Independent Monitoring Boards’ Post

IMMIGRANTS IN THE CROSSHAIRS: A Huge Success The 90 participants in the June 15 Hot Topic Roundtable hosted by Human Agenda and co-sponsored by 17 local non-profits was a huge success due to the engaging and informative presentation by Prof. Bill Ong Hing, founder of the Immigration Legal Resource Center. In addition, the international potluck, the response panel, Q and A, dialogue and book signing made for a memorable evening. The hot topic roundtable took place at the Roosevelt Community Center. Professor Hing provided many examples of the current inhumanity of existing immigration law and procedure. His participation in reviewing the conditions of juvenile immigrants in border detention centers led to a national outcry for the improvement of conditions in those centers and the broad condemnation of family separation. Poor food, family separation, the incarceration of juvenile immigrants with adult criminals, the lack of due process, and poor or nonexistent translation for juvenile immigrants were only some of the abuses noted by Prof. Hing. A responsive panel including Pedro Lemus, Teresa Castellanos, and Betty Duong provided penetrating questions for Prof. Hing. This was followed by a lively discussion on what can be done: not only to humanize immigration, but also to head the United States in a new political direction. In addition to community organizing, street protests, policy advocacy, and electing pro-immigrant elected officials, the need to develop a comprehensive human needs-based vision was presented by Human Agenda, with the need to meet human needs through new institutions incorporating values of democracy, equity, cooperation, kindness and sustainability (the DECKS values of Human Agenda).  Alternatives such as worker-owned cooperatives, publicly financed elections, public banking, land trusts, and universal health care were presented as concrete examples of institutions and policies everyone can work on, in addition to comprehensive immigration reform. Electing corporate-free candidates was also highlighted, to end private corporate detention centers and support people’s needs.  #humanagenda #immigrants #communityorganizing #community

Imagine stepping out of a detention center, relieved to be free, but suddenly realizing you are alone in an unfamiliar country, with no place to call home and no support system to lean on. This is the reality for many immigrants. Learn more about how you can support immigrants: https://lnkd.in/eXcuFMXb #projecthelping #dogoodfeelgood #volunteer #immigration #mentalwellness

Unmarried children under the age of 21 who have been the subject of proceedings in a state juvenile court due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or other comparable circumstances may be eligible for special immigrant juvenile classification. In addition, the #juvenilecourt must have found that the child's best interests would not be served by returning the juvenile to his or her native country and that the child cannot be reunited with his or her parents due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment. To learn more about the eligibility requirements for the #specialimmigrantjuvenile classification, follow the link: https://lnkd.in/dnhDxp9J #immigrationusa #USimmigration #specialimmigrantjuvenilestatus #childusa #juvenileimmigration #parentsusa

All our problems are now solved.🤷🏾♀️ No need for emergency legislation to deal with #homelessness #costofliving #poverty #claddingscandal #Windrushscandal #childpoverty the proliferation of #foodbanks, long hospital waiting lists, high interests rates, overworked GPs, unaffordable rents, lack of #dentists etc etc etc We will now be sending a couple hundred asylum seekers to the very SAFE #Rwanda. 🤦🏽♀️And all will be well. Ironic that this bill has finally passed on the very same day I'm speaking at a conference organised by NACCOM and the British Red Cross in #Bedford looking at housing solutions for destitute and #homeless #migrants. We all believe that everyone, irrespective of anything, should have a safe, decent and affordable roof over their heads. #Housing is a basic human right. It is not a luxury. It is not a reward for being obedient. Miranda Grell John Bird Free Movement Colin Yeo Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants #ukhousing #homelessness Simon Cook Aileen Evans Bridget Young Rachael Williamson CIHM CIM The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) The Social Housing Round Table Homes England Black Equity Organisation

Clare O'Neil and Andrew Giles oversee our immigration and refugee detention systems. As products of elite white private schools, they are now busily filling the country with low-skilled immigrants and ineligible refugees. Our political class runs an #immigrationeconomy, because they have no other economic plan for the country. This means record high #immigration in a country with record high #housingcosts and record levels of #congestion in our cities. It also means allowing employers to #import the skills they need instead of training up our own people, and allowing the foreign student industry to become a #backdoor method of increasing the availability of low-skilled labour for employers. #Who better to run such a system than two children of Melbourne's elite, white private schools. #ClareONeil went to Loreto Mandeville College in Toorak, #AndrewGiles to Scotch College. Of course, they now represent outer suburban migrant #workingclass communities, though living there is another thing. Clare O'Neill lived in East Melbourne in 2016 when preselected by Labor to represent Springvale and Noble Park in #Hotham. Eventually, in 2020, she moved to Oakleigh. O'Neil succeeded #SimonCrean, who represented Hotham while living in unaffordable bayside South Melbourne. O'Neil was on the staff of the Transport Workers Union when Crean retired, and because it was the turn of that union to nominate someone for a seat in parliament, Clare O'Neill got the nod. This is how ALP politics works. Andrew Giles, a labour lawyer like O'Neil, was a staffer for two state ALP politicians, then became the MP for #Scullin in Melbourne's north. This is also how Labor works. ___ But here's the #goodnews. Both Giles and O'Neil can be #defeated at the next election, not by the Liberal Party but by #localcommunity and #smallbusiness champions in their ethnically diverse, socially conservative, working class electorates. Scullin is based on #Thomastown and #MillPark. The Liberal vote is low (22%). The vote for Others last time was very high: UAP 9%, Greens 11%, One Nation 6%, Lib Dems 4%, Socialists 3%. There was no mainstream credible #ThirdParty option last time. A community candidate who can lead the combined vote for Others can send Giles packing. Hotham is based on #Oakleigh and #Springvale. The Liberal vote is weak (25%). The vote for Others is similar: Greens 12%, Lib Dems 7%, UAP 6%, One Nation 3%. A community candidate who can take the combined vote for Others past 26% will be in the running. ____ We invite #Expressions of #Interest from community and business people in Hotham and Scullin to stand as candidates for #DemocracyFirst in the next federal election. #Deep connections in the electorates are required. Extensive #migrant community connections are essential. ___ If you know of likely representatives in Hotham and Scullin, #talk to them. Get them to #sound out their peers. Express your interest. Join up and become involved. https://lnkd.in/gB7mz-3d

So we can avoid repeating history:

Children’s asylum claims Child-specific forms of persecution may  include: • forcible or underage recruitment into military service • family or domestic violence • infanticide • forced or underage marriages • discrimination against street children • female genital mutilation (FGM) • forced labour • child sexual exploitation • images of child abuse • trafficking At each stage of the asylum process, decision makers and staff must consider the following questions: • Is the child I am dealing with safe while they are in the UK? • Have I taken appropriate account of the child’s best interests in making decisions that affect them and their future? • Have I addressed the child’s physical and medical needs (including mental health) appropriately? • Is their emotional and behavioural development supported? • Am I being mindful of the child’s age and maturity? • Have they experienced mental or emotional trauma? • Am I considering the child’s right to preserve their identity, including nationality, name and family relation? All children must be issued with the following documents: • a copy of the welfare form • a Bail 201 form (notification of grant or variation of bail form) or IS.248 (notice  of restriction to a person who has made an in-country in-time claim for asylum)  • a SEF noted with a return date of not later than 60 days from the date of the  completion of the welfare form (the appropriate return address will be  communicated to the child through their social worker or legal representative) 1.substantive asylum interview 2.Re-documentation interview https://lnkd.in/eguZgG_R https://lnkd.in/eDkBtEcz https://lnkd.in/eDdNZMyt https://lnkd.in/eJMGWaST https://lnkd.in/ejUEBTyx https://lnkd.in/eguZgG_R https://lnkd.in/edFvkF_T https://lnkd.in/eudHTwmz https://lnkd.in/e2TGaYsz https://lnkd.in/ei3eGeVs https://lnkd.in/evAXfGsv https://lnkd.in/eG9Ekssm https://lnkd.in/ebnGjbCz https://lnkd.in/esHMBx-K https://lnkd.in/eXePVr3A https://lnkd.in/ehRY4hTP https://lnkd.in/ePcg-PFa https://lnkd.in/eUJQ_jdH https://lnkd.in/eVdrEQfb

Did you know that if you’re in the United States as a child who has been abused, neglected or abandoned by one or both of your parents you may be eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile status? If SIJ clasification is granted, you may qualify for lawful permanent residency regardless of your way of entry into the United States. To qualify for a SIJ case, the juvenile MUST meet all the following statutory requirements: 1. The minor MUST be under 21 years of age. 2. The minor MUST be currently living in the United States; both at the time the SIJ petition is being filed and at the time USCIS makes a decision on the petition. 3. The minor MUST be unmarried. This means, that the minor has never been married OR the minor was previously married, but the marriage ended in annulment, divorce or death. (Minor must be unmarried before SIJ petition is filed and at the time USCIS makes a decision on the petition.) 4. To qualify for a Permanent Resident card, the minor MUST have a valid juvenile court order issued by a state court in the United States which finds that: a) Minor is dependent on the court, or in the custody of a state agency or department or an individual or an entity appointed by the court. b) Minor cannot be reunified with one or both of the parents due to neglect, abuse, abandonment, or a similar basis under state law. c) And, it is not in the best interest of the minor to return to the country of nationality. 5. Be eligible for USCIS consent. This means that you must have sought the juvenile court order to obtain relief from abuse, neglect, abandonment or a similar basis under state law and not primarily to obtain an immigration benefit. 6. Have written consent from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)/ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to the court’s jurisdiction if: You are currently in the custody of HHS, AND The juvenile court order also changes your custody status or placement. If you meet all the aforementioned requirements, contact an immigrantion attorney to help you fight your case and gain permanent status in the United States. #SIJ #Specialimmigrantjuvenile #immigrationlaw #juvenilejustice