Image

Asylum Sessions

Extending a Warm Welcome to Asylum Seekers and Unaccompanied Children

During this session, participants will hear from shelters along the U.S.-Mexico border and CWS staff on how they are extending welcome to asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children, once they are released from federal custody. We will also discuss services available to asylum seekers at the U.S.- Mexico border. In addition, we will explore ways to support local shelters and prepare to welcome families in your local communities, as well as ways to support unaccompanied children.

Following this session, participants will:
Understand the process asylum seekers go through when released from federal custody
Understand services available at the U.S. – Mexico border
Understand who Unaccompanied Children are and the process they go through to reunite with their families


Watch Session

Presenters

Marielle Septien, Border Programs Manager, Border and Asylum Services, Church World Service

Marielle Septien is a first generation Mexican American from Texas. As a dual citizen, she grew up with the privilege of having the cross-border cultural understanding of Latin America, while having the safety and security of living in the United States. When narco-violence prevented her family from returning to Mexico, she realized she wanted to find solutions for people experiencing poverty and violence. She graduated with a master’s from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and received a certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies. While her master’s focused on international development, most of her work has focused on humanitarian emergencies. She worked with the Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Office at USCIS, where she reviewed cases of unaccompanied minors from Central America and researched regional country conditions. She also worked with HIAS as a Program Officer for Latin American and the Caribbean, where she managed PRM programs for Venezuelan refugees across the region. Before joining CWS, she was a Child Protection Officer with UNICEF, based in Tijuana, Mexico. Marielle has also conducted field research on informal markets in Quito, was a Fulbright teaching fellow in Madrid, and interned with the Political and Economic Affairs Division of the US Embassy in Montevideo.

Tiffany Nelms, Associate Director of Home Study and Post Release Services, CWS

Tiffany oversees the provision of services to more than 6,000 unaccompanied children reunified with sponsors in the US. Prior to joining CWS, she was the Executive Director of Asylee Women, a holistic program providing housing, ESL and job readiness and material support through their community center in Baltimore, MD. Tiffany has nearly 20 years’ experience working with women and children in forced migration. She has a Master’s of Social Work from the University of Maryland.

Watch Session

Click the play arrow in the lower lefthand corner of the video player, below, to watch the session.