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Lindsay Toczylowski Profile picture
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3 Apr, 4 tweets, 2 min read
I spoke to the LA Times this weekend about news that additional sites in CA, including the Long Beach Convention Center, may open as Emergency Intake Sites for unaccompanied children.

Some key takeaways I have to this news (short thread):
latimes.com/california/sto…
Seeking asylum is legal. Full stop.

Trump spent 4 years decimating our asylum system and emergency measures are needed to protect children in the short term.

We need to meet this moment while also reimagining what our system should look like to truly #WelcomeWithDignity.
Children should never be in govt custody for a moment longer than absolutely necessary & we need to move towards a family first model, stop separating kids from non-parental caregivers and invest in community based resources including universal representation and social services.
CA can and should play an important role in defining what it looks like when a state leads with compassion in response to people seeking protection here.

#FamiliesBelongTogether #RestoreAsylumNow #EndTitle42

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More from @L_Toczylowski

Lindsay Toczylowski Profile picture
31 Mar
Spent a long day touring the newly opened Emergency Intake Site (EIS) for unaccompanied minors at the San Diego Convention Center. Wanted to share a few thoughts on what I observed. The facility is currently detaining about 700 girls & at capacity will hold ~1400. (thread)
I will start with the positive: this is a significantly safer place for these girls than CBP custody. CBP is a deadly & dangerous place for UCs & it is a positive step that the administration is moving so quickly to open HHS facilities to get kids out of CBP. It will save lives.
The SD Convention Center is HUGE. Considering it’s only been open a few days, the infrastructure created is impressive. An on-site medical clinic, showers, laundry & 100s of cots set up w/ appropriate social distancing. Covid testing & isolation protocols are strictly adhered to.
Read 13 tweets
Lindsay Toczylowski Profile picture
10 Mar
Jose spent 888 days in ICE prisons before he was freed last April. He fled Guatemala as a child after being shot in the stomach and left for dead. He was ordered deported by Judge Tara Naselow in 2017 when he was just 17 y/o and unrepresented. (thread)
By chance, I met him shortly after & we began long fight to right this wrong. Over the next 2.5+ years I visited Jose in 4 ICE prisons & told him many times that we weren’t going to give up. Sometimes I cried leaving worried I was creating false hope while he continued to suffer.
And then today, a LA Superior Crt Judge made orders finding that Jose was abused, abandoned & neglected by his parents & that it is in his best interests to remain in the US. With this, we are able to apply for his SIJS visa & are now one (huge) step closer to keeping him safe.
Read 11 tweets
Lindsay Toczylowski Profile picture
26 Oct 20
Wierd thing happens when I watch border/asylum stories on tv. Like every Sunday, I’m watching @LastWeekTonight but this week its focus is asylum & I keep having to pause it to catch my breath. I have seen all this in real life but somehow watching it on tv rocks me every time.
This happened to me with the scene in @OITNB where Blanca was leaving prison and was put on an ICE bus. I was sitting in my living room inconsolable watching her boyfriend stand there with flowers waiting for her, knowing she wouldn’t come.
In the show Vida there was a scene where a guy got picked up by ICE & I wasn’t expecting it and I cried so hard I almost threw up. But in real life I would’ve been the lawyer there, all business, explaining what to do and not crying. Cause no one wants their lawyer to be crying.
Read 5 tweets
Lindsay Toczylowski Profile picture
22 Oct 20
Towards end of the Obama admin I took my kids to protest his deportation policies. My (now) 11 y/o has asked me since why we went since Trump is much worse. I tell her we went b/c even if you like some things about a friend you still hold them accountable when they are wrong.
I know many friends, particularly immigration lawyers, are worried that if Biden wins the election, he will repeat many of Obama’s mistakes on immigration. I share this worry, but I am holding onto hope b/c I think that so much has changed. We are not the same country we were.
Elected officials who in 2004 I sat in mtgs where they said ‘asylum-seeking kids need to stop coming to the border b/c they are sabotaging chances for imm reform,’ now publicly commit to #EndMPP immediately, stop endless ICE cruelty, & lead with frame that #FamiliesBelongTogether
Read 5 tweets
Lindsay Toczylowski Profile picture
10 Sep 20
A couple weeks ago @taylorklevy alerted me late on a Friday night to a case of a disabled, 12 y/o boy that was missing. We jumped into action, but turns out our govt had already put him on a plane, alone & confused, and "expelled" him to Guatemala. reuters.com/article/us-usa…
Gustavo's story is infuriating. On Saturday 8/29, I woke up to an email from ICE telling me they had already expelled him alone to Guatemala. His mom, trapped in Juarez in the "Remain in Mexico" program, still had no idea where he was. I had to call her and be the one to tell her
As Gustavo's case played out, I had flashbacks to 2018 when kids were being ripped from their parents at the border. The chaos, the lack of focus on child welfare, the confusion, the network of lawyers and others helping to find him -- it was all so familiar. And disheartening.
Read 7 tweets
Lindsay Toczylowski Profile picture
9 Aug 20
There are little things in #ImmigrationNation that are just infuriating, but also a window in to how ICE officers lie to themselves about the impact of their work. An example is the decision about whether to detain the Salvadoran, former police officer towards the end of ep 2.
Officer asks supvsr about detaining given that the man fears return. Then he says “so should we detain him so his case can be heard quickly?” Supvsr quickly says yes. They seem to be trying to convince themselves (or the audience) that they are somehow helping him by detaining.
But the truth is not only does detaining him rip him from his family causing lifelong trauma, but also means he is less likely to win his asylum/protection case & less likely to get representation.
Read 4 tweets

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