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View Full Version : Immigration Proponents Produce Film To Tug At Heartstrings


Ayatollahgondola
02-02-2010, 05:25 AM
Just in time to coincide with an amnesty proposal, comes the box office smash hit:

February 2, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tricia Swartz
(703) 310-1130 Ext. 3041
tswartz@uscridc.org
Oscar Nominated Documentary Which Way Home Shows the Perilous Journey of the Children That The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants’ (USCRI’s) National Center for Refugee & Immigrant Children Helps Each Day

The Oscar nominated documentary Which Way Home brings much needed attention to the plight of children taking life-threatening journeys to the United States. The film exposes the little known phenomenon of children traveling thousands of miles through South and Central America, without their parents or other adults, to seek safety and opportunity in the U.S.

USCRI’s National Center for Refugee & Immigrant Children works to protect and assist these children in order to keep them from becoming victims of traffickers or others who prey upon children and to help give them the opportunity to grow up and become productive adults.

Which Way Home follows a small number of children, but each year about 8,000 children are apprehended trying to enter the U.S. without their parents, frequently led by smugglers. “The trip is long and physically dangerous. Many children do not survive. Those who do are often exploited by police, smugglers, and other adults,” explains Tricia Swartz, Director of the National Center for Refugee & Immigrant Children. “Yet these children risk their lives to come to the U.S. in the hopes of finding new parents, their own parents, or a life on their own. They flee abuse, persecution, severe violence, human trafficking, hunger, homelessness and poverty,” Swartz continues. Frequently both their governments and families have failed to protect and care for these children in their home countries.

Director Rebecca Cammisa’s Which Way Home is the first film which documents this dangerous trek made by children. The National Center for Refugee & Immigrant Children has partnered with Cammisa, to make people aware of what is happening to these children and to deliver services to help these vulnerable youth. “We hope Which Way Home will be a catalyst to help save children fleeing poverty and abuse as they attempt to make this dangerous journey," says Swartz.

The National Center for Refugee & Immigrant Children is the only nationwide program serving these vulnerable youth. Founded in 2005 by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, with a seed grant from Angelina Jolie, The National Center provides migrating children comprehensive services and advocacy.

The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants is a Washington, DC area based nonprofit organization, dedicated to addressing the needs and rights of persons in forced or voluntary migration worldwide by advancing fair and humane public policy, facilitating and providing direct professional services, and promoting the full participation of refugees and immigrants in community life.

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, 2231 Crystal Drive Suite 350, Arlington, VA 22202-3711, (703) 310-1130, www.Refugees.org