NEWS / VIDEOS - Arizona Justice For Our Neighbors (AZJFON)

Arizona Justice For Our Neighbors (AZJFON)

News / Noticias

Our blog contains updates on local policies, immigration justice action, our legal services, and asylum advocacy.
Nuestro blog contiene actualizaciones sobre las políticas locales, la acción de la justicia de inmigración, nuestros servicios legales y la defensa del asilo.

Passing through Tucson, family's experience reveals asylum flaws

9/15/2022

"Passing through Tucson, family's experience reveals asylum flaws" was written by Tim Steller, Arizona Daily Star, Tucson.com on Sep 11, 2022 and reposted on AZJFON.ORG with permissions from the editor.

"De paso por Tucson, la experiencia de una familia revela los defectos del asilo" fue escrito por Tim Steller, Arizona Daily Star, Tucson.com el 11 de septiembre de 2022 y republicado en AZJFON.ORG con permiso del editor.

It only took a few minutes in a Tucson park before the three young brothers went off running, exploring the vast stretches of grass, sprinting to distant playground equipment.

After about 10 months of living in migrant shelters and rented rooms in Nogales, Sonora, dodging neighborhood mafiosos, the 4- to 8-year-old boys were free. It fulfilled Walter Jerezano, their father, to see that the sacrifices they’d made since fleeing violent attacks and threats in Honduras last year were not in vain.

“We resent it as adults, but the children do even more,” he said in Spanish. “They are in a stage of exploring, of moving, and in the places where we were, we were far from the natural conditions they should have.”

“Now take a look at them for yourself — where are they?” he asked, looking around the park from our seat at a table. “They have accumulated repression. At the first opportunity, they take it out, they explode.”

To my eyes, Jerezano, his wife Mabel Rápalo and their boys Walter, Axel and Brayan serve as an antidote to the border-related anger circulating in political campaigns. They’re a vibrant family who could contribute to our society if given a chance.

National JFON Welcomes Supreme Court Decision To End Migrant Protection Protocol

7/4/2022

Original post: https://njfon.org/2022/07/01/national-jfon-welcomes-supreme-court-decision-to-end-migrant-protection-protocol/

National JFON welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision in Biden v. Texas, a 5-4 ruling permitting the Biden administration to terminate the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP), also known as the “Remain in Mexico Program.” This Trump-era policy forced asylum seekers to remain in Mexico under dangerous conditions while their claims were decided.

AZJFON Mourns The Loss of 53 Migrants In San Antonio, Texas

6/29/2022

Arizona Justice For Our Neighbors mourns the loss of the 53 souls who were abandoned in a tractor trailer in San Antonio, Texas. We recognize the dignity and humanity of each individual lost and we mourn their lost hopes and dreams.

This is the most dangerous time for migrants to enter the United States and we recognize the desperation that many migrants face. All human beings regardless of where they are from, deserve the right to provide for themselves and their family, including being able to seek freedom in the United States.

We invite you to join us for a vigil to honor their memory and lives on Thursday, July 7th at 7:00 pm at El Tiradito, 418 S. Main Ave, Tucson, AZ 85701. Sign up for our email or follow us on social media to stay informed.

NJFON: The reversal of Roe v. Wade harms immigrants and communities of color

6/29/2022

Original post: njfon.org/2022/06/28/the-overturning-of-roe-v-wade-and-its-impact-on-our-immigrant-communities/

Last Friday—June 24, 2022—our nation’s highest court overturned Roe v. Wade (1973) ending nearly 50 years of constitutional precedent. The ruling came in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which concerned a Mississippi law prohibiting almost all abortions past the 15th week of pregnancy.

Outcomes of the "Caminamos Juntos" (Let's Walk Together) Program

4/1/2022

Goal: Ensure that asylum seekers at the Nogales, Sonora port of entry gain access to asylum system and that they have the necessary legal tools to represent themselves in their defensive asylum claim.

Outcomes 2021:

561 asylum seekers in Nogales, Sonora received services through our Caminamos Juntos Asylum Program. 275 of these asylum seekers were children.
We secured humanitarian parole for 300 asylum seekers in Nogales who are now safely in the U.S.
15 volunteers volunteered with our asylum program in 2021. They provided a total of 427 hours of services.
185 families received services through our asylum program.
85% of all the asylum seekers we served through our asylum program in 2021 were women and children.
177 asylum seekers received support in drafting their asylum declaration

Two years of waiting, two years of injustice, two years of suffering. Title 42 must end!

3/21/2022

Last Monday, March 21, 2022, asylum seekers took to the streets of Nogales to protest against the second anniversary of Title 42 by reenacting Jesus' journey to the cross, also known as the Stations of the Cross in the Christian tradition. Migrants marched, sang and prayed as they drew parallels between Jesus' passion and death and asylum seekers' experiences of rejection, violence and death at the hands of U.S. and Mexican authorities.

We demand justice for Carmelo Cruz Marcos

3/18/2022

Nearly 70 organizations, including Arizona Justice For Our Neighbors, sent a letter to continue to demand a thorough and transparent investigation, justice and closure in the death of Carmelo Cruz Marcos (presente!), a 32-year-old father of three who was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent on February 19, 2022 in the Douglas, Arizona area.

Welcome to our Legal Advocate: Aldemaro Peña Figueroa

3/1/2022

Aldemaro was born and raised in El Salvador. He immigrated to the United States in 2001 and became a US Citizen in 2017. The necessity to protect to immigrant’s rights was something he learned early in life. Growing up during the civil war in El Salvador, he witnessed the displacement of people fleeing from violence to find a safe livelihood. After the war, he had the opportunity to immigrate and eventually become a citizen of the United States of America. Aldemaro experienced first-hand the tedious legal process to become a citizen. He also understands the vulnerability immigrants face every day due to their legal status, and the lack of easily available pathways to become citizens and fully realize their human and civil rights.

Support Access to Asylum, Advocate to end Title 42 & MPP (remain in Mexico) policies

11/30/2021

Our attorney's Alba Jaramillo and Ella Rawls explain the importance of supporting access to asylum and advocating to end Title 42 and MPP (remain in Mexico) policies.

Support access to asylum, advocate for asylum, and let's end Title 42 and MPP together! With your support, our attorneys have provided free educational workshops and legal services to over 500 people. Help us continue our efforts for years to come with a recurring monthly or yearly donation to Arizona Justice for our Neighbors.

Día de los Muertos: honoring those who have lost their lives in the Sonoran-Arizona desert

11/2/2021

Written by Gabriela Rodríguez Clark, AZJFON Board member

The Day of the Dead represents a celebration of memory and a ritual that privileges the remembrance of those who have passed away, with the hope of seeing them again someday. This celebration takes place on November 1st and 2nd since it is divided into categories: According to the calendar, November 1st corresponds to All Saints, a day dedicated to the "chiquitos" or children, and November 2nd to the “Fieles Difuntos”, that is, to the adults.
Tradition indicates that, to facilitate the return of the souls to earth, cempasúchil flower petals should be scattered and candles should be placed tracing the path they will travel so that these souls do not get lost and reach their destination.

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