Established in honor of asylum seekers who protested deplorable conditions at the privately run Adelanto Detention Center northwest of Los Angeles that led to five attempted suicides, the Julio Barahona Exodus Fund helps meet the asylum seekers’ immediate needs while continuing the long fight to end the jailing of immigrants.

The suicide attempts, three of them successful, occurred between December 2016 and July 2017. A group of asylum seekers launched a series of hunger strikes to protest an unfair system, and lay and ordained clergy stepped up with CLUE to raise money to post bond for the hunger strikers, so they could reunite with their families and look for attorneys to represent them.

Join us in this struggle for the dignity and compassionate treatment of our brothers and sisters from other countries. Bond amounts average $15,000, and bail companies generally demand 20 percent ($3,000) to guarantee their loan. There is also an additional $800 “release fee.”

Some refugees have family members to help them come up with the money, but others have no extra help. On average, they come up short about $2,300, just on the bond. Each of us has been alone and friendless sometime, and any one of us would welcome help if we were facing such a challenge.

We thank you for your support!