[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 51 (Monday, March 25, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E340]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                  IN HONOR OF JULIE SCHWIETERT COLLAZO

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 25, 2019

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I, along with 
Representative Ocasio-Cortez, rise to recognize Julie Schwietert 
Collazo who received a women's history month award from us and from 
Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas at a ceremony in Queens on March 22nd. 
Ms. Schwietert Collazo is being recognized for her part in founding 
Immigrant Families Together, which works to support families in danger 
of being separated by anti-immigrant policies.
  In June 2018, along with her husband, Francisco Collazo, she founded 
what has evolved into Immigrant Families Together (IFT), an 
organization of rapid response volunteers who fight back against 
punitive immigration policies, including zero tolerance and family 
separation, that have traumatized the nation's diverse population. IFT 
was created when a group of mothers learned about Yeni Gonzalez, a 
Guatemalan immigrant who was jailed in Arizona because she could not 
post bond, and whose three children were taken to New York. Ms. 
Gonzalez could not put together the $7500 needed to secure her release. 
When Ms. Schwietert Collazo and others heard about her plight, they 
raised the money to pay her bail and then helped transport her to New 
York, arranging for her to sleep at the homes of volunteers. They 
eventually helped her gain full custody of her children, and found her 
shelter, food and legal counsel.
  In six short months, almost entirely through social media, Ms. 
Schwietert Collazo and IFT raised nearly a million dollars. IFT now 
provides funding to pay bonds to secure the release of other immigrants 
facing deportation, and often donates critical funding to cover living 
expenses, medical costs and legal fees. To date they have posted bond 
for more than 65 parents, grandparents, and older siblings who had been 
detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and separated from 
their families. They also provide ongoing support and services for 
families who have filed asylum applications so that they can build 
healthy, stable lives while their applications are being processed.
  As a result of her work with Immigrant Families Together, Ms. 
Schwietert Collazo has become a much sought-after speaker and 
commentator on immigration policy, migration, and resettlement issues.
  Ms. Schwietert Collazo is a former social worker and creative arts 
therapist, who is currently working as a writer, editor, and 
translator. She left the field of social work and psychotherapy in 2004 
to live abroad and to focus on her own writing full-time. She has 
interviewed the First Lady of Belize and the Spanish chef Ferran Adria, 
has covered the state visit of Prince Harry in Belize, and in 2008 was 
one of the few journalists permitted to visit the U.S. detention 
facility at Guantanamo Bay. She co-wrote/edited a book about Pope 
Francis, which to date has been translated into more than a dozen 
languages and is a bestseller in Italy.
  Madam Speaker, we ask our colleagues to join us in recognizing the 
compassionate work Julie Schwietert Collazo and Immigrant Families 
Together are doing to help recent immigrants achieve their American 
dream.

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