Immigrant Defenders Law Center reposted this
Proud of this one! Thanks to my team for being such amazing advocates and standing up for what's right. ImmDef data proves there are discriminatory practices in ORR shelters for unaccompanied and unsponsored African and Middle Eastern children. Thanks to KPBS for helping us uplift this story and our client Ibrahim's powerful testimony.
#BreakingNews Attorneys at Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) are speaking out about discriminatory practices within the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) unaccompanied minor shelters. "We started to see that the needs of children from non-Spanish speaking countries were not being met to the same extent," said Mickey Donovan-Kaloust, director of legal services to KPBS "And that’s obviously concerning because all children in care should be entitled to the same level of care." Our data revealed that the average length of stay for children without sponsors from Africa was 138 days compared to 99 days for those from Spanish-speaking countries (as of June 2024). For children who are forced to wait longer, the differences become even more obvious. "Every child that we serve who has been in care longer than 300 days — so almost a year awaiting long-term foster care placement — every one of those children except for one is from Africa or the Middle East," Donovan-Kaloust said. Our client Ibrahim reflected back on his 6-month stay in ORR, "It was hell for me," he said. "Because I didn’t know where I was going or where I’d end up. It was just me." Ibrahim was nearly forced into homelessness due to the lack of timely government support as he neared his eighteenth birthday. Thanks to our team's efforts, he secured housing and is now thriving as a college student studying aviation. ImmDef is urgently calling upon ORR to take all measures necessary to ensure that any disparities in lengths of stay based on race, language, religion, or country or origin are eliminated. Read the article: https://lnkd.in/gnuq9p5s #ImmigrantRights #RefugeeSupport #ChildWelfare #LegalAid #HumanRights #SocialJustice #ImmigrantDefenders #ORR #EquityInCare #YouthEmpowerment #Undocumented #unaccompaniedminor #ChildrensRights #Equity #Immigrationlawyer #iamanimmigrant