Support & welcome a trans asylum seeker!
Donation protected
We are going to host an asylum seeker! We have been approved through the Santa Fe Dreamers Project program that serves transgender women from primarily Latin American countries who are currently in ICE detention.
These women came to the US fleeing transphobic harassment, persecution and violence. Once they crossed the border, they were locked up by the US government and are still at risk of mistreatment, harassment and inhumane conditions in Cibola Detention Center run by ICE. Without a sponsor, these asylum seekers remain in detention and are much less successful in making their case to remain in the country.
In the next weeks to months we will be matched with our asylum seeker and we will begin work to bring her home. She will be with us in Bloomington for the duration of her asylum case (anywhere from 6 months to a year or longer). As sponsors we will provide her housing, meals, clothes, shoes, toiletries and all the necessities for daily living. We will be responsible for transporting her to and from Chicago for regular ICE check ins, for providing medical/dental/vision care. We may potentially be paying for her legal fees, which can average around $6,000 for basic asylum cases. We will also need to pay for her transportation from New Mexico to Bloomington.
Many of you have wanted a way to do something to help migrants and to let them know that they are welcome in our America, in spite of the government’s current hostility. This Go Fund Me campaign is a way to directly contribute to the survival of an LGBTQ+ immigrant who is fighting to make a safer and better life for herself. Helping her thrive will truly take a village.
When we have been matched with an asylum seeker we will update this campaign with more details and requests for in-kind items. Right now we need to begin building a community of supporters ready to welcome and nurture our asylum seeker. For anyone able to contribute any amount, we thank you for your support of her and of us. For those who may not be able to financially contribute at this time, please forward this campaign on to like-minded people in your lives.
Thank you!
For more information about the work of the Santa Fe Dreamers Project: http://www.santafedreamersproject.org
For a deeper look at the process of migration for trans Latinx people: https://youtu.be/km5Yc9LuRsg
Art created by Micah Bazant and Forward Together
These women came to the US fleeing transphobic harassment, persecution and violence. Once they crossed the border, they were locked up by the US government and are still at risk of mistreatment, harassment and inhumane conditions in Cibola Detention Center run by ICE. Without a sponsor, these asylum seekers remain in detention and are much less successful in making their case to remain in the country.
In the next weeks to months we will be matched with our asylum seeker and we will begin work to bring her home. She will be with us in Bloomington for the duration of her asylum case (anywhere from 6 months to a year or longer). As sponsors we will provide her housing, meals, clothes, shoes, toiletries and all the necessities for daily living. We will be responsible for transporting her to and from Chicago for regular ICE check ins, for providing medical/dental/vision care. We may potentially be paying for her legal fees, which can average around $6,000 for basic asylum cases. We will also need to pay for her transportation from New Mexico to Bloomington.
Many of you have wanted a way to do something to help migrants and to let them know that they are welcome in our America, in spite of the government’s current hostility. This Go Fund Me campaign is a way to directly contribute to the survival of an LGBTQ+ immigrant who is fighting to make a safer and better life for herself. Helping her thrive will truly take a village.
When we have been matched with an asylum seeker we will update this campaign with more details and requests for in-kind items. Right now we need to begin building a community of supporters ready to welcome and nurture our asylum seeker. For anyone able to contribute any amount, we thank you for your support of her and of us. For those who may not be able to financially contribute at this time, please forward this campaign on to like-minded people in your lives.
Thank you!
For more information about the work of the Santa Fe Dreamers Project: http://www.santafedreamersproject.org
For a deeper look at the process of migration for trans Latinx people: https://youtu.be/km5Yc9LuRsg
Art created by Micah Bazant and Forward Together
Organizer
Tracey Vogelsang
Organizer
Bloomington, IL