OWLS Board offers donation match to APANO for Sheridan asylees

The OWLS Special Committee on Family Separation and Child Detention has an opportunity for you to participate in the local effort to support the asylum-seekers brought to the federal prison at Sheridan. We have gotten the OWLS Board to donate to the fund managed by APANO, as a matching fund to encourage your donations. This fund provides commissary funds to the men while they are in detention, and funds for clothing and basic necessities when they are released.

The Board has donated $850 to the fund this week. Now, we’d love to see that doubled through your donations. If you’ve wondered how you can help, if you don’t speak a foreign language fluently, don’t practice immigration law, don’t live in the northern Willamette Valley… know that your donation, however seemingly small, is working with the donations of other OWLS to make a real difference in the lives of these asylum-seekers.

Click here to donate. And, thank you, for this and for everything you do.

Maya Crawford Peacock
Kathryn Olney
Co-Chairs, OWLS Special Committee on Family Separation and Child Detention

Close to Home: Reunited Family in Oregon

On the off chance you thought that the separation of migrant children from their parents was something that only happened far away, this NY Times piece on a reunited family in Oregon struggling to regroup after reunification will bring the impacts of this tragedy close to home.  This fall, an 11 and 7 year old who were separated from their parents for 51 days are starting school in Talent, Oregon, trying hard to move on from their time in detention.

Editorial: The Continuing Tragedy of the Separated Children

An editorial in today’s New York Times titled The Continuing Tragedy of the Separated Children notes that while the policy of separating families has halted, over 500 children are still languishing in government custody.

 

559 Kids Still Not Reunited with Families

As of August 9, 2018, 559 children who were separated from their families at the border as a result of the “zero-tolerance” policy have still not been reunited with their families, Time reports.  The ACLU continues to pursue litigation to ensure their reunification.

Judge Rules Administration must Stop Giving Psychotropic Drugs to Migrant Kids without Consent

An article published today in the Washington Post reports that U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles ordered the Trump administration to obtain consent or a court order before administering any psychotropic medications to migrant children, except in cases of dire emergencies.

Good News from Sheridan!

Today Innovation Law Lab announced that 74 of the 80 individuals it is representing detained at Sheridan received favorable outcomes at credible fear interviews.  One individual opted to be voluntarily removed, and five decisions were still pending.

In addition, Innovation Law Lab has secured continuing access to clients with the help of a preliminary injunction issued by Judge Michael Simon.

Read all about it, here.

Families Belong Together – Portland Rally

Families Belong Together- Portland Rally

Saturday, June 30 at 10 a.m. Activism Fair; 11 a.m. Rally and Speeches
North Park Blocks, Portland, OR 97209 (NW Everett St at NW 8th Ave)

Join Americans around the country in saying loud and clear that children belong with their parents, and #FamiliesBelongTogether. Bring protest signs, bring your family and friends, and wear WHITE to show solidarity. 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Attend an “Activism Fair” designed with kids and adults in mind: crafts (possibilities are liberty crowns & monarch butterflies), write a postcard to new immigrant children to welcome them to America, a sidewalk chalk art project, voter registration, informational tables, a pledge card drive against IP 22, and more.

11 a.m. Rally begins. Speakers will include Kayse Jama of Unite Oregon, Josielyn Kremm, a USMC veteran & mom whose parents came to the U.S. as undocumented immigrants, and more. 12 noon.

After speeches, the Oregon Jewish Museum will be open and people can (with admission) view exhibits such as Discrimination & Resistance: An Oregon Primary. 5 blocks away is the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center.

Facebook Live event on Migrant Children and the Border Crisis

OWLS Member May Low, Chief of Staff at Catholic Charities shared this event with us which will be held on Thursday, June 27 at noon. This one hour Facebook Live event hosts a discussion on new, existing, and past border policies & how they affect children crossing the border.

“Hear from two of our immigration and refugee experts, and learn what you can do to be most helpful in the midst of this crisis. We’ll be selecting questions during the LIVE event for a mini Q&A session at the end.”

Please join Kelsey Keswani and Sarah Purce in this Facebook LIVE event this Thursday.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/181433215860603/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkd1pzPBTiZ/?taken-by=catholiccharitiesoforegon (for Instagram LIVE following)

From Lawyer Moms of America

Shared by OWLS Executive Director Linda Tomassi:

Lawyer Moms of America, Oregon Chapter (Facebook) asked that I ask you to be signatories on this letter.

They also requested you join one of the letter deliveries under the Events.  All of them are at NOON on Friday, June 29, except Kurt Schrader’s office in Salem, which is at 12:30 pm.

Here are the details:

• Sen. Merkley – 121 SW Salmon St; Portland, OR 97204 – headed up by Holli K Houston
• Sen Wyden & Rep Blumenauer – 911 NE 11th Ave.; Portland, OR 97232 – headed up by Candice Aiston and Brett Applegate
• Rep. Bonamici – 12725 SW Millikan Way; Beaverton, OR 97005 – headed up by Amanda Amie Marshall
• Rep. Schrader – 530 Center St. SE; Salem, OR 97301 – headed up by Amy Fearncombe Meyers
• Rep. DeFazio – 405 E. 8th St.; Eugene, OR 97401 – headed up by Lauren Cullop
• Rep. Walden – 1051 NW Bond St.; Bend, OR 97703 – headed up by Marcia Houston