Refugee Voice Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
September 2015 — Vol 9, Issue 1
Finding solutions for legal challenges facing asylum seekers “This initiative is rooted in the Catholic and Jesuit principle of welcoming the stranger, and I can think of no more fundamental lesson to teach our law students.” Professor Daria Fisher Page from Georgetown University Law Center made this statement as she reflected on a recently launched partnership between Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and 13 U.S.-based Jesuit law schools1. The partnership aims to address the legal challenges faced by families and children from Central America seeking protection in the United States. Addressing the needs of people seeking protection and refuge in the U.S. is a complex and multi-layered issue. This partnership creates a platform to set forth the particular challenges identified by legal practitioners at Jesuit law schools in the U.S. who are working to assist asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants from Central America. Helping to spearhead this partnership, William M. Treanor, Dean of the Georgetown University Law Center, noted it continued on page 2
A Note from the National Director Migration from the Northern Triangle of Central America — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — has risen steadily as violence has increased in the region. Persecution at the hands of armed groups, including gangs, has intensified in the last decade. And, as drug trafficking routes have shifted to Central America, violence associated with the drug trade has risen as well. Victims have not been able to seek safety and protection from their own governments and, as a result, have taken the dangerous journey from their home country to the U.S. in search of safety. We have seen scores of unaccompanied children and families with young children risking their lives in the hopes of a more hopeful future.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer helps unaccompanied children into a Border Patrol vehicle after they have crossed the border into the United States in June 2014. (Barry Bahler — Customs and Border Protection/DHS)
JRS/USA and U.S.-based Jesuit law schools have been engaged in efforts to respond to the number of children and families from Central America seeking protection, and are jointly committed to collaboratively expanding efforts to address this critical issue. With every good wish and blessing,
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