Help Our Church Support Asylum Seekers

In January 2019, a group from the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church (LAPC) traveled to the US-Mexico border and met men, women, and children who had traveled from all over the world to escape the violence that threatened their lives. After their trip, LAPC was able to help one young man from Africa and a mother from Latin America with her two children get through much of the horrific immigration process. (We are keeping details vague to protect their safety.)

Now, three years later, we, a group of teens from LAPC, are creating this fundraiser to help these families with one more year of financial support. This will give them some relief and will help move them towards full independence. They don't need as much support as they once did, but we want to help them get to the finish line.

Please consider helping these families. Your support can give them a little bit of assurance that if something goes wrong, there are people who will help them right it; that they are part of a loving and caring community; and that they should keep up hope, which sometimes is hard to find.

Here are their stories:

The young man, still a teenager at that time, requested asylum at a port of entry, exactly as required by law, but was detained for months and denied critical medical and dental treatment. This resulted in an infection that threatened his brain and his life. On multiple occasions, after complaints about his treatment from his volunteer lawyer, he was put in solitary confinement "for his health." Everyone was worried, but thanks to nonstop advocacy from the church and his lawyer, and support from volunteers, local politicians, and several immigration nonprofits, he was released to the custody of two church members who welcomed him into their home and family. They even became his legal guardians. Along with LAPC, they also facilitated his medical care, counseling, job training, language classes, legal representation, and even helped him find a soccer club and new friendships. He remains a very close part of their family and our church family. He is now working and living on his own, but his dental and counseling bills from his terrible treatment in the detention facility continue to add up.

The mother from Latin America, who also crossed at a port of entry and requested asylum exactly as required by law, was illegally separated from her children and detained for months, with no ability to even talk to them. She was held in a cold room for weeks where the lights were never turned off; she was secretly shuttled from facility to facility with no information reaching her lawyer or her family, despite multiple requests; and denied contact with the outside world. Eventually, LAPC volunteers and her pro bono lawyer were able to locate her and then petitioned multiple times for her release. Finally, with LAPC as her sponsor, she was released to the custody of friends of LAPC in CT for the summer, where she was reunited with her children. In the fall of 2019, she moved to Brooklyn to live with members of our church, but that housing soon fell through. LAPC then found an apartment for her in the Bronx where she lives today. LAPC members and youth have supported the family as they adjusted to NYC life and navigated the NYC school system, housing, job training, (the subway!), soccer teams, employment, tutoring, English lessons, counseling, medical care, finding legal representation through Sanctuary for Families, and zoom-teaching the youngest son in 2020 when his school was unable to teach him remotely. Now, the mother has a job, the youngest son is doing well in a new middle school, and the older son graduated from high school and is studying to be a dental assistant. They are all in a much better position but still unable to truly settle down and find full independence. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed their court date, over and over, and so they remain in a state of limbo, unable to access the benefits that could help them truly get back on their feet. Their court date has still not been re-scheduled.

After another year, we believe the young man's dental work will be complete, the mother's court date should have taken place, and the older son should be in a better position to contribute more to his education and living expenses.

These families are deeply grateful for the support from LAPC and its wider community, and they regularly express how glad they will be when they can reach back and help the next families who follow in their footsteps.

And, once again, the current wave of new families arriving in NYC by the busload from TX and FL puts New Yorkers in the familiar position of being able to help thousands as they seek safety and stability in their new lives. We will use additional funds to help address the needs of this current crisis, while continuing our support of the two asylum seekers we have been sponsoring for the last several years.

Your donations will be fully tax deductible.

Many of you reading this have already supported these families with time, money, expertise, and love. They would never be where they are now without the support of dozens of people like you, from right here in NY and from as far away as OH, NC, CA, CT, CO, and even France. You know who you are. Thank you!

Thank you for your contribution to this cause and please share this fundraiser!

With love and hope,

Teen Wing of the LAPC Social Justice Committee