Church World Service is involved in an action of civil disobedience
at the White House this week, as the Congress and US administration
consider expediting deportations of refugee children, said a release
today. CWS is a longstanding ecumenical humanitarian organization, of
which the Church of the Brethren is a member denomination.
CWS is asking supporters to call Congress to urge passage of a
“clean” supplemental funding bill responding to the situation of
unaccompanied children fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala, and
Honduras, said a separate release. The agency is asking for support to
increase funding for refugee resettlement and reject rollbacks to the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act. “The Senate bill, S. 2648 would
provide adequate funding to serve the children and fully replenish the
$94 million of refugee social services funding that was recently
reprogrammed,” said the release. “But the House bill would replenish
only $47 million of the refugee funding cuts and contains negative
policy provisions that would deport children to unsafe situations.” (Go
to tiny.cc/ProtectKids and
www.cwsglobal.org/uac).
A recent memo to member churches from CWS president John L.
McCullough outlined a number of ways the organization is involved in
aiding unaccompanied child refugees, and gives updated background
information on the crisis.
Action at the White House
The action of civil disobedience is planned for tomorrow, July 31, at
12 noon in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., on the north side of the
White House. The CWS release said that some 100 faith leaders and 30
immigrant rights activists from across the country plan to risk arrest
to demand that President Barack Obama end his immigration enforcement
policies.
“Bishops, nuns, rabbis, pastors, workers, and impacted immigrants
will hold a 12 p.m. prayer service and press conference in Lafayette
Park to urge the President to stop deportations immediately,
dramatically expand relief for America’s immigrant families and workers,
and protect unaccompanied children who have sought refuge in the US,”
said the release. “Alongside a crowd of more than 500 supporters, 130
faith and immigrant advocates will then engage in civil disobedience
along the White House fence to bring moral clarity on the injustice of
1,100 deportations per day.”
In addition to CWS, sponsors include the United Methodist Church,
United Church of Christ (UCC), Disciples Home Missions of the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ), CASA de Maryland, Bend the Arc, the
Unitarian Universalists Association, Sisters of Mercy, and the PICO
National Network. Prominent leaders who plan to risk arrest include
United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcaño, Linda Jaramillo who is
executive minister of the UCC Justice and Witness Ministries, Sharon
Stanley-Rea who directs the Refugee and Immigration Ministries of the
Disciples Home Missions, and CWS president John L. McCullough, among
others.
CWS efforts for unaccompanied refugee children
“While the issue of immigration remains somewhat contentious for many
Americans, what we hold in common is concern for the welfare of
children,” McCullough wrote in a July 23 memo to CWS member communions.
“How children are best protected may be open for public debate, but
their vulnerability demands that we respond, before resolving matters of
policy, to the first priority of making sure that they are in safe and
caring environments and not placed in or returned to situations that
could cause them undue harm.
“This crisis is not new,” said the memo. “Unaccompanied children have
been arriving for several years now, and some of them are already due
in court and need representation. Church World Service has already
issued an appeal that will enable it to offer that assistance on a
pro-bono basis. For those whose cases are denied and for whom CWS
believes appeals are in order, our legal staff will pursue that
direction.
“CWS encourages communions and local congregations to contact our
local and affiliate offices directly to ascertain ways in which they can
offer assistance.”
Brethren Disaster Ministries is working on a grant from the Church of
the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund to help with the CWS appeal for
$309,818 to meet urgent and immediate needs of unaccompanied refugee
children in the US.
Information shared in the CWS memo
- The number of unaccompanied children entering the US has grown to
more than 57,000, up from 27,884 children for all of fiscal year 2013.
Nearly 200 are reported to be crossing daily into the US. Almost
three-quarters of all immigrants from Central America are crossing the
border in the Rio Grande Valley on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
- In addition to extreme poverty, these children and also some
families, are fleeing drastic increases in gang-related violence and
their governments’ inability or unwillingness to protect them. On their
way to the US, many report experiencing extreme violence, extortion, and
even torture. Some children are as young as five, and teenage girls are
encouraged to take a “precautionary contraceptive” before their journey
as reports of rape are common.
- Once they cross into the US, the children are apprehended by the
Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, which
legally can hold children for 72 hours after which they are moved to
temporary shelters operated by the Department of Health and Human
Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). ORR places children in
the care of family members already residing in the US, or with foster
care families or detention facilities.
- Children receive a “Notice to Appear” in Immigration Court where a
judge will determine if the child will be deported or remain in the
US--often through the asylum process or on a special immigrant juvenile
visa that is available to children who have been abused or neglected by a
parent. As Immigration Courts are currently backlogged, children often
stay with family or in a foster home or in detention for an extended
period of time.
- As soon as possible after processing and health screening, ORR
makes an effort to release children to relatives they may have in the
US. The children travel to their relatives with a “Notice to Appear”
before immigration authorities and are placed in “removal proceedings.”
Once in their temporary destination, they need legal, emotional,
education, and other assistance.
- ORR has experienced serious pressure on its budget as the number
of unaccompanied children has escalated. ORR has re-programmed $94
million in social service assistance to the Refugee Resettlement
Program. The Obama administration has asked Congress for emergency
funding of $3.7 billion to help support the Department of Homeland
Security, ORR, State Department, and the Immigration Courts. The
supplemental appropriation will focus on increasing immigration court
capacity and expanding law enforcement that targets criminal networks,
both in the US and in Central America. The additional funding also will
be used to bolster foreign cooperation to help with repatriation and
reintegration into Central America and to increase the capacity of the
US to provide detainment care and transportation for these children.
- CWS is receiving troubling reports that in some instances after
initial screening, DHS is dealing with the volume of this crisis by
dropping off women and children in potentially vulnerable spaces, such
as bus stops and parking lots. More than 50 children and women
reportedly were dropped off in a Yuma, Ariz., parking lot where faith
communities have begun working together to provide them with housing,
clothing, and food, and are helping coordinate bus tickets for the women
and children to reach relatives elsewhere in the US to await the court
dates that will determine if they can stay or will be deported.
The CWS response
The CWS response is carried out through its Immigration and Refugee
Program. CWS will deploy Spanish-speaking legal staff to Lackland Air
force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where a large number of children are
held for processing. This will be done in partnership with legal service
agencies with access to the facility. The CWS staff will interview
children and their families, offer “know-your-rights” briefings, and
help individuals understand the sequence of events they must follow to
apply for protection. Plans are for CWS staff to spend up to 21 days
interviewing approximately 8 cases a day.
CWS currently offers spiritual care in a detention facility in
Artesia, N.M., formerly Artesia Christian College--a DHS “family
detention facility” where children who are accompanied by a parent or a
sibling are placed. Until further notice, CWS has moved its chaplain
from Port Isabel, Texas, to Artesia. CWS hopes to establish a similar
presence in other detention centers.
Another phase of the response is an effort by CWS local and affiliate
offices to provide aid to children who are placed temporarily with
relatives in the US, who have a “Notice to Appear” before immigration
authorities and are in “removal proceedings.”
CWS also is exploring the possibility of convening an ecumenical
roundtable for ongoing collaboration, “because support for unaccompanied
children will be needed for the next several years,” McCullough’s memo
notes.
For more information about the work of Church World Service go to
www.cwsglobal.org.
Source: 7/30/2014 Newsline
