Direct Help for Asylum Seekers coming from Detention Centers
Are you feeling helpless and wish you knew who and how to help? While in Arizona, we met and interviewed many organizations that are on the ground, in the trenches, meeting the immediate and urgent needs of those coming directly from ICE detention centers. We will highlight each one this week!
We toured the warehouse for Gathering Humanity, an NPO founded by three amazing women, which has become a stabilizing force that has earned the respect and confidence of every organization involved in this humanitarian dilemma.
They are the gate-keepers that organize it all! They deliver supplies and goods to the many churches in the area who receive busloads of people every week. They are run 100% by volunteers and depend on the help and donations that come from volunteers.
With increasingly high demands for donations, please consider donating to Gathering Humanity:
1. If you are local to the Phoenix area and would like to volunteer time or resources (choosing from a wide variety of opportunities), go to their Facebook page for constant updates!
2. If you are farther away and would like to help with monetary donations, please go to their donation page here! Every cent goes directly to helping refugees and asylum seekers!
WE can absolutely vouch for their integrity and the vital role they are playing in supporting the humanitarian needs there.
My First Asylum Case: An Attorney's Perspective on Asylum in the United States
I took my first asylum case in 2016, when our national dialog on immigration took a decidedly negative turn. As a corporate attorney, I had no experience in immigration law, but my license allowed me to represent individuals fleeing severe persecution and I signed with a local non-profit to offer my help. My first asylum client was a young mother and her two small daughters. I could see myself in Saba.
Their Story is Our Story Applauds the Signing of Virginia House Bill 995 and Continues Efforts to Open Doors for Foreign-trained Medical Professionals in Other States
Their Story is Our Story (TSOS), a non-profit organization that collects and shares the experiences of refugees to deepen understanding and influence action, applauds the signing of Virginia House Bill 995 into law by Governor Glenn Youngkin, after its unanimous passage through the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate. It will create a pathway for foreign-trained doctors who have immigrated to the state, including those whose careers were interrupted by forcible displacement, to fill workforce gaps in medically underserved communities.
Idaho One Refugee Conference
Last fall I was able to attend the 1Refugee Conference in Idaho. The event was well organized and everyone who approached our table was interested in what we did and wanted to know how to get involved. There were at least 100 students majoring in a variety of things who attended the event and we had 20 students give us their contact information. Most were interested in our internship programs.