Six Vermont organizations, affiliated in a regional effort to support people seeking asylum in the United States, are partnering for a Giving Tuesday fundraiser on Tuesday, Dec. 1.
The organizations include the Community Asylum Seekers Project, Brattleboro; Bridge to Rutland, Rutland; Randolph Area Asylum Seekers Support, Randolph; Chittenden Asylum Seekers Assistance Network, Burlington; the Central Vermont Refugee Action Network and its Asylum Seeker Assistance Network, Montpelier; and Northeast Kingdom Asylum Seekers Assistance Network, St. Johnsbury.
“People who seek asylum in the United States have fled persecution and violence in their countries of birth, only to encounter the same in U.S. detention facilities,” organizers wrote in a news release.
“Under policies of the federal administration, families have been separated, children have been kept in cages, and it has become more and more difficult for families and individuals to pursue their legal rights to asylum, forcing them into longer and longer waiting periods before being permitted to earn a living,” they added.
Community organizations across the state say they “are working to empty ICE detention centers one family at a time” and maintain that “the arrival of these new Vermonters enriches our community life.”
The coalition aims to raise $10,000 to directly help people seeking asylum relocate to Vermont and receive essential support as they move through the immigration courts.
The six groups are supporting approximately 20 asylum seekers, with more in the coming months. Groups follow COVID-19-approved safety protocols.
To learn more about the coalition's work and the fundraiser, visit caspvt.org or email Kate Paarlberg-Kvam, CASP's executive director, at kate@caspvt.org.