The Trump administration argued in court this week that detained migrant children do not require basic hygiene products (like soap and toothbrushes) to be held in "safe and sanitary" conditions. Lawyers who recently interviewed detained children report that kids are living in "traumatic and dangerous" conditions - insufficient food and water, going weeks without bathing, kids as young as 7 years old being told to care for the babies and toddlers.
Parents and other adults in detention aren't faring any better. In one processing center in El Paso, a cell designed for 12 people was crammed with 76, causing migrants to stand on the toilets for breathing space. Up to 900 migrants were held at another facility designed for 125. In another case, a teenage mother holding a sick and dirty premature baby spent 9 days detained without access to medical care for her newborn. They "wouldn't give her any water to wash [the baby]."
Doing nothing in the face of these atrocities is not an option.
Here are 3 concrete things you can do to help with the humanitarian crisis created by Trump's inhumane immigration policies:
(1) Contribute to the Project Corazon Travel Fund so we can send more lawyers (particularly Spanish-speaking immigration lawyers) to the detention centers and refugee camps where help is desperately needed. We've already sent 37 and we can send dozens - even hundreds - more with your support. Click here to learn more & donate.
(2) Pledge your frequent flier miles to help get more lawyers to the border. If you have unused airline miles, you can pledge your airline miles to help the cause thanks to L4GG's partnership with Lawyer Moms of America. We use these miles to help cover travel costs for pro bono attorneys. Click here to pledge your airline miles to the travel fund.
(3) Volunteer your time and expertise. Below are a few ways you can do that.
If you're an immigration lawyer and would be willing to donate your time to help asylum seekers in remote locations (but can't afford the associated travel expenses), click here to apply for travel funding.
If you're bilingual (Spanish/English) and have a few hours a week to help conduct intake interviews with detained asylum-seekers remotely (by phone), click here to learn more about how you can help with our remote intake program.
If you're a lawyer at a large law firm, ask your pro bono coordinator whether your firm is part of Project Corazon. If your firm is already a Project Corazon partner, there may be immediate opportunities for you to volunteer for our remote CFI and/or remote bond projects. If your firm would like to learn more about partnering with us, please ask your pro bono coordinator to email us at corazon@L4GG.org.
If none of the above opportunities is applicable to you, but you'd still like to help, make sure you’re on our email list and check the websites of some of our organizational partners for other ways to volunteer - RAICES, Immigration Justice Campaign, and Al Otro Lado are good places to start.
If you're unable to offer money, miles, time, or expertise right now, you can still help by sharing this post with your friends, family, and contacts via email, Facebook, Twitter, or other social networks. Please help us get the word out.
Lawyers for Good Government Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.