Why Toyboat?

Over his lifetime, acclaimed Nigerian photographer, J.D. Okhai Ojeikere, photographed thousands of hairstyles worn by Nigerian and African women. Today, these photographs have been seen around the world and continue to inspire stylists, hairdressers and photographers alike.

To pay homage to Ojeikere’s work, photographer Medina Dugger created the Chroma  photo series, which she describes as “an ongoing series that celebrates women’s hairstyles in Lagos, Nigeria through a fanciful, contemporary lens.”

Five sounds like a LOT, right? And she knew that. Whenever she told new people that, they tended to be shocked.

So she’d start bigger. She’d say, “Hi my name is Debi, I have eight children.”

“EIGHT?!”

Then she’d laugh. “I’m just kidding, it’s only five.”

Then they’d laugh. “Oh! Okay.”

Right now I’m thinking about that a LOT as I see the Trump administration go “We’re gonna arrest and detain immigrant families INDEFINITELY. But hey…

It’s been nearly two months since the Trump administration announced its new “zero tolerance” policy regarding illegal immigration, which federal officials say has led to about 2,000 undocumented immigrant children in government custody being separated from their parents.

The first tent city that’ll house immigrant children opened in El Paso on Friday. Some families have been separated for months; some parents have been deported without their children.

We’ve compiled a list of organizations that are mobilizing to try and help children that have been separated from their parents at the Texas-Mexico border:

South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project is providing free legal services to asylum seekers detained in South Texas.

RAICES is a nonprofit that provides free and low-cost legal services to immigrant children, families and refugees in Texas. It’s accepting donations and volunteers at its website. In addition, the #postcards4families campaignwill donate $5 to RAICES for every postcard kids write to help the separated immigrant children.

The Austin Bar Association Civil Right and Immigration Section is coordinating training for pro bono attorneys to handle credible fear interviews for asylum seekers.

Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley shelters immigrants who’ve recently been released from U.S. Border Patrol custody.

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is raising money to provide immigrant children “immediate shelter and beds, medical services, counseling and therapy to help them deal with the trauma of family separation.”

Together Rising is collecting money that’ll go to advocacy groups that are working to reunify immigrant children with their families.

Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project works to prevent the deportation of asylum-seeking families fleeing violence. The group accepts donations and asks people to sign up for volunteer opportunities here.

The CARA Project is currently recruiting attorneys, law students and paralegals with experience in asylum work. The group asks volunteers to be fluent in Spanish or willing to work with an interpreter.

Kids In Need of Defense partners with major law firms, corporations and bar associations to create a nationwide pro bono network to represent unaccompanied children through their immigration proceedings. Volunteers don’t need to have immigration law experience.

The El Paso-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center provides legal representation to immigrants who might not be able to afford it otherwise. It’s accepting volunteers and donations.

American Gateways provides legal services and representation to separated parents. It’s currently seeking volunteers to represent detained parents who’ve been separated from their children.

Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services is the largest provider of free and low cost immigration services in West Texas and says it’s the only organization in El Paso serving unaccompanied children.

Justice for Our Neighbors provides free and low-cost legal services to immigrant individuals and families in Texas.

The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights is looking for more child advocates to visit the immigrant kids inside the detention centers weekly and accompany them to immigration proceedings. It is also raising money for advocates who will deal specifically with family separation cases.

Dominic Grizzelle

Dress for Sei Taria of Spira