U.S. Border: How You Can Help

This is about the border and our crisis at the border and what's happening to innocent children at the border. And I know that I feel so frustrated about not doing more, and it feel like I need to be more educated about how I can help and how everybody can help, and what you can do just to make people's lives more humane down there. Since we're not legally allowed to donate, right, is that correct? We're not allowed to donate, we're not well, it is correct, we're not

allowed to make monetary donations. We can't we can't send anything. So that doesn't seem normal or right. So there are ways to go around that, and there are ways to help these people. So today we have two uh special guests that are here and that have done a lot of work on the ground and are very familiar with what's going going on at the border, and they work with two different organizations. Let's start with you, Shannon, Thank you.

My name is Shannon Camacho, and I work with the Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights, which is a nonprofit organization here in Los Angeles that helps community members, specifically immigrant community members, access legal services. We also do advocacy UM to influence legislation at the local, state, and federal level.

And then we do organizing and I think that's really the cornerstone of our organization is that we organize the community UM to fight for the rights and to make sure that conditions are better for immigrants in Los Angeles. It's called CHURLA your organization for short, right the acronym, and are people allowed to donate financially to that absolutely. I think it's when people think about the ways to

help UM. One of the biggest things that folks need, for example, people that are in detention are immigration attorneys, and so it's very important that we do the fundraising and we get donations in order to get more immigration attorneys to go out to the detention centers and meet

with clients. Immigrants are not guaranteed. They're not given an immigration attorney by the federal government, unlike the criminal justice system for for citizens, and so it's very important that we do raise money to have those kinds of services available for the community and also to know that you

can actually help legally aid somebody. I'll reference an article that I read this morning that a friend set me about actually being able to post bail for an immigrant so that they can start the legal process, and you know, to make a difference in one person's life, I think is what a lot of people are interested in doing. If you can't help everybody, just help one person, so a lot of us can do that. Let's talk to you. Archna Sagala, Archna Sagal, where do you work and what

do you do? So my name is Archna and I work at the National Immigration Law Center. We are one of the main organizations working to defend and advance the rights of low income immigrants in the United States. In terms of what we do, we you do everything from suing Donald Trump. We have a huge legal advocacy strategy, UM we have we do communications work, we also do advocacy.

We do loving on the on Capitol Hill, UM, as well as some of the work that we're doing right now to influence what all of the candidates, UM, the presidential candidates are saying about the election and immigration And is this a public organization or is it a private organization? Um, they're the National Immigration Law Center is a nonprofit organization. So okay, And so how do you guys operate that?

I mean, how do you zoom in on who needs your attention the most and what the most pressing cases are or is it doesn't even work that way? That's right. So we get donations from the incredible public that support our body of work, and then we have strategies to ensure what's going to be the most effective way to ensure that we're fighting for the soul of this country, to ensure that we all have the opportunity to thrive and to be here and seek opportunity. Yeah. I think

that the hardest thing to see. I mean, it's all very hard to see. And comparing it to concentration camps that people are saying, it's not a concentration Kive, you can't say that. I don't see why you can't say that. Um, what we're doing is traumatizing little children, were traumatizing them

and that things, and we're turning people into animals. So, you know, I know that there's a pressing need for people to want to act, but it feels so hopeless in a sense, and I know that it's not It has to not be hopeless, because there's always something you can do that's right. We think that the detention camps are absolutely horrible places and they're entirely unnecessary. So we at the National Immigration Law Center have an ongoing lawsuit to force the government to provide the basics um to

mostly women and children in these ice centers. But frankly, the conversation shouldn't be about toothbrushes. It should be about pursuing policies and programs that help immigrants navigate the immigration system without putting them in these camps, with putting them in jail. And it seems like it may be horrible, but there's everyday things that every single person can be doing right, and we're gonna get to all of that.

I'm gonna give you guys a list of places that you can get involved in, places you can volunteer, because what are the three T s time, talent, and treasure. Right, So I have a lot of treasure. I'm willing to share that. Some people just have time and some people just have talent, and whatever you have to contribute is worthwhile. So nothing is insurmountable, I would say, I would say that we can always do something a little bit more than we're doing. Um, So, tell us about the situation

of the camps. Why is it so exaggerated? Now? Why does Donald Trump keep playing Obama for these camps when Obama did never had a baby in a cage. That just never happened under any leader in the history, well actually not in this country, but okay, for what we're talking about, right, So, I think there's a very big difference between the Obama administration and the Trump administration. Although we do know that during the Obama administration there were

many deportations of individuals, especially Central American immigrants. That the one of the biggest differences during this administration is the fact that Trump is not respecting the international right to apply for asylum, and that has been an attack since the very beginning into thousand and sixteen, not allowing these Central American migrants to come request asylum, which is a universal right and so many other countries respect that, and

then instead really making it difficult and putting more and more barriers for them to to achieve that asylum, and so folks are then sent to detention centers and families are held together and for longer periods of time, instead of looking into alternatives to detention, and instead of investing money in programs to integrate these new arriving and right right for these children, he doesn't want them to learn exactly, and and that is super intentional. This is this is

part of a strategy to really deter migration. And that's something that we keep at Chaerila. We keep telling the community is this is not an accident. This is not something that he's trying to achieve just for himself. He's really trying to show the rest of the folks that are trying to come here, we don't want you, We

don't want you in this country. And that's something very very heartbreaking, um, because so many of these people are coming with families literally just looking for a better life, literally coming here to escape violence and persecution, and to know that this government does not respect that and is not trying to help them is just something very unbelievable or for people to prematurely be calling these people criminals before these people are fighting for their lives. They don't

deserve to be here because they became here illegally. If you came here illegally on that journey, you had no other choice. No one one wants to put their children's lives at risk, no one. I'm not a mother, and I know that I don't want to put any child's life at risk. So we've had seven children die, right yeah.

And and it's the very very difficult thing about that is that we know that there have been people that are unnamed, unidentified that had died while crossing the border in the past recent months, in the years, and and folks are dying in the detention centers as well, and we don't know, We really just don't know the extent to how people are suffering in all these different places because there's no transparency from the Department of Home in Security,

which is the agency that oversees these attention centers. There is no effort to highlight the conditions on their part, there's no effort to improve the conditions on their part, and so there are just people all over the country at the southern border, but also all over the country that are experiencing absolutely in humane conditions, and that is something that we're really trying to highlight through our work.

Do you guys know what a regular day in the life of somebody in one of the insane clint the one on the Texan border, right, It's just hell's hell on earth. And what's so painful is that everything that we're seeing, the images that are that are we're seeing daily on the television about the border quote unquote crisis

was created by Trump. We know that there is zero migration net migration from Mexico, so building something like a wall, which is incredibly expensive and ineffective, but it also fits Trump's narrative, which creates fear and disdain for immigrants, and we know that as part of his political theater um, Trump has moved a mix of cruelty and inefficiency to create a bottleneck of moms and dads and kids coming

from some America. We are seeking safety in our country, and they're seeking asylum, which we know is their legal right under both of US law and international law. But the reality is the fastest growing and documented migration comes from people who overstay their visas UM and we unless we look at root causes, which we know is violence against women and girls in Central America visa backlogs even in our own system, we won't solve the problem. So

we know that the wall is bad policy. We know that these detention centers, these camps are bad policy, and he's using these ideas to divide and distract us with a super racist narrative that riled up his base. And just to clarify, how long have these clamps existed in

the United States? So since the Department of Homeland Security was created in two thousand and three, and I'm not sure what the I n S, the Immigration Naturalization Services did before that, but ever since two thousand and three, the Department of Homeland Security has operated um these kinds of detention centers, either at the southern border or in

the interior of the United States. So I think it's important to remind people in the United States that when folks are arrested by eyes in inside the country, for example in Los Angeles, they are sent to a detention center, and the closest detention center here is at a length on So these detention centers all operate very similarly. In the way that they have horrible conditions, that there's just no respect for the folks that are inside, and that

they're there. The conditions are so horrible that there have been numerous reports written about them, and so it's it's really important that we talk about those two. Okay, we're gonna take a quick break and we'll be right back. And I've heard and read that these children have um family members and to go to, but are still being detained just out of cruelty and and red tape. But there was no plan in place to reunite any of these kids with their families initially, right that infrastructure that

was not was non existent. So essentially what this government did is they separated families with absolutely no plan to reunite them, which is not what Obama did. Right, It's just unbel It's such a new level of cruelty and and we're now just finding out about that, and it's it's just absolutely it's going to take so much work to heal the trauma with all the people that have experienced that separation and create policies that make it so

that that never happens again. But it's just unbelievable that this was never the plan. It was never the plan to reunite these families. This was just something again to show the rest of the world that the United States is not willing to accept asylum seekers and refugees well brown ones. Yes, exactly, And that's a very important point. Like our kind of was saying, it's very important to

highlight the racism of this. This Trump is not having this kind of attitude towards European people coming here and overseeing their visas. He doesn't highlight those folks. He's highlighting specifically Central American immigrants that are coming. And one of the reasons why they're coming to the United States is because the conditions in their countries are so horrible and a lot of that is due to US intervention. So a lot of these problems are very connected, and it

it does not make sense to shun refugees and asylum seekers. Instead, it makes sense to integrate folks that are literally running for their lives, trying to make a better place for themselves in this country. Migration is not going to stop.

It's not going to get less. They are going to be more and more and more people coming to the United States, especially given that we have climate change in global crisis, We're going to have more people migrating to the United States for the conditions, and so we really have to as a country, except that our current policies

are not sufficient enough. We need to change it so that we can integrate folks and give them services instead of shunning them, to build a fuller society, you know, to build a fair and equal society so people feel like they can get here the same way all of our ancestors got here. So, yes, what I was saying before the Trump administration announced last month that they would no longer provide legal aid, English classes and recreational programs

for unaccompanied miners in government custody. So that's one thing. And then I wanted to talk a little bit about what this Julie Sharon did. Do you know her? Yes, I do, so then you know what she did. She was looking for ways to contribute, and she had um bank account that her grandparents, who were spent years in Nazi camps, had left for her, and she decided that she wanted to use that money to bail out an

asylum seeker. So she called a friend who ran a volunteer organization called Immigrant Families Together, which are dedicated to providing food, clothing, airline tickets and other necessities to migrants as they come out of detention. And then she said, I need to know I got one person out, and she did get one person out, and then a lot of people followed suit and did what she did. The airline tickets, people can donate their miles. That's right, So

how did somebody go about doing that right? Immigrant Families together as a great organization. We've partnered with them UM a couple of times, and I think one way is to go on the website to see the different ways that you can donate UM. It's very There's also another UM organization called Miles for Migrants, and that's another place where folks can donate UM their their miles airline miles so that people can have plane tickets to their final

destination in the United States. Additionally, also UM one way to really help, and I think Immigrant Families also does this is through bond money, collecting enough bond money UM so that folks can be bailed out of detention centers. And at Cherila we also have a bond fund UM.

If you go on Cherola dot org you can donate to that bond fund, and that directly goes to folks that are in detention to try to we try to get them bonded out so that their family doesn't have to worry about providing that additional money, because it's it's one thing to be separated from your family member, but it's a whole another thing to lose thousands of dollars because they're in detention, and so that just puts an enormous long term strain on the family and that's something

that we really don't want folks to have to deal with, So we we really try to raise a lot of money for that bond fund for our immigration attorneys. Yes, and there are some also local organizations. Um there's Las Americas and El Paso and they provide legal services to migrants. A lot of these local organizations really need the support.

So if you're somebody who can donate like a hundred dollars or you know, a hundred and fifty dollars anything at all, then then it's good to support these local agencies because they are on the ground and they know what needs immediate attention. And then in Mexico there's one called Alterro Lado, which provides legal services in Tijuana, UH And they're both small organizations doing incredible work. So this

is another place you can give. One of the things that's so incredible about Julie Sharon's story is that she's an everyday person, and everyday people can be heroes. UM. That includes giving your time, it includes giving your money, it includes um spending a little bit of time, UM calling your elected official and demanding that they closed the camps up. And I just think that there's a whole

bunch of things that can be happening. And despite the pain and the cruelty, the chaos and the trauma that the Trump administration is creating, there's all these bright spots that are happening. I mean, look at you, You're having us on your having us to have a conversation about immigration. And so I just think that there's there's little things that you can be doing by donating five dollars. There's medium things that you can be doing by going to

Protect Immigrant Families dot org. And then there's bigger things that you can doing, which is to bail out women MS kids at a detention centers. Is there a way to sponsor an adult? Yes, I think there are a couple of different ways, and I would defer maybe if you're an attorney to go into more detail. But um, we do have folks, for example, through our ELI rd's Rapid Response Network that volunteer to sponsor individuals once they're released from detention. So that means like giving them a

place to stay. Um, how does that? So? I think it's it's a pretty complicated process, I believe, and they're will not complicated, but there does need to be paperwork done and you do need to work with the attorney for example, that's something that is representing the asylum seeker in order to make everything a smooth transition. Um. But I recommend if folks are interested in becoming sponsors, definitely reaching out to organizations like Cheerlau, CHEERLA, other legal organizations

that provide support to immigrants and detention. Those attorneys will be able to guide you into the process to become a sponsor. They will give you every single step. Um. And that is a really big need because after someone is released from detention, it doesn't it doesn't just end there.

They need a place to stay, they need support with food, with transportation, and so becoming a sponsor is a great way to support individuals and I know people personally who have done it and it's just such a beautiful thing to see. And does milk help with that too? Is that something? So the National Immigration Law Center, one of the things that we do is UM do. We do lots of know your Rights trainings UM, and we make sure that everyone UM has an understanding of what their

rights are. So there are in the words of Mr Rodgers, look for the helpers. There are so many opportunities to help UM. And so perhaps what might be helpful is if we put together a list for you that you might be able to share. We're going to link to all the organizations that we've discussed on the show UM in the podcast or on the podcast and on all platforms. So don't worry. I know most of you are driving well. I would like to go back and kind of here.

So once either someone has been detained at the border or arrested and sent to a detention center, they're placed in the facility for X amount of time. This is what I think a lot of people have a hard time understanding. Is they're there, how long are they there for? What is the process too? So they're applying for asylum once they're in the center, and then they have to receive bond or pay bond to be released. Correct, Am

I on the right path? So and and our purposes, but I'm not I'm not an immigration attorney, so so you so you can help me out then, um. But in terms of just very generally, and and we we have a lot of immigration attorneys that we work with and folks that have actually gone down to Tijuana and

have sort of like observed the situation. But I think what's important to understand is that CBP, which is the Customs and Border Patrol, they're actually holding people for longer than they should And I supposed to be in a cell for like twenty or something like forty two hours or seventy hours, whatever it is, they're helding them way beyond that that's supposed to be the man maximum amount of time they're supposed to be held. And I think

that's the takeaway. That's the takeaway that folks need to understand, is that this agency is not operating the way that it should be. And what was what is really painful to hear is that this agency, specifically Border Patrol, constantly says we need more money we need more money to have better conditions. We need more money so we can release people on time. The fact is the Department of Home and Security gets so much money, billions of dollars

every year. Their budget has been increasing, and most recently they received four point six billion dollars. Congress approved that and without any accountability mechanisms or oversight mechanisms, and so they're getting so much money, but the money is not going into better conditions. And I think that's very important for people to realize they're not using that to make

sure that people are are let out on time. Instead, what they're using that for is more space and and really just enforcement as well, because that money goes to that exactly, and profit and and private companies operate the detention centers within the interior of the United States. Atalanta was operated by the Geo Group, which is a private company, which makes it even harder to get information and even harder to have transparency. And that's just something that's literally

where the money is going. And we really want people to understand that, and we we actually like like our kind of saying, we do have the opportunity to change that. In California, half of California House Democrats voted to give four point six billion dollars to the Department of Homeland Security,

half of California Democrats. And so this is an issue on both sides of the aisle, and us as constituents really have to urge our members of Congress and the Democrats not to support any additional funding, especially when there's no accountability attached to it. And that was something very very difficult to see is that this this money four point six billion dollars essentially can be transferred within the

Department of Homeland Security to enforcement operations. So recently we heard about the threats of ice coming into these cities like Los Angeles and arresting hundreds of people. That is only possible with the money that they're getting. If we really defund the Department of Homeland Security, these kinds of massive operations and threats are no longer possible, and that's something all of us can do to change. Okay, so

what I mean, but how how do we defund the DHS? Right, so we know that I believe it's twenty four House

Democrats that voted to give more money. What we're doing through our Rapid Response network is We're going to be meeting with congressional members throughout the month of August because the budget fight happens in August, and we're going to have people meet with them, first to thank the folks that did not vote for the four points expillience, but all then at the same time to keep the people who did a acountable and to really explain the education needs to be done that this is where the money

is going. The money is going not to the border, not to make sure conditions are better, but instead to make enforcement more, to make enforcement larger, and to have more detention centers. And so all of us can call our members of Congress. There's a list of the people

that did vote for that four points experience. So I urge everybody that's that's listening to really afterwards look up to see if your congress member did actually vote for the four point six supplemental request and give them a contellent that's unacceptable, and explain why it's because that money is not going to better conditions. That money is literally going to these threats, to these ice rates. And so

that's something everybody can do. One of the things I think is really important is for all of us to really educate ourselves. And for so long Americans have seen immigration as a domestic policy issue, and I think Donald Trump wants us to see the manufactured crisis on the

border as a domestic policy issue. But I think it's really important for us a better understand that it's a foreign policy you as we shared UM, and we have to understand why people migrate, which is predominantly because of climate change, economic inequality, and violence, especially in Central America. And so I think that we're not going to address

root causes of white people migrate through detention camps. We're not going to address the root causes through a wall, and we're not going to address root causes through raids, which is purely performative. And at the end of the day, I think we need a broad menu of policies that improve the lives of immigrants and deep investment into Central America like the Martiall Plan after World War to the United States did a huge investment back into Western Europe

and specifically Germany. And so there are incredible policy opportunities to get involved. There's ways to activate UM your own community by bailing out folks, by donating in your miles, UM to being a helper and um serving as Yeah, just serving us, like a really excellent person that doesn't perpetuate bad information as well, and racist information as well. So I guess the first thing is don't be a racist.

Trying not to be a racist. Let's everybody start there. Well, I think that's what's really hard for someone I've had to totally tune out the news is there's so much information that you don't know. I'm on the treadmill at the gym and there's Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, and you're watching their music. The music they put to the news. Now, it sounds like a shooting spree. It's so un it's like the the the you know, Fox News, Amazon, it's all too much. It's you know, it's and it's unpleasant.

It's just harsh and and it's dark. And there's great things happening in the world. There's everything from Julie Sharon bailing at immigrants, and there's also wonderful things that are happening at the state and local level. Our governor. Governor is doing incredible work to improve the lives of of immigrants right now. But yeah, and I just I want to be I want to be a person. That's part of the solution, you know what I mean. I want to be doing something and I want to do more.

And I had a group of friends over last week to discuss, you know, like actionable things we can do, boycotts. What do we do? Do we boycott Amazon? Do we does everybody commit not to buy gas for a day until these babies are out of cages and reunited with their families? What do we do? What will have an impact? And you know what we can't kept coming back to is, first of all, how can any mother be okay with

this happening in your country? That's right, Like we're supposed to be looking out for other people's kids, not just our own. And then the second part is religion. How can they co opt religion and and do this in the name of religion and pretend that this is a Christian way. This is not Christianity, this isn't any religion.

And what we were thinking, what has been a lot of people have said, had this idea is to you know, really magnify that with images, with having all different sorts of religious leaders go down to the border, have a big event, have a huge concert, and have them set standing there with toothbrushes and out and blankets and all the things that babies need, not being allowed to go in and being denied to help these little innocent children who have nothing, have done nothing wrong, um And I

think that's powerful. So, I mean there's so many organizations on the ground. If you're one and you're listening, please get in touch with me. Everybody knows how to get in touch with me, um be because we want to align with other groups that are doing stuff and we want to create a big movement or whether it's a

social media movement. I know a lot of people are already working on this, So it would be great to join forces with somebody who's got a great idea and just needs more amplification because so many people just can't move about their day in a normal way because of this. Okay, well this sounds like a good time to take a break. Well, so we we've covered a lot of ways that people can help, and like Chelsea said, well link to all those.

But is there an outlet or a resource that people can use to get the most accurate information because, like I said, there's so much that on the television that you're watching, or so many tweets that you see, like what is a very digestible either website or outlet that people can look to for accurate information of what's going on at the border camps. Right. So, actually, NILK, the

National Immigration Law Center, is amazing. It has an amazing UM website with a bunch of resources explaining the different policy changes and the legal background of all these all these policies, and it's just very helpful I think for folks to to go on the website and then learn a little bit more about the background and what this means.

What is what is the result of for example, like Trump UM restricting asylum, Like recently last week you mentioned that he's going to make it even harder for folks to apply for asylum. How is that going to affect people? What are what are the legal what's the legal background for that? I think NEILK is a really good source of that. Also, UM the i l r C, which is the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, is a very great

UM resource. I use it all the time when I'm trying to really understand policies and UM changes in the law. And so I recommend those two specific places absolutely agree. And next Twitter handle is at an I ll SEE, which stands for the National Immigration Law Center. We have a huge team UM that is making sure that everyone that wants to be updated and informed can be updated and informed. Great, thank you, Brandon. Do you have anything

else you UM? I think like one of the common questions for people who are not politically savvy is how do we address what people on both sides of I'll say that we need border control, anyone should be able to get in. How do we do that appropriately? Like,

what is the response to that? There are other countries that have UM systems where when someone does migrate there, it's not a matter of them being detained, but rather they are integrated into a case management system where they're given the resources and the information to properly live at that in in that country, meaning that they're getting information on where to get food, where to go to school,

all of that is being facilitated by case workers. And I think that that's something that we should really as a country UM dedicate our money too, because instead of what we're doing currently is really dehumanizing people that are coming here, making them feel that they're not wanted, that

they shouldn't have come here. And I think the answer to that could be to have a very robust case management system where we are really trying to provide as much social services and information to people that are coming here so they can live their lives, they can get a foot in the door. Um. And I think that is absolutely possible. I think, of course, looking at the way things are now, it seems very unlikely that that's

going to happen sometime in the future. But I think us as a country, we really need to start looking at putting our money into systems that really integrate people. And I think that there are many ways to do it. Um. There. I'm sure there are policymakers that have been um fiddling with those ideas for a long time. And so I'd be interested to see the next presidential candidate, the next person that that takes office, really try to employ those

kinds of strategies of integration into the border. Might be

interested to see that. And just in terms of the election, I really think that because we're in the fight for the soul of our country, Americans are really hungry for an inclusive vision of our country, and that's rooted in our cherished values of belonging and thriving and the opportunity to get ahead, and so I'm really excited about But people believe that that only belongs to the people that are already in this country, and some people believe that

is only a white person's privilege. That's right, which is what we have to organize. You have to get the word out and we have to call our members of Congress. They work for us, and we have the Donald Trump Vata office in November. Well, to your point about the election, are there specific candidates that you've seen who how policy in place or could have policy in place for the immigration issue. Who are those candidates that people should be

looking to personally? Democrats, Yes, start there, that's a given. I think UM. Personally, it's been very great. It's been really great to see Julian Gastro really highlight immigration as a priority in his policy platform, and I really recommend people to go to his website and to look, really look and read um the policy platform that he has for immigration, because it is all about reducing our dependence

on detaining folks. It's really about that integration process and trying to provide resources to immigrants instead of treating them like criminals and trying to make the system so difficult for folks to get a foot in the door. So I think it's been really great to see him really highlight that UM during the debates and UM within his his policy plot from so I'm interested to see UM where that goes moving forward. I agree, And I also think that all the candidates can go further to advance

a bold vision. At the end of the day, I think that Americans really want to be done with this, the Trump's vision of distraction and hate, and so we're just looking for someone with an alternative. Change is super possible when we get loud and we get organized, things change. When we organized, we win. And so I just feel

really strongly that when we come together. So about last summer, an organization and called Hand in Hand organized these playdate protests where a whole bunch of parents and their kids went to ICE offices around the country. There's one in downtown l A. And I took my daughter too, and then we did another protests on Valentine's Day. She poor kids, She's always like, happy Valentine's Day. We're going to a protest. I'm like, yes, kid, of yes, we are. It's better

than celebrating Valence, I think. So I think so, but what's fascinating is that Mom's parents, um aunts, UM, they came together and it was getting really really we were getting loud, and then you see the effects of us getting loud, and then Donald Trump will shifted his behavior. So I just think that when we get together and we organize and we show up, we show up at these centers, we show up at our congress members um offices, when we show up together UM at the protests, people

are listening and people really care. And when I mean people, I mean the elected officials that we pay. Because right now the numbers at around fifty thousand, is that accurate for the folks that are detained. It actually fluctuates even even above fifty thou um. The last UM average daily population that I've heard of was actually fifty four thousand. So and the thing is, I think again, this is another very specifically we need to highlight, is that DHS

is not supposed to be detaining that many people. They only have money to detain around forty four thousand people. That was the money that Congress allocated to them for the last fiscal year. And so it just shows that this this this agency is not even obeying the rules set forth by Congress. It's not um detaining the number of people that it should be detaining, it's actually detaining more.

And so that's right. So that's it. But but that goes to their argument for needing more funds, which you said, we don't want to give them, right, right. But the problem is is that they they're asking for more funds, they're getting more detention space, and the conditions are just horrible, and they're just and honestly getting worse and worse and worse. We're seeing more reports, more pictures, more news about just

how horrible life is inside those detention centers. So it's when they use that argument, it to me, it's just a matter of trying to place the blame on something else. They're not using this this money to make the conditions better or to fix the solution, to really get to the core root of the problem and fix the solution to make integration possible. Instead, they're just using this as

a way to get more and more money. One of the things that's been terrible is that when everyone is paying attention to Donald Trump's Twitter, his minions are quietly taking our wrecking ball to the legal, entirely lawful immigration system,

and it's going almost entirely unnoticed. And so the Trump administration is actually in its final stages of changing our immigration rules in a way that will affect millions of lawfully residents and their and their families by imposing a wealth test um to make the road to citizenship impossible

for anyone that struggles to make ends meet. So the story about so many of our families, not all, but so many of our families that have come over with five dollars in their pocket, Um, that's gonna absolutely change if you only have five dollars in your pocket, if you're the next entrepreneur, Um, you're going to be a black from coming to this country because of this racial wealth test. And so this regulation change that's going to

impact twenty six million people. And we actually think that this regulation change, which is called public charge um, but it really is the lynchpin in Trump's very xenophobic agenda. And he's using this back to our regulatory approach because he couldn't get it done in Congress. And so that's the one thing I wanted to just like pay attention, what can we do about that? I am so excited because there's this incredible website that allows you to take

action called protect Immigrant Families dot org. Okay, well that's a good one. And what did they do obviously protecting family exactly. That's the best part when a website is

actually indicative of what we're trying to do. So there's opportunities to light when the when the rule is going to come out, there's going to be an opportunity to really push and let members of Congress know and are you allowed to I mean, is that something where you can actually go in and help, like one family know that you've done it instead of giving to an organization that's distributing it at their own accord or is that what kind of organization is So protect Immigrant Families as

a campaign to prestend that rule that's going to impact twenty six million people. But the other organizations that we talked about, including Immigrant Families to take out, there are places that you can go to sponsor a person, so to help a individual and then if you won't create a kind of a bond and a relationship with them, or you can just be like, here's some money. Yeah, I would like that. I would like I mean, i'd have some someone stay in my house for sure, you're amazing. No,

but I would. I have a big house, I don't have to teach other and I'm never and I'm never there, so it's perfect. I mean there's always someone that's did you know? I want to say, Kristin Bell. Did you see her? She she bailed out an asylum seeker for her birthday last year and she was just recently released. And so let's get used at up. I want to do that. For sure. We're going to have a winter birthday my birthday. I don't have to do it for my birthday. We could just do it, but sure my

birthday February. Everyone should know that. Anyway, right Brandon, Right, mind's coming up to Umber thirteen. So maybe we'll get you a new roommate. Oh yeah, dual birthday gift or what for you and for me? Okay, We're going to do what we can on our end, and I will keep everybody posted if there is some something that you can be part of that. I start and thank you, ladies, thank you for coming in today. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Life will be the Death of Me as

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