In: KPBS
May 19, 2023
Humanitarian groups, including Immigrants Defenders Law Center and the American Friends Service Committee, are calling attention to what they call human rights violations by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Since the lifting of Title 42 border restrictions, the San Diego Rapid Response Migrant Shelter Service, which is operated by JFS, has seen as many as five times more migrants per day than average, according to JFS’s Kate Clark, Senior Director of Immigration Services. Clark says JFS is coordinating the processing of asylum-seekers with federal partners, including the Department of Homeland Security.
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September 1, 2022
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla visited the San Diego border region Wednesday to learn how the federal government can support the humanitarian efforts of local advocates. During a meeting with members of the San Diego Rapid Response Network, advocates asked Padilla to help them restore the asylum system, stop the militarization of the border, expand access to Friendship Park and adopt a more welcoming approach to new migrants. “The border is much more than a headline, it’s people’s lives that are impacted every single day on both sides of the border,” said Kate Clark, director of immigrant services at Jewish Family Service.
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June 3, 2021
Meet one Honduran family who escaped a politically-motivated machete attack to seek asylum in the United States. Jewish Family Service of San Diego helped this family prepare for their move from SDRRN Migrant Shelter Services to New York, where their sponsor awaits. According to JFS Border Advocate, Eitan Peled, “What we’re doing is showing people we can both protect public health and afford people the right to seek asylum.”
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February 19, 2021
CEO Michael Hopkins speaks on behalf of Jewish Family Service’s efforts as part of the San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN) to provide services for many more asylum seekers as the numbers start to increase.
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UCSD Study Uncovers Systematic Abuses of Asylum-Seeking Families in Immigration Detention Facilities
September 4, 2019
“These findings raise serious due process concerns,” said Kate Clark, JFS Senior Director of Immigration Services. “If asylum-seeking families are not being given vital instructions about their immigration proceedings in a language they can read or understand, how can we expect them to navigate an already complex legal process that is increasingly stacked against them?”
Media Coverage:
AP Story | New York Times | Business Insider | KPBS | NBC | ABC 10 News | Telemundo 20 | Times of San Diego | Voice of San Diego | The San Diego Union-Tribune
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July 25, 2019
A mother and her child – assisted by our pro-bono immigration attorneys – attempted to plead their case for asylum in U.S. immigration court. This mother and her teenage son are running from gangs in El Salvador that killed other members of their family. Even though they have already been robbed in Mexico and live in constant fear of being found by the gangs, this family has been placed in the Migrant Protection Protocols and must remain in Mexico until they can pass a “credible fear” interview. Our legal team will continue to fight for this family, and many others like them, in the hopes of helping them find safer and more secure lives in the U.S.
Click here to watch the video from KPBS (The story begins at the 3:15 mark)
Click here to read the KPBS article
July 10, 2019
The shelter run by JFS screens families for communicable health conditions after leaving “inhumane conditions” at overcrowded detentions centers in Texas and Arizona.
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February 21, 2019
Jean Guerrero’s story for KPBS on a Nicaraguan mother seeking asylum in San Diego with her four children.
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February 14, 2019
Jean Guerrero’s written story for KPBS from her shelter visit this week.
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