Help Nicole Save Refugee Families

Since the spring of 2016, US immigration officials at the Tijuana-San Ysidro border have been illegally denying and delaying refugees’ ability to seek asylum in the US. Thousands of vulnerable families fleeing horrific violence in their home countries, including young children, have been turned away by US officials and denied their legal right to request asylum in the US.

Nicole Ramos is a US immigration attorney based out of Tijuana, Mexico. Nicole’s law practice has been transformed and turned upside down by the number of asylum seekers being denied by the US and sent back into TIjuana. In the last 6 months, Nicole has accompanied asylum seeking families to the US border on a weekly basis, many of whom have been turned away at the border even though she has informed the US gov’t that she is their attorney. Nicole has also begun hosting asylum workshops, know-your-rights presentations, and volunteer engagements for attorneys and advocates visiting Tijuana from the US. The need for these programs is greater than ever. Can you chip in $20 to help Nicole protect more refugees in Tijuana from Trump’s anti-immigrant policies?

This fundraiser intends to raise $10,000 for the following goals:
1. Help Nicole represent, accompany, and defend refugees vulnerable to Trump's border ban
2. Build the organizational systems for Nicole’s project to support more refugees
3. Training more volunteers to help Nicole represent more refugees at the Tijuana border 
4. Help build capacity for local organizations to join the fight to defend asylum seekers' rights

The vast majority of families that Nicole encounters are vulnerable people who have fled violent persecution and have no money, meaning she represents their cases for free. The executive orders of the Trump administration have further emboldened US immigration officials to deny asylum seekers even though they do not have the authority to do so, and Nicole’s work is more important to these families than ever. As Nicole takes on these asylum cases to fight the xenophobic policies of the US government, she needs our help to build the infrastructure and resources to serve refugees stuck in Tijuana.

The accompanying video highlights just one example of how US immigration officials deny vulnerable asylum seekers, despite the fact that Nicole informed US immigration officials that she is representing them.

We are raising $10,000 to support Nicole and her colleagues in Tijuana achieve the following to protect vulnerable refugees.

1. Hiring Personnel and Building Capacity for the Border Rights Project: $5,000
   a. Hire consultant to build systems and infrastructure    for Nicole to organize her asylum defense project
   b. Hire and train a paralegal to help with pro-bono       cases
   c. Hire and train a consultant to assist with clients detained in detention centers in Southern California
2. Supporting logistics and infrastructure: $5,000
   a. Purchase office equipment for Nicole and her staff
   b. Purchase materials to improve office capacity (and print stuff!)
   c.  Pay for transportation, phone calls from detention    (very expensive!!) and emergency refugee needs
   d. Cost of rental space, events logistics, etc. when training and  collaborating with other local organizations
   e. Fix Nicole's beat up old car with no struts or shocks
 
Thank you for taking action to donate to this critical effort.