By Alex Samuels/The Texas Tribune
It’s been nearly two months since the Trump administration announced its new “zero tolerance” policy regarding illegal immigration, which federal officials say has led to about 2,000 undocumented immigrant children in government custody being separated from their parents.
The first tent city that’ll house immigrant children opened in El Paso on Friday. Some families have been separated for months; some parents have been deported without their children.
We’ve compiled a list of organizations that are mobilizing to try and help children that have been separated from their parents at the Texas-Mexico border:
- Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project works to prevent the deportation of asylum-seeking families fleeing violence. The group accepts donations and asks people to sign up for volunteer opportunities here.
- South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project is providing free legal services to asylum seekers detained in South Texas.
- RAICES is a nonprofit that provides free and low-cost legal services to immigrant children, families and refugees in Texas. It’s accepting donations and volunteers at its website.
- The CARA Project is currently recruiting attorneys, law students and paralegals with experience in asylum work. The group asks volunteers to be fluent in Spanish or willing to work with an interpreter.
- Kids In Need of Defense partners with major law firms, corporations and bar associations to create a nationwide pro bono network to represent unaccompanied children through their immigration proceedings. Volunteers don’t need to have immigration law experience.
- The El Paso-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center provides legal representation to immigrants who might not be able to afford it otherwise. It’s accepting volunteers and donations.
What are we missing? Let us know at asamuels@texastribune.org.
Related Texas Tribune coverage:
* Listen to crying children who’ve just been separated from their parents at the Texas-Mexico border.
* What’s happening at the border? Here’s what we know about immigrant children being separated from their families.
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Previously on the Beachwood:
* Immigration Raids Send Chill Through Little Village.
* This Is What A Deportation Raid Is Like.
* Illinois Immigrant, Labor, Legal Leaders Condemn ICE Raids.
* Chicago Activists Tell Undocumented Immigrants Not To Open Their Doors.
* A Shameful Round-Up Of Refugees.
* U.S. Government Deporting Central American Migrants To Their Deaths.
* Tell President Obama To Stop Deporting Refugees.
* Immigrants Arrested In U.S. Raids Say They Were Misled On Right To Counsel.
* Obama Planning Huge Deportation Sweep Of Immigrant Families.
* Immigrants Deported Under Obama Share Stories Of Terror And Rights Violations.
* Chicago Family Sues ICE & City Over Raid, Gang Database.
* Immigrants In Detention Centers Are Often Hundreds Of Miles From Legal Help.
* Chicago And The Deportation Machine.
* Immigration Sins Of The Past And The Forced Separation Of Families.
* Law And Farce: The Forced Separation Of Families.
* Jennings v. Rodriguez And The Forced Separation Of Families.
* Forced Separation Of Families & Forced To-Term Pregnancies.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on June 19, 2018