SO incredibly proud of our Litigation and Policy Director
@eeerox
who was chosen to give a
@TEDTalks
about what’s really going on at the border and why we need to act NOW! Thank you
@TEDTalks
for this invaluable opportunity!
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
WE DID IT!!!! All of the parents are being processed by
@CBP
!!!! Thank you to the professional and humane officers who accepted them today and to everyone who came out to support
@togetherrising
@fams2gether
Official statement coming soon but rn we’re struggling to find words. There are 10K+ asylum seekers stuck in Tijuana. We r the only OTG org here providing legal aid. This is a death sentence for most our clients. Our hearts are broken + we’re exhausted.
The same way national guards were vetted for extremest views leading up to Biden’s inauguration, is the same way CBP and ICE need to be vetted now.
1/3
Let’s make one thing very clear about this new
#publicharge
rule.
🔈IMMIGRANTS PAY TAXES!🔉
They contribute to these very programs the Trump administration is seeking to deny them of! Every week is a new attack. Every week is another mind numbing blow to our clients.
Quick PSA on what NOT to do when trying to help. Do not waste your resources on sending donations to border facilities. They can not legally accept them, and besides, they DO have funding for items like toothbrushes, diapers etc. They just CHOOSE to deny migrants these things.
After a day and a half of being stonewalled by CBP we were finally allowed to speak to our client and can confirm that she and her newborn will not be separated and will be allowed to remain in the U.S. while her asylum case moves forward.
💓🙌🏽
This is still very much a developing story and we are so grateful for the fierceness and organizing power of all of our fellow allies and human rights defenders. We will continue to keep everyone updated. For now, just know we are on it and doing everything we can.
ALERT!! Our Legal Director and Litigation Director have been REMOVED from Mexico. Apparently the US govt issued security alerts on our passports to prevent us from traveling. Our Legal Director is being returned on a flight that lands at LAX terminal 2 at 12:10. Please SHOW UP
BREAKING UPDATE‼️ Judge Bashant has ruled in our favor!! The Trump-era policy that turned back thousands of asylum seekers has been declared unconstitutional!
Back in 2017, we filed a suit against DHS for CBP’s illegal policy of turning back asylum seekers. Yesterday, after 4yrs of litigation, our attorneys argued before a district court to declare this practice unlawful + permanently end it once and for all.
ICE has retaliated against our clients for speaking out in the media, including parents separated from children. Know that those speaking out publicly are in the minority, and that there are so many more horror stories you aren’t hearing
#EndFamilySeparation
Happy news to share! After more than 5 years of navigating an immigration system designed to deter instead of welcome, our client Carlos is now officially a legal permanent resident! He no longer has to live with the fear of being deported from his wife, son + unborn child! 😭💕
The Biden admin has shown us it can process asylum seekers safely, expeditiously + humanely. They did it for 100K Ukrainians fleeing violence, yet they won't for the Black + brown people who are also fleeing violence. The racism within our immigration system is on full display.
The U.S. accomplished President Biden’s goal of welcoming 100,000 Ukrainians in roughly 5 months, admitting them through the visa process, a new private sponsorship program, Title 42 exemptions along the U.S.-Mexico border and the refugee system.
Just got a message from someone saying they’re donating their entire stimulus check to us. Not only are we floored by this generosity, but pretty sure this is the first time we’ll ever be receiving a donation with
@realDonaldTrump
’s name on it! Thx for supporting immigrants Don!
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
Actor/Activist
@Alyssa_Milano
in San Diego today. She’s fighting for children separated at the border... pushing to make sure they have legal representation and a fair day in court. She’s asking for donations to
#SAFEfamiliesfund
Here’s the new Biden/Harris family separation ad, if you haven’t seen it, calling for the creation of a federal task force to reunite on day one if they win. Multiple current career government officials told me today they would join immediately if asked.
Real quick clarification on the news of the asylum ban. It does NOT just affect Central Americans. It’s anyone who seeks asylum at a Mexico POE. Asylum seekers from Asia, Africa, Middle East etc. Please adjust your headlines accordingly. This is an assault on asylum law period.
Yesterday, our client Simpson was jailed at Adelanto. Today, after 7 mos in detention, his feet are in the Pacific Ocean. In a few hrs he'll be on a flight to his sponsor’s — safe from the persecution + torture he survived in Cameroon + safe from contracting Covid in detention.
.
@VP
telling asylum seekers not to come is like telling someone to hold when they dial 911. Except that hold is months/years.
We would invite you to spend even just an hour with us listening to the stories of the families and refugees we meet and then tell them “do not come."
Happy to share that our client Nefi who fled Honduras because of political persecution and his daughter Valery have received their green cards! They can now live and work permanently in the U.S. without fear of deportation and they're one step closer to citizenship!
AH! HUGE VICTORY in our suit today. The asylum ban will NOT apply to refugees who were forced to wait in line in MX due to illegal metering that caused them to miss the 7/16 cut off date. This will make the difference between life + death for thousands of asylum seekers.
#BREAKING
: A federal judge just enjoined the federal government from applying the asylum ban to those metered at ports of entry under "Remain in Mexico" before the new policy. The class repped by
@AlOtroLado_Org
will still be able to pursue asylum claims in US
@CourthouseNews
The President of the U.S of just lied on national TV, to the American people + said he was trying to reunite children +that they were well treated. This admin has put nothing but roadblocks every step of the way. Well treated? Our clients 1yr old came back w lice no bath in days.
🚨ATTN MEDIA🚨 Read this thread. The illegal metering system flies in the face of asylum law. People come fleeing for their lives, asking for protection + we tell them to take a number +wait in line for 6 mos in a city where they will most likely be robbed, kidnapped or murdered.
This is really bad.
For the FOURTH DAY IN A ROW, CBP has refused to accept any asylum seekers waiting in Tijuana.
During the same time, 330 people arrive to sign up for the list.
There are currently more than 9,000 people on the list waiting to cross.
This is untenable.
We represent deported families who have not only been found but who are ready and eager to reunite w the children torn from them 3 yrs ago.
@POTUS
says he is serious about returning parents. This is the perfect place to start. We have the know-how + networks. Let's do this!
NEW: Since Wednesday lawyers trying to contact families separated by Trump have reached parents of 7 additional kids, brining the total to 112 found in the last month.
Parents of 499 have not yet been reached, with hundreds if not more deported.
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/
Happening now, press conference announcing class action suit against DHS + ICE for their severe lack of medical accountability + horrific treatment of clients with mental health, disabilities + chronic illness.
Gente- we’re hearing reports that protests in front of ORR facilities are scaring the kids and making legal visits difficult. Please protest in front of ICE offices instead! Thank you
Just a reminder for the “legal way” folks: it does not matter how someone enters the country, it is still within their legal right to ask for asylum.
Also a “legal way” doesn’t even exist right now. The border has been effectively shut + asylum essentially blocked since 03/20.
As we type this, all six of our clients are either on a plane on their way to their children or they’ve already landed and have them in their arms.
#reunifyfamilies
#endfamilyseparation
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
Right now, there are 100's of asylum seekers trapped bt the border walls waiting to be processed by Border Patrol agents who have left them their to languish for days with little food or water. People are sick from being left out in the cold. There are babies who need formula.
Did someone hack your account or does your social media person literally not know what you do? Also nice touch posting this on the same day you sent the military to arrest a group of doctors trying to administer free flu shots to your prisoners.
MAJOR UPDATE in our lawsuit AOL v. Wolf. The 9th circuit just prevented the gov from applying the asylum ban to people who were “metered” at the border before 7/16/19! This means thousands of people previously robbed of their legal right to asylum can now apply!
#saveasylum
Official statement regarding our 19-yr-old client and her baby. We are ever thankful to everyone who played a role in preventing this from happening 🙏🏽💕🙏🏽. Our client is in a safe space with her baby. We will not be granting interviews with her at this time.
Almost two years after the Trump administration announced ”zero tolerance” there are still separated parents deported without kids awaiting reunification. Tonight, after a court order and with help of
@AlOtroLado_Org
and more, nine will finally arrive here in L.A. to be reunited.
We’d like to recognize
@cad6711
, managing attorney for our Family Reunification Project, who’s been fighting for these parents from the jump and for the past week has literally been working day and night making sure each family was reunited safely.
4/8
Via buzzfeed “The 2-year old boy, who died on Saturday, is the 20th child to die at the US-Mexico Border this year.”
Children are dying as a result of the Trump Administration’s immigration xenophobic and ILLEGAL…
UPDATE! Our first parent was just reunified with his child, after 9+ months of separation. Working on coordinating another 11 reunifications over the next few days. 17 parents are detained by ICE and will remain separated until they are free.
#reunifyfamilies
Incredible news to share from our L.A. team - our client, who escaped civil war in Cameroon just won his asylum case!!
He was a political activist + organizer in Cameroon. He had to have three CFI’s because USCIS kept running out of time to hear everything he went through.
🚨UPDATE 🚨After a 6hr trial, Rolando was granted asylum last night! 😭 If we hadn’t gotten Rolando out when we did, we are certain he would’ve died in
@ICEgov
custody. The Trump Administration is torturing people with valid asylum claims and this is proof. Is America great yet?
This is the story of our client Rolando. Just when we think we’ve seen the worst of
@ICEgov
, we come across a case like his. He was bleeding from his eyes + ears, suffering excruciating migraines due to a gunshot wound to the head. ICE gave him ibuprofen.
UPDATE: The 17 parents that were held in
@icegov
custody for over a month have finally been released and are on their way to being reunited with their children. All 29 of the separated families we presented at the border on 3/2 will soon be reunified!
A special shout out to our boos
@justiceinmotion
who not only found most of these parents, but whose network of defenders in Central America provide crucial on the ground advocacy for the parents + essential logistical support helping the parents get to + from appointments.
5/8
This virus is playing straight into the fantasy playbook of Stephen Miller, the white nationalist in charge of immigration policy. Covid19 is already being weaponized against immigrants + undocumented folks. We fear the worst for the incarcerated who are right now sitting ducks.
And while we thank the
@POTUS
task force for their work in bringing this moment to fruition, we hope that they will continue to do right by these families by not only offering them a path to legal permanent status . . .
7/8
Incredible news! Because of the class certification granted in our AOL v. Wolf litigation, a senseless deportation of a Cameroonian asylum seeker was blocked by a San Diego judge yesterday at the 11th hour! She was literally taken off plane moments before it was set to take off.
Incredible news to share amidst this hot mess of a week: our client from Eritrea 🇪🇷 who has been detained for almost 2 years will be out of detention and safe tonight!
We are beyond thrilled for our client + proud of our San Diego team who were all hands on deck for this case!
After 6+ hrs of waiting and advocating yesterday and being turned away, we are heading back to the port of entry again today with our clients. Under current
#MPP
policy, they have a right to receive a fear of Mexico interview and yet CBP denied them this right yesterday.
HAPPENING NOW: We are at the San Ysidro/TJ POE with
@ImmDef
where our clients, including 13 children, are being denied the fear interviews that would make them exempt from
#MPP
aka Remain in Mexico Policy. Our team has been here since 12pm advocating on behalf of these families.
Just heard from our L.A. team that our attorney won asylum for two of our clients from Cameroon!!
First the Flores ruling, now this!
These precious reminders that justice and humanity still exist are few and far between, but they’re what we hold on to when it all seems dark.
News! After months of advocacy all of the moms we were working w that were expelled to MX under Title 42 with their US citizen babies have been paroled into the US! CBP had made these moms believe they were being released to relatives, instead they were dumped in MX w a newborn.
Closing out the week with some much needed good news. We were able to get our client released from detention just in time to see his beautiful baby being born! The couple that had been separated for over two months can now be together with their newest little member. 😭👶🏽
🎉 🧵BREAKING NEWS! We're thrilled to announce a MAJOR legal victory for immigrant children held in open-air detention sites (OADS) at the border! A court has ruled in our favor, affirming that these children are entitled to key protections under the law.
We need your help. The conditions people, including babies and toddlers, are being held in at Custom and Border Protection’s (CBP) outdoor detention camps remain dire, even though three weeks ago, a young Guinean woman who was being held in one of these camps, died. 1/3
After 7 straight days of logistics karate - booking flights, mobilizing volunteers, coordinating rides and our AMAZING staff working 7am-12am days, we can now confirm that each and every one of the 17 families are now safely with their sponsors families and their children!
This is exactly what the Trump administration wants. They want to break the people helping. All 3 of our directors were already put on a gov watchlist, had alerts placed on their passports so they couldn’t come back into MX + do their jobs. WE NEED EVERYONE IN THIS FIGHT.
You can not be against immigration detention centers but be for prisons and jails. They are built for the same purpose: to terrorize and kill and keep people enslaved.
Thank you for coming to our TED Talk.
ANOTHER SEPARATED MOM WAS JUST RELEASED!!!! So far, 6 released, 13 detained and 10 pending in CBP custody. Looking forward to reunifying the 6 parents with their kids in the next few days, and we will keep fighting for the rest!
CBP says they don’t have capacity to reunify families. We have offered to transport families to a Port of Entry where they have capacity, but no answer yet.
#ReunifyFamilies
CBP is asking for proof that the parents were separated without their children....good thing we brought a printer! About to turn in the proof, let’s see what comes next
#ReunifyFamilies
¡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/
“Say goodbye to your son because you’ll never see him again”, were the last words our client Sandra heard before
@CBP
officers took her son away. Well yesterday, that all changed. For the first time in over three years, Sandra was able to hold her son Bryan in her arms again.
In a shift by the Biden administration, more than 1,000 families who've been separated for years have begun the process of reuniting.
@jacobsoboroff
takes a closer look.
This has been the deadliest year ever for migrants trying to cross the US/MX border. At least 853 people have died border-wide in 2022, beating 2021's previous record of 650 deaths. These numbers are definitely higher since Border Patrol routinely undercounts migrant deaths. 1/7
Our Supreme Court is sentencing people to death. There are no safeguards, no institutions to stop this cruelty. We see others’ pain everyday. It seeps into the fibers of our beings. Over + over we are challenged to even help folks to pursue human fucking decency and dignity.
If you haven’t caught on by now - this is 45’s M.O.
1. Make bullying threat.
2. Sow chaos, fear, confusion.
3. Take back said threat.
4. Take credit for putting end to chaos.
He does this to exhaust us + leave vulnerable folks in a constant state of desperate uncertainty.
At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start!
BREAKING: Fed up w/CBP turning away refugees at US ports of entry for not having a CBPOne appointment, & violating the court’s order in AOL v. Mayorkas I, we just sued DHS + CBP (again). Because access to the right to save one’s life shouldn’t hinge upon a glitchy smartphone app.
While officials sit comfortably in their fancy homes “expressing regret,” parents + children are still reeling from the mental + physical torture caused by family separation. Children who used to laugh now cry themselves to sleep. But ok, you feel bad.
BREAKING: Department of Justice officials respond to new Inspector General report, which says DOJ was "driving force" behind family separations, by blaming Trump, expressing regret.
With
@JuliaEAinsley
.
It’s 117 degrees in Mexicali today. Our friends
@BorderKindness
are currently driving migrant children somewhere to find AC. They are the only on the ground rapid response team in Mexicali providing any type of aid to migrants and asylum seekers. Plz consider a donation!
WHOA another win! Twice in one day! This time in our lawsuit against the asylum ban. Immigration attorneys + activists on the frontlines have been watching this nightmare on the border unfold since day one. Y’all have no idea how emotionally significant these two wins are.
ALSO BREAKING:
@ACLU
is 2-2 today in 9th Circuit. Victory in our challenge to Trump’s original asylum ban, as well as his remain in Mexico policy. These were argued as a double header and opinions issued together today. Congrats
@EBaySanctuary
@AlOtroLado_Org
@ThinkLawLab
again!
We are at the Calexico Port of Entry with 29 parents who were forcibly separated from their children under the ‘zero tolerance’ policy.
@CBP
is saying they don’t have capacity to accept them
#ReunifyFamilies
We've tried higher walls, harsher immigration policies + more BP agents. They've done nothing to stop migration. “About the only thing we haven’t tried," as
@ReichlinMelnick
points out, "is actually giving resources to the asylum system." Just a thought.
You know what else
#AlexAzar
, secretary of
@HHSGov
, didn’t have a good tracking system for? Thousands of separated children. Not only did he lose track of them, he lied about it.
Now in the face of a public health crisis he can’t keep track of basic data.
Resign Alex.
Alex Azar says the number of Americans who have received Coronavirus tests is unknown because they don’t have a good way to track tests done by private labs. Great!
@prisonculture
It would be helpful if folks did Legal Observer training through the NLG and THEN came down. It’s pretty intense on the border right now. But we need more Americans willing to stand up against this
This is our client Jose O. Thanks to money raised by
@togetherrising
we + fellow defenders
@JusticeInMotion
were able to track him down in his small village in Guatemala to tell him we were there to bring him back to the U.S. to reunite him with his son. He and 29 other parents..
A migrant father says he was given a document, written in English, to sign by authorities after crossing the border with his son. He couldn’t read English, but signed it. It was his own deportation order. He was sent home to Guatemala — without his child.
Instead donate items to shelters providing direct aid to migrants who may need these items, but remember to call these shelters first before stopping by with donations as a courtesy to ask if/what they need. If you can donate money, consider orgs providing necessary legal aid.
Just received this news from one of our attorneys. One of our clients from Cuba was just granted asylum!!He had been detained since May. When judge announced his decision client was so happy/relieved he collapsed on the table sobbing.
#seekingasylumisnotacrime
Shout out to
@united
who just let our client check her bag for free when we realized it was too big to carry-on. This particular passenger is the last of the separated families to be reunited this week and she’s on her way to see her child for the first time in 3 years!
Our hearts are heavy + with the families of the victims of the fire in Juarez. It's been reported that some of the men were returned under Title 42. Others were men rounded up by MX immigration who were simply selling candy in the streets + cleaning windshields to survive. 1/4
JUST IN: We just won (✊🏽) against
@DHSgov
’s attempt to throw out our class action lawsuit against
@ICEgov
over the cruel and inept medical treatment of detainees with disabilities. The case will be allowed to move forward!
#abolishICE
The president is recklessly instigating a war no one is ready for, putting the lives of thousands of soldiers at risk for the sake of distracting from his crimes. Let’s not forget that as we speak, he’s actively deporting said soldiers’ family members.
This is something that should outrage *every* American regardless of party. In times of crisis we are forced to choose. Do you want to prioritize saving lives or deporting folks? Demand
@icegov
give those masks to doctors and hospitals!
#UnMaskICE
!!!
Just got excellent news! After nearly 11 months imprisoned at Otay Mesa Detention Center we were able to get our indigenous Mexican client out on parole without having to pay bond!
This win is significant on a number of levels.
1/2
Great news to share! After 15 agonizing months at the Adelanto Detention Center, our client William is free! Just two days after his birthday🎂. He told us that he felt like he was going to die in detention and that he felt like a bird who had just gotten out of a cage. 😭
So the caravan is heading to Tijuana. The migrant shelters are already full because CBP, the largest law enforcement agency in the US, only has ‘capacity’ to process a trickle of asylum seekers per day. You know, the ones who are applying at the Port of Entry the ‘legal’ way.
STOP POSTING VIDEOS OF COPS BEING GOOD GUYS! That’s what they should be! Who cares that a cop took a knee or walked with protesters. They don’t get a standing ovation for answering the call of basic human decency. THIS ⬇️ is the kind of cop action that deserves uplifting.
Today, after over three excruciating years of separation, our client Sandra is holding her son Bryan in her arms again. This moment was a testament to the resilience strength, + determination of a parent who asked for nothing more than safety for themselves + their children.
We are in desperate need of immigration attorneys with asylum + removal defense experience who can volunteer with us Sun-Thur/Fri in Tijuana!
Sign up here:
1/ Border Patrol made a fictional video of a migrant killing a man w/ false & misleading stats on migrants and crime.
In latest
@Newsy
, experts tell me how the video violates a federal law safeguarding the quality of government info & further undermines public trust in
@DHSgov
Our client reported her sex traffickers to
@DHSgov
. Instead of helping her, they accused her of being a prostitute and put her in detention for 7 months.
We are excited to report that she is finally out! Now we will help her get her T-Visa, a visa for trafficking survivors.
Hey 👋🏽
@CBPMarkMorgan
! Maybe once
@CBP
stop
🛑 sexually assaulting unaccompanied migrant children.
🛑 taking babies as young as 4mos from their parents.
🛑 creating racist + hate filled FB groups.
🛑 joking about killing immigrants.
We’ll consider not demonizing them. Deal?
Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan: "The men and women of CBP are not running concentration camps, making those in our custody drink from toilets, nor denying them access to toothbrushes... The demonizing of law enforcement professionals must stop."
‼️So apparently
@ICEgov
is detaining Ukrainian refugees now. Just got a message from a very concerned man. His fiancée had been detained at Otay Mesa Detention Center for 7 days after she presented herself at POE. They just transferred her to a Lousiana detention center.