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CARA Pro Bono Project

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Earlier this year, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions implemented a “zero tolerance” policy for immigrants who enter the US without authorization. As part of this policy, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are detaining and incarcerating immigrants rather than releasing them until their court date. Because of a prior court decision known as the Flores Settlement, children who immigrated with their parents must be released within 20 days. To get around this, ICE separated children from their parents and then labelled them “unaccompanied minors” which allows the government to hold them until a guardian can be established. This resulted in nearly 4,000 children ripped from their parents’ arms in an unknown country, many not speaking any English. Public outcry is forcing a change in practice but there are still thousands of children who need reunited with their families.

A few weeks ago, at the height of American anger about immigrant children being separated from their families and held in cages, I connected with the CARA Pro Bono Project. CARA is the combined efforts of four nonprofit immigration organizations: Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the American Immigration Council, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. The CARA Pro Bono Project is run by and for volunteers to support the efforts of these organizations.

In October I’ll go down to Dilley, Texas about 80 miles outside of San Antonio to offer whatever administrative support I can to CARA. I have already started assisting with data entry from Philadelphia. Because it is a volunteer run project there is no funding for volunteers. Everyone must pay their own way. All the money that CARA has goes to providing services—not paying for labor. But there are of course costs for the volunteers—plane flights, car rental, a week of hotels, food. When I went to the refugee camp in France I asked for financial support. I ask again for donations to cover the cost of my week in Dilley, estimated to be $2000. If you give more than I need to cover my expenses the remaining amount will be donated to CARA Pro Bono Project to help them continue their work of reconnecting families.

Organizer

Claire Ryder
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA

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