How You Can Help Address the Crisis on the U.S.-Mexico Border (1 of 2)—$4,000 a minute pours in to help reunite separated immigrant families

(This is 1 of 2 posts today on how you can help.)

Okay, folks all over the country and world are wanting to know who to give to in order to respond effectively to the humanitarian crisis on the border.  I researched this today and this is what I have come up with.

If you're in the Austin area...

• You can keep up with events and news items, particularly those surrounding the Hutto Detention Camp at GrassrootsLeadership.org

• Fierce immigration attorney Virginia Raymond requests donations for Austin Region Justice for Our Neighbors.   Checks can also be mailed to: P.O. BOX 17516, Austin TX 78760-7516 Aside from donations, her small office of 2 attorneys, herself included, and one staff person, needs Spanish-English and French-English volunteers who serve as translators of Spanish- and French-legal documents and police reports.  They need a volunteer with website skills to work with her in developing the website.

If you're wanting to support folks on-site in South Texas, here are a few great options:

• Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) is a Texas-based nonprofit that provides immigrant families and refugees with affordable legal assistance. Check out their online toolkit that raises awareness on family separation
• The Texas Civil Rights Project.  Virginia Raymond spoke glowingly of brilliant attorney Efrén Olivarez who filed an Emergency Request to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Stop Family Separations and Reunite Families.  Other breaking news is that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is fundraising for them, too.
• American Gateways is another organization whose mission is to "champion the dignity and human rights of immigrants, refugees and survivors of persecution, torture, conflict and human trafficking through exceptional immigration legal services at no or low cost, education and advocacy," and life-saving work at the border.
• San Antonio Interfaith Welcome Coalition is also a reputable organization whose mission it is as follows: "The Interfaith Welcome Coalition (IWC), a San Antonio area based coalition of faith communities, organizations, and individuals, works collaboratively to welcome to our community refugees and asylum seekers, particularly women and children, and walk along side them in their journey."

I will also continue to post to this blog important information about press conferences, marches, and vigils, as I am sure most of these sites will, too.

Last but not least are these excellent news on the level of philanthropy that is occurring at the moment.  As Tony Díaz of Nuestra Palabra said on his radio program today, if you ever wonder how you might have acted when the Japanese were interned in the U.S., now is the time to find out—which for all of us in my world—is to act and in an expeditious manner to address this urgent situation of family separation along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Angela Valenzuela

$4,000 a minute pours in to help reunite separated immigrant families

By Amanda Jackson, CNN

Updated 3:00 PM ET, Tue June 19, 2018

(CNN) In less than four days, a California couple has raised more than $5 million -- and counting -- through Facebook to help reunite undocumented families that have been separated at the border.

Charlotte and Dave Willner were inspired to start the campaign when they saw the viral image showing a frightened, crying 2-year-old girl looking up to the adults around her after crossing the border. The girl, who was with her mother and others, had rafted across the Rio Grande and the group was stopped in Texas by US Border Patrol agents.

"These aren't kids we don't have to care about. They're like our kids," Charlotte Willner told the San Jose Mercury News. "When we look at the faces of these children, we can't help but see our own children's faces."

The Willners originally started their fund-raising campaign named "Reunite an immigrant parent with their child" on Saturday morning with the goal of $1,500. But soon their efforts went viral.

The couple chose to raise money for the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), a nonprofit located in Texas that offers free and low-cost legal services to immigrants and refugees. The original goal of $1,500 was the minimum amount to cover bond fees for one person, according to RAICES.

By Tuesday afternoon, the campaign surpassed $5 million, with more than 122,000 people donating. Its new goal is $6 million.

"The run rate over the last 3 hours was nearly $4k every minute," posted Dave Willner on Facebook.

RAICES confirmed to CNN that the organization has been in contact with the couple since Saturday.

"We do not have the words to thank Charlotte and Dave Willner," RAICES posted on Facebook."We've been occasionally crying around the office all day when we check the fundraising totals. There are terrible things happening in the world. And there are many people who are deciding not to look away but to do something."