FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 25, 2019
CONTACT: Mary Elizabeth Margolis | media@cwsglobal.org
CWS Launches Call Center to Connect Asylum Seekers Released from Detention with Resources in Local Communities
New York City– Church World Service today announced the launch of the CWS Resource Call Center to connect refugee families after they are released from immigration detention with support for their onward journeys. The call center, which will be available to asylum-seekers, asylees and refugees, is an ecumenical effort that will connect callers to CWS affiliate offices, CWS member congregations, and Sanctuary Churches in the communities they are traveling to who can provide local support through housing, resource sharing and friendship. CWS has partnered with a network of migrant shelters along the U.S. southern border to provide the 1-800 number to asylum seekers who are preparing to travel to a secondary destination.
“We have heard the cries of families seeking safety at the border and watched in horror as the administration has tried to deny them their legal right to seek safety. These families should be welcomed with the compassion and generosity that is the cornerstone of American values and Christian faith. With this new call center, people of faith around the country are stepping up to welcome asylum seekers into their communities and provide the assistance they need to start over,” said CWS President & CEO Rev. John L. McCullough.
Many of the families released from detention have fled extreme violence and persecution in their home countries and have traveled thousands of miles in search of safety only to be stripped of their remaining belongings and resources as they are detained along the U.S. border. The call center will connect these asylum seekers with support and resources as they undertake a secondary journey to communities across the country to reconnect with family members, begin to rebuild their lives and await their hearings in immigration court.
The call center will also link people interested in providing support to asylum seekers by strategically connecting them to border shelters and receiving communities. The call center number is being distributed directly to asylum seekers by border shelters and will be provided to other service providers upon request. Interested supporters can contact the call center for more information by emailing resourcecenter@cwsglobal.org.
The CWS Resource Call Center is part of a comprehensive effort of CWS to support families fleeing violence and conflict in Central America and help them access the safe home they deserve. Learn more and get involved at https://cwsglobal.org/protect-vulnerable-families/.
Since 1946, Church World Service has supported refugees, immigrants and other displaced individuals, in addition to providing sustainable relief and development solutions to communities that wrestle with hunger and poverty. Learn more about our work and join our global homebase for refugee solidarity at GreaterAs1.org.
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