CATHEDRAL CITY — For the second time in about two weeks, a local art gallery is hosting a silent auction to help families who were separated at the border under the Trump Administration’s zero-tolerance policy.
The SCRAP Gallery and Agnes Pelton Society are hosting the silent auction as a fundraiser to support reuniting immigrant children who were separated from their parents at the border. Money raised will also be used to advocate for refugee and immigrant children, according to Simeon Den, owner of the Simeon Den Galley.
The silent auction will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, July 14 at the Simeon Den Gallery.
All money raised will be donated to support legal services for detained parents. It will be donated directly to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES).
Parents separated from their children at the border can’t get released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custory to reunited with their families until they pay the full amount of their immigration bond. Bonds are set at a minimum of $1,5000 and are usually in the range of $5,000 to $10,000, even for asylum seekers without any criminal history, according to RAICES.
The art to be auctioned is supplied by local artists who want to help families affected by the policy, The event is being organized by two local art gallery owners, Den and Karen Riley, who said they’re just trying to help in any way they can.
T-shirts like this one that Simeon Den is wearing will be sold and auctioned on Saturday.
Den said he wants to find a way for people to be part of the solution and provide a way for the community to give back.
Both the Palm Springs City Council and the Cathedral City Council on July 11 passed like resolutions addressing this issue.
The Trump Administration recently implemented a new “zero tolerance” policy to separate children from their parents at border crossings and the children in large detention centers, according to the twin Resolutions. The new policy dramatically increases the number of vulnerable minors who are in U.S. custody without the protection of their families, resulting in 10,773 migrant children in U.S. custody as of May 2018, according to the United States Health and Human Services.
In practice, this policy has resulted in at least 2,000 minors who have been separated from their families since April 19, 2018, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
These are the children local artists are trying to help.
