Times of San Diego
April 25, 2024
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it would offer $39.2 million in new federal funding to the San Diego region as part of its Shelter and Services Program. But there are now concerns that the very groups which built these advocacy networks locally are being left out of discussion. Learn more on how you can help ensure San Diego remains a welcoming place for those in search of a safer life—free from violence and persecution.
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February 23, 2023
The San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN), a coalition of humanitarian organizations led by Jewish Family Service, is condemning a new Biden Administration proposal that will deport asylum seekers who enter the country illegally, or who did not first seek protection in the countries they passed through. “What the administration has announced today is essentially an asylum ban — a reprehensible step backwards,” the coalition said. “Asylum seekers are not the enemy; our broken immigration system is.”
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February 7, 2023
In a unanimous vote, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a comprehensive plan sponsored by Chairwoman Nora Vargas and Supervisor Joel Anderson to ensure that asylum seekers and refugees have access to the resources they need if federal enforcement of Title 42 is ended. The Rapid Response Network, operated by JFS, has welcomed 125,000 asylum seekers since 2018. “Let’s put politics aside,” JFS CEO Michael Hopkins told the Supervisors, “and get back to what matters: Treating people with dignity and humanity.”
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March 18, 2022
San Diego immigration experts called Friday for an end to Trump-era immigration restrictions as potentially thousands of desperate migrants from Ukraine and Russia begin to arrive in Tijuana.
Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services at Jewish Family Service, said that “Our recently arrived guests from Ukraine tend to be female heads of households with their children. Their spouses have stayed behind to fight for Ukraine’s continued independence.”
Times of San Diego
February 19, 2021
“We applaud the Biden-Harris Administration and we are optimistic that this is the first of many steps to rebuild our immigration system and restore the asylum process,” said JFS and its partners in the San Diego Rapid Response Network.
Read StoryUCSD Study Uncovers Systematic Abuses of Asylum-Seeking Families in Immigration Detention Facilities
ABC 10, Associated Press, Business Insider, KPBS, NBC, Telemundo 20, The New York Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Times of San Diego, Voice of San Diego
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?”
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July 11, 2019
The effect of “Remain in Mexico”—Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP) is having on the number of asylum-seekers.
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February 14, 2019
Times of San Diego story on Nathan Fletchers response to Gov. Newsoms emergency funding bill.
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