World Refugee Day 2019
Please join the Austin Refugee Roundtable on Saturday, June 15, 2019 from 11:30am - 2:30pm at the Bullock Texas State History Museum for a celebration of World Refugee Day!
Volunteer with the iACT Summer Refugee Youth Program!
Help refugee youth improve their English language reading, writing, and speaking during the summer (June 17-July 31, Monday-Thursday, 8:30am-12pm) at iACT's day program located in downtown Austin. To volunteer with the Summer Youth Program, you must attend a 2 day training session. Our training session will be happening from 6-8pm on Thursday, May 30 at the iACT office (2921 E 17th St) and Saturday, June 1 at Central Presbyterian Church (200 E 8th St) from 9-11am. If you can attend both days of this training (05/30 & 06/01), please sign up here.
When you fill out the form above, please indicate during which weeks you would like to volunteer. We ask that all volunteers commit to working with us for one whole week (Monday-Thursday, 8:30am-12pm) during the program.
If you are interested in joining iACT this summer to work with refugee youth in any other capacity, please contact Refugee Youth Program Coordinator Maggie Wagner at mwagner@interfaithtexas.org.
Exclusive: New training document for asylum screenings reflects tougher U.S. stance
Mica Rosenberg, Kristina Cooke
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Trump administration has revised training guidelines for asylum officers in ways that could make it harder for migrants seeking refuge in the United States to pass an initial screening.
The revisions to a lesson plan used by hundreds of asylum officers suggest the Trump administration is finding new ways to narrow who can access asylum as bolder policy proposals with that same goal have been blocked by federals courts, said former government officials and immigration experts who reviewed the internal plan that was shared with Reuters. The changes could potentially lead to more denials and deportations before migrants’ full cases can be heard, they said.
(For a link to the 2019 lesson plan, click here: tmsnrt.rs/2VJPtOk)
Jessica Collins, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which oversees asylum applications, said the agency periodically updates its training documents and that it processes all claims on a case-by-case basis. The lesson plan has been revised in 2006, 2014 and February 2017. The new version, dated April 30, goes into effect this month, USCIS said.
The ballooning number of mostly Central American families turning themselves into border agents and asking for asylum has pushed U.S. border agencies to a breaking point. In March, more than 100,000 people were caught at the U.S.-Mexico border, the highest monthly level in more than a decade.