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"This is the money from my book sale. I hope that you never get separated again. I hope no families get separated, ever. " -- Felix, 8yrs
“Este es el dinero de mi venta de libros. Espero que nunca se separen de nuevo. Espero que ninguna familia vuelva a ser separada, nunca. – Felix, 8 años de edad.
a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to reuniting and supporting immigrant families separated at the US/Mexico border.
IFT is one of the most comprehensive organizations meeting the needs of immigrant families. We also provide support and resources to the families we've reunited:
In addition we have programs for:
SPLIT AT THE ROOT follows the emotional journey of mothers separated from their children at the U.S. border and the grassroots initiative that, against all odds, reunites those families. When a Guatemalan mother seeking asylum was separated from her kids under Zero Tolerance Policy, a Facebook post by a mother in Queens coalesced into a movement as thousands of like-minded women across the US refused to stand by quietly. Immigrant Families Together was born as a rapid response group committed to doing what the government couldn’t—or wouldn’t do: reunite parents with their children separated by the Zero Tolerance Policy. Over four years, IFT reunited hundreds of families. Over 2,000 children's reunification status are still unknown, and thousands of people impacted by separations are still suffering the effects of pursuing asylum.
TODAY Show | Rosario Dawson Talks New Passion Project
SPLIT AT THE ROOT
Linda Goldstein Knowlton tells what’s different about the narrative of family separation in Split at the Root.
Streaming begins on Netflix
March 3, 2023
"I believe this is a film that
will resonate with you;
the protagonists in our film allowed
their vulnerability and rawness
to BE power."
Hello Bello, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard's premium eco friendly diaper company, partners with us to provide diapers and hand sanitizer for our families and families on the border.
Bombas touched the lives of over 1000 immigrants from toddlers to adults with a donation of 5000 pairs of socks to our partners on the border in El Paso, TX. In 2023 they have pledged 14,000 pairs of socks.
Penzeys is making the world a better place by partnering with us to provide spices and seasonings for shelters on the border serving meals to migrants and their families.
Sesame Street in Communities partners with Immigrant Families Together to provide our partners on the border with materials for families to create safe spaces during these trauma filled times in their lives.
Robin Hood‘s COVID-19 Relief program generously provided a grant in the amount of $3,500, to help cover food expenses for IFT families in NYC.
TomboyX, whose brazenly unapologetic underwear made for all bodies and genders, provides underwear to migrants living in homeless shelters, on the street in tents and under tarps for our special projects on the border.
Seventh Generation partnered with us to provide period care products to asylum-seeking refugees in need. Seventh Generation’s mission is to transform the world into a healthy, sustainable & equitable place for the next seven generations.
Casper partners with us to provide beds to families.
6397 showed up for our partners on the border with a shipment of jeans and t shirts.
LUX, a California Public Benefit Corporation, supporting humanitarian causes and keeping families together. in partnership with The CityPak Project provided 102 backpacks to our partners on the border.
Lumos, the foundation founded by J.K. Rowling partnered with us to accomplish our shared mission of reuniting families and helping them to rebuild their lives and recover from the trauma they have endured.
We are so grateful to those of you who have supported IFT with a donation in 2022, especially as this year has brought unprecedented fundraising challenges. With inflation impacting most folks' budgets and calls for donor support coming from all issues and all over the globe, it's been a challenging year for non-profits dependent upon fundraising to literally keep their lights on and services going.
We are proud that in 2022, we were able to fund $100,000 worth of legal services that resulted in a 99% success rate of non-deportation and pay 4 bonds. Release from detention prisons without bond is possible with legal representation.
We are also proud that we have been able to mobilize a humanitarian aid rapid response to the cold weather crisis creating challenges at the southern border, providing hot food, clothing, and hygiene items to asylum seekers awaiting entry into the United States in the El Paso area. The shelters we support provide stability and safety for migrant families while they prepare to join their friends and families elsewhere. We hope to continue supporting these projects throughout 2023.
In addition to these 2 main projects, we couldn't be more proud to announce our ESL program is entering it's 3rd year.
We plan to continue all of this work and more in 2023, and we need your support!
We hope you will consider a contribution to our work, by making a tax-deductible donation to Immigrant Families Together. You can donate online through
GoFundMe.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/ift-general-fund
If you prefer to send a check, your donation can be made payable to Immigrant Families Together and mailed to:
Immigrant Families Together
c/o Julie Schwietert Collazo,
PO Box 7769, NY, NY 10116.
2022
Immigrant Families Together is excited to announce that we have completed our process of discernment about our 2022 focus, goals, and work.
Partners and colleagues in immigration advocacy led us in this intensive process, informing us with their assessments about greatest unmet needs, as well as overlooked fronts where immigration enforcement and detention will be playing out in the coming year. We are grateful for their guidance, time, labor, and expertise in leading us through this period of discernment.
After reflecting deeply on these conversations, we have arrived at the decision to make a bold commitment to the support of and justice for women and girls who will be imprisoned in a detention center for females that is opening in 2022 in Pennsylvania.
This focus expands upon the detention support program that we launched at the end of 2019, and seeks to make a dramatic, tangible impact by supporting local attorneys and activists who have been engaged in the long-term, intersectional labor of challenging the systemic and structural abuses of immigration detention.
What this means specifically is:
In addition to these new commitments, we will continue to provide support to the families for whom we posted bond both during and after the 2018 zero tolerance policy that resulted in the separation of thousands of families. To date, we have paid 124 bonds, totaling more than $1.18 million. The majority of the families for whom we posted bond are now self-supporting and are proceeding through their asylum cases before the immgiration court, though we continue to cover legal, housing, and grocery costs for some families. In addition, the ESL program we launched in 2021 is going strong, having just launched Level 2, which students attend three nights per week. We continue to provide case management support and COVID relief services to families and to border partners, which include regular shipments of PPE and information and support for accessing and receiving vaccines.
Awarded: January 2, 2022
From day one Immigrant Families Together has provided the utmost transparency for our work by publicly publishing our focus, goals and accomplishments.
We are honored to be among the less than 20,000 organizations awarded this designation.
This special matching campaign reached it's goal in 2020!
“What ICE has underestimated in this case is the power of these women, and their resilience, and their cohesiveness as a community which will lead to ....
how this house of cards
is gonna fall down.”
Immigrant Families Together Foundation initially formed as a group of volunteers in June 2018 in reaction to the zero tolerance policy that separates families at the border. We are dedicated to reuniting and supporting families separated at the US/Mexico border.
Since then, we incorporated in December 2018, received 501 (c)3 status in February 2020 and we:
• Posted bond for 128 adults and reunited them with their families (bonds have ranged from $1,500 to $40,000).
• Provide ongoing support -- legal counsel, housing, groceries, clothing, healthcare on an as-needed basis -- for families to live a stable life without becoming a public charge.
• Provide support to partners on the border who meet immediate needs of asylum seekers affected by the Migrant Protection Protocols.
• Provide phone and commissary funds to asylum seekers in detention, as well as support to families who have lost a loved one in detention in order to obtain the remains and make final arrangements.
Yeni Gonzalez, our first mom,
leaving Eloy Detention Center
Director, Julie Schwietert Collazo with
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez,
Rep. Carolyn Mahoney and
Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas honored for her/our and your work with Immigrant Families Together.
Photo courtesy: The Astoria Bookshop
“Immigration policy is personal for so many of us in Queens who come from immigrant families. This federal government’s anti-immigrant agenda is un-American and shameful. Thankfully, good people like Julie are organizing and fighting back,”
said Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris.
“I am honored to support her work with Immigrant Families Together and pleased to recognize her as a Woman of Distinction.”
The Senator cares about family reunification and supports immigration reform.
Sen. Gianaris awarded Immigrant Families Together a $20,000 grant on our first anniversary.
Al Senador le importa la reunificación familiar y apoya la reforma de inmigración.
"You don't have to wait for the government to do what you are socially responsible to do"
Francisco Collazo - Cofounder
Immigrant Families Together
We have proven you really can do something as one person and one collective of concerned people.
- Julie Schwietert Collazo, Executive Director of Immigrant Families Together
"In honor of my precious grandchildren. All children deserve to be protected and cherished, and their parents deserve to be supported in trying to protect and take care their families." -- Liz
“En honor a mis preciosos nietos. Todos los niños merecen ser protegidos y apreciados, y sus padres merecen ser apoyados en tratar de proteger y cuidar de sus familias.” – Liz