We are so happy to share with you one more story of the recipients from our Families Reunidas Bond Program, Juan Antonio. He is a 34-year-old asylum seeker from Honduras who was in detention for three months. As you all know, the Otay Mesa Detention Center continues to have the highest number of COVID cases, and we are so glad to have one less person exposed.

This morning, within 12 hours of being released, Juan Antonio was on a flight ready to be reunited with his family. We cannot imagine the things he has had to face, and are grateful to Miles4Migrants pulling a late night to make sure he was on his way first thing in the morning. We wish him the best in his new life and welcome him home!

Let this story serve as a reminder of all the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and community members waiting in such conditions in detention, simply for seeking a place or a part in this country. Juan Antonio represents so many others being subject to racist and inhumane policies, and we must not forget the urgency of getting everyone we can out of the Otay Mesa Detention Center. This pandemic continues to be unforgiving, and we will not allow any more lives lost. Again, we thank you for your support and ask you to continue to help us make sure our folks are #FreeAndAlive.

Shelter Aid Update:

With your continued support, our shelter directors were able to fill their shopping carts with fresh produce and groceries for our migrant families in Tijuana once more. The pandemic is taking its toll on Baja California, and it is more important than ever to help our shelters survive! We are so grateful for your contributions that help us feed and care for our beloved families, and to our shelter directors for ensuring the safety of their inhabitants. We want to thank our shelter directors for being so patient and understanding. As long as there is need in Tijuana, we will continue to help in every way we can!

Last Saturday was a tough one. The heat, the wind, the terrain. One of our groups witnessed a chase and apprehension of a group of folks who had traveled days through the desert. Even though we were unable to do anything about what happened, it reminds us of why we go out, and who we go out for. Seeing fresh traces of travel, artifacts and other items left behind along with our supplies consumed let us know we are on the right track.

We continued after, climbing some serious mountain terrain and get to far out locations to get the supplies to people right around the areas where some start to run out of personal supplies.

Teamwork gets us through these days. Together we are strong and effective. We have seen signs of increased travel, and we are doing as much as we can to be out there and leave these life saving supplies where they’re most needed.

As long as there are people crossing, we will be there to leave supplies. We will never leave the borderlands and never stop leaving life-saving supplies for those that travel through them.

Trump administration extends visa ban to non-immigrants

"The idea that you are preserving  American jobs by shutting down these programs is insane," Garcia told News 8. 

"We are going to see businesses wanting to bring in in the most talented from across the world in order to keep businesses and keep people employed," she added. 

Garcia said the extension of this order is a way for the President, who suffered a loss last week when the Supreme Court ruled to uphold DACA, to appeal to his base during an election year.

"It is definitely another tool the president is using to scapegoat," Garcia said, "And it is always reverting back to our immigrant communities, unfortunately." 

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/trump-administration-extends-visa-ban-to-non-immigrants/509-51efadeb-2303-47d7-90a4-e841f1193a06?fbclid=IwAR1LIl5IBHW_tK1FaOsMg_s8I0Ae4PwO9qNJ-W_QYGefLJA7YlBwjyG32OM

Border Angels help bail dozens of detainees in Otay Mesa

 The support program has released 31 migrants on parole.:

Ruben was witness to sicarios in his home state of Guerrero murdering his brother, and to save his life, he made a new life in Acapulco. However, his safety was short lived. “They found me and I escaped, and I didn’t stop until I reached Tijuana. The 20-year-old migrant waited two months so that in December he was sent to Otay Mesa Detention Center where he faced “the worst 4 months of his life.” For him, “it’s very hard to accept that you are fleeing for your life, because you know it will end if they find you, and for no reason, only to be put in a cell when you arrive here.”

Ruben was granted freedom under bail but was terrified as he had no money to pay for the bond amount, as bonds are determined arbitrarily, and being a refugee, him and his family had little to no money to his name. We have known of bonds to range from 2.5K-15K. Our organization, then pays for these bonds in full. Ruben was able to gain conditional freedom and post bond through our organization before the COVID contagion reached its peak inside the J Pod at the detention center. “There was 103 individual in our tank, and while we ripped up t-shirts to make face coverings, social distancing was impossible.”

Ruben now finds himself in Sacramento ready and hopeful to fight his case. He sees it as a miracle his bond was paid, he takes comfort in this first step to freedom, stating that it suggests to him that the court will rule in his favor of asylum. Border Angels has now posted bond for 31 individuals inside the Otay Mesa Detention Center, and 2 from Adelanto.

Article by Manuel Ocaño

https://laopinion.com/2020/06/25/los-angeles-de-la-frontera-ayudan-a-salir-con-fianza-a-docenas-de-detenidos-en-otay-mesa/?fbclid=IwAR36o9Li05VvdPtViGjIuSBgBdI0luHXA29BylkhCaHIyyoesqXua1y3Haw