August 2, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
Astoria’s newest performance venue will be holding a fundraising event this weekend for a group working to unite families separated at the southern border.
The Arc, located in the Kaufman Arts District, will host a benefit on Aug. 4 for Immigrant Families Together, a group started by a Long Island City mom that has helped to bail out 10 mothers detained in ICE detention centers, and reunite them with their children held in care centers across the country.
While the Trump policy to separate families is no longer in place, hundreds of parents have yet to be reunited with their kids, despite the July 26 reunification deadline placed on the administration.
The benefit, called “Sanctuary” is organized by DMNDR, the music media company behind The Arc, along with Slightly Altered States, a theater group, and includes live music from five bands, and theater adapted from letters written by detainees at detention centers, along with other performances.
“There is a feeling that this story has ended,” the organizers wrote on Facebook. “This story has not ended! It will be with us for a long time.”
The event at The Arc is free, and is meant to raise awareness about the group and encourage people to donate to the group through their online pages, a spokesperson for the organizers said.
The benefit is one of many being held across the city for Immigrant Families Together.
The benefit will be held from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at The Arc, located at 36-35 35th St.
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33 Comments
I agree with Charles Castro
They are not even supposed to be here! They gotta be in line and apply like everybody else!
I love how people use the words immigrants and illegal aliens interchangeably.. Immigrants are not a problem, illegals are.
Which bucket do you put refugees in Charles?
Anonymous: Who you hiding from? Refugee’s from where? War torn Chicago where 73 people were shot over the weekend?
Refugees seeking political asylum from Central American countries, that pass through Mexico. Wow, you’re REALLY out of the loop.
What separation of family?
Who told them to come here inthe first place!!
What is your implication? That because they tried to cross illegally, they don’t count as “families”?
We allow people to come to this country and seek asylum. It is something we should be commended for. That doesn’t mean you should have to have your children taken and away and unable to be located.
You have to think someone’s life must be pretty awful to come to a country that is basically broadcasting “WE DON’T WANT YOU”.
If you had a daughter that a gang wanted for a sex slave and your options were sex slave or the U.S. I would hope you would try to get to the U.S.
There is no true asylum for Mexico, Central, and South America. I guess you prefer for the gov’t to put the children in jails with their parents. That’s your opinion.
Jim so what you are saying is that we should just have open borders for every country south of the border because there is crime in those countries, and the children of those countries might become criminals. I am amazed, these gov’ts, should not be responsible for their citizens, just tell them,”go to the USA”.. Yes, you make a lot of sense.
No, I did not say open borders. I said we allow people to make an asylum claim.
That is not open borders. If your claim is denied you should get your children back.
I think as a wealthy nation we should do our part to help other human beings regardless of what country they come from.
Are you arguing the children should not be returned?
I am not saying that their children should not be returned. They should be kept with parents and sent on their way immediately. While you are worried about the poor all over the world, this weekend in Chicago 73 black people were shot and 12 of them killed. Maybe the citizens of Chicago should seek asylum in Mexico. How about we take care of our own first?
Charles a castro I can’t believe you don’t support Trump’s child concentration camps! I thought you were a patriot 🙁
So your logic is.
You came here seeking asylum.
Your children were taken away.
You lost your asylum case.
You don’t get your children back.
Why doesn’t the government know where the kids are and why won’t they return them?
In many cases where the children are not returned it is because many of them came across with someone who wasn’t a parent. No I.D. to prove who is who. Nice way to travel.. Or are some people just trying to get over?
C. Castro is absolutely right! United States can not be fixing people’s problem from other countries. Just because your husband is beating you up!
So you would deny Jews refugee status during WWII?
Allowing people to claim asylum is not fixing peoples problems . It also doesn’t mean you can keep their children .
So came across without their parent. Some people are trying to game the system.
Others, the government openly admits to losing track of the parents and/or children.
How do you lose track of the parents? We have f-ing computers, DNA, GPS.
You take DNA, you issue a unique ID then you log the family tree into the database.
How do you lose track? Some of those people used children that didn’t belong to them, that’s how. Secondly’ how do you compare WWII with, people leaving their countries because there is crime. Since when is that a reason for asylum? Should the ppl in Chicago, claim asylum because every weekend fifty people get shot, should they do it in the Bronx? I think you are a bit emotional and a low information voter.
No Charles A Castro, we allow people to CLAIM asylum.
I am not saying we approve the asylum claim.
Do you understand the difference? Claiming asylum vs accepting the claim.
Yes, people in Chicago could go to another country and CLAIM asylum.
That doesn’t mean the claim would not be rejected.
People are coming here CLAIMING ASYLUM because their CLAIM is they are suffering human right violations. The court decides whether the claim is valid.
Whether or not the child was the child of the adult. Even if they assertion is true for some kids, how did they lose the child? The government claims to not be able to LOCATE some of the children. Why? Anyway, these kids are stuck in the middle and need to get back to their parents. It is not their fault.
You said, “that’s how”. That is an observation but not an explanation.
“While the Trump policy to separate families”… you mean the “Obama Policy”?
How dare you take the credit away from Trump!
I don’t think they do. Trump is the one who decided to prosecute all of these people as criminals and, as a supposed deterrent, rip crying, terrified kids away from desperate, devastated parents. There was no such blanket policy under Obama, Bush or anyone else. There was no such intentional traumatization of young kids and parents to serve as an example to others. One wonders do any of the people defending Trump on this have kids? Or is it that they don’t see these people as human beings?
I wonder if you care as much for the American children who are separated from their parents on a daily basis, when their parents are arrested for committing crimes?
Murdering someone and crossing the border to seek asylum are not equal crimes .
That is not what this fundraiser is for though .
Why if the parents have been released are the children not returned ? That’s it .
Trump must go… when we gonna have someone who has the balls and just sends them back. He sets up daycare centers. What a joke. We don’t need no wall. We just need to realize they are illegal aliens and not so called immigrants and send them back immediately. We have people waiting for 7 years and still waiting to come in the legal way, where are the demonstrations and fund raising for them….
you must get your information from the “news”. good luck with that.
Are you next going to tell us there’s a deep state because a fake twitter account told you so ? Lol
So let me get this straight.. These people come here illegally, which is a crime, and they know that they risk being separated from their children and they still do it, and you’re mad at Trump? So you would rather the children be placed in a prison with the “parent”? I simply say, don’t use your child as a fcuking tool. As for asylum, since when is “there’s crime in my country” a reason for Asylum? There’s crime here in the USA as well.
Claiming asylum is not illegal . Crossing illegally is of course .
You are missing the point . The parents have been released .
If you get sent back that doesn’t give the US the rite to keep someone’s children . Why aren’t they returned?
Mary, you need to read up on Asylum in the USA. Crime in a foreign country doesn’t constitute “Human Rights Violations”. So your concept of throwing $hit against the wall and hoping some sticks, doesn’t validate anything.
The one missing the point is you. They aren’t returning the kids because they cannot prove that the kids belong to them. They are trying to prevent this smart guy..http://dailycaller.com/2018/08/07/illegal-posing-child-rape/