A Warm Welcome for Asylum Seekers Along the Border


June 27, 2019

What happens to asylum seeking families who have been detained? Where do they go next? How can we help them rebuild their lives?

As the situation at the border worsens, and government-run detention centers become over crowded and under-resourced, more and more families are being released onto the streets by ICE with little to nothing but the clothes on their backs.

CWS advocates for the humane treatment of families in US immigration detention centers, and we also are making sure that families receive a warm welcome when they are finally released from detention.

After surviving a dangerous journey to the United States, and dehumanizing conditions in detention centers, asylum seekers are in desperate need of a place to relax, access critical services, and prepare for their futures as they await immigration court proceedings. CWS supports a network of small, church-based immigrant shelters at the U.S.-Mexico border where these families care welcomed with open arms and much-needed services.

Asylum seekers who arrive at these shelters are greeted with smiles by the few staff and many volunteers that run the shelters. They get a warm place to sleep, good food to eat, a chance to bathe, and space to rest. They are given clothing, hygiene items, and other necessities. They are helped to call their family in the United States and their home countries to tell them that they are safe, and finally free from detention. Staff and volunteers help families make plans and purchase bus and plane tickets so that they can join family members or sponsors and begin to rebuild their lives.

Over the last year, CWS staff has traveled along and across the border to develop partnerships with these local shelters, and to meet asylum seekers. We deployed staff to shelters and distributed aid, including CWS blankets. Just this week, we partnered with Lifting Hands International, who delivered over $20,000 worth of food, clothes and hygiene items to three of these shelters in Texas. Next week, more shipments are headed to shelters in Arizona.

With your support we can continue to support immigrants and asylum seekers at the Southern Border by providing material aid, increased access to services–including legal services–and by advocating for just and humane policies that respect the dignity of every person.

Make a donation to support this work here: https://cwsglobal.org/support-vulnerable-families/ 

CWS will continue to support immigrants and asylum seekers at the Southern Border by supporting increased staffing and material aid at immigrant shelters, as well as improving services to asylum seekers across the US. At the same time, CWS will continue to advocate for federal immigration policies that are just and humane for asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants everywhere.