An update on the Black trans woman from the US who is making an asylum claim here in Canada. Zara has had her claim finished, submitted, and accepted, and has a hearing today in Vancouver about determining her eligibility. My understanding is that this step is for weeding out the no-hope applications, so we're feeling fairly confident we'll get past it. Zara's application is based on strong evidence.
If any of you have any money to spare, we're making one more drive to keep her fed and housed - it should, by ordinary timelines, be about a month or so before she receives a SIN and a work permit.
She will find work quickly, and be reasonably well-paid as a massage therapist.
So it's about one more month we're hoping to raise, and our aim point is another CAD1000 from where we're at today:
https://gogetfunding.com/help-zara-reach-safety/
Anything you can manage is a help, and if you can't, you owe no apology. We all have our own situations and needs, and no disrespect should come to someone who can't find it to spare right now.
If you need a different way to contribute, such as Wise or the like from the UK, please DM me on Signal at oldladyplays.11
I can share my banking info there to facilitate your donation.
I am not being paid for this work. I am working as a community activist, for my community, in providing what aid my white privilege can access for her. It is my belief that given her vulnerable status between states, it would be unethical to expect her to make reasonable choices about what my work is worth to her.
The goal here is refugee status eligibility for all trans/nb people in the US, here in Canada.
I'm also working a second path, trying to get Temporary Protective Status made into a thing in Canada, which might soothe conservative freakouts about a sudden large influx of trans folk.
I can explain how I'd see that working, and give you some talking points to build off in a submission to your own MP.
Thanks for reading to the end.
Have a gold star.⭐
