New York, NY, March 9, 2022 — The International Rescue Committee (IRC), in partnership with the Vera Institute of Justice, today announces the launch of the ImportaMi platform, a new resource hub to provide information to unaccompanied children navigating life in the United States. ImportaMi will enable unaccompanied children to connect directly to a community liaison who can help them find an attorney and long-term assistance. By engaging with ImportaMi via WhatsApp, Facebook, or through their website, children can immediately connect to someone who speaks their language and is experienced in working with unaccompanied immigrant children.
ImportaMi is particularly necessary for unaccompanied children who do not have access to existing government-funded programs, including children in rural areas and linguistic minorities. During its pilot phase, ImportaMi assisted children in over 10 states, who arrived from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti, and Ghana, among other countries. In just the last few months, ImportaMi collaborated with internal and external partners to assist children and aged-out children who:
- Faced medical or family emergencies, but were still able to remain or return to school instead of working;
- Fled potentially exploitative situations with family or sponsors, and helped them connect with specialized support and resources based on their needs;
- Needed to locate a local provider to apply for benefits and other basic needs they were eligible for as trafficking survivors;
- Requested help finding a pro bono attorney and wanted a referral to apply for special benefits designed for Afghan refugees and unaccompanied children.
“The IRC is proud to partner with the Vera Institute of Justice to provide responsive information to unaccompanied children, who are often at high risk of slipping through the cracks. At a time in their lives when youth should be thinking about making friends or going to school, unaccompanied children are often managing complex trauma, new family dynamics in a new country, and a complex legal system that is difficult even for adults to understand,” said Hector Ruiz, Legal Program Director for IRC in Dallas. “Through the ImportaMi platform, unaccompanied children will have access to responsive information and resources and two-way communication with digital community liaisons trained to effectively meet information needs through the digital platforms that youth most often access and are familiar with. Ultimately, ImportaMi will be an invaluable aid for unaccompanied children to access the support they need to obtain safety in the United States.”
“Imagine being a young child, fleeing from your home because your life depends on it, and surviving all manner of danger along the way before being detained by the U.S. government. Upon your release, which could take months or years, you may endure even more trauma before reuniting with your family, joining a sponsor, or gaining your independence through adulthood. Where can you go to find trusted information? And who can you talk to? How can you connect with people who can help you to navigate the complexities of life in your new communities? ImportaMi is geared to unaccompanied children, empowering youth to proactively connect to trained moderators, who have the ability to connect them with experts in a variety of fields,” said Kica Matos, vice president of initiatives at the Vera Institute of Justice. “Vera is proud to partner with IRC to bring their global expertise of helping people in crisis to these communities of young immigrants searching for help and answers here in the U.S.”
ImportaMi is one of the latest platforms of the Signpost initiative, building on years of success with other populations, including InfoDigna in Mexico, CuentaNos in Central America, and Refugee.Info in Europe. Signpost launched in 2015 and has reached over 21.2 million people in 15 countries and across eleven languages. Signpost teams around the world work tirelessly to equip people in crisis with life-saving information that they can use to know their rights, access essential services, and make informed decisions.