It should not take a 17 hour standoff with 2 members of Congress, a team of lawyers +cameras to ensure that CBP is following its own laws and ensuring the safety of children. @DHSgov +its agencies expect migrants to follow the law yet cherrypick which ones they want to follow. 2/
A year later we are still fighting family separation + illegal policies. And today on #internationalmigrantsday we remain more committed than ever to holding this government accountable + ensuring that the rights +safety of migrants +asylum seekers all over the world are upheld.
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As Al Otro Lado continues to assist with the @CBP street releases of asylum seekers in San Diego we continue to encounter families that have been separated. Every day we meet dozens of people who have no idea where their spouse or child is. 1/6 🧵
Some lost loved ones may still be in CBP custody, others were dropped off at a different transit station sometimes over 1hr away from each other or dropped off at a hospital due to medical concerns. No info is given to the family member as to where their spouse or child is. 2/6
Other disappeared family members have been shipped off to ICE detention centers as far away as Louisiana.
Al Otro Lado staff have been calling hospitals looking for individual family members, emailing CBP, and in some cases, filing missing person reports. 3/6
Did you know that being willing to die for your country is not enough to guarantee you automatic citizenship? Yes, that’s right. We’re talking about the thousands of veterans who have been deported after serving their country.
1/9
Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to be an American citizen to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces nor does your service automatically qualify you for citizenship.
2/9
Immigrant service members are eligible for citizenship after their service, but not all get to complete their naturalization.
3/9
Today, we, along with @ImmDef@TransLawCenter@JFSSD + @sdACLU filed a complaint asking @DHSOIG to investigate @CBP’s failure to expeditiously process urgent humanitarian parole applications. Right now humanitarian parole is practically the only path to safety in the U.S.
In recent months, dozens of applications for urgent humanitarian parole filed by all of us have gone unanswered for weeks, if not months or denied with no explanation
Some of the pending applications include:
- A family with a 3yr old child who has urgent medical needs due to suffering from epilepsy + the frequent seizures caused by the condition.
- A family with a baby who has intracranial hypertension, epilepsy + fluid in the brain.
Late last year we started to notice a disturbing trend. Migrant mothers who had given birth on US soil, therefore making their babies American citizens, were being immediately expelled by @CBP just days after giving birth + before babies’ birth certificates could be issued.
1/
Not only were these newborns sent back to some of the most dangerous cities in the world, but without any proper paper work, these babies were essentially left stateless making it even more difficult to get vaccinations and essential government benefits like food assistance.
2/
To get to the bottom of what was happening we demanded answers from @CBP by filing a Freedom of Information Act requesting information regarding these expulsions including the treatment of pregnant women in CBP custody and stats on of the total number of mothers expelled.
3/
This weekend, for the first time in over three years, our client Luis was able to hold his son in his arms again. His son was only five years old when @CBP officers callously took him while Luis was in court. He was told his son would be there when he got back. He wasn’t. 1/8
But Luis’ story isn’t the only happy one we have to share. He’s 1 of 13 parents that were reunited with their kids over the weekend + 8 more will be reunited this week! These were parents who were separated + deported from their children during the terror of #zerotolerance.
2/8
For two years we have been fighting to reunite these parents with their children, some of whom have been separated nearly four years. But the journey is not over. It will take years to undo the damage that has been done to these families. Reunification is just the first step.
3/8
¡HUGE! news coming out of the immigration sphere today! AG Garland just overturned two devastating decisions made by ghouls, ahem, former AGs Sessions and Barr, that sought to restrict asylum even further by limiting the qualifications for protection.
1/
The first decision, Matter of A-B, all but precluded domestic violence as a reason to seek asylum. The second decision, Matter of L-E-A, seriously limited asylum for people who were being persecuted because of their family associations.
2/
So what does this mean exactly? It means that people fleeing domestic violence and persecuted families will now have the chance to seek protection under U.S. asylum law! This is going to make the difference between life or death for so many people fleeing danger.
3/