Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services

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Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services
Founded1987;36 years ago (1987) [1]
FounderJack Elder
Stacey Merkt [2] [3]
74-2436920 [4]
Legal status 501(c)(3) Non-profit organization
Purposeproviding immigration-related legal services, advocacy and opportunities for educational and social support
Location
Area served
South Texas
Executive Director
Jonathan Ryan [5]
Revenue (2015)
4,176,688 [6]
Expenses (2015)4,172,493 [6]
Employees
130 [1]
Website www.raicestexas.org

The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) is a nonprofit organization based in Texas that aims to provide legal services for immigrants. [7] As of 2018, it was the largest legal aid group of its kind in Texas. [8] RAICES also runs Casa RAICES, which provides housing for thousands of undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers per year. [9]

Contents

History

RAICES was founded in 1987 (sometimes listed as 1986) to help Central American refugees in the United States. [1] [10] [11]

In January 2016, RAICES' Executive Director, Jonathan Ryan, was part of a lawsuit filed against the state of Texas over House Bill 11, a law that made it a state felony to harbor undocumented immigrants. [12] The lawsuit, which was filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund on behalf of Ryan and two San Antonio landlords, alleged that the state was violating due process rights and circumventing federal authority over immigration policy. The law was temporarily paused due to an injunction issued by a federal judge, but in February 2017, a federal appeals panel ruled that the state could continue to enforce HB 11. [13]

Viral 2018 fundraiser

In June 2018, publicity regarding the Trump administration's family separation policy led to the creation of an Internet campaign to collect funds for RAICES. [14] [15] [16] A Facebook user in California created a fundraiser for RAICES called "Reunite an immigrant parent with their child". As of June 20, 2018, the fundraiser had raised $12 million for RAICES and was one of the largest in Facebook's history. [17] The fundraiser was created in response to a "zero tolerance" immigration policy implemented in April 2018 by United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions, [18] which requires United States Border Patrol agents to detain all adult immigrants suspected of crossing the border illegally. [19] From early May to mid June 2018, over 2,300 children were separated from their parents as a result of the zero tolerance policy. [20]

National hotline

In June 2018 RAICES launched a "National Families Together Hotline" to assist family members who had been separated by current US immigration policy, to locate and reconnect with one another. [21] [22]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal immigration to the United States</span> Immigration to the United States in violation of US law

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal immigration</span> Entry into a country without legal right

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Jose Antonio Vargas is a journalist, filmmaker, and immigration rights activist. Born in the Philippines and raised in the United States from the age of twelve, he was part of The Washington Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in 2008 for coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting online and in print. Vargas has also worked for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Philadelphia Daily News, and The Huffington Post. He wrote, produced, and directed the autobiographical 2013 film Documented, which CNN Films broadcast in June 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration detention in the United States</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals</span> Obama administration immigration policy

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, colloquially referred to as DACA, is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for an employment authorization document in the U.S. To be eligible for the program, recipients cannot have felonies or serious misdemeanors on their records. Unlike the proposed DREAM Act, DACA does not provide a path to citizenship for recipients. The policy, an executive branch memorandum, was announced by President Barack Obama on June 15, 2012. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting applications for the program on August 15, 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 American immigration crisis</span> Surge in immigration along US southern border

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration policy of Donald Trump</span> Policies regarding immigration of the Trump administration

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trump administration family separation policy</span> Policy intended to deter illegal immigration and to encourage tougher legislation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protests against the Trump administration family separation policy</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration policy in Texas</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration policy of the Joe Biden administration</span> Overview of the immigration policy of the Biden administration

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "RAICES Jobs". RAICES. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  2. "Sanctuary Workers Guilty of Assisting Illegal Aliens". Los Angeles Times. 1985. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  3. "New Friends". Twitter. Twitter, Inc. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  4. "REFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES". GuideStar. GuideStar USA. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  5. Jacobs, Julia (June 19, 2018). "They Wanted to Raise $1,500 for Immigrant Families at the Border. They Got Over $10 Million". The New York Times. New York, NY. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  6. 1 2 "REFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES". ProPublica. Pro Publica Inc. May 9, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  7. Martinez, Sarah. "55 Undocumented Immigrants Found in Trailer in San Antonio, Sent to Detention Center". San Antonio Current. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  8. ""Suspiciously little" done to inform undocumented families of their rights, legal advocate says" . Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  9. "Casa RAICES isn't going away, it's expanding". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  10. Heinzekehr, Hannah (February 14, 2016). "San Antonio Mennonites join interfaith immigrant hospitality networks". TheMennonite. The Mennonite. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  11. Who is RAICES? (video). raicestexas. March 16, 2018.
  12. Tribune, The Texas (January 25, 2016). "Texas Faces Lawsuit Over Provision of Border Law". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  13. Stempel, Jonathan. "U.S. appeals court revives Texas immigrant-harboring law". U.S. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  14. Salmon, Felix. "Why Even Viral-Fundraising Skeptics Can Feel Good About Donating to RAICES". Slate Magazine. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  15. Lyons, Kate (June 20, 2018). "Facebook campaign to help separated children seeks $1,500 but gets $7.5m". the Guardian. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  16. Jackson, Amanda. "$4,000 a minute pours in to help reunite separated immigrant families". CNN. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  17. Wiener, Talia (June 20, 2018). "Facebook Fundraiser For Separated Immigrant Families Raises $12 Million In 5 Days". npr. npr. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  18. Rizzo, Salvador (June 19, 2018). "Analysis | The facts about Trump's policy of separating families at the border". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  19. "Jeff Sessions: Parents and Children Illegally Crossing the Border Will Be Separated". Time. May 7, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  20. Domonoske, Camila; Gonzales, Richard (June 19, 2018). "What We Know: Family Separation And 'Zero Tolerance' At The Border". npr. npr. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  21. Raices Familias Unidas, Linea Directa Raices of Texas. June 29, 2018. Downloaded August 14, 2018.
  22. RAICES' "National Families Together" Hotline Plans To Help Reunite Immigrant Kids & Their Parents Bustle.com. By Seth Millstein. June, 2018. Downloaded August 14, 2018.