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Law360
September 3, 2021
Immigration attorneys whose practices shifted when President Joe Biden rescinded the "Remain in Mexico" program are experiencing whiplash after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed it to be reinstated. Kate Clark, the director of immigration services at the Jewish Family Service of San Diego, told Law360 that “reinstatement is certainly not something we ever thought was going to be within the realm of possibilities”. In the weeks since, Clark says her organization has redoubled its advocacy efforts, calling on congressional representatives and the White House to stand in opposition to the policy.
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Border Report
August 30, 2021
With the Supreme Court ruling requiring the Biden’s Administration to revive MPP, San Diego advocates are already concerned Remain in Mexico’s reinstatement will force more migrants into dangerous living conditions. Jewish Family Services described Remain in Mexico as a “cruel and inhumane program.” They further explained, “over the last two years, we have seen firsthand the mental and physical toll the policy places on those traumatized by the violence and persecution they have fled from in their home countries.”
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The San Diego Union-Tribune
August 28, 2021
The Supreme Court ordered the Biden administration to follow a Texas judge’s ruling to restart Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols. Many migrants are already being returned to Mexico under Title 42. Luis Gonzalez, Immigration Attorney of Jewish Family Service of San Diego, called the ruling “bittersweet” because he knew Jewish Family Service had managed to help 37 more asylum seekers get processed into the United States before the Supreme Court order was announced. However, he knew there were thousands more still stuck outside the United States — including some of his clients — who now might have to wait much longer in dangerous conditions.
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ABC 10
August 25, 2021
Local immigrant’s rights advocates are speaking out after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block a court ruling ordering the president to reinstate the controversial Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy. In anticipation of the Supreme Court ruling, Jewish Family Service worked tirelessly yesterday — the last day of processing and crossing — to assist as many individuals and families through the MPP wind-down process as possible. Working through the night, JFS welcomed an additional 37 individuals comprising 16 families.
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KPBS
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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NPR
May 12, 2021
More migrants are being granted humanitarian exceptions because they are considered the most vulnerable, including families with young children and transgender people who had been living in dangerous conditions in Mexican border towns.
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DirectRelief
May 10, 2021
Sometimes, that means stabilizing people so they’re ready to travel on to a final destination. Kate Clark, Sr. Director of Immigration Services at JFS, shares how we transformed our Migrant Shelter Services during COVID-19.
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Politifact
April 12, 2021
Immigration authorities are working with state and local authorities and non-governmental organizations to ensure that all migrants receive COVID-19 testing before and after entering the U.S. Eitan Peled of Jewish Family Service of San Diego shares more about this process.
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Direct Relief
March 30, 2021
Direct Relief is supporting health facilities on both sides of the southwestern border including the SDRRN Migrant Shelter Services.
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The San Diego Union-Tribune
March 26, 2021
Jewish Family Service receives families and adults who are coming into the United States from the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program as well as asylum seekers released by Border Patrol into San Diego.
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Buzzfeed News
March 6, 2021
Gerson handed the border officer his Honduran passport and placed his fingertips on a small scanner. This was the last hurdle before his family could escape the kidnapping, threats, and extortion they had endured in Mexico while trying to gain asylum in the US. Now, he and hundreds of other asylum-seekers who spent months holding onto a sliver of hope while being forced by the Trump administration to wait in Mexico are entering the US. Kate Clark, the senior director of immigration services at Jewish Family Service of San Diego, said the group has taken in nearly 300 people who were previously stuck in Mexico under the Trump administration policy.
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CNN
March 3, 2021
Stuck in Mexico for nearly a year under the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy, asylum seeker Nicholas was finally able to cross into the United States, thanks to an executive order from President Joe Biden. Featuring an interview with CEO Michael Hopkins.
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VOA
March 2, 2021
Esperanzas infundadas, siguen llegando inmigrantes a una frontera estadounidense que no se abre; familias separadas en la frontera, una nueva controversia en Estados Unidos; se refuerza la batalla para producir más vacunas para los estadounidenses y el Departamento de Estado emite informe con la clasificación de países que fracasaron en la lucha antidrogas.
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CBS News
February 20, 2021
CEO Michael Hopkins is interviewed in this coverage of the first 25 Latin American asylum seekers who were granted entry at the San Ysidro port of entry and will be allowed to stay in the country for the duration of their proceedings. The Jewish Family Service of San Diego received the asylum applicants, who were required to test negative for the coronavirus, and transported them to a hotel in the area so they could quarantine, according to the non-profit's chief executive officer, Michael Hopkins. The group included six families and five individuals from Honduras, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Cuba.
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The San Diego Union-Tribune
February 19, 2021
Two years and 21 days after the first asylum seeker was walked back from San Diego to Tijuana under the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” program, a small group of asylum seekers was escorted in the other direction to wait out immigration court cases in the United States. CEO Michael Hopkins said, “This is a really different experience than 2½ years ago, when we got the call on our hotline that moms and kids were on the streets of San Diego.”
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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.
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Telmundo 20 - Immigrantes En La Frontera
February 19, 2021
Un grupo de 25 migrantes que cruzaron por la frontera de San Diego y Tijuana estuvieron entre los primeros solicitantes de asilo que se les permitió entrar a Estados Unidos bajo los nuevos cambios de la administración Biden que comenzaron este viernes.
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NBC
February 19, 2021
At least 25 migrants who have been waiting in Mexico for months while they seek asylum in the U.S. have been allowed into the country, part of the Biden administration efforts to roll back the Trump-era policy known as "Remain in Mexico." CEO Michael Hopkins is interviewed.
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Border Report, Fox 5 San Diego
February 19, 2021
In this video interview, CEO Michael Hopkins discusses the critical support role Jewish Family Service is playing in welcoming asylum-seekers into San Diego before they take a plane or bus to their final destinations in the U.S.
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Reuters
February 19, 2021
A group of 25 asylum seekers was allowed into the United States on Friday, a United Nations official said, the start of efforts to unwind one of former President Donald Trump’s most restrictive immigration policies, which forced thousands to wait in Mexico for their U.S. cases to be heard. Jewish Family Service will provide services to the migrants once they are in the U.S.
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