[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap] viral Instagram trend of people posting photos of hugs has raised nearly $70,000 for bonds and the legal aid of immigrant families separated at the US-Mexico border.
Tanya Saracho (Vida) and Gloria Calderon-Kellett (One Day at a Time) are both showrunners of critically acclaimed TV shows and responsible for the creation of the viral #OneVidaAtaTimeHUGchallenge that raises awareness and money for Immigrant Families Together. The non-profit is essentially a legal defense fund that helps migrants get out of the horrid conditions of the Trump administration's immigrant concentration camps.
According to its creators, the hug challenge was born out of basic human needs, many of which are not currently afforded to migrants, children especially, detained by the U.S. government at the border. They aren’t even allowed hugs.
“These young ones are not allowed to receive hugs or any physical contact from caretakers—or even one another. Experts believe this has the potential to create severe trauma,” say Saracho and Calderon-Kellett in a joint statement. “A hug can be healing. Every day, people use hugs as a way to comfort, to encourage, to create warmth, and to connect. It is a universal way to communicate love.”
The majority of migrants seeking asylum come to the United States borders with little to nothing in their pockets, refugees from violence and political oppression. Still, bonds for their release have recently been set between $15,000 and $30,000, according to Immigrant Families Together. Saracho (Vida) and Calderon-Kellett hope the hug challenge will help provide funds for these efforts.
It’s been working so far with nearly 800 posts using the hug hashtag including by celebrities like Eva Longoria, Patty Rodriguez, Jaime Camil, Melissa Fumero, Stephanie Beatriz, Curly Velasquez, and Todd Grinnell.
The steps for the challenge work as follows.
1) DONATE directly to the Immigrant Families Together GoFundMe.
2) POST A PIC on social media of you hugging someone or of you being hugged. It can be a #throwback pic of yourself hugging someone as a kid, or of you right now, involved in a hug. (The image doesn’t even have to be of you, it could just symbolize an embrace.)
3) PASTE a caption explaining the post and tag a friend challenging them to take the challenge.
Erick Galindo is a contributing Editor to L.A. TACO. He writes the Mis Ángeles column for LAist/KPCC and has written essays on food and culture for the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
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