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Sophia Sepp

CICW 2024 Post-Election Statement

By | Opportunities

CICW 2024 Post-Election Statement

Center on Immigration and Child Welfare Initiative (November 11, 2024)

The Center on Immigration and Child Welfare Initiative shares in the collective feelings of grief, uncertainty, and disillusionment in the wake of last week’s 2024 election results. We are deeply troubled by the incoming Trump administration’s promised policy agenda that directly threatens the safety, wellbeing, and futures of millions of children in immigrant families and other vulnerable communities.

For more than a decade, immigrants and their families have been the target of increasingly punitive policies, xenophobic rhetoric, and baseless myths. The CICW was born out of a response to this harmful sociopolitical environment that has endangered the foundations of child protection and well-being, and we remain deeply committed to the fight for a humane immigration system and immigration policies that protect children and families regardless of immigration status.

We are inspired by and stand in solidarity with our fellow advocates, partners, and communities who share in this work with us; and we look to the future with a renewed resolve to surmount these impending challenges and create a country where children of immigrants thrive in their families and communities. The CICW stands with immigrants and marginalized groups as we continue to mobilize for social justice, build power within our communities, and put forth practice-informed research, trainings, and policy work to ensure that all individuals’ rights are protected, regardless of immigration status.

CICW Research Workgroup to Present at SSWR 2024

By | Opportunities

CICW Research Workgroup to Present at SSWR 2024

Society for Social Work and Research • January 15th-19th, 2025

Members of the CICW Research Workgroup will present at the upcoming 2025 SSWR Annual Conference in January, including:

Handcuffed, Pushed, and Afraid: immigrant children share terrifying experiences while in Border Patrol custody

By | Detention, Immigrant Youth, Immigration Enforcement, Research, Safety, Trauma, Unaccompanied Minors, Unaccompanied Minors Research

Handcuffed, Pushed, and Afraid: Immigrant children share terrifying experiences while in Border Patrol custody

Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project (September 2024)

This report summarizes hundreds of complaints by unaccompanied immigrant children of physical and verbal abuse and lack of hygiene products and medical care while in U.S. Border Patrol custody.

All We Carry Film Screening Recap

By | Opportunities

All We Carry Film Screening Recap

Center on Immigration and Child Welfare (October 8, 2024)

On October 8th, 2024, Berkeley Social Welfare and CICW co-hosted a powerful documentary film screening of, All We Carry, directed by Cady Vogue, which follows a family’s extraordinary journey as they flee persecution from narcotraffickers in Honduras and endure months in US detention. Upon release, they are sponsored by a synagogue in Seattle and move into a borrowed beachfront home, all while they await their asylum verdict. Over three years, the family navigates countless life-altering and every-day moments where memory, joy, and grief collide.

CICW Director, Dr Kristina Lovato, moderated a panel discussion in which local social service providers and faith communities shared strategies for advocating for, and promoting, immigrant rights and justice. The panelists included:

  • Dr. Allison Tanner, Pastor of Public Witness, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church
  • Cady Voge, Director, Producer, and Cinematographer, All We Carry
  • Yuliana Wiser-León, Newcomer Navigation Center Director & Padres Unidos Grants Manager, Eden Church
  • Julie McDevitt, Integrated Behavioral Health Clinician, La Clínica de La Raza

Students, faculty, and community members enjoyed this timely discussion on promoting immigrant’s human rights amidst the current socio-political climate.

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