A year ago today, I was running around El Paso gathering jackets, underwear, and feminine hygiene products for asylum seekers whom ICE had released at the downtown Bus Station. /1
On Christmas day, I was with the people at Borderland Rainbow Center making meals and running food to makeshift shelters set up by Annunciation House. The day after, I was staffing those shelters with medical supplies and professionals /2
Change happens fast and unexpected, but I am tired of being reactive. /3
Today, across the border from El Paso, TX, asylum seekers live in tents for months in Juarez, Mexico, waiting to apply for asylum. These tents belong to no one in particular. After one family is allowed to cross the bridge, another family moves into the tent to wait their turn /4
Beyond those living in tents, there are those who live in shelters. Shelters built for 40 people now hold 140, with bunk beds, floor mats or cots crammed everywhere possible. A church sanctuary functions as a dining room during the day and as a family sleeping area at night. /5
As colder nights come, the shelter will try to fit as many as it did last year in the coldest season—250 people.
It does not need to be this way.
/6
It does not need to be this way.
/6
In recent months, members of the El Paso and Las Cruces communities have been working to set up a new non-profit immigration legal office in El Paso, as part of the Justice For Our Neighbors (@NJFON) network, a 501c3 organization. /7
JFON is a national United Methodist Immigration ministry that offers hospitality to immigrants by providing quality immigration legal assistance to immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers for little to no cost. /8
Our goals for the new year are to establish our own site, the El Paso JFON, with 501c3 status, and hire an attorney by Summer 2020 to represent asylum seekers and help reunite them with their families in the United States while they go through the legal process. /9
As a Board member, a legal researcher, and an activist, I can tell you the most important thing we can provide these individuals now is legal representation. Absolutely nothing else will increase their likelihood of being granted permanent status. /10
There are many excellent attorneys working hard in this city.
And I want to be proactive, and add one more. /11
And I want to be proactive, and add one more. /11
Below will take you directly to our church's donation link. When you click through, please put "JFON" in the notes section. Any donation brings us closer to goal of providing affordable legal aid where it is most needed. Thank you. paypal.com/donate/?token=…
