We're happy to report it is raining fellows at the Florence Project! We have three recent graduates joining our staff this year as fellows working on special projects.
University of Arizona College of Law graduate and former Florence Project intern Laura Belous has received a two year Equal Justice Works fellowship to provide targeted support to detainees suffering from mental illness. After taking the Arizona bar, Laura will join our staff this fall. You can read more about Laura and her project here: http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/profile/view?pid=15490.
Vassar College graduate and former Florence Project intern Dorien Ediger-Seto will also join us in July with a one year fellowship through the Compton Foundation. Dorien will support our Children's Project, providing targeted support to especially vulnerable children, assisting with social service needs, continuing surveying treatment in border patrol custody, and analyzing the educational and empowerment components of our children's program.
The Florence Project's close collaboration with the University of California - Davis also continues with the addition of two new attorneys this fall. Clinic alum Katharine Dick has received funding as a deferred associate to work with the Project for one year and will be focusing on assisting detainees seeking asylum, withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture. We are also thrilled to welcome UC Davis clinic alum and former Florence Project intern Jessica Zweng as a new staff attorney in the fall.
Monday, June 7, 2010
SB1070; Why Supporting the Florence Project is More Important Than Ever
SB1070, signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer on April 23rd, will have a devastating impact on immigrant communities in Arizona. If the law is implemented as planned late next month, we expect to see a marked increase in refugees and immigrants detained in remote facilities in Florence and Eloy and children’s facilities in Phoenix. Arizona already holds more than 10% of the country’s detained immigrants and has served as a testing lab for aggressive immigration enforcement measures that tend to spread eastward and northward.
The Florence Project remains the only free legal service provider for the approximately 3,000 people detained in Immigration & Customs Enforcement custody for removal proceedings on any given day. In 2009, our staff of just 14 assisted over 7,000 people from 91 different countries. We are bracing ourselves for not only a rise in cases post SB1070, but an increase in the complexity of cases as individuals seek to challenge the lawfulness of their apprehension by the police. We also expect to see more families forcibly separated, with U.S. citizen children and spouses losing a primary breadwinner and loved one to detention and deportation.
Arizona is not as a whole an anti-immigrant state, as demonstrated by the incredible staff and board of the Florence Project and thousands of others who tirelessly advocate for immigrant rights in Arizona every day. But we are unfortunately outnumbered in terms of politics and – at the moment – power. We need the support of people outside our state to continue to respond so strongly to this legislation and do whatever you can to ensure it doesn’t surface in your own communities. One way to do this is to speak out and be vigilant in combating policies and practices that unjustly target people based on their race, citizenship, sexual orientation or other discriminatory ground. Another is to lend support to the people on the “front lines” who are dealing with the repercussions of this terrible piece of legislation and other enforcement actions against immigrant communities in Arizona.
A donation to the Florence Project at this time will help ensure we are equipped to deal with the current work and the work that is surely ahead. As those who are familiar with us know, we are an organization with very little administrative overhead and small salaries for our incredibly hardworking staff. What keeps us motivated is our belief in our mission and our desire to witness and advocate for our clients, who usually have no one else to fight for them. Any donation to the Florence Project, no matter what the size, will go directly to our work with detainees and no place else. Please consider donating now via our website at www.firrp.org or by mailing us a check at PO Box 654, Florence, AZ 85132. All donations are tax deductible and we will send you a letter for your records.
If you can’t join us by making a donation, tell a friend about us or consider asking us to speak to your community group, school or congregation about our work. One thing we’ve learned in the past several weeks is that raising awareness packs a powerful punch. Here’s to hoping it leads us to a better place.
The Florence Project remains the only free legal service provider for the approximately 3,000 people detained in Immigration & Customs Enforcement custody for removal proceedings on any given day. In 2009, our staff of just 14 assisted over 7,000 people from 91 different countries. We are bracing ourselves for not only a rise in cases post SB1070, but an increase in the complexity of cases as individuals seek to challenge the lawfulness of their apprehension by the police. We also expect to see more families forcibly separated, with U.S. citizen children and spouses losing a primary breadwinner and loved one to detention and deportation.
Arizona is not as a whole an anti-immigrant state, as demonstrated by the incredible staff and board of the Florence Project and thousands of others who tirelessly advocate for immigrant rights in Arizona every day. But we are unfortunately outnumbered in terms of politics and – at the moment – power. We need the support of people outside our state to continue to respond so strongly to this legislation and do whatever you can to ensure it doesn’t surface in your own communities. One way to do this is to speak out and be vigilant in combating policies and practices that unjustly target people based on their race, citizenship, sexual orientation or other discriminatory ground. Another is to lend support to the people on the “front lines” who are dealing with the repercussions of this terrible piece of legislation and other enforcement actions against immigrant communities in Arizona.
A donation to the Florence Project at this time will help ensure we are equipped to deal with the current work and the work that is surely ahead. As those who are familiar with us know, we are an organization with very little administrative overhead and small salaries for our incredibly hardworking staff. What keeps us motivated is our belief in our mission and our desire to witness and advocate for our clients, who usually have no one else to fight for them. Any donation to the Florence Project, no matter what the size, will go directly to our work with detainees and no place else. Please consider donating now via our website at www.firrp.org or by mailing us a check at PO Box 654, Florence, AZ 85132. All donations are tax deductible and we will send you a letter for your records.
If you can’t join us by making a donation, tell a friend about us or consider asking us to speak to your community group, school or congregation about our work. One thing we’ve learned in the past several weeks is that raising awareness packs a powerful punch. Here’s to hoping it leads us to a better place.
Florence Project Wins John Jay Medal for Justice
On April 6th, the Florence Project received the 2010 John Jay Medal for Justice from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for our work on behalf of detained immigrants and refugees in Arizona. While the award is usually given to an individual, the nominating committee was so impressed with the Florence Project’s work it decided to give the award to an organization for the first time. Fellow 2010 award recipients were Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, co-founders/co-directors of the Innocence Project, and Leymah Gbowe, Executive Director of Women, Peace & Security Africa.
Legal Director Kara Hartzler accepted the award and Board President Noel Fidel, staff attorney Katie Ruhl and former staff, interns, and supporters were present to celebrate in a star studded ceremony in New York City (featuring speeches by Mia Farrow, Ellen Burstyn, and Rossana Rosado, publisher of El Diario La Prensa, as well as a surprise performance by Joshua Bell!).
As an organization working on the crossroads of immigration law and criminal law, we're thrilled to have been recognized by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, an internationally recognized leader in criminal justice research and education.
For more information about the event see: http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/3777.php.
Legal Director Kara Hartzler accepted the award and Board President Noel Fidel, staff attorney Katie Ruhl and former staff, interns, and supporters were present to celebrate in a star studded ceremony in New York City (featuring speeches by Mia Farrow, Ellen Burstyn, and Rossana Rosado, publisher of El Diario La Prensa, as well as a surprise performance by Joshua Bell!).
As an organization working on the crossroads of immigration law and criminal law, we're thrilled to have been recognized by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, an internationally recognized leader in criminal justice research and education.
For more information about the event see: http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/3777.php.
Florence Project Celebrates 20 Years!
On March 27th, Florence Project staff, board members, alumni, supporters, friends and former clients came together to celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary at the home of long time Board Member Peggy Kirch and husband Art Piccinati. We honored Florence Project founder Chris Brelje and the law firm Lewis & Roca LLP, who funded Chris’s year-long sabbatical from the firm to start the Project in 1989. Former staff and supporters came from across the country to join us in Phoenix for the celebration.
Photos from the event can be seen via the link below:
http://practicalart.zenfolio.com/firrp
Photos from the event can be seen via the link below:
http://practicalart.zenfolio.com/firrp
Letters from Detention Project
If you haven't already made your way to www.detentionstories.org, now is the time to check it out. The Florence Project, with generous support from the Arizona Humanities Council, is launching an inaugural detention story project to share the voices of the amazing people we serve. Project coordinators and Florence Project volunteers Melissa Mundt and Laura Belous have been hard at work on the project interviewing former clients, family members, and staff over the last year. The focus of the project is to amplify the voices of detainees who tell about their life experiences and time in detention in Arizona. Stories can be heard on the project website (www.detentionstories.org) and will be broadcast via radio this fall. A public panel and small book publication will also launch in late 2010. Be sure to check the site for updates and news.
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