The world can be such a beautiful place, but unfortunately, mankind just wouldn’t stop ruining it. People are not just ruining the environment as well as the animals by their cruelty, but also their fellow people. More and more children are becoming victims of abuse all over the world, in fact, some of them have become mentally ill because of it since they can no longer hope for a better future.
Lack of Legal Representation In Immigration
A young lady named Wendy can still recall how she was abused back in her homeland in El Salvador when she was just a child. She managed to escape, but instead of actually being free, she has to conquer the incredibly complicated legal system of the United States.
Just like most any other immigrant, young Wendy could not afford to have any legal representation. In an interview, she recalled the fear that she actually felt back when she first set foot to the United States, she had to sign papers that were in English so she could barely understand what she was getting into.
Thanks to people who are fighting for immigrants, Wendy was eventually given a lawyer courtesy if the Immigrants Defenders Law Center, who took on her case. Now she is living in Southern California and is studying in high school, with the dreams of becoming a neurologist.
Last Wednesday, Wendy was joined by one of the many celebrities who has been fighting for immigration rights as well as abuse awareness, Alyssa Milano. They were surrounded by local immigrant advocates to spread awareness when it comes to the hardships of immigration proceedings, that were all presented by lawyers.
What most people don’t know is that, when it comes to the criminal legal system, legal representation is provided regardless if they could pay for it or not. Unlike on the immigration legal system, which is basically from the civil law, if you cannot afford one, then you can’t be given one.
….Our Immigration policy, laughed at all over the world, is very unfair to all of those people who have gone through the system legally and are waiting on line for years! Immigration must be based on merit – we need people who will help to Make America Great Again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2018
This fight by the immigrants was even challenged further by Trump’s zero tolerance when it comes to the separation of the families policy. Which is why last January, according to Judge Consuelo Callahan, those underaged immigrants who entered the country without any legal authorization, must not be enabled to legal representation if they cannot afford it.
This is said to be overextending the immigration system of the country. This then led to nonprofit organizations to come together and helps immigrants get legal representations, but obviously, it still wasn’t enough to accommodate everyone. There is still about 70 percent of them who don’t have any legal representations, and that is according to the representatives of the American Bar Association’s Immigration Justice Project.
TO ANY JOURNALISTS FOLLOWING ME!
I just heard from a source that 13 of Southwest Key's "shelters" for immigrant youth in Arizona are having their licenses revoked due to child sex abuse being perpetrated by staff.
Please investigate this.
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) September 20, 2018
Milano’s Fight Against Abuse
This is now where the actress, Alyssa Milano comes in because, during last Wednesday’s conference, she launched the new effort that would fund legal representations for immigrants. Known as the SAFE Families Fund, it will then bolster the Vera Institute of Justice Program that would help immigrants have their own lawyers since they will be facing immediate deportation.
In an interview, Milano said that this would keep families together and make them feel safe and protected at the same time. They will be able to guarantee the due process that is needed when it comes to deportation since they would be able to have access to legal counsel. It is known to be a right of an American citizen to have it, but it does not include those who belong to a different nationality despite living in the United States. Milano blames both the Republicans and the Democrats, especially the current administration for all this chaos that has been happening in the country.
This is actually not the very first time that the actress has been involved in social issues like this. In fact, she was the one behind the powerful Me Too movement, which spread all over the world last year, when film producer Harvey Weinstein was accused by tons of women, including celebrities of physical harassment and abuse.
She encouraged everyone to use the hashtag MeToo and come out and fight for justice. Because of her humanitarian efforts, she served as UNICEF Goodwill ambassador for more than 15 years for the United States of America and has been involved with tons of charitable works.