Friday, June 22, 2018

TGIF Feature: Do you care? Step up! Speak out! Fight back!


TIME Photo-Illustration. Photographs by Getty Images
ARE YOU UPSET over Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policy that separated 2,300 kids from their parents who took their families across the southern border?

Even though he signed an executive order that supposedly stop the forced separations, the poliy is still in place. As federal agencies interpret it, it means that families will stay together in detention.

The Department of Justice attorneys are trying to overturn the Flores v. DOJ decision that limited children in detention for only 20 days. That court class action case allowed the parents to be released along withi the children.

Trump wants to keep the entire family together indefinitely until their case is adjudicated by an immigration court.


Melania Trump made a visit to one of the detention
 centers housing some of teh children taken from
their parents. Unfortunately, she wore this
coast, erasing any good will her visit may have
generated for the White House.
The question remains: After 20 days, will the children be taken away from the parents again?
Frustrated? Angry? Feeling helpless? Want to lash out?

There is hope. You are not alone. There are actions you can take.

Advocate: Call your member of Congress to support families staying together. 

  • White House public comment line: 202-456-1111 
  • Department of Justice public comment line: 202-353-1555 
  • U.S. Senate Switchboard: 202-224-3121 
Giving: Financial support.

We recommend giving to the organizations below. These are nonprofits that our foundation has researched and vetted, including many that we have supported with our own grantmaking dollars.

Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) is a nonprofit organization that provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families and refugees in Central and South Texas. They have been raising funds to get parents out of detention so that they can be reunited with their children.

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is a national organization that engages in policy advocacy. With offices in ten cities, including San Francisco and Washington D.C., KIND trains pro bono lawyers to represent unaccompanied immigrant children in removal proceedings.

ACLU Foundation is a national organization that has defended the civil rights of individuals for nearly a century. Its Immigrant Rights Project is a unit within the ACLU that defends the rights of immigrants and is currently litigating family separation issues.

Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS)* is a national organization that protects the fundamental human rights of refugee women, children, LGBT individuals, and others who flee persecution in their home countries. CGRS is taking the lead in responding to the administration’s attempts to dismantle asylum protections for victims of domestic violence.

Engage: Show your support on social media (#FamiliesBelongTogether #KeepFamiliesTogether).

Join: Since the 2016 election, we've learned that it's that marches, protests and rallies can be effective. Find a local Families Belong Together event here.

MoveOn, Women's March, Pantsuit Nation, National Domestic Workers Alliance and a number of other groups are also hosting a Families Belong Together protest on June 30 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Lafayette Square in Washington D.C. The organizers are encouraging a day of nationwide protests to send the message to Donald Trump that "cruelly separating children from their families" won't be allowed to continue.

The official Facebook event can be found here; to find a local June 30 protest location, click here. 

______________________________________________________________________________

No comments:

Post a Comment