Vance Center Discusses Family Separation Crisis at Central America Donors Forum

(Claudia Murga and Jorge Escobedo at the Central America Donors Forum | Photo Credit: Cathleen Caren)

At the invitation of the Tinker Foundation, the Vance Center and Justice in Motion jointly organized a panel on the family separation crisis at the 2019 Central America Donors Forum in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. With over 480 attendees from organizations like Ford Foundation, Oxfam America, UNICEF and USAID, the Forum’s main themes focused on migration and corruption.

The panel entitled “Keeping Families Together: Lessons in Cross-Border Partnerships from the Family Separation Crisis and Beyond” highlighted the importance of international pro bono networks and the key role of the private sector in gaining access to justice for migrants and their children.

Tinker Foundation President Caroline Kronley moderated the panel, which included Vance Center Director of Pro Bono Partnerships Jorge Escobedo, Fundación Pro Bono Guatemala executive director Claudia Murga, and Justice in Motion executive director Cathleen Caron. Escobedo presented the Vance Center’s Keep Families Together initiative, which provides U.S. immigration lawyers with pro bono co-counsels in Central America and elsewhere to assist families separated by U.S. immigration policy. Fundación Pro Bono Guatemala, a member of the Pro Bono Networks of the Americas, is one of the closest partners in the Keep Families Together initiative.

Please here click here for further information on the initiative and its development.