A California couple has raised over US$9 million dollars for a Texas-based non-profit immigration law service in an effort to help reunite migrant families separated by U.S. border officials.
Charlotte and Dave Willner’s Facebook fundraising campaign has received donations from more than 230,000 users on the social media platform since its launch last Saturday.
Proceeds from the “Reunite an immigrant parent with their child” effort are set to go towards The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), which is said to be the largest organization of its type in Texas.
More than 2,300 children have been separated from their parents as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy that criminally prosecutes anyone caught entering the U.S. illegally. The Trump administration has not spelled out a clear path to reuniting impacted parents and children.
“These children don't know where their parents are. Their parents aren't allowed to communicate with them while in custody,” Charlotte Wilner wrote in a Facebook post. “In many cases, parents have been deported without their children — sometimes, young children are deported without their parents.”
The main website belonging to RAICES could not be accessed on Wednesday morning. Administrators cited “higher than normal traffic.”
