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June 2024
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Looking to make a gift for unaccompanied and separated immigrant children during immigrant heritage month? Show your support by donating here.
Give Today. [[link removed]]
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[link removed] [[link removed]] Join us for a webinar on Monday, June 24 at 1 PM ET where we will draw on the perspective of child advocates, child poverty and labor experts, who will explore meaningful solutions to child labor that are as intersectional as its causes.
Our discussion will feature Dr. Ivón Padilla-Rodríguez, Assistant Professor History, University of Illinois Chicago; Young Center Managing Attorney Raia Stoicheva and Young Center Policy Analyst Mina Dixon Davis.
RSVP HERE. [[link removed]]
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Since 1997, the Flores settlement agreement has set basic standards of care for the custody, care, and release of all children in federal immigration custody, including unaccompanied immigrant children. The Trump administration tried and failed to eviscerate this settlement, by replacing it with regulations that further endangered children. On April 30, 2024, the Biden administration published its own final regulations, which govern the care of unaccompanied children in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement’s (ORR) custody. The final rule codifies — and in some respect expands — protections for unaccompanied children in ORR custody. Unfortunately, it also leaves critical gaps in oversight, transparency, and licensing.
ORR is set to implement this rule on July 1, 2024, and has already gone to court to terminate the Flores settlement agreement as to HHS. Check out our explainer, with Acacia Center for Justice and the National Immigrant Justice Center, which details the rule’s interaction with the Flores settlement and offers a high-level analysis of the rule by experts in the rights and well-being of unaccompanied immigrant children.
READ MORE HERE. [[link removed]]
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[[link removed]] On June 4, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights issued a statement from Executive Director Gladis Molina in response to President Joe Biden’s executive action [[link removed]] to shut down the border and bar access to asylum to migrants seeking safety at the U.S. border.
While these restrictions don't apply to unaccompanied children, this order will put families and children in direct harm’s way by increasing the likelihood they will be forced to separate or be sent back to the exact dangers they fled without a fair opportunity to request protection in the United States.
Our Statement Here. [[link removed]]
www.theyoungcenter.org/volunteer [www.theyoungcenter.org/volunteer]
The Young Center is always looking for Volunteer Child Advocates who are able and willing to accompany and support immigrant children in government custody.
Stay tuned to our Instagram [[link removed]] account for upcoming information on trainings in Los Angeles [[link removed]] , Houston, and Phoenix.
Check out our volunteer page [www.theyoungcenter.org/volunteer]
www.theyoungcenter.org/volunteer [www.theyoungcenter.org/volunteer]
Bilingual volunteers sought in Phoenix to spend time with migrant kids facing deportation ( Matthew Casey, KJZZ [[link removed]] )
The program is run by the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, which matches each volunteer with a migrant child to spend about an hour of quality time together each week. “The goal is to develop a slow-growth organic relationship. And to be a positive, safe adult in that child’s life,” said Isobel Conroy, Arizona volunteer coordinator. “If they want to read, if they want to explore some of (the child’s) hobbies. Making music. Making art. Anything that would be helpful or would be of interest to the child. We encourage our volunteers to get creative.”
What You Can Learn From an Ambitious Joint Fundraising Campaign ( Emily Haynes, The Chronicle of Philanthropy [[link removed]] )
The six nonprofits banding together are Al Otro Lado, Justice in Motion, KIND, National Immigration Project, Together & Free, and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. Led by Kelly Albinak Kribs, co-director of the technical assistance program at the Young Center, and Kate Wheatcroft, founder of Together & Free, the nonprofits discussed what support they could offer families, how much work they could get done in two years, and how much money they needed to pay for it. They settled on a $3 million fundraising goal to cover legal aid for 500 cases and signed a memorandum of understanding to guide the campaign. The effort launched on February 12 and will conclude on June 1. To date, the groups have raised $1.75 million.
Merkley, Kamlager-Dove Introduce Legislation to Protect Children in Government Custody ( Press Release [[link removed]] )
Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37) today led colleagues in the introduction of the Children’s Safe Welcome Act of 2024. The bicameral Children’s Safe Welcome Act embeds child welfare best practices into every stage of our immigration system involving both unaccompanied and accompanied children who seek asylum in the U.S. " As child advocates, we bear witness every day to children’s experiences in federal detention, their fight to reunify with family, and their need for stability while they wait for the government to hear their requests for protection and permanency,” said Mary Miller Flowers, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs for the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. “At its core, the Children’s Safe Welcome Act is a recognition that all children deserve a safe journey to adulthood, bolstered by the support and care of loving family and community. This bill shifts us one step closer to that vision and we are ready to fight to make it a reality.”
National Immigration Law Center Announces Campaign to Protect K-12 Public Education Access for All Children ( Press Release [[link removed]] )
A coalition of 35 organizations, led by the National Immigration Law Center, launched Education for All – a new campaign to protect access to K-12 public education for all kids, regardless of their immigration status. The campaign, which includes leading education, immigrant rights, and civil rights organizations, aims to ensure all children have continued access to a free K-12 public education, as mandated by law. The campaign will monitor and defend the right to an education, a bedrock of our country’s democracy, against extreme politicians and organizations that seek to weaken our public schools by scapegoating immigrant communities. “At the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, we firmly believe that every child, regardless of their immigration status, deserves access to public education,” said Jane Liu, director of policy and litigation, Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. “The Supreme Court’s decision in Plyler v. Doe affirmed this fundamental right, recognizing that our society thrives when every child has the opportunity to learn and grow. We are proud to join this campaign to protect public education for all, including immigrant children.”
How Caregiver Separation Harms Children: A Biological Lens to One Child’s Trauma ( Report Jared E. Boyce, B.A., Sc.M. [[link removed]] )
This report discusses the story of Baby Doe, an infant from Afghanistan whose parents died during a raid by U.S. Marines. She was initially placed with relatives but one Marine, Joshua Mast, would “adopt” her without her caregivers’ knowledge. The report briefly explains the history and neuroscie nce of maternal separation, and advocates for Baby Doe to be returned to her rightful caregivers.
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Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights
2245 S. MICHIGAN AVE, SUITE 301,
Chicago, IL 60616
United States
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