign) to climb to 7000 with no response. To clarify the previous call; the pm transmitted 'call sign'. Tower transmitted to (other company call sign) to climb 7000 followed by something garbled. Unsure that our landing permission was still valid; the pm asked to 'verify (call sign) is still cleared to land on 22'. Tower responded: '(call sign) climb to 7000.' no standard phraseology was used to indicate that our landing clearance was cancelled; to go around or to perform a missed approach.PF initiated go-around at approximately 5000 MSL/1500 AGL. Runway heading pointed directly towards the mexican border and ciudad juarez. A turn to the left was not prudent due to traffic on approach to other runway at elp. A turn to the right was not prudent due to the 7900 terrain west of elp and bif. During the entire event; no TA or RA warning was received. Pm repeatedly requested a turn and was again cleared to climb to 7000 and to contact departure; with no frequency given. Pm requested frequency and never received a tower response. Now; heads down in the cockpit during the missed approach procedure; the pm located the approach frequency on the ILS 22 page; which happened to be the standby frequency on the comm 1 radio. (Usually this frequency would have already been replaced with the ground frequency; but due to task saturation; this had not yet occurred.) el paso departure directed a climb to 9000; then a right turn to heading 350. An uneventful downwind; vectors to the visual approach and landing on runway 22 followed.clear communications are paramount. When in doubt; verify any ambiguous directions. My initial concern was the border that we were approaching. Many with military backgrounds are extra cautious when it comes to international borders; especially as some are more critical than others. Neither the captain nor ATC seemed to share my concerns; as border crossings are common in this area; where el paso approach handles traffic into airports on both sides of the border.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 First Officer reported very confusing ATC communications while on a visual approach to ELP Runway 22.

Narrative: We were cleared for Visual Approach to Runway 22 at ELP. The ILS to Runway 22 was NOTAM'd out of service. High on final; PF began a left S-turn. BIF (Biggs AAF) prevented turns to the right. ELP Tower indicated that left S-turn was approved; and MAY have used the word 'east' during the garbled transmission. Tower transmitted; at least once; possibly twice; to other company call sign (not our callsign) to climb to 7000 with no response. To clarify the previous call; the PM transmitted 'call sign'. Tower transmitted to (Other Company call sign) to climb 7000 followed by something garbled. Unsure that our landing permission was still valid; the PM asked to 'Verify (call sign) is still cleared to land on 22'. Tower responded: '(call sign) climb to 7000.' No standard phraseology was used to indicate that our landing clearance was cancelled; to go around or to perform a missed approach.PF initiated go-around at approximately 5000 MSL/1500 AGL. Runway heading pointed directly towards the Mexican border and Ciudad Juarez. A turn to the left was not prudent due to traffic on approach to other runway at ELP. A turn to the right was not prudent due to the 7900 terrain west of ELP and BIF. During the entire event; no TA or RA warning was received. PM repeatedly requested a turn and was again cleared to climb to 7000 and to contact Departure; with no frequency given. PM requested frequency and never received a Tower response. Now; heads down in the cockpit during the Missed Approach procedure; the PM located the Approach frequency on the ILS 22 page; which happened to be the standby frequency on the COMM 1 Radio. (Usually this frequency would have already been replaced with the Ground frequency; but due to task saturation; this had not yet occurred.) El Paso Departure directed a climb to 9000; then a right turn to heading 350. An uneventful downwind; vectors to the Visual Approach and landing on Runway 22 followed.Clear communications are paramount. When in doubt; verify any ambiguous directions. My initial concern was the border that we were approaching. Many with military backgrounds are extra cautious when it comes to international borders; especially as some are more critical than others. Neither the Captain nor ATC seemed to share my concerns; as border crossings are common in this area; where El Paso Approach handles traffic into airports on both sides of the border.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.