KEEP INDIE BOOKSTORES ALIVE AND GET COPIES OF UNTAMED AT THE SAME TIME!

I love independent bookstores deeply because they love their communities well. Do you know that, on average for every $100 you spent at a locally owned store, $73 stays in your local community?

I am hearing every day from indie booksellers — they are in so much pain. Many are on the verge of going out of business. I want to do everything in my power to support them now, so that they will keep supporting our communities when this crisis is over.

Below is a list of independent booksellers across the country that have copies of UNTAMED.

If you have considered buying UNTAMED or gifting it to a friend: Please buy now from these small businesses. For these stores, a few book sales make a giant difference.

They are taking online orders – many offer free or reduced shipping across the country – and many are offering local curb-side pickup. Many are also offering the audio book (which I read), and the e-book for immediate download.

If your local indie isn’t on list: click here to find the closest indie to you: https://www.indiebound.org/indie-bookstore-finder  and ask them to order copies of UNTAMED. They very likely will.

Times are hard. We can do hard things. Like love and support each other from home.

ALL MY LOVE, HOPE & BELIEF IN COMMUNITY – IN US,
G

INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS WITH COPIES OF UNTAMED

Please order from your local indie, one of the bookstores below, or order from Bookshop.org to support independent booksellers.

AR
WordsWorth Books (Little Rock) ORDER HERE

AZ
Changing Hands Bookstore (Tempe & Phoenix) ORDER HERE

CA
The Ripped Bodice (Culver City) ORDER HERE
Bookshop Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz) ORDER HERE
Warwick’s (La Jolla) ORDER HERE
Vroman’s Bookstore (Pasadena) ORDER HERE
Gallery Bookshop and Bookwinkles (Mendocino) ORDER HERE
Book Passage (Corde Madera) ORDER HERE

CO
Boulder Bookstore (Boulder) ORDER HERE
Tattered Cover (Denver) ORDER HERE
Townie Books (Crested Butte, CO) ORDER HERE
Explore Booksellers (Aspen) ORDER HERE
Old Firehouse Books (Fort Collins) ORDER HERE

CT
River Bend Bookshop (Hartford) ORDER HERE

DC
East City Bookshop (Washington, DC) ORDER HERE
Politics and Prose (Washington, DC) ORDER HERE

DE
Bethany Beach Books (Bethany Beach) ORDER HERE

FL
Books & Books (Coral Gables & Miami) ORDER HERE
Oxford Exchange (Tampa) ORDER HERE
Tombolo Books (St. Petersburg) ORDER HERE

GA
Avid Bookshop (Athens) ORDER HERE
The Bookshelf (Thomasville) ORDER HERE

IA
Dragonfly Books (Decorah) ORDER HERE

IL
Anderson’s Bookshop (Naperville) ORDER HERE
Volumes Bookcafe (Chicago) Call: 773-697-8066
Bookie’s Bookstores (Chicago & Homewood) ORDER HERE

KS
Watermark Books & Cafe (Wichita) ORDER HERE

KY
Carmichael’s Bookstore (Louisville) ORDER HERE

LA
Octavia Books (New Orleans) ORDER HERE
Cavalier House Books (Denham Springs) ORDER HERE

MA
Belmont Books (Belmont) ORDER HERE
Brookline Booksmith (Brookline) ORDER HERE
Harvard Book Store (Cambridge) ORDER HERE
Porter Square Books, Inc. (Cambridge) ORDER HERE
Brookline Booksmith (Brookline) ORDER HERE
Copper Dog Books (Beverly) ORDER HERE
Odyssey Bookshop (South Hadley) ORDER HERE
The Book Shop of Beverly Farms (Beverly) ORDER HERE
Whitelam Books (Reading) ORDER HERE

MD
Caprichos Books (Bel Air) ORDER HERE

MI
Literati Bookstore (Ann Arbor) ORDER HERE
Schuler Books (Grand Rapids & Okemos) ORDER HERE
Nicola’s Books (Ann Arbor) ORDER HERE
Brilliant Books (Traverse City) ORDER HERE
Horizon Books Inc (Traverse City) ORDER HERE

MN
SubText Books (St. Paul) ORDER HERE
Content (Northfield) ORDER HERE
Valley Bookseller (Stillwater) ORDER HERE
The Irreverent Bookworm (Minneapolis) ORDER HERE

MO
The Novel Neighbor (St. Louis) ORDER HERE

MS
Lemuria (Jackson) ORDER HERE

MT
Country Bookshelf (Bozeman) ORDER HERE
Fact & Fiction (Missoula) ORDER HERE

NE
The Bookworm (Omaha) ORDER HERE

NC
Flyleaf Books (Chapel Hill) ORDER HERE
Malaprop’s Bookstore and Cafe (Asheville) ORDER HERE
Page 158 Books (Wake Forest) ORDER HERE
Quail Ridge Books (Raleigh) ORDER HERE

NH
Gibson’s Bookstore (Concord) ORDER HERE
The Toadstool Bookshop (Keene & Peterborough) ORDER HERE

NY
A to Z Books (Orchard Park) ORDER HERE
Books Are Magic (Brooklyn) ORDER HERE
Greenlight Bookstore (Brooklyn) ORDER HERE
McNally Jackson (New York) ORDER HERE
Oblong (Millerton) ORDER HERE
Split Rock Books (Cold Spring) ORDER HERE
Strand Bookstore (New York) ORDER HERE

OH
Joseph-Beth Booksellers (Cincinatti) ORDER HERE
Gramercy Books (Bexley) ORDER HERE

OR
Annie Bloom’s Books (Portland) ORDER HERE
Broadway Books (Portland) ORDER HERE
Bob’s Beach Books (Lincoln City) ORDER HERE
Waucoma Bookstore (Hood River) ORDER HERE

PA
The Doylestown Bookshop (Doylestown) ORDER HERE
Reads & Company (Phoenixville) Call: 484-920-3695

TN
Parnassus Books (Nashville) ORDER HERE

TX
Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston) ORDER HERE

VA
Old Town Books (Alexandria) ORDER HERE
Fountain Bookstore (Richmond) ORDER HERE

WA
Elliott Bay Book (Seattle) ORDER HERE
Browsers Bookshop (Olympia) ORDER HERE
Inklings Bookshop (Yakima) ORDER HERE

WI
Boswell Book Company (Milwaukee) ORDER HERE
Books & Company (Oconomowoc) ORDER HERE
A Room of One’s Own (Madison) ORDER HERE

***If you are an independent bookseller, stocking UNTAMED, and do not find yourself on this list, please add yourself in comments on my social post and email us at contact@momastery.com and we will update this list.***

Big day. BIG DAY.

Here’s why: The UNTAMED TOUR is on sale today!!!

As you know, I’m going to be traveling much less in the coming months because my couch misses me terribly when I’m gone. But in March 2020: I’M LEAVING MY BELOVED COUCH AND I’M COMING TO YOU!!!

THE UNTAMED TOUR IS COMING TO YOU!!!

You need to come. Just COME. Grab your untamed friends and your partner and your mama and your neighbors or be super brave and come with your untamed self.

Come because I have things I need to talk to you about in person. Untamed is packed with BIG NEW DOOZY-ISH ideas that we are going to need to discuss and cry and dance and sing and laugh hard about. IN PERSON. TOGETHER. Big things like parenting and loss and betrayal and grief and freedom and joy and forgiveness and sex and boundaries and finally, finally, finally coming alive.

This is what I can promise you: It’ll be a good night. It’ll be a night that fills you up and provides you the laughs, depth, comfort, fuel, fire, ideas, and deep breaths you need to return to your lives more ALIVE. We can do that together.

I am so excited to see you in March.

Also, and I beg you, if you want to come, please get your tickets today. They always go fast, and then you write to me sadly and I read your emails sadly and there’s nothing I can do to fix it. Be BOLD. Do it today. And tag your untamed friends so they don’t miss it, either.

Get your seats here:

3.09     BROOKLYN

3.10      NYC

3.11      NASHVILLE

3.12      DENVER

3.13      CHICAGO

3.14      DC

3.16      SAN FRAN – Afternoon Event

3.16      SAN FRAN – Evening Event

3.17      SEATTLE

3.18      LA

LOVE YOU. Love US. Here’s to UNTAMED WOMEN. And men! And everyone in between and beyond!

Love, G

This is a sacred day to me. The most important thing I’ve ever written–my new book UNTAMED–is available for the first time TODAY.

I’m often asked why I don’t publish books more often. My answer is this: I never write a new book until I’ve become a new woman. Over the past few years, I became a new woman. UNTAMED tells that story.

At an event for LOVE WARRIOR, a woman walked into the room and the moment I saw her, three words filled my entire being: There She Is. I knew, from my roots, that she was my person. To honor that knowing–to honor myself–I dismantled and rebuilt my entire life. Loving Abby and creating a life with her was the first decision I ever made not as a good girl, but as a free woman.

UNTAMED is my deeply personal story of discovering, fighting for, and claiming the great love of my life. But this book is not about finding your Abby.  It is about finding yourself.

UNTAMED is about how we got caged by the world’s expectations of us, and how we break free. It is about how to reclaim yourself, love yourself, trust yourself and abandon others’ expectations so you can stop abandoning yourself.

It’s the story of how I learned, through my relationship with Tish, that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows her children how to bravely live. It’s about how I stopped being a martyr and started being a model.

It’s the story of how I learned–through my divorce and blending my family–that a “broken family” is one in which any member has to break herself to fit in.  And a whole family is one in which each member has the freedom to bring her entire self to the family table:  to remain whole and still belong.

It’s the story of how I learned to set boundaries, make peace with my body, channel my anxiety, and honor my anger. It’s about how I finally discovered the big deal about sex.

It’s about how–when we stop pleasing and start living–we become women who can finally look at ourselves dead in the eyes and say: There She Is.

Today I am asking you to pre-order UNTAMED. Even if you usually wait until a book hits the library, or buy it the week it’s out, please consider ordering today.

It matters to me and to other authors that you vote for our art by buying it as soon as you can. It signals that there are people who believe in our work, which allows us to keep making it. The UNTAMED team is a handful of fierce, dedicated women. We have been working for two years in preparation for today. Your pre-order today means more than I can tell you.

Here’s another reason to order today. We are doing a special signed print run of UNTAMED that includes a beautiful page with the cover art and the vital question: What Would You Do If You Trusted Yourself?

I am going to sign every copy of this limited printing. Think of your people who are going through the thick – in other words, all of your people – and consider gifting them, and yourself, a special signed copy of UNTAMED. Once this first printing is gone, there won’t be any more. We don’t know if the quantity will last two hours or two weeks, so please order for yourself and your people today. Signed copies are available through independent bookstores, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million HERE.

In the coming weeks, as I sign each book in the limited print run, I will be sending my love and a personal blessing to each of you. I don’t know if that woo-woo stuff works but it makes me so happy and thankful that each of these books will go from my couch to yours, my hands to yours, my heart to yours.

When I finished writing, I sent UNTAMED to Liz Gilbert. She read it and wrote to me: “This book will liberate women—emotionally, spiritually, and physically. I believe you were born to write this book.” It’s true. I finally freed myself enough to be able to say what I’ve been desperate to say for my entire life.

My dream is that–since freedom, joy, and peace are contagious–they will leap off each page of UNTAMED and into your hearts until each of us is free to live as the people we were born to be before the world told us who to be.

I LOVE YOU. I LOVE US.
G

When scary things happened on the news, Mister Rogers’ mother would say: “Look for the helpers, son. There are always helpers.”

In the future, when history looks for the helpers of these times, History will find you.

History will point to this army of fierce hearted strangers who linked arms and marched toward the world’s pain–who sacrificed for forgotten little ones they will never meet because there is no such thing as other people’s children.

Our goal yesterday was to raise $240,000 for emergency response and long-term legal accountability for the child detention crisis.

You showed up. You posted, tagged, raged, cried. You stopped your day and the world for these children.

18,468 of you gave.

In 24 hours, you have raised $1,195,245

We’ve been on calls all night and morning–meticulously strategizing the most effective way to deploy every penny we receive from you to fund more emergency care and long-term help to more children than we ever imagined we’d be able to.

Holly Cooper’s warrior legal team will receive more than they or we ever thought possible–this money will get the team to centers to inspect and investigate abuse, interview the children, remove them to protect their health and safety, and build legal cases to demand these atrocities end.

As we’ve shared the news with the tired, relentless warriors on the ground, their hope is renewed. They’d begun to worry that America had forgotten about these children, that saving them would be impossible. Then: YOU — the people of the impossible — showed up.

There have been many incredulous tears. We keep hearing: Tell them thank you. Please tell them thank you.

THANK YOU.

Each penny represents your work, love, and hope. We will put every single penny you’ve entrusted to us to its highest and best use.  As always, as soon as it is responsible to do so, we will give you a full report of how each dollar is used.

We will continue. The darker these times get, the more light we will bring. We will not abandon each other. We will make it through like we always have: We will do the next right thing, one thing at a time, together. That will take us all the way home.

G & Together Rising

HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP END THE CHILD-IMPRISONMENT ATROCITIES.

There are 13,100 children imprisoned right now in federal custody — alone, without their families — facing horrifying neglect and abuse.

These kids need and deserve a defender and protector. Today, we will give them a defender who will step in front of the abuse they are facing.  A protector who will ensure that the abuse ends.  An advocate who will make sure those responsible for these atrocities are held accountable for their horrors.

        *  *  *

Holly Cooper, Co-director of the Immigration Law Clinic at UC Davis, and her team have been to more than 30 detention centers over the last few years, saving countless kids as a result of their inspections and advocacy.

Last month, when inspecting a children’s detention center where kids are being jailed alone, their legal team found a premature infant who was so ill she would have died without immediate treatment.  The lawyers and doctors on the team fought federal authorities to transport the baby to the hospital. And saved her life.

Same with three more gravely ill toddlers they found and transported to the hospital.  The doctor who met with the children in federal custody said if she found kids in this condition in her regular practice, she would have to report the parents to authorities for criminal neglect.

The list of horrors goes on:

• An 8-month old baby with the flu forced to sleep outside for four days.
• A child held in isolation for 10 days
• Pepper spray used against kids held in isolation
• Prolonged detention of kids with disabilities, abuse of kids with mental disabilities and mental health issues
• An 8 year old girl struggling to take care of an unrelated two-year old toddler in custody because there was no one else caring for him
• Children held in “secret” centers, WW2 internment camps, and unlicensed, unregulated and for-profit jails
• Kids denied access to water, and forced to sleep on concrete floors under bright lights 24/7
• No toothbrushes, toothpaste, diapers, sports or education; Kids forced to go weeks without bathing or a clean change of clothes.
• Kids forcibly sedated with psychotropic drugs

Holly and her team of warriors are one of only a handful of legal teams in the world who have the right to access CBP facilities — including the infamous “dog cages” and “hieleras” (iceboxes) where the kids are being held. Because Holly is an attorney of record in the crucial FLORES settlement, in which the federal government agreed to certain basic standards relating to detaining children, she is among a very few with the right to demand inspections of facilities, to obtain full medical records and procure the census of every child detained each month across the country.

Her team’s unique right to access CBP facilities makes them absolutely vital to investigating, communicating and advocating in the nationwide movement to get safety for these children, end the abuse, and shut down these horrifying kid prisons.  Holly’s team has brought three class action lawsuits with national impact to protect these kids.  Her funding is gone to see these suits to completion and we must ensure this vital work continues.

We will die on this mountain.  We will BOTH continue to serve, rehabilitate and reunify these babies.  AND we must stand up to defend and protect them so that this cycle of horror does not continue for other generations of babies.  $240,000 will get Holly’s team what they need to continue this AND/BOTH work for 2 years:  to get to the sites for inspections, interview the kids, remove them to protect their health and safety, and build legal cases to ensure that the government is not permitted to perpetuate the abuse.

There are 13,100 kids right now desperately praying for a defender and protector. Let’s do this.

As always, every penny we receive from your tax-deductible gifts will go to emergency response and long-term accountability for these child-imprisonment atrocities.  Please give here: togetherrising.org/give

You never stop showing up. Thank you for always showing up — for people you don’t know — to help heal the world by doing right by one precious person at a time. Thank you.

We needed $110,500 to give 19 Brave kids a chance to start a new life.

Then we found out 3 more kids needed us.  So we asked you for more.

We needed $124,000. You gave $200,042.  In 24 hours.

Because of YOU, our 22 Brave Ones get what they need!

AND GUESS WHAT ELSE?  So will the Next Ten!! Those Ten – who without your support would have walked into City Living NY to courageously ask for the help they need and deserve, only to languish on a waitlist and face independent life utterly alone — will now find out that they do not have to be alone anymore.

You, this community – with our heartbreak, love, outrage and hope — are building the world we believe in. Let’s believe it and build it forever.

!!!!!!! IT’S LOVE FLASH MOB DAY!!!!!!!!!

Right now, there are 19 kids in NYC whose futures depend on us showing up today.

Please give $5, $10, or $25. It’s going to take all of us to reach this goal.  As usual, 100% of what we receive from you will go to help these kids. You can give one-time or monthly tax-deductible donations here:

Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.

Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now.

You are not obligated to complete the work,

But neither are you free to abandon it.

– The Talmud

The world is full of grief and injustice. Here is how we remain undaunted: We stand up to relentlessly defend every human right, we continuously stand in the gap for each forgotten human – One Precious Person At A Time. Repeat Forever.

That’s what Love Flash Mobs are about – that’s what Today is about.

Right now, there are 19 kids in NYC whose futures depend on us showing up. As usual, 100% of what we receive from you will go out the door for them.

Do you remember what it felt like when you first moved out of your family’s home – to your dorm room or first apartment?  Did your mom help you pack?  Were you scared or excited–or as we call it in our house: ‘scited– because, while strange new adventures were ahead, you knew your family would always be there?

When your baby moves out, will you pick out new sheets, drive the truck, meet the roommate and whisper to her before you walk out the door: The best is ahead for you, my love. This will be hard.  But we can do hard things.  And you are not alone. We are here for you.

Right now, in New York City there are 19 kids who have spent their lives in foster care, most in many different homes – who, because they have “aged out” of the system – are forced to start a new life in a gigantic city, utterly Alone. Without a family, without a community, without the tangible things they need to start a life.

If that sounds like a nearly impossible way to start out, it’s because it is: 1 in 4 youth are homeless within 3 years of aging out of foster care.

So today we STEP INTO THIS GAP. We help mother these kids. To these brave, tenacious 19, we say: This will be hard. But we can do hard things. You are not alone. We are here for you.

We need to raise $110,500 today so these 19 youth are not alone and have what they need to start a new life. And so the world sees the magic that will happen when they achieve the fullness of their hopes and dreams.

Please share this post. Read it with your kids. Teach them what it means to love wider than your own homes and neighborhoods. Read these kids’ stories to your kids so they can learn what a warrior looks like.

Please give $5, $10, or $25. It’s going to take all of us to reach this goal:  https://app.mobilecause.com/f/t82/n

Or you can text the word TR4DREAMS to the number 41444 to get a prompt to make a tax-deductible gift.

If we reach our goal of $110,500, we are going to be able to get each of these 19 kids what they need through City Living NY – an amazing organization dedicated to serving as family for youth aging out of the foster care system in all 5 NYC boroughs.

Your funds will go to hire a part-time social worker to establish one-on-one relationships with the 19 youth; provide each of them essential household goods – like pots and sheets and blankets; provide stability by funding mentors for counseling, education, and job training programs; and bring the youth together in community through monthly workshops focusing on group support, nutrition, credit repair, work readiness, and exercise.

Of the young adults who have partnered with City Living (25% of whom are young mothers):  0% have become homeless; 88% are employed or in a vocational program; 53% earn a living wage; 47% have graduated from associate or bachelor programs; and 100% have active medical coverage.

Please meet four ambassadors of the 19 kids we are helping today.  These four incredible youth are currently in the program, and came here to tell you their stories – to explain to you what it meant to them when they were alone – so that you will make sure the 19 kids behind them have the same support, community and security.

“I was in foster care immediately from the hospital, so 21 years. I am currently aged out and living on my own in a studio apartment and work full time for the Department of Health. My dream for the future is to implement policies in colleges for foster youth to have housing and a meal plan, especially for school breaks and holidays. I experienced a great deal of anxiety around school breaks and vacations because I didn’t have a safe space to go home to while in college. Usually after aging out of foster care many youth are left alone to navigate the world with minimal resources. This is not right. City Living helped me grow on a personal and professional level. Most importantly they provided me with a family that I can count on.”

“I was in foster care for 10 years. My dream for my future is to be a woman who wakes up and loves what she does for a living every day, travels often, feels spiritually secure, and financially stable. I want people to know that aging out is a scary time in life for foster youth. I was in my last semester of college, trying to secure housing— very stressful! City Living has been my strongest support system. Aside from help with apartment essentials, City Living has provided emotional and mental support for me whenever I needed it. I never feel forgotten or put aside. The love is genuine, and they are my family.”

“I was in foster care for 7 years. Currently I am living on my own. My dream/goal for my future is to be an established actor. I know for sure my dream will become a reality one day, I just have to continue putting in the hard work. Growing up in the foster care system you unfortunately don’t get to choose your family, you just get assigned to any random bed. City Living is a support system, my chosen family, and a beacon of hope. Words can’t express how thankful I am.”

“I was in foster care since I was 3 years old along with my twin sister.  I aged out of care 2 months before my 23rd birthday, totaling roughly 20 years in foster care. I transitioned into supportive housing and have been living in my apartment almost a year and a half. I currently work in a non-profit supportive housing facility that caters specifically to young adults and veterans in the LGBTQ community. I dream to go back to school so that I can accomplish my goal of making a difference in the daily lives of individuals that are impacted by the foster care system. In times I had nothing and needed everything, They delivered items to my house and helped me by making sure I had everything I needed when I first moved into my own home. My social worker has been a support system to me when facing things in my day- to-day life, and calls and emails me all the time. They have shown me they are here for me regardless of what happens.”

Thank you for proving, over and over, that There is No Such Thing as Other People’s Children. Let’s do it again today.  Today, we need all of our small gifts to come together to change the world for these 19 kids.

You can give one-time or monthly donations to Together Rising here: https://app.mobilecause.com/f/t82/n

Or Text the word TR4DREAMS to the number 41444 to get a prompt to make a tax-deductible donation.

Every penny we receive from you will go out the door to help these kids.

Let’s Do This!

G & Together Rising

Here is a sampling of volunteer opportunities in the U.S. for those who wish to help with the crisis of family separation at the Border. In addition to these opportunities, you can still give HERE.  100% of what Together Rising receives from your tax-deductible donations goes toward advocacy & reunification efforts for these families.  

Are you a lawyer seeking to volunteer on a pro bono basis?

There is an urgent need for lawyers – of any specialty – as well as paralegals and law students, to be trained to take on pro bono immigration cases. Please see below for ways to get involved:

KIND (Kids in Need of Defense) has a mission to ensure that no child appears in immigration court without high-quality representation. KIND also works at the policy level, looking for durable solutions to child migration. Become a trained KIND volunteer, or get involved in one of their many social networking awareness efforts at: https://supportkind.org/get-involved

Please contact Nirupa Narayan, head of Pro Bono recruitment and training if you have any questions (nnarayan@supportkind.org).

Help immediately from your home through We The Action, a digital platform that makes it easy for lawyers to fill urgent needs through critical, impactful legal services for non-profit partners. Projects are available for lawyers to aid parents and children who have been separated at the border. Projects can be done remotely, with any bar license. Lawyers can sign up to access projects here and nonprofits who need lawyers can sign up here.

The mission of the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project is to provide free legal and social services to detained adults and unaccompanied children facing immigration removal proceedings in Arizona. They ensure that all immigrants facing removal have access to counsel, understand their rights under the law, and are treated fairly and humanely.  The project is in need of lawyers in specific locations. The Florence Project can be reached by email (volunteers@firrp.org).

The Innovation Law Lab was founded in 2014 in response to the mass detention of immigrant women and children, primarily entering the United States from Central America and seeking asylum. They now do work in family and adult detention centers and immigration courts throughout the country. They have a need for individuals to volunteer in the following capacity: Attorneys willing to take on pro bono asylum cases for immigrants in Atlanta, GA; Portland, OR; Kansas City, MO; and additional locations. Attorneys and volunteers to assist with bond and sponsorship requests for individuals in adult detention centers throughout the country. Interpreters (particularly for less commonly spoken languages, including Pulaar, Tigrinya, and indigenous Central American languages). And data analysts. To learn more, visit innovationlawlab.org or email Victoria Bejarano Muirhead, Development Director, at victoria@innovationlawlab.org.

Immigration lawyers are needed at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. This national association of immigration lawyers was established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law/policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members. Visit www.aila.org for details about how you can help.

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the American Immigration Council, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, collectively known as CARA, have joined forces in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) significant expansion of its family detention at the South Texas Family Residential Center (STFRC) and the Karnes Residential Center. Volunteers are needed both at The Karnes Detention Center (located roughly an hour southwest of San Antonio, TX) and the Dilley Pro Bono Project. For more information contact: Caya Simonsen (Karnes) at caya@caraprobono.org and Barbara Pena (Dilley)  at barbara.pena@raicestexas.org. http://caraprobono.org/

Human Rights First matches asylum-seekers who need help and lawyers who can represent them on a pro bono basis in specific locations. They provide mentoring, training, and guidance throughout the representation to ensure that pro bono lawyers get the support they need to provide the highest quality legal representation to clients seeking asylum. Through the Refugee Representation program at Human Rights First, volunteer lawyers have the unique opportunity to change the lives of refugees by helping them gain asylum in the United States. Please see their website for details about how to volunteer www.Humanrightsfirst.org

Texas locals with Spanish and English proficiencies are needed at the Diocesan Migrant Refugee Services. Volunteers can provide assistance to the DMRS in the following ways: legal research, writing and administrative tasks (pre-law and paralegal students only), front desk assistance, administrative work, translation of legal documents and statements from Spanish to English, conducting community education presentations, administrative/project assistance, completing special projects as needed. If you are interested in volunteering with DMRS, please download and complete their Volunteer Application. A Background check clearance through the Diocese of El Paso is required. Volunteers must have Availability during office hours (Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 4:30). Volunteer opportunities in the evenings and on weekends are rare. Mail, fax, or email completed applications to Katie Hudak, Development Coordinator. Katie can be reached at (915) 532-3975, ext. 213, or chudak@dmrs-ep.org.

Texas Civil Rights Project is seeking interns and volunteers. If you are interested in helping to reunite families separated along the border please visit this page for more information. TCRP depends heavily on pro bono partnerships to expand the reach of their legal advocacy. Pro bono opportunities are diverse, ranging from research projects to civil rights trials to appellate work. Past and current pro bono counsel represent all faces of the legal community.

Opportunity for Lawyers in Tijuana, Mexico and Southern California – Al Otro Lado is a bi-national, direct legal services organization serving indigent deportees, migrants, and refugees in Tijuana. They welcome legal, medical, social service, mental health, and other volunteers who wish to assist refugees on both sides of the border. To volunteer, please complete the volunteer application here. They have an urgent need for individuals willing to provide short- and long-term housing for asylum seekers who otherwise cannot be released from detention. If you are willing to host an individual asylum seeker or family, please email Jose Mares (mares@alotrolado.org) or visit https://alotrolado.org/programs/refugee-program/ for more information.

Las Americas is a 30 year-old, homegrown non-profit located in Texas, dedicated to serving the legal needs of low income immigrants, including refugees, victims of crime, and families seeking reunification.  Las Americas lawyers and staff are committed to providing legal representation to those who would not otherwise be able to afford it. Community members volunteer answer phones and greet prospective clients, and handle light administrative work. Student internship possibilities exist for social workers, law students, and doctoral candidates and include the following specialties: legal, community organizing, fundraising and marketing, public relations, clerking, and administrative. For more information, email administrator@las-americas.org or call (915) 544-5126

ALDEA – The People’s Justice Center provides quality pro bono or discounted legal representation. Aldea is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was formed, in part, as a response to the continued detention of mothers, fathers, and children at the Berks County Residential Center, an immigrant detention center in Leesport, Pennsylvania that holds asylum seeking families. It is Aldea’s mission to ensure that no parent and child detained at Berks is forced to navigate the complex immigration process alone. Aldea also represents other detained and non-detained individuals, including those caught up in illegal raids and parents separated from their children by Customs and Border Patrol. Aldea is supported by volunteer attorneys and advocates who specialize in immigration law and who have years of expertise representing underserved immigrant communities. They are seeking attorneys and legal assistants. If you are interested, please complete a survey found under the “volunteer opportunities” section. https://aldeapjc.org/#involved

Santa Fe Dreamers Project is a non-profit legal services organization serving New Mexico’s immigrant community. Since 2014, the Dreamers Project has primarily served immigrant youth and families, focusing on economic and community development. They are looking for pro bono attorneys as well as people with Spanish, French and Portuguese language skills who can assist with translations and interviews. Necessary training will be provided. If you are interested, fill out the volunteer survey using link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsvuo54DGWTM-FVpGWSUUanXMBEOECm2HUW3O1D5xzYk4Agg/viewform For questions, please contactinfo@santafedreamersproject.org

Are you a non-lawyer who wants to volunteer?   

To receive daily updates on how to protect immigrant youth and families and support efforts in your community and Washington, D.C, visit We Belong Together at https://webelongtogether.org/

The Legal Aid Justice Center is seeking volunteers in Virginia to host house parties raising money to battle family separation, and create care packages for detained kids. Contact Contessa at contessa@justice4all.org for more information and support planning your party. Their offices can also be reached by phone: Charlottesville (434-977-0553), Northern Virginia (703-778-3450), Petersburg (804-862-2205), and Richmond (804-643-1086).

Friends of HOLA is an Ohio ally group supporting HOLA, a small, grassroots Latino organization that focuses on advocacy, community organizing, leadership development, and civic engagement. Friends of HOLA supports HOLA by fundraising, helping individuals prepare for the U.S. citizenship test, providing support to individuals and families, providing educational presentations to community organizations, and much more. Friends of HOLA meets monthly in the Painesville and Cleveland Heights areas. There are a variety of projects and volunteer needs to fit different skills, interests and schedules. Contact Kelsey@holaohio.org or visit holatoday.org/get-involved for more information

The Diocesan Migrant Refugee Services in Texas is a full-service immigration legal aid clinic serving low-income immigrants and refugees. The DMRS is seeking volunteers with Spanish and English proficiencies who can provide assistance in any of the following areas: legal research, writing and administrative tasks (pre-law and paralegal students only), front desk assistance, administrative work, translation of legal documents and statements from Spanish to English, and conducting community education presentations. If you are interested in volunteering with DMRS, please download and complete the volunteer application. A background check clearance through the Diocese of El Paso is required. Volunteers must have availability during office hours (Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 4:30). Volunteer opportunities in the evenings and on weekends are rare. Mail, fax, or email completed applications to Katie Hudak, Development Coordinator. Katie can be reached at (915) 532-3975, ext. 213, or chudak@dmrs-ep.org.

The Texas Civil Rights Project is seeking interns and volunteers in Texas. If you are interested in helping to reunite families being separated along the border, please visit this page for more information.  The Texas Civil Rights Project is currently in need of volunteers and interns in finance and operations departments. Undergraduate students may also apply for school credit, as TCRP has longstanding relationships with a number of universities and colleges.

The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project is in seeking medical professionals, country conditions experts, interpreters, data entry and administrative support professionals in specific locations. The project is in particular need of a 20 hour a week volunteer in the Phoenix, AZ area to help increase capacity to respond to increase in offers of goods and services. Please email (volunteers@firrp.org).

The Innovation Law Lab was founded in 2014 in response to the mass detention of immigrant women and children, primarily entering the United States from Central America and seeking asylum. They now do work in family and adult detention centers and immigration courts throughout the country. They have a need for individuals to volunteer in the following capacity: Interpreters (particularly for less commonly spoken languages, including Pulaar, Tigrinya, and indigenous Central American languages). And data analysts. To learn more, visit innovationlawlab.org or email Victoria Bejarano Muirhead, Development Director, at victoria@innovationlawlab.org.

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the American Immigration Council, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, collectively known as CARA, have joined forces in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) significant expansion of its family detention at the South Texas Family Residential Center (STFRC) and the Karnes Residential Center. The CARA pro bono project is seeking paralegals and Spanish speakers who can help provide legal services to families. Dilley Pro Bono Project contacts are Caya Simonsen, who can be reached at caya@caraprobono.org and Barbara Pena at barbara.pena@raicestexas.org. http://caraprobono.org/

Al Otro Lado is a bi-national, direct legal services organization serving indigent deportees, migrants, and refugees in Tijuana, Mexico and Southern California. They welcome legal, medical, social service and mental health professionals, as well as other volunteers who wish to assist refugees on both sides of the border. A volunteer application can be found here. There is  an urgent need for individuals willing to provide short- and long-term housing for asylum seekers who otherwise cannot be released from detention. If you are willing to host an individual asylum seeker or family, please e-mail Jose Mares (mares@alotrolado.org) or visit https://alotrolado.org/programs/refugee-program/ for more information.

Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas, accompanies the migrant, homeless, and economically vulnerable peoples of the border region through hospitality, advocacy, and education. They place themselves among the poor so as to live in faith and transform understanding of what constitutes just relationships between peoples, countries, and economies. Annunciation House offers a year long volunteer program, and volunteer summer internship possibilities. See: https://annunciationhouse.org/about-2/history-philosophy/

Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee located in El Paso, TX advocates for more humane policies and practices in migrant detention. Their collective effort is dedicated to nurturing a safe and welcoming community for all. In addition to donations, they are looking for translators, and people to participate in book drives. They also host monthly potluck meetings that are open to the public. https://dmscelpaso.wixsite.com/dmscelpaso

Diocesan Migrant Refugee Services is seeking volunteers to serve as front desk and administrative staff. If you are interested in volunteering with DMRS, please download and complete their Volunteer Application. Mail, fax, or email completed applications to Katie Hudak, Development Coordinator. Katie can be reached at (915) 532-3975, ext. 213, or chudak@dmrs-ep.org.

The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies protects the fundamental human rights of refugee women, children, LGBTQ individuals, and others who flee persecution in their home countries. They offer legal expertise and training, and work in policy development, research, and fact-finding. Please see their tool kit for ways to get involved: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z0fu3uoyPWThK6CC2i-rii-try64zU9Zga_ChX9gfsU/edit

If you are an interpreter, or fluent in a second language, call legal service providers to volunteer your services. Find a list here: https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/legaldirectory/)

Are you able to open your home to Asylum Seekers for short-term or long-term care?

Al Otro Lado is a bi-national, direct legal services organization serving indigent deportees, migrants, and refugees in Tijuana, Mexico and Southern California. They have an urgent need for individuals willing to provide short- and long-term housing for asylum seekers who otherwise cannot be released from detention. If you are willing to host an individual asylum seeker or family, please email Jose Mares (mares@alotrolado.org) or visit https://alotrolado.org/programs/refugee-program/ for more information.     

Join and uplift actions and events happening across the country, or mobilize your own. On June 30 there will be a “Families Belong Together” national day of action, with more than 650 events in all 50 states, and an anchor protest in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. Tens of thousands of people are expected to participate. The actions are focused on opposing the separation and detention of immigrant families, and demanding reunification and policy change. Events are here:   familiesbelongtogether.org.

Also, you can still give here:  www.togetherrising.org/give.  100% of what Together Rising receives from your tax-deductible donations goes toward advocacy and reunification efforts for these families.

Two weeks ago, we came together in a Together Rising Love Flash Mob to help get babies – who were torn from their families at the border – back into their parents’ arms.
In 9 hours, you raised One Million Dollars.
In total, you raised $1,500,000.

Last week, we told you about our first round of giving, in which we funded the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project for an angel team of four lawyers and 3 legal assistants to represent children detained in Arizona detention centers and their families; and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights in order to cover the costs of a lawyer and social worker who will be operating around the country and on the border to provide advocacy and healing to unaccompanied, detained children.

Now, we are updating you on our second wave of giving so you know where Together Rising is putting your funds to work with love warrior boots on the ground:

• You are giving $344,787.69 to RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services), the largest immigration legal services provider in Texas. In just the first half of June – in one court alone — RAICES knows of 184 parents who have been separated from their children (in addition to the 200 separated families they were already aware of) – a rate that will continue. They have ZERO funding to reunify these families. Through RAICES, your money will provide family reunification for 2,000 families by funding a new Family Reunification Supervising Attorney, Family Reunification Staff Attorney, and Family Reunification Legal Assistant. You are also paying for two children’s staff attorneys who will provide full legal representation for 100 unaccompanied children who have been released from detention, along with other associated costs.
• You are giving $125,000 to Safe Passage Project – a legal advocacy organization for unrepresented children facing deportation. As children form lines in front of the courthouse, stepping in to face deportation hearings alone, advocates from Safe Passage Project step in to ensure that they are represented. Your money will provide a lawyer and part time paralegal so more of these children will not be alone.
• You are giving $200,000 to KIND (Kids In Need of Defense), a national organization that trains lawyers to represent immigrant children at no cost in connection with their immigration and deportation proceedings. Through KIND, you are funding a new staff lawyer expert in child protection law to support the pro bono lawyers, a new social services coordinator and 33 pro bono training presentations to train more volunteer attorneys to represent children and reunify them with their families.

This crisis is heartbreaking, but at Together Rising, we don’t do despair. We know that despair is self-indulgent. Instead, we turn our collective heartbreak into effective action.

BECOME ONE OF THE HELPERS. EVERY PENNY WE RECEIVE FROM THIS LINK WILL CONTINUE TO GO TO CAREFULLY VETTED ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WORKING TIRELESSLY TO REUNIFY CHILDREN WITH THEIR FAMILIES. We know immigration is complicated and still we say: NOT THIS.

Let us hold onto this non-negotiable: Babies should not be torn from their parents’ arms. GIVE HERE TO SAY: NOT THIS.

An artist’s job is to slow down, look hard and listen closely.

I became an artist. I looked and listened hard – and what I learned is that mostly: Folks are doing the best they can. And still, so many suffered.

I wanted to help, so I became a philanthropist. We founded Together Rising. Along with you we’ve raised 11 million dollars in 6 years for suffering folks abroad and at home – folks like refugees, veterans, single dads, sick babies, homeless teens, addicts, trafficked mamas, prisoners, foster kids – you know how long the list is.

The Together Rising team and I spent six years frantically and relentlessly connecting suffering people with every resource in our grasp: money, services, sisterhood, hope. The needs: Endless.

As we worked, this question lived in the back of my mind: Why? Why are all of these people who are trying so hard – still hurting so badly?

And then, one day, I read this:

There comes a point where we need to stop
Just pulling people out of the river.
We need to go upstream and find out
Why they’re falling in.
~Desmond Tutu

And on that day: I became an activist.

For the rest of my life, if I’m lucky enough: My Love Work in the world will be AND/BOTH.

I will put on my Together Rising hat daily and we will pull folks out of the river but you better believe that every single day I will also put on my activist hat, look upriver and confront the Ones Pushing Them In.

YESTERDAY, TOGETHER RISING ASKED YOU HELP US SOME PULL SOME DROWNING FAMILIES FROM THE RIVER.

Together, you raised 1.4 million Dollars to hire them lawyers and advocates.

TODAY, I ASK YOU TO LOOK UPRIVER WITH ME AND CONFRONT THE ONES PUSHING THEM IN.

Yesterday, we gave our children Love.

Today, we give our lawmakers Hell.

Who’s Coming With Us?

We have a Four-Step Advocacy Plan below – All of which you can do in 20 minutes today:
1) Learn the names and phone numbers of your Members of Congress
2) Call your Representative
3) Call your Senators
4) Post on Social Media the leaders you called (and their contact numbers), what you told them, and encourage your people to do the same.

NOW – We want to make sure to be completely clear about the objectives. Our three objectives are:

1) Voice our outrage and demand that the people in Washington who work for us take decisive action to combat the horrendous practice of tearing families apart based on unauthorized border crossings.

To do this, we are asking them to introduce legislation to combat the administration’s zero-tolerance policy (which makes every unauthorized border crossing a crime – even those of asylum seekers). This 100% criminalization of unauthorized border crossings is what is leading to the immediate separation of families. We are asking our leaders to introduce legislation that will protect families crossing the border from being torn apart, even if they are still subject to civil liability for the unauthorized crossing.

2) Ask our Representatives in the House to sign on to the DACA Discharge Petition. But first, some background:

•  WHAT IS DACA?
  • DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was a program that shielded some young undocumented immigrants —who often arrived to the U.S. at a very young age in circumstances beyond their control—from deportation. The recipients of DACA – so-called “Dreamers” — are young people who have grown up as Americans, identify themselves as Americans, and many speak only English and have no memory of or connection with the country where they were born. Recipients had to come to the U.S. before reaching their 16th birthday, have to be in school, have a diploma or the equivalent or be an honorably discharged veteran and not have been convicted of a felony, or be a public or national security threat.
• WHAT HAPPENED TO DACA?
  • On the orders of President Trump last September, Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared that DACA would end March 5. The administration said the deadline would pressure Congress to come up with a substitute for DACA. There are multiple bills that are proposed replacements for DACA in the House, but Speaker Paul Ryan refuses to bring any of the bills up for a vote. It is suspected that he and leadership are trying to avoid going on record on these “tough votes” prior to the November election. As a result, nearly 535,000 Dreamers are in legal limbo regarding their right to remain in the only country they’ve ever known.
• WHAT IS A DISCHARGE PETITION & WHY DO WE WANT IT?
  • House leadership is not allowing the bills to replace DACA out of committee – again, because leadership is trying to protect members from making “hard” stands on the record prior to November elections. Discharge petitions allow rank-and-file members to go around leadership and the committee process to force a floor vote. They are hardly ever successful. But we need just FIVE MORE VOTES (for a total of 218) on the DACA Discharge Petition to force a vote on the as many as four “replacement” bills. This path toward a DACA fix (at least one bill gives a path to citizenship for the Dreamers), and force representatives to go on record with their positions – which will allow us to make informed decisions in the November elections.
• BUT THESE BILLS DON’T DEAL DIRECTLY WITH FAMILY SEPARATION AT THE BORDER SO WHY DO WE CARE?
  • Correct, these bills do not deal directly with tearing children from their parents at the border. But they do relate very clearly to keeping families of Dreamers together, including Dreamers who are the parents of U.S. citizens. Also, bringing these bills to a vote forces our elected officials to go on record with their votes – to do their jobs – and not hide behind a committee so they don’t have to explain their votes during the November election. They need to know that we expect them to do their jobs, just like the rest of us, that we are watching them and if our Representatives are too afraid to vote, we will vote them out.

3) Lastly, to spread the word, and educate and empower our friends with the information they need to take these same actions today.

READY??? LET’S DO THIS.  OUR FOUR-PART PLAN:

NUMBER ONE: WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR ME IN WASHINGTON?

1) WHO IS MY REPRESENTATIVE IN THE HOUSE & HOW DO I CONTACT THEM?

A.  Click here to find out who the Representative is for your Congressional District & their phone numbers. (You can search by State and Congressional District to get the name and phone numbers of your Representative).

B. If you don’t know your Congressional District, click here to get your District number and then circle back here to find your Rep’s name and phone number.

2) WHO ARE MY SENATORS & HOW DO I CONTACT THEM?

A. Click here for the names and phone numbers of your Senators. (You can use this website to search by your State if you don’t know who your Senators are).

3) SAVE THESE PHONE NUMBERS IN YOUR PHONE — WE WILL KEEP USING THEM. 

NUMBER TWO:  GREAT, NOW LET’S START WITH MY REPRESENTATIVE IN THE HOUSE: DID MY REPRESENTATIVE SIGN THE DACA DISCHARGE PETITION? Click here to find out whether your Representative signed on to the discharge petition.  213 Members have signed on – see if your Rep is on the list.

1)YES, MY REP DID SIGN THE DISCHARGE PETITION?

A. GREAT! Time to call your Representative and tell them what you think they are doing well and how you’d like them to do their job better. Here are some talking points for your consideration:

• I am a voter and constituent of Representative __________.
• I am calling to thank Representative __________ for singing on to the DACA Discharge Petition.
• I am also calling to voice my utter disgust and outrage about the terror of family separation at the Border, in which children as young as one year old are being ripped out of their mothers’ arms.
• I expect Representative ___________ to take clear and decisive action to stop this abhorrent practice. I understand this practice is contrary to historic U.S. policy and is a result of the new “zero-tolerance” policy, which vows to prosecute all unauthorized border crossings as criminal offenses – even for asylum seekers.
• I am calling on the Congressperson to work for an end to this barbaric practice of family separation by introducing legislation that will protect families crossing the border from being torn apart, even if they are still subject to civil liability for the unauthorized crossing.
• I will be watching the Representative’s DACA votes closely if the bills are discharged from committee, as well as his/her decisive action on the atrocity of family separation. In preparation for the November election, I will be organizing within our District – either for or against the Representative – depending on his/her actions in connection with DACA and the torture of family separation.

2) NO, MY REP DID NOT SIGN THE DISCHARGE PETITION

A. OKAY! Time to call your Representative and tell them how you’d like them to do their job better. Here are some talking points for your consideration:

• I am a voter and constituent of Representative __________.
• I am calling to urge Representative __________ to sign on to the DACA Discharge Petition. I expect Representative ________ to do his/her job and make their constituents’ voices heard – not hide behind a committee in order to avoid taking difficult stands ahead of elections. If our Representative is too afraid to vote, we will vote them out.
• I am also calling to voice my utter disgust and outrage about the terror of family separation at the Border, in which children as young as one year old are being ripped out of their mothers’ arms.
• I expect Representative ___________ to take clear and decisive action to stop this abhorrent practice. I under stand this practice is contrary to historic U.S. policy and is a result of the new “zero-tolerance” policy, which vows to prosecute all unauthorized border crossings as criminal offenses – even for asylum seekers.
• I am calling on the Congressperson to work for an end to this barbaric practice of family separation by introducing legislation that will protect families crossing the border from being torn apart, even if they are still subject to civil liability for the unauthorized crossing.
• I will be watching the Representative’s DACA votes closely if the bills are discharged from committee, as well as his/her decisive action on the atrocity of family separation. In preparation for the November election, I will be organizing within our District – either for or against the Representative – depending on his/her actions in connection with DACA and the torture of family separation.

NUMBER THREE: I COMPLETELY NAILED THAT CALL TO MY REPRESENTATIVE,

NOW I’M CALLING BOTH OF MY SENATORS!!!

1)Here are some talking points for your consideration:

• I am a voter and constituent of Senator __________.
• I am calling to voice my utter disgust and outrage about the terror of family separation at the Border, in which children as young as one year old are being ripped out of their mothers’ arms.
• I expect Senator ___________ to take clear and decisive action to stop this abhorrent practice. I under stand this practice is contrary to historic U.S. policy and is a result of the new “zero-tolerance” policy, which vows to prosecute all unauthorized border crossings as criminal offenses – even for asylum seekers.
• I am calling on the Congressperson to work for an end to this barbaric practice of family separation by introducing legislation that will protect families crossing the border from being torn apart, even if they are still subject to civil liability for the unauthorized crossing.
• I will be watching for the Senator’s decisive action on the atrocity of family separation, as well as the Senator’s DACA votes (if a Bill comes over from the House). I will be organizing within our state – either for or against the Senator – depending on his/her actions in connection with DACA and the torture of family separation.

NUMBER FOUR: I’VE MADE ALL THREE OF MY CALLS – I AM ON FIRE!!!

NOW, I WILL SPREAD THE WORD ON SOCIAL MEDIA!!!

1)YES! You are a Warrior!! Post on any social media you have – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. When you share, be sure to include:

• The names and phone numbers of the representatives you contacted
• A brief summary of what you said (feel free to copy and paste our talking points)
• Ask your people to do the same
• Tag your Senators and Representative in the social media post:
  A. You can find Senators’ Twitter handles here.
  B. You can find your Representative’s Twitter handle here.
  C. You can find most Senators and Representatives’ Facebook handles here.

YOU ARE AMAZING!!!
LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE, WARRIOR!!!!

TODAY, TOGETHER WE ARE GOING TO SHOW UP FOR SIXTY LITTLE ONES – AGED TWELVE MONTHS TO TEN YEARS – WHO HAVE BEEN TORN AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILIES, AND ARE SITTING TRAUMATIZED AND ALONE IN A DETENTION CENTER IN ARIZONA.  

But first, a summary on what we have learned.  There are two separate issues being conflated in the news:

1) HERE IS WHAT IS NEW, AND UNDENIABLY HORRIFIC: Our government has changed its policy about families who cross the border, and it is resulting in families being torn apart.  

Historically speaking, with few exceptions, the U.S. has treated immigration violations as civil — rather than criminal — offenses.  Therefore, children have not typically been torn away from their parents even when the parents enter the legal system as a result of immigration violations. Families were, at worst, detained together, or they were released with notice to appear at a later court hearing.

However, the current administration has dismissed this historic practice as “catch and release” and in its place has established a “zero-tolerance” policy – subjecting “100% of illegal southwest border crossings” to criminal prosecution – even crossers who may be asylum seekers.   So now, parents are ensnared in the criminal system, their children are immediately ripped out of their arms without explanation, and parents and babies are sent to different detention centers – often hundreds of miles away from each other.

The stated goal of 100% criminal prosecution will mean 100% family separation.  Last week, a Border Patrol official testified that 658 children were taken from their parents in just two weeks in early May.  At this rate, more than 4,000 children will be separated from their parents this summer.

2) THE 1475 MISSING CHILDREN we have all heard about over the last several days are children who crossed the border without their parents (called unaccompanied minors) during the past several years. When children are detained after crossing the border, they are detained in shelters, and the government tries to find sponsors—family or family friends—to reunify the kids with while their immigration cases proceed.  This is not new.  The news is that our government has lost track of 1475 of the unaccompanied children they released to sponsors. Each of our contacts in the unaccompanied child advocacy world has assured us that the vast majority of these children are not in fact “lost.” Sometimes the kids or sponsors move and don’t notify the government. Sometimes the kids are in a situation that isn’t supportive and they leave. Tragically, sometimes the kids are in terrible situations or trafficked—forced to work instead of go to school, while their cases are pending. After much research and outreach, it is clear that the communities most profoundly affected are NOT in favor of increased governmental authority (through ICE) over the children’s mobility post-detention.  Instead, the best approach is to ensure that unaccompanied children have legal advocates from the start of their detention – which is, as you will read about below, our goal today:

The reports are that parents and children who have been forcibly separated are traumatized: Experts have labeled this sudden family separation to be torture. These traumatized children sit in centers alone without their parents, and without legal advocates, they don’t know what is happening or where their parents are.  There are no public defenders for these children, so if their cases are not taken on by non-profit American groups, children as young as two are required to stand in front of judges alone and “defend themselves.” Asylum cases are very complicated and the law is difficult, and the judge often orders them returned to the violent country their family was desperate to flee – which can become a death sentence for these children. It is also up to that country’s government to reunify the deported children with their parents. This often doesn’t happen smoothly, and parents must fight to find their children, navigating complex systems across borders.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN.

We will fight for these kids like we’d fight if they were our kids. Because they are.

We will fight for these mothers like we’d fight if they were our sisters. Because they are.

Here’s what we are going to do:

FIRST: We are going to help get these babies back into their parents’ arms. We’re going to start with the sixty little ones- aged 12 months to 10 years – sitting in an Arizona detention center right now. These little ones need help, and they need that help to come in the form of bilingual lawyers trained to deal with traumatized children. We — through the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project – are going to provide and fund two lawyers and two advocates who will be responsible for representing every child in that center and every one of their parents. Their first priority will be to establish and maintain contact between child and parent. Their ultimate goal will be reunification and safety and rehabilitation for each child.

SECOND: Tomorrow, we will share a grassroots, focused, and united demand for policy change. WE THE PEOPLE WILL DEMAND THE REVERSAL OF THIS INHUMANE POLICY OF TEARING FAMILIES APART.

For now: Children are alone, right now, traumatized in these detention centers, desperate for their parents. Parents are sitting in detention centers, right now, desperate for their babies. They loved their babies enough to risk their lives to get them to safety. They love their babies. Just like we do. Just like we do.  For now: Do not allow your heartbreak to go wasted. TURN YOUR HEARTBREAK FOR THESE CHILDREN INTO HELP FOR THESE CHILDREN. 

If my country was ravaged with violence and my children were in constant danger, I hope I’d have the courage to do whatever it took to get them to safety. I hope that when we got there, we’d be cared for instead of terrorized. And if I were ever separated from Chase, Tish, and Amma, I’d hope that some mothers, somewhere out there, would care enough to get them back to me.

Today we give our kids Love.

Tomorrow we give our lawmakers Hell.

Who’s Coming With Us?

CLICK HERE. EVERY TAX-DEDUCTIBLE PENNY WE RECEIVE WILL GO DIRECTLY TO REUNIFYING THESE BABIES OF OURS WITH THEIR PARENTS.

If we all show up today and meet the needs of our children in Arizona, we will then turn our attention to funding the incredible, and  already thoroughly vetted organization Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, which operates around the country, including on the border, providing advocates for unaccompanied, detained children. We spoke with them all weekend, and they are in desperate need of an additional attorney to step up to address the influx of children into the detention centers. We promise you this:  As long as you keep showing up, we will continue to meticulously match your dollars with the exact organizations doing the most vital work —  until as many of these precious children as possible are reunited with their parents.

Photo credit: Spencer Tulis

SELECTED SOURCES:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/07/609225537/sessions-says-zero-tolerance-for-illegal-border-crossers-vows-to-divide-families

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/05/27/the-u-s-lost-track-of-1500-immigrant-children-last-year-heres-why-people-are-outraged-now/?utm_term=.d6ba1293e6b0

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-immigrant-family-separations-2018-story.html

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43539q/what-separating-migrant-families-at-the-border-actually-looks-like

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/12/us/immigrants-family-separation.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FImmigration%20Detention&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/5/8/17327512/sessions-illegal-immigration-border-asylum-families

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/05/15/separating-children-from-parents-at-the-border-isnt-just-cruel-its-torture/?utm_term=.3f3d1dbd1598