The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) is a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

based in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

that aims to provide legal services for

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

. , it was the largest legal aid group of its kind in Texas. RAICES also runs Casa RAICES, which provides housing for thousands of

undocumented immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

s and

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...

s per year.

History

RAICES was founded in 1987 (sometimes listed as 1986) to help Central American refugees in the United States. In January 2016, RAICES' Executive Director, Jonathan Ryan, was part of a lawsuit filed against the state of Texas over House Bill 11, a law that made it a state felony to harbor undocumented immigrants. The lawsuit, which was filed by the

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) is a national non-profit civil rights organization formed in 1968 by Jack Greenberg to protect the rights of Latinos in the United States."MALDEF" entry in ''Los Angeles A to Z: An ...

on behalf of Ryan and two

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

landlords, alleged that the state was violating due process rights and circumventing federal authority over immigration policy. The law was temporarily paused due to an injunction issued by a federal judge, but in February 2017, a federal appeals panel ruled that the state could continue to enforce HB 11.

Viral 2018 fundraiser

In June 2018, publicity regarding the

Trump administration's family separation policy The United States family separation policy under the Trump administration was presented to the public as a "zero tolerance" approach intended to deter illegal immigration and to encourage tougher legislation. In some cases, families followi ...

led to the creation of an Internet campaign to collect funds for RAICES. A

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

user in California created a fundraiser for RAICES called "Reunite an immigrant parent with their child". As of June 20, 2018, the fundraiser had raised $12 million for RAICES and was one of the largest in Facebook's history. The fundraiser was created in response to a "

zero tolerance A zero tolerance policy is one which imposes a punishment for every infraction of a stated rule.zero tolerance, n.' (under ''zero, n.''). The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed. 1989. Retrieved 10 November 2009. Italy, Japan, Singapore China, Indi ...

" immigration policy implemented in April 2018 by

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States Attorney General from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United States ...

, which requires United States Border Patrol agents to detain all adult immigrants suspected of crossing the border illegally. From early May to mid June 2018, over 2,300 children were separated from their parents as a result of the zero tolerance policy.

National hotline

In June 2018 RAICES launched a "National Families Together Hotline" to assist family members who had been separated by current US immigration policy, to locate and reconnect with one another.RAICES' "National Families Together" Hotline Plans To Help Reunite Immigrant Kids & Their Parents
Bustle.com. By Seth Millstein. June, 2018. Downloaded August 14, 2018.

References

External links

*{{official website, https://www.raicestexas.org/ 1987 establishments in Texas Non-profit organizations based in Texas Immigration to the United States Legal advocacy organizations in the United States Organizations established in 1987 Refugee aid organizations in the United States