Supporting Refugees and Asylum Seekers During COVID-19

Advocate:

• Join HIAS National’s petition calling on the Department of Homeland Security to protect the health, safety and human rights of people seeking asylum in the United States. Sign the petition here.

• Take part in the Golden Door Coalition’s Virtual Advocacy Day on Tuesday, April 28. The Golden Door Coalition is an Illinois-based advocacy group whose members include HIAS Immigration & Citizenship, resettlement agencies, mutual aid organizations and refugee social services in Illinois.  
  • Find the Virtual Advocacy Day Toolkit here.

Volunteer Virtually:

• Create a video message for unaccompanied migrant youth in Chicago-area detention centers. Videos should:
  • Acknowledge the difficulty of this moment and connect it to stories/lessons about when faithful people have faced adversity and have prevailed.  
  • Affirm their innate strength and resilience and express confidence that we will get through this.  It will not last forever.
  • Encourage them to be leaders of the faith: to model kindness, compassion, and faithfulness as a support to others inside the facility.
    • Cards and letters are also welcome.
  • If interested, contact Rev. Sara Wohlleb, Director of the Unaccompanied Children’s Interfaith Ministry, a Program of the Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants: swohlleb@icdichicago.org.

• Are you a fluent Spanish speaker? Support HIAS National’s Border Response Team in Juarez, Mexico by facilitating remote intake interviews for asylum seekers. More information and application here.

Explore Other Volunteer Opportunities: Take Our Survey!

We continue to explore other avenues for supporting the local refugee community during this time. Please complete this survey to indicate what other opportunities you or your community would be interested in joining.

Want to support local refugee families with rent payments or other emergency expenses? Consider making a donation to any of the local resettlement or mutual aid organizations working on the front lines. The Illinois Refugee Resettlement Program's FY19 Annual Report includes a list of state-funded agencies.