justneighbors

We are profoundly saddened to hear of the loss of three beautiful people, one of whom worked here at Just Neighbors. Please pray for the family of these beautiful individuals.

Just Neighbors is pleased to announce Genesis Lazo as our new development associate. Genesis was a fellow at Just Neighbors in 2016 through the Shinnyo Foundation where she worked on development and outreach. She became a member of the Just Neighbors Board of Directors in 2017 while she worked full time as a development assistant

The attainment of United States citizenship has never appeared to be such a dire requirement for immigrants and asylees than at the current moment. Our political climate precludes these vulnerable populations from depending on the protection of green cards from deportation; instead, many immigrants feel that acquiring U.S. citizenship alone will protect them from expulsion

In the last several months, the Trump Administration has issued new policies, including “zero tolerance” and redefining what qualifies for asylum. The first is not a change in law, but a change in the enforcement of the law with the intent to use the separation of children from their families as a tactic to discourage

The atrocities currently taking place at the Mexico-United States border have received such intense media scrutiny that the average, working-class American could be forgiven for forgetting that there are injustices of great magnitude happening all around us.  Just Neighbors staff, volunteers, and like-minded citizens maintain awareness that immigrants of all nationalities and beliefs have been

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that nearly 2,000 children have been separated from their families over the last two months. As we hear more and more stories of family separations both at the border and in our own communities it is hard to not lose hope or become numb to all the news around

The rate at which news is produced in America, and the amount of time average Americans have to consume that news, makes it difficult to read beyond headlines and top stories. And so, while hearsay and chatter about scandals in our national government dominate the front pages of almost all American news outlets, the narratives

The narratives of immigrants living in the United States are characterized by change. Our democratic government heavily influences our society (and vice versa), so fluctuations in public policy often cause a reaction through public opinions (and again, vice versa). Likewise, the election process brings different individuals with various political positions into power, and those individuals

In struggling with the difficulties of our clients, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Just Neighbors staff and volunteers are a vibrant group of individuals who possess their own goals and motivations. According to Just Neighbors’ Operations Director Stephanie Barnes, “approximately 30 percent of Just Neighbors volunteers are immigrants or first-generation

The overarching mission of Just Neighbors staff and volunteers is to help all immigrants and asylees who come to our office become productive, accepted members of their communities in northern Virginia. But our team has a great deal of work yet to do. According to the Migration Policy Institute, an estimated eleven million undocumented immigrants