While President Trump is fanning flames around his manufactured “state of emergency” at the border, the real crisis is the horrific violence and persecution faced by people and families — like the mother in the photo above — fleeing their homes to seek safety.
But instead of providing case management and support services to people seeking asylum, the U.S. government has militarized our border and shut off our asylum system. They’ve deployed troops to deter and intimidate asylum-seekers, instead of deploying social workers who can help them comply with their legal obligations.
The program — which was canceled in 2017 by President Trump — provided case management, referrals for support services, and legal orientation, in partnership with community-based organizations, in order to make sure that families’ most urgent needs and immigration obligations were met.
The Family Case Management Program had a 99 percent effectiveness rate — meaning almost every single person enrolled in the program showed up for all immigration appointments and court hearings.
