So I'm too busy getting ready for diocesan convention to have time to get irate about anything else (what with the airing-as-I-type-Obama-on-Afghanistan speech having already put me over my limit for the day!) but the Episcopal Cafe snagged me with this one:Scrooged! Salvation Army won't give toys to non-citizen kids
The Dallas Morning News reports that some charities are checking parents' immigration status before giving the children toys for Christmas:
Several programs providing Christmas gifts for needy children are checking immigration status first, requiring at least one member of the household to be a U.S. citizen before handing over toys. The Salvation Army and a charity affiliated with the Houston Fire Department are asking for children's birth certificates or Social Security cards.
...
Cesar Espinoza, executive director of the advocacy group America for All, says such policies are unfair to kids who did nothing wrong.
"It is very disturbing to think a holiday like Christmas would be tainted with things like this," he said. "Usually, people target the adults because the adults made the decision to migrate, where the children are just brought through no fault of their own."
9 comments:
I am outraged! Why would someone withhold toys from a child because of not having a green card?
The Salvation Army of the Greater Houston Area says that the Dallas Morning News is a liar.
The Salvation Army Greater Houston Area Command does not discriminate against the immigration status of children or their parents registering for Christmas assistance through the Angel Tree Program. Requirements for registration in the Angel Tree program include some form of identification, proof of income and a social security number for at least one member of the family. The social security number is used to verify that individuals and families are not registering more than once at multiple Salvation Army facilities and to ensure people actually have the number of children they claim. Valid forms of identification include school registration, Medicaid cards, Consular cards, food stamps card, or birth certificates.
Sounds like some people at the Dallas Morning News like to publish the news they'd like to see rather than the actual facts - and don't bother checking primary sources prior to publishing stories about them.
I'll look for a retraction. I would love it if they got the story wrong.
I can believe if this was the policy of say the Catholic Church, but the Salvation Army, I am thunderstruck by the shear nonsense of even thinking of not sharing with any children.
Sarah, of TA
well it certainly wouldn't be the 1st time a media outlet made up a story.
Salvation Army should give to all that desire their goods.
Seems very judgmental to me.
I lived in Asia for 6 years [under the radar]... and I was able to receive food , medical benefits, and education from the gov't. and from local good hearted people. Me and my kids benefited much from local govt. handouts .. since we didn't know the language and we had trouble navigating gov't. authorities, we still were able to get the help we needed. Salvation Army should reciprocate at the very least. First come, first served. I don't think that we displaced anyone, we wanted services & goods.
Since we stood in line longer, I think we were deserving. [We weren't citizens, and luckily managed to escape national taxation. ].
I followed the stories back to the Houston Chronicle - - from my reading of the original(?) article, it appears that it is other agencies that are doing the "green-card" specifically; Salvation Army is basically trying to make sure that they aren't taken advantage of...
I wonder if the Dallas Morning News has the integrity to issue a retraction.
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