We went to the shelter again today. We met with people the same as the day before. I met with a father and daughter, maybe 6, from Honduras. The father was missing his right arm. He hadn’t been scheduled for court yet so we didn’t process a venue change but I did have the opportunity to get to know him …

Shelter day. We met with immigrants who had suffered as a result of the MPP program. One after the next, they came in one to seek legal assistance with their cases. I took information and helped people determine the next steps in their case. The first people I met with were a family of three from Honduras. They had a …

Today we spent the day at the JFS offices. I was assigned a case wherein the clients were in a very interesting position. It was a mother and her children. The children had a USC father. Based on the circumstances, the children were actually U.S. citizens. Ironically, they were also in immigration court proceedings. At this point, the U.S. was …

Our last stop of the day was a local shelter. We saw immigrants by the bus load arrive after being released from custody. The shelter staff explained to them that we were not government officials, that they were in a safe place, that food and water, medical services, new clothing, and showers would be provided. I almost cried watching parents …

When we left the detention center, we travel to downtown San Diego to attend a hearing at the immigration court. We got into the courtroom to observe and were struck by the amount of immigrants without attorneys. The immigrants without attorneys were clearly terrified. They didn’t seem to understand exactly what was happening to them and quite a few of …

We started the day out at the Otay Mesa detention center. I drove us and it was striking to me how beautiful the landscape was on the way to the center. The hills are rolling, everything is blooming, there are lots of colorful flowers everywhere. It was gorgeous. Then we arrived at the Otay Mesa Detention Center and it became …

Our wonderful hosts from Jewish Family Services (JFS), a HIAS affiliate, provided training this morning at their local office. Training consisted of a crash course to the emergency situation here in San Diego, California. With the new MPP – Migrant Protection Protocols – program in place, individuals coming to the U.S. to seek asylum from countries like El Salvador, Honduras, …

There is a humanitarian crisis at the border between the United States and Mexico right now. Caravans of immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have been undertaking the dangerous journey to the U.S. to flee unprecedented levels of violence in their home countries. I can no longer watch as immigrants suffer when I have the tools to help. In …