Word of Thanks: Colorado Hosting Asylum Network

This week's Word of Thanks microgiving campaign on Next with Kyle Clark supports the Colorado Hosting Asylum Network, which helps asylum seekers achieve stability until the time they are able to obtain a work permit and can live independently.

Asylum Seekers have endured oppression and violence in its most cruel and dehumanizing forms, and have survived.  More than five million people globally were displaced from their homes last year due to these atrocities. They lived knowing their lives were in danger in their own countries, and many have sought protection and peace in the United States.

We recognize the strength, perseverance, and courage that Asylum Seekers have demonstrated only to arrive at the border of the United States and discover that they must now navigate a capricious, expensive, and complicated immigration system here.  On average, their asylum case in Immigration Court can take more than 4 years to complete.  Currently, there are over 25,000 Asylum cases pending in the Colorado courts alone.

To help our new Asylum Seekers get through this process, we create teams of people to accompany them in hospitality and companionship as they journey through the legal process they are a part of. This includes hosting our guests in private homes, financially and materially providing for their initial needs upon release, connecting them with the larger community and its resources, and emotionally supporting them as they work through their past and look to their future.

This effort is founded on the principle that entering into long-term, personal relationships with survivors of oppression, is capable of transforming the situation of our guests, our own understanding of our role in society, and the power systems that create the unjust conditions that our guests have experienced.

Your donated funds will help us to support the Asylum Seekers in our program until they have received their Employment Authorization Document and can live independently.  

Mission

We welcome Asylum Seekers into our own communities!

It is our mission to support Asylum Seekers through both personal relationships and with material resources, looking toward a successful outcome in immigration court and a successful transition to an independent, meaningful life in the United States.

We create teams to accompany Asylum Seekers in hospitality and companionship as they journey through their legal process. This includes hosting our guests in private homes, financially and materially providing for their needs until they receive their Employment Authorization Document, connecting them with the larger community and its resources, and emotionally supporting them as they work through their past and look to their future.

Background Statement

We began hosting asylum seekers in early 2020 in response to the increasing number of federal policies that limited and undermined an effective petition for asylum. We respect the commitment of immigrants who choose to make the United States of America their new home, investing their energies into building our nation, and sharing the richness of their experiences and culture with all of us.