This is Bryan. After 3 yrs of separation from his mom due to Trump’s zero tolerance policy, he will finally reunite w/her this week. Despite such a traumatic experience, Bryan is fighting back by joining #TeamImmDef to help children like him know their rights.
Thank you to @jacobsoboroff for joining us in celebrating this bittersweet moment. ImmDef met Bryan while he was in an ORR shelter. Since then he was reunited with siblings. This week his family becomes whole again.
“I didn’t have a chance to say anything. We were shocked, crying and didn’t expect to be separated from each other. That was the last time I saw my mom in person.” - ImmDef client Bryan, becomes one of the first children to reunite w/mother under Biden’s Task Force this week.
For 3 yrs our dedicated staff fought to keep Bryan safe after he was torn apart from his mother during the zero tolerance policy. Meanwhile @AlOtroLado_Org fought to bring his mom back. @TODAYshow@jacobsoboroff caught their historic reunion on camera
Bryan's message to the Biden administration is to continue reuniting families who shared a similar fate. No family should be torn apart. No child should be taken from their parents and forced apart by immigration policies #WelcomeWithDignity
“You are not going to see her anymore,” the female U.S. immigration officer told Chavez, according to his account. Then the officer turned to his mother Sandra Ortiz. “And you will go to prison.” @bgirledukate@theCindyCarcamo@mollymotoole
“We’ll be together soon," was what Bryan shared at the end of every call while separated from his mom. It took 3 years, 7 months and 4 days of advocacy after he was taken from his mom until that finally became true. washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/…
"Finalmente juntos mamá, la espera valió la pena, te amo. Contemos nuestra historia" read the welcoming sign from Bryan's family. "Finally together mom, the wait was worth it, I love you. Let's tell our story."
Many of the children entering these EIS were forced to flee their home countries due to severe violence, persecution, natural disaster, & some may have been separated from parents or family members due to the Biden Admin's continued implementation of the unjust Title 42 policy. 2
While the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 requires that children be transferred from CBP custody into ORR facilities within 72 hours, ImmDef staff recently witnessed a child still in CBP custody after 26 days & allowed only 2 showers in that time. 3
"It’s never left my mind. It was a horribly traumatic because I never thought I’d see my mom like that. They tricked us.” ImmDef client Julieta was separated from her mother while in CBP custody. Three years later, they still remain separated. @nlanard 🧵 motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
After one of Magdalena's daughters was sexually assaulted, she fled with her two girls to seek asylum in the U.S. But while in CBP custody, Magdalena was shackled and taken away from them, ripped apart by the Trump administration in front of her 9 yo and 16 yo daughters. 2/5
ImmDef's ED @L_Toczylowski, "This case perfectly exemplifies all of the trauma and the pain and the years of recovery that Zero Tolerance and family separation is going to cause...It’s a microcosm of what happened to hundreds and thousands of people.” 3/5 motherjones.com/politics/2021/…
Biden’s #ProtectionFailure is endangering the lives of refugees and causing unspeakable human suffering. It’s time for the Biden administration to #WelcomeWithDignity.
@POTUS promised to build back our asylum system better than before. But after months in office, his admin is continuing to use a Trump-era public health order to block & expel refugees to danger.
Refugees expelled to danger by the Biden admin under the Trump-era Title 42 policy face grave danger. It’s time to put an end to the Biden admin’s #ProtectionFailure, and #WelcomeWithDignity.
Allowing families to reunite in the US after being torn apart by the gov't is an important first step in repairing the damage done from Trump's cruel policies. Now it's time for the Biden administration to recognize that family separation should end in ALL its forms. (THREAD) 1/4
We applaud the Biden admin's decision to allow families to reunite inside the US & explore lawful pathways for them & their siblings to remain in the U.S. But, to "act as restoratively as possible," the Biden admin must end other policies that result in family separation. 2/4
Family separation continues daily: ICE enforcement, the deportation machine, Title 42, the illegal asylum waitlist, only allowing 25 people in MPP processed at POE's ea day & more. 📢Black migrants in particular bear the brunt of all of these practices and policies ‼️ 3/4
To meaningfully address systemic racism in America - as the #Biden admin has pledged - immigration must be included. A dedicated Task Force and resources are needed. Call on @POTUS to establish a Task Force on Black immigrants now: p2a.co/K7K44Jr#Act4BlackImms
On the last day of Black Immigrant Advocacy Week of Action, we call on the #Biden administration to immediately end the detention & deportation of Black immigrants! @POTUS has promised to address systemic racism in the U.S. - immigration MUST be included. #Act4BlackImms
From the moment someone is inhumanely put in immigration detention, their health, both mental and physical, begins to deteriorate. #Act4BlackImms
Seeking asylum is an internationally-recognized human right, yet far too many Black asylum seekers are denied due process, locked in detention, and eventually deported. @DHS_Secretary must address racism in the asylum system and transform it towards justice! #Act4BlackImms
Deborah Jane, a Ugandan mother of four children who survived an acid attack, reminds us “America closing its doors on the most vulnerable refugees would be like pushing them to die.” #BlackHistoryMonth#Act4BlackImms cwsglobal.org/stories/debora…