In the darkness of our political climate, it's hard to find a bright spot. When we do, it's important to lift up the organizations and people raising their voices and raising money to help the people victimized by this ghoulish administration's evil policies.
Please, also, don't get me wrong. I'm still mad as hell at Facebook. In this instance, though, Facebook has provided a tool by which a group of three users have joined together in a fundraiser to -- in the span of only 3 days -- raise over $6 million to help the families separated at the border. SIX MILLION DOLLARS.
Facebook users Charlotte Willner, Malorie Lucich McGee, and David Willner teamed up to start a fundraiser to raise money for a non-profit organization called RAICES - The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. Here is an excerpt from their FB fundraising post:
Until the election, I think there's little chance of a political solution to this grave American moral failing. But there is still something we can do. Today we are raising money for RAICES (https://www.facebook.com/raicestexas), the largest immigration legal services provider in Texas. For years, RAICES has been working with some of the most vulnerable members of our society to ensure they receive advocacy and fair legal representation. They have two key goals at this time:
-directly fund the bond necessary to get parents out of detention and reunited with their children while awaiting court proceedings
-ensure legal representation for EVERY child in Texas' immigration courts (last year, 76% of kids (over 13,000!) did not have representation)
Bonds are set at a MINIMUM of $1500, and are usually in the range of $5-10K, even for asylum seekers without any criminal history. We are starting our goal at $1500 and will see how far we get.
When I went to the RAICES website, it had crashed from so much traffic. According to their Facebook page, though, they provide "free and low-cost legal services to under-served immigrant children, families and refugees." Their services include:
Full legal immigration representation and services before the Department of Homeland Security, the Immigration Court, and the Board of Immigration Appeals.
-Asylum
-Relative Petitions
-Adjustment of Status
-Employment Authorization
-Cancellation of Removal
-Naturalization
-Citizenship
-U Visas
-T Visas
-Temporary Protected Status
-NACARA
-Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
-VAWA
A small non-profit in Texas that provides legal services to immigrants has received over $6 million in donations from Facebook users because three people on Facebook decided to do something about the moral atrocities happening in our nation. Thank goodness there are signs of life returning to our national soul.
Children aren't the only ones who benefit from Mr. Rogers' gentle and evergreen wisdom. “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'" Props to all of these helpers.
