Immigration at the Border: How to Get Involved

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WHAT'S HAPPENING: 
Kids in Need of Defense - Resource Page
Immigration Advocates Network - Latest News
National Immigration Forum - Press Releases

Find your Congressperson here. 
Find your Senator here.

TO READ (from 2020):
Judge Orders ICE to Free Detained Immigrant Children Because of COVID 19, NPR, June 27, 2020
10 Years Old, Tearful and Confused After a Sudden Deportation, New York Times, May 20, 2020
The Trump Administration Is Rushing Deportations of Migrant Children During Coronavirus, ProPublica, May 18, 2020
The Outcrowd, This American Life (May 2020 updated version of original episode from November 2019)
ICE Accused of Using Coronavirus Crisis to Launch 'Family Separation 2.0' Newsweek, May 18, 2020.

TO WATCH:
The Flores Exhibits
PBS Frontline Documentary, Separated: Children at the Border

IMMIGRATION ORGANIZATIONS

Lament collectively over the ways the church has been complicit. Here's a lament written by Matthew Soerens from World Relief.
Pray for safety, health, comfort, hope & faith for those fleeing danger, and for the provision of immediate basic necessities. 
Pray that those in positions of power will see human beings for who they are, carriers of the imprints of God, worthy of dignity. 
Pray that compassion will lead to empathy and empathy will lead to sustainable change. 
Volunteer or donate to any of the orgs above. 
Connect with Hope Border Institute.
Contact your Government Representatives through email, phone, social media, snail mail!
Act & Advocate for family reunifications through World Relief.
Consider getting certified in Fey y Finanzas through the Chalmers Center's Faith & Finances training if you and folks you know speak Spanish and want to meet a community need of financial literacy for an immigrant community in your context.
​Consider bringing a group to the border to see the realities on the ground (please note that I do not have any personal experience with any of these groups, but have found out about them through other Christian organizations or individuals.
If you are looking for someone to speak on immigration from a Christian perspective, consider: 
Alexia Salvatierra
Gricel Medina
Karen Gonzalez
​Marlena Graves
Rondell Treviño
Sandy Ovalle
Yonathan Moya

Sponsorship

Many people ask me how they can foster children who are refugees. That information is below. The other option is sponsorship, which happens through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) with people who aren't related to the child if and only if there are no willing relatives. For more information you can read about becoming a sponsor from Every. Last. One. 

Foster Care for Refugees

Many people ask me how they can foster children who are refugees. I know of a few avenues to look through, but want to be clear about a couple of things:
1. Foster care's purpose is reunification, always. Do not enter this with the idea that you will be able to adopt eventually. If adoption is your goal, this is not the right path to get on. There are plenty of other avenues to take.
2. Accompanied children at the border do not usually end up in foster care. This is because if they are split up from their parents, it's often because their parents already know a family in the U.S. as they'd rather keep the children in the detention facilities with them than send them off to strangers.
3. Unaccompanied minors (UACs) typically go through the Office of Refugee Resettlement into sponsorship families. These families are connected in some form to the child. There are situations in which UACs need short-term care until they are able to be reunited with family.

USCCB has a list of other organizations in certain regions of the US that also do this work. Please note that some of the information on this site is not up to date. 
​Bethany has a transitional foster care service. This is temporary foster care typically for unaccompanied children. In TN, you must live in the Nashville area to participate. If you live in another state, call the Bethany office closest to you.
Lutheran services has offices in different areas. Visit the site to see if their refugee foster care services are located near you.

Foster Care

Foster care is often implemented through two sources: a county's social services department and private agencies that contract with the county. You may have heard the phrase foster-to-adopt. I can only speak to my personal situation, although I have a feeling most states work this way, but if you are interested solely in fostering-to-adopt, it's best to go through the private agencies contracted with the county. If you are interested in fostering, go through your county's department. The goal of foster care is always reunification, unless or until there is something that prevents it. If you are unwilling to work toward reunification with biological parents, fostering through the county is not the best option for you. But as I argue in both of my books, as Christians who believe in a God who will reconcile all things, reunification is more aligned with the gospel than we are often willing to admit. I recognize that this is a tough and complicated issue, and I do not advocate that children are reunified to abusive or neglectful situations. However, I think that in many ways, we have to lay down the idol of desiring to possess children prior to entering foster care. The following a few resources for those interested in foster care: 
If you are looking for someone to speak on foster care from a Christian perspective, consider: 
Manda Carpenter
Krish Kandiah (UK)
John DeGarmo

Missions

If you are looking for someone to speak on missions from a Christian perspective that addresses colonialism and white savior complexes, consider: Mekdes Haddis and Ryan Kuja