By Monique
Every month, Just Add Color will highlight a charity or nonprofit organization that is doing powerful work in the nation and in the world. Check back each month for a new charity!
None of us can escape the horror happening within our borders–the detaining and inhumane treatment of Latinx immigrants in the U.S. This week, a coalition of congresspeople including Congresspeople Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Joaquin Castro. Here are some of the videos coming from their tour of one of the detainment centers:
Other congresspeople also discussed what they saw in the detention centers.
It’s clearly a horror show, and these centers need to be shut down yesterday. This is on top of what has been a long-standing problem the Trump Administration has created by separating children from their parents and the constant targeting of Latinx immigrants as “criminals.”
Everything that’s been going on led me to donate to RAICES, the Texas-based nonprofit organization that “promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees.”
Here’s what the organization does on a daily basis:
Founded in 1986 as the Refugee Aid Project by community activists in South Texas, RAICES has grown to be the largest immigration legal services provider in Texas. With offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, RAICES is a frontline organization in the roiling debate about immigration and immigrants in the world. As an organization that combines expertise developed from the daily practice of immigration law with a deep commitment to advocacy, RAICES is unique among immigration organizations. A diverse staff of 130 attorneys, legal assistants, and support staff provide consultations, direct legal services, representation, assistance and advocacy to communities in Texas and to clients after they leave the state. In 2017, RAICES staff closed 51,000 cases at no cost to the client. Our advocacy and commitment to change are driven by the clients and families we serve every day as our attorneys and legal assistants provide legal advocacy and representation in an immigration system that breaks apart families and leaves millions without pathways to legal status.
RAICES
If you want to give to RAICES, it’s easy. You can give via their website, through Facebook, or via Paypal, which I have linked here as well as in the button I’ve created below and in the image at the top of my site. You can choose the amount you want to give or click one of the pre-filled options, fill out your payment information and you’re done!
If you’re scared about what you’re seeing and you want to make a difference, consider giving an amount, big or small, to RAICES so they can continue to help immigrants in need.
*I receive no kickbacks whatsoever from featuring these charities, nor do I take any portion of funds from donations; I simply want to highlight their work and hopefully drive donations their way so they can continue to effect change.
If you have any suggestions for charities to feature, email mljcollegeblog@gmail.com!
Julian 