In Oregon, volunteers welcome newly released asylum seekers with rides, legal assistance

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday October 23, 2018 · 11:36 AM PDT

2018/10/23 · 11:36

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 28: Protesters march from Freedom Plaza to demonstrate against family detentions and to demand the end of criminalizing efforts of asylum seekers and immigrants June 28, 2018 in Washington, DC. More than 1,000 women from 47 states took part in the march that will end later today at the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Look around and, yes, you will see our fellow Americans actively working to enact hateful policies that harm the most vulnerable around us. But keep looking, and you will also see, in the words of a famous Mister Rogers quote that has seen a resurgence in recent years, the helpers who are helping.

In Oregon, the helpers are, among others, a group of retirees, attorneys, and faith leaders. More than 100 of them have committed their time to assisting asylum seekers recently released from federal custody. That means help with transportation, a meal, even financial aid. “They raised more than $12,000 to pay bonds for migrants who couldn't come up with the money themselves,” the New York Times reports.

Like many other migrants coming to the U.S., some have family scattered throughout the U.S. and “generally travel onward in a day or two.” But while they’re in Oregon, they’re also able to visit nearby Dasmesh Darbar Sikh temple, which has opened its doors for migrants to shower and rest. “Freed immigrants often sit outside on the temple grounds, taking in the fresh air near a driveway lined with red, white, yellow and pink flowers.”

It’s a relief from the abusive conditions alleged at the federal prison that some migrant detainees have been held at, due to overcrowding at ICE facilities from Donald Trump’s barbaric “zero tolerance” policy. “The detainees told federal public defenders they were initially confined to cells for up to 23 hours a day,” resulting in Innovation Law Lab connecting detainees with legal assistance.

This is the same sort of grassroots activism seen in places like Colorado, where Sarah Jackson operates Casa de Paz—House of Peace—where recently released asylum seekers are fed, clothed, and housed before they also move on. “You are released into this strange place with no money in a country that has treated you poorly,” said one man who was currently staying there. “Then you have this home where there’s free food, clothes, everything.”

Back in Oregon, Carlos Marroquin, a Salvadoran asylum seeker, was being driven by volunteer Cynthia McCracken to Dasmesh Darbar. "It's been so long, waiting for this moment," he said. "I feel an enormous gratitude for all these people, because they helped us in an incredible way: the community, lawyers."

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