This is how dire things have gotten: Being enrolled in the so-called Remain in Mexico program is no longer the worst-case scenario for asylum-seekers. Luis Gonzalez, Jewish Family Service supervising attorney, is interviewed about what asylum-seekers are experiencing in Mexico from security concerns to the pandemic.

This front-page story features a story about the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which may be determined by who wins the presidency in November. Leah Chavarria, Jewish Family Service’s Director of Immigration Services, is interviewed. Our team of lawyers are currently representing 80 families in hopes of having their children being included in the DACA program. Most of the family’s applications have not been accepted. “Parents just want their children to be safe” Chavarria says in the article.

Our Higher Education Legal Services (HELS) team is offering workshops on college campuses to help DACA recipients and offer other resources.

JFS Director of Parenting and Youth Services, Autumn Weidman, joined Morning Extra Monday to discuss our Positive Parenting Program that helps parents and caregivers of all ages. Register at www.jfssd.org/positiveparentingcourse.

Sandra Schller of the Chula Vista Heritage Museum interviews Harry Rosen, a longtime member of our College Avenue Center. During Covid-19, he has relied on receiving frozen meals. In this interview, his optimism comes across as he talks about his family’s experience during the Holocaust and his life now. At the 37:08 time stamp, he talks about JFS.

The economic strain of the coronavirus pandemic has more Americans turning to food banks and charity for help feeding their family. “I want people to understand, the face of the needy is different now,” said Ms. Cazimero, who depends on the drive-thru distribution at Jewish Family Service as part of her daily routine to feed her family.

Hedy Dalin, JFS Director of Care Management, was interviewed by Sandra Scheller, museum curator of the Chula Vista Heritage Museum, which is currently featuring an exhibit, Project Ruth, which focuses on Holocaust Survivors.

The coronavirus’ disproportionate impact on Latinos has exposed chronic disparities in health, housing and income throughout the county.

Lea Bush, Senior Director of Family & Community Services, discusses the goal of the parking lot is to provide a safe space to sleep for newly homeless people who are temporarily living in their vehicles, the homeless population that often goes unnoticed.

The non-profit Jewish Family Service of San Diego distributes the state payments in the form of prepaid debit cards. They go to undocumented people impacted by the pandemic in San Diego and Imperial Counties, where around 7% of the state’s undocumented population lives.

Noun Abdelaziz, outreach coordinator for our Breaking Down Barriers program, sees herself as a “citizen of the world.” At JFS, she is destigmatizing mental health and bringing her community’s voice forward.

Two days after the mom gave birth in a San Diego hospital, the mother was given a choice: Go back to Mexico with or without her newborn, who is a U.S. citizen by birthright. “That’s not a choice. That’s not a legitimate choice,” said Mitra Ebadolahi, an attorney with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. She said the mother and the baby returned to Mexico.

Luis Gonzalez, Jewish Family Service Immigration Attorney, details why a family should not have been expelled to Mexico in this video interview.

“This family should have been granted release into the U.S. to await their asylum proceedings, as the Department of Homeland Security has done with more than 23,500 individuals – all in family units – over the past one and a half years across the San Diego border region,” Gonzalez said.

When an asylum-seeking family from Honduras crossed the border last month, Border Patrol agents separated the parents and quickly sent the father and young son to Mexico. The mother was sent to a hospital in Chula Vista where she gave birth. She was then returned to Tijuana a few days later with their newborn son — a U.S. citizen.
Attorneys with Jewish Family Service and the American Civil Liberties Union said that the family should’ve been allowed to wait for its asylum case in the United States.

“During the entire process, she was in pain from giving birth and she felt no choice but to go into Mexico,” the family’s attorney said.

“That’s not a choice. That’s not a legitimate choice,” said Mitra Ebadolahi, a lawyer with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. “These people both, both the mother and the father, were literally driven in a patrol vehicle to the border and forced to walk across into Mexico by armed agents. I don’t see choices there.

On Friday, the ACLU and Jewish Family Service of San Diego filed a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General, and a request to simply allow the family to enter the U.S. to continue their asylum process.

Last week, a federal appeals court and a district judge blocked a Trump policy to deny asylum to anyone who passes through another country on the way to the U.S. border with Mexico without first seeking protection there.

Jewish Family Service wants the family released in the United States, where they have relatives, to argue their asylum case in court. Together with the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties, the group plans to ask the Homeland Security Department to investigate what happened.

JFS is urgently calling for additional volunteer drivers to help deliver freshly prepared meals and shelf-stable food packages to isolated, at-risk seniors throughout San Diego County.

For many in San Diego, making ends meet is a daily challenge. This is especially true for our community’s most vulnerable: struggling families, older adults, people experiencing homelessness, and undocumented immigrants. And this hardship has been even further compounded by the COVID-19 crisis. Jewish Family Service is committed to meeting San Diego’s ever-changing needs, assisting people of all faiths, backgrounds, and ages.

JFS was named a Super Pantry. Sasha Escue, Director of Nutrition Services, is interviewed at our no-touch, no-contact food distribution that takes place every weekday at the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Campus. Click below for an article and video of the story.

Tom Stewart, Hand Up Food Pantry Coordinator, is recognized as a front-line hero in this testimonial.

In this op-ed, CEO Michael Hopkins and Ellen J. Neufeldt, President of California State University San Marcos, discuss the Supreme Court’s decision to protect DACA recipients and how critically important it is that Congress takes action now to provide permanent safety, protection, and pathway towards citizenship.

Sedrick Murhula, JFS Youth Program Coordinator, participates in this important roundtable discussion.

With ‘Remain in Mexico’ hearings paused, the coronavirus lockdown has made it increasingly difficult to find food and shelter.

The City Council voted unanimously to extend the city’s contract with the nonprofit Jewish Family Service, citing a potential increase in homelessness due to the coronavirus pandemic and after police found no evidence that program was increasing crime, as opponents predicted it would.