If you follow my twitter feed (@EzraRosser) you know the family separation at the border really bothers me (it may be connected to the fact that my wife and children are Salvadorans, but I think there are plenty of non-personal reasons to be upset about what we have become). I decided it would be worthwhile to do a post that collects a lot of the news coverage, volunteer/giving/protest information, and responses to the conservative disinformation that is trying to obscure just how evil the Trump administration’s family separation policy is. My op-ed from last week in The Hill is here. But there is a lot coming out about the policy, conditions, and horror so I hope this small collection effort helps people sort through everything. If you have things that would be good to add, please email me and I will add things. It is broken down into sections: A. Overview of the Policy, B. Coverage of Conditions and ICE Practice, C. Responses to Conservative Disinformation, D. Volunteer/Giving/Donation Opportunities, E. Protest Information, and F. Additional Responses.
A. Overview of the Policy
- Dara Lind, The Trump administration’s separation of families at the border, explained, Vox.com, June 15, 2018.
- Camila Domonoske & Richard Gonzalez, What We Know: Family Separation And ‘Zero Tolerance’ At The Border, NPR, June 19, 2018.
- Alvin Chang, Trump’s separation of families at the border: a visual explainer, Vox.com, June 19, 2018.
B. Coverage of Conditions and ICE Practice
- Secret Audio Recording of Immigration Detention Center Reveals Inconsolable Children Calling Out for Their Parents, Slate, June 18, 2018.
-
These photos were the Trump administration’s attempt to quiet criticism. They’re only increasing critics’ horror, Vox.com, June 18, 2018.
- Toddlers Separated From Parents at the Border Are Being Detained in ‘Tender Age’ Shelters, Time, June 19, 2018.
- Inside Casa Padre, the converted Walmart where the U.S. is holding nearly 1,500 immigrant children, Wash. Post, June 14, 2018.
Not sure how to classify this. . . justifications given by Trump administration officials:
C. Responses to Conservative Disinformation
- Salvador Rizzo, The facts about Trump’s policy of separating families at the border, Wash. Post, June 19, 2018.
- Abigail Tracy, The Trump Administration is Lying About Its Family-Separation Policy, Vanity Fair, June 18, 2018.
D. Partial List of Volunteer/Giving/Donation Opportunities (Thanks to Jayesh Rathod!) (if you would like to add more, just email me).
- You can sign up to be a volunteer attorney via the following:
- American Immigration Lawyers’ Association Immigrant Justice Campaign
- CARA Pro Bono Project for family detention centers in TX
- ALDEA – the People’s Justice Center at the Berks County Detention Center in PA
- You can donate:
- CARA (listed above) is a consortium of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and various legal service providers. They provide representation to detainees at family detention centers.
- Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is a national non-profit organization that provides legal services to children in immigration court.
- In the DC area, the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (CAIR Coalition) provides legal services to detained immigrants in Maryland and VA.
- Al Otro Lado is a binational organization that offers legal services to deportees and migrants in Tijuana, Mexico.
- RAICES is an immigration non-profit in Texas that provides legal services to immigrant children and families. They’re actively involved in the family separation issue.
- RAICES has a Family Reunification Bond Fund that you can support. It helps pay the immigration bonds for detainees in ICE custody.
- The Center for Gender and Refuge Studies at UC Hastings has been a national leader on gender-based asylum claims and is at the forefront of challenging the recent decision regarding asylum for DV survivors.
E. Protest Information (Thanks to Jayesh Rathod!)
- Reach out to your member of Congress via the AILA Advocacy Action Center.
- Families Belong Together is organizing rallies nationwide.
- Another rally is being organized for Saturday, June 30, from 11AM-2PM, by the White House. This Families Belong Together Rally is being organized by a coalition of progressive groups and will likely be a large event. Here’s the Facebook page for the rally.
F. Additional Responses
Academic:
- Stephen I. Vladeck, Will the Rule of Law Apply Along the Border?, N.Y. Times, June 12, 2018.
- Robert Tsai, The Anti-Immigration Bible, Boston Review, June 18, 2018.
Advocacy:
- Bishops across U.S. condemn separation, detention of migrant children, National Catholic Reporter, June 18, 2018.
- Becca Andrews, The Methodists Are Thinking About Ejecting Jeff Sessions Over Family Separations, June 19, 2018.
- Alexandra Petri, How to sleep at night when families are being separated at the border, Wash. Post, June 18, 2018.
- Michelle Goldberg, The Trump Apologists and the Crying Children, N.Y. Times, June 18, 2018.
Poverty Law 