Monday, August 1, 2016

(Photo credit: LA Times; picturing Peggy Thompson, Beverly Huff, Ellen DeYoung, and Sheryl Hagen).

The Los Angeles Times' weekend edition contains a story about Friends of the Orange County Detainees, a program that visits immigrant detainees in Orange County, CA. The piece serves as a great example of how a group of people who care enough to get involved in an otherwise hidden problem can make a true difference in the lives of others. (I was personally thrilled to see the LA Times cover their work, as I have seen these advocates in action as they have extended compassion and community to so many immigrant detainees in the area). "It gives your soul back to you," said one individual from Ghana, who the article describes as having been detained for over a year at two Orange County-based detention facilities, Theo Lacy (a medium security jail) and Musick (a minimum security facility).

For more information on starting a visitation program, check out this helpful site by Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC).

-JKoh

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2016/08/friends-of-the-orange-county-detainees-one-visitation-programs-efforts-to-assist-immigrant-detainees.html