BDS Hosts Livestream to Launch Todos Together Fund
Media Advisory
Contact: Daniel Ball, dball@bds.org
***For Immediate Release***
BROOKLYN DEFENDER SERVICES HOSTS LIVESTREAM TO LAUNCH TODOS TOGETHER FUND
(Brooklyn, NY) – Tomorrow, join Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) for the launch of BDS’ Todos Together fund with a livestream discussion on the realities immigrants are facing in and out of detention during the COVID-19 pandemic.
WHEN: Thursday, August 6, 2020 at 2 PM
WHO: Edwin, BDS client released from ICE detention during the pandemic
Andrea Sáenz, Attorney-In-Charge, New York Immigrant Family Unity Project at BDS
Meg Smithson, Social Worker, BDS’ NYIFUP Practice
Gabriela Domenzain, BDS Senior Advisor
WHAT: Livestream on the realities facing immigrants in New York during the pandemic and the launch of BDS’ Todos Together fund.
WHERE: Register for Zoom Webinar
WHY: Since the beginning of the pandemic, Brooklyn Defender Services has been unwavering in its demand that all immigrants be freed from detention. Through extraordinary legal efforts, BDS has won the release of 75% of detained immigrants we represent since mid-March. In such turbulent times, we recognize that people have additional urgent needs, and we responded by creating the Todos Together fund. The fund will provide critical assistance to immigrant New Yorkers who BDS represents because so many are excluded from state and federal government assistance and are in dire need of support to survive.
“When COVID-19 hit, getting immigrants we represent out of ICE detention became an issue of life or death,” said Andrea Sáenz, Attorney-In-Charge of the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project at BDS. “But once we won their release, our attorneys and social workers saw how badly they needed assistance at home. We cannot allow people in our communities to have to choose between paying rent or buying groceries for their families.”
“The Todos Together fund will help immigrant families with immediate assistance for groceries and essential baby supplies; for medicines and utility bills,” said Gabriela Domenzain, BDS Senior Advisor. “It’s impossible to ignore the cruelty and inhumanity with which immigrants are being treated in the United States even during a pandemic. But if we all stand up for immigrant families, we can get through these times together.”
Please watch the campaign video here:
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Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) is a non-profit public defense office in Brooklyn, New York. BDS provides multi-disciplinary and client-centered criminal defense, family defense, immigration and other civil legal services, and social work support to over 30,000 indigent Brooklyn residents every year.
