By Hannah Liu Immigration and Immigrant Families team, Center for Law and Social Policy For more than two years, children and families fleeing danger have been turned away at the U.S.-Mexico border without a chance to seek asylum under a misguided policy called Title 42. Last week, the Biden Administration announced that it would be expanding the policy to include ... Read More »
By Mel Wilson, MBA, LCSW NASW Senior Policy Advisor The U.S. District Court in Houston on July 16 issued a decision that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program is unlawful, thereby partially halting it. The decision declaring DACA unlawful is based on flawed legal interpretation but more than that it punishes millions of DACA recipients and their families. In essence, the ruling ... Read More »
By Mel Wilson, MBA, LCSW NASW Senior Policy Advisor Shortly after Election Day, the new Biden-Harris Administration announced that immigration reform was one of its highest priorities. President Biden also pledged to rescind the inhumane asylum-seeker policies of the Trump administration ― the “remain in Mexico policy.” In February, the administration announced it would accept unaccompanied children, a reversal of Trump-era ... Read More »
By Melvin H. Wilson, MBA, LCSW Senior Policy Consultant Social Justice and Human Rights The incoming Biden-Harris Administration’s firm commitment to immigration reform and making it one of the first issues they addressed on their first day in office is a welcome turn of events. By all accounts, the administration has come up with an ambitious immigration legislation plan. In addition, ... Read More »
Unaccompanied minors, or “newcomer youths,” come to the United States from Mexico and Central America to escape violence and persecution, and to seek financial and academic opportunities. Many newcomer youths arrive with gaps in their formal education attributed to the immigration process and the heterogeneity of their pre-U.S. lives. Once they are enrolled in the U.S. school system, many educators ... Read More »
In case you missed it, here are some of the features in the February-March 2020 issue of Social Work Advocates. Top stories include: Immigration: Social Workers Focused on Trauma-Related Impact With so many immigrants and refugees experiencing trauma related to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, social workers are stepping up to help in various ways — from direct care to ... Read More »
By Kathryn Conley Wehrmann, PhD, MSW, LCSW President, National Association of Social Workers The Dilley Pro Bono Project (DPBP) is a local partner in the Immigration Justice Campaign. Its mission is to serve the immigrant mothers and children detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, TX. DPBP operates a non-traditional pro bono model of legal services that ... Read More »
Social workers eager to help immigrants who have been separated from their children have a wealth of resources at their disposal. The truth is one of them. National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Board Member Guadalupe G. Lara, LMSW, an expert on social work and immigration, is encouraging social workers to advocate for these children and “to speak to some of the ... Read More »
NASW STATEMENT: The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) strongly opposes President Trump’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and will work with allied organizations and Congress to continue protections for young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children. President Trump’s decision to revoke DACA dismays us. The order is cruel, unwise ... Read More »
The Trump AdminThe Trump Administration policy of deporting large numbers of immigrants who are in the United States illegally is having a significant impact on the social work profession. Staff from the National Association of Social Workers Arizona, California, New Mexico, New York City, Texas and National Office Social Justice and Human Rights department prepared a Social Justice Brief that looks at ... Read More »
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