Border Angels Weekly Newsletter
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Artwork by Weshoyot Alvitre
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"If he tries to end the DACA program, we will fight him every step of the way. Inside and outside the court.”
After the SCOTUS decision on DACA, we breathed a sigh of relief, celebrated, and now we are ready to continue the fight. We know the president plans to file documents to end the program once more. However, this attack is no longer unprecedented, and Border Angels, Dulce Garcia, dreamers and allies are prepared to fight every step of the way to ensure dreamers are not used as political bargaining chips. We know this direct attack is nothing more than a ploy to appeal to voters before the coming election, but as we proved in the past, we will not make it easy and protect our communities at all costs.
We want you to know that although there is still a long and difficult road ahead, we will all get through it together, and we will stand united!
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"Border Patrol wants to blast within Kumeyaay cultural sites in Campo, CA to build Trump's wall. They attempted to keep this project hush-hush and are refusing to consult with tribal monitors. Blasting within Kumeyaay cultural sites will lead to the destruction of artifacts and human bones belonging to their ancestors."
-GRACE SESMA
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The temperature in the desert remains steady around 110°, as it did on June 27. Our groups went out in some of the hottest areas of the desert, trekking in rough terrain for over five hours.
A solid rain season led to an overgrowth and abundance of cholla cactus, leading many people on one group in particular to get caught with cholla over 20 times. No matter how much you try to avoid it, cholla finds a way to stick to you.
We collected around 30lbs of waste from the desert, and found around 20 consumed gallons jugs of water from previous drops, as well as a good amount of supplies left behind that had been taken by those on their journey.
This is the most dangerous time to be traveling in this region, and we are seeing signs of increase travel. We are still going out weekly. While right now we cannot take new volunteers out, we fill our weekly drops with members of our leadership team and then if there’s spots open we take volunteers who have been out to numerous drops with us. The summer and the extreme heat is not a safe time to learn and experience your first Water Drop.
For any questions about Water Drops or our Water Drops during Covid, reach out to Water Drop Program Co-Director James Cordero, [email protected].
Thank you for your continued support, your donations make it easier for us to do our work.
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We are so happy to celebrate the posting of our 35th Families Reunidas bond!
We share with you one more story of the recipients, Mawuli. He is a Ghanian Asylum seeker who spent over 5 months inside the Otay Mesa Detention Center, which continues to be COVID infested.
We are so grateful once more to the collaboration of Freedom For Immigrants and their continued assistance to free individuals like him! Thanks to your support, he was able to be reunited with his nephew and sponsor in the East Coast, where he will be able to self-quarantine. We use this great victory to continue to drive us, and to help and advocate for those who can’t do so, and free as many individuals as we can.
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. Mawuli 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 detention. 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.
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We are so happy to share with you one more story of the recipients from our Familias Reunidas Bond Program, Charles. He spent an alarming 6 months inside Adelanto ICE Detention. Another horrific facility notorious for its neglect, more recently, it was reported they were spraying individuals with harmful disinfectants every 15-30 minutes.
This release was especially joyful to us, as we were also able to free his brother Francis a few weeks back from the Otay Mesa Detention Center. When he was picked up he had an enormous smile even after a year of being simultaneously detained here and in Mexico. His sponsor(a third brother), reached out to us and thanked us for after so much hardship, they have all been reunited as a family. We are so grateful our Bond program continues to accomplish what we have set out to do, reuniting loved ones.
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. Charles and Francis represent so many others being subject to racist and inhumane policies, and we must not forget the urgency of getting everyone we can out of detention.
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.
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The "dreamers" wait for Trump with their gloves on to save DACA
BY ANA MILENA VARÓN, EFE AGENCY
"For Dulce García, one of the six "dreamers" who led the first legal complaint in defense of the program, the new attempt by the Trump government against the benefit is not a "surprise."
"Hopefully, the president continues his battle against DACA in this election year, this is part of his campaign," insists the migrant, who has lived almost two decades undocumented and now has a work permit.
However, García is convinced that Trump will not have enough time to completely tear down the program before the next elections on November 3."
https://www.vidaenelvalle.com/news/politics-government/article244065127.html
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JULY 9, 2020
California Lawyers for the Arts Presents:
Praxis in the Borderlands: Humanitarian Aid and Migration Mobilization.
Our very own Water Drop Directors Jacqueline Arellano & James Cordero and Pueblo Sin Fronteras's Alex Mensing were invited to speak and be part of this discussion!
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JULY 8, 2020
The panel discussed the Supreme Court's recent ruling as well as the next steps needed to pass comprehensive immigration reform!
Thank you very much to Rep. Scott Peters for having Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus Rep. Pete Aguilar (CA-31), Dulce García, a San Diego-based attorney and plaintiff in the case, and other San Diego "DREAMERs" he worked with during his time in Congress.
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With our new Green Cards for Kids program, we are so lucky to be able to work with immigration attorney Fabiola Navarro who will be representing these children.
It is crucial that we help these children as they have already suffered enough abuse, neglect and/or abandonment.
With your continued support, we can help pay for the legal representation these children deserve in this critical time of their lives.
Please consider donating! No amount is too small!
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You can donate to Border Angels when you shop on Amazon.
Amazon will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible items to Border Angels!
**
Tienes la oportunidad de donar a Border Angels cuando compras en Amazon.
Amazon nos donará el 0.5% del precio de compra de artículos elegibles!
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Despite the growing challenges of this pandemic, Border Angels remains determined to protect and support the community we have pledged to serve. Even though we are currently unable to accept physical donations, we are always accepting monetary donations to support:
1. Our Shelter Aid Program❤️: Especially now that we are unable to receive these items, we need your help to provide funds for groceries, hygiene products, utility bills, rent, clothes, etc.!
2. Familias Reunidas Bond Program👨👩👧: Given the severity of this outbreak, we NEED to get as many people out of the Otay Mesa Detention Center as we can. With your help we can post bond for more individuals! (Link in highlights under Bond Program)
3. Water Drop Program💧: Even after having to postpone public water drops, our team is still constantly in the desert scouting and dropping the supplies necessary for survival. Their work never stops because the need never stops.
Thank you for your continued support.🖤🦋
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