For which the Americans began to donate bonus air travel to illegal immigrants

Did you know that you can donate your bonus miles to help reunite families that were divided at the border between the USA and Mexico? This week, the act of an American woman who gave her miles and wrote about it on Twitter caused a real stir in the Web.

Фото: Depositphotos

Frequently flying passengers have already donated more than 7,3 millions of miles to a non-profit organization that reunifies families separated by political conflicts around the world, writes CNN.

“My husband travels a lot. Minus: it is often not there. Pro: He earns miles frequently. We were simply using some miles so that a 3 year old and his father, separated at the border, could be reunited in Michigan (where the child was taken) and reach his family,” tweeted University of Michigan professor Beth Wilensky.

Photo: twitter.com/bethwilensky

Since the introduction of the zero tolerance policy, the US government has separated more than 2500 children from their parents at the border. 599 of them remain in custody, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed last week. Americans are trying to help separated families, and Wilensky's tweet suggested another way to do this. Her post received more than 139 likes and 31 retweets, with hundreds of comments asking people: “How do I do this?” Wilensky replied: Miles4Migrants and organization Michigan Support Circle.

Donation miles for family reunions

The concept of donating miles for a particular purpose is not new. Airlines across the country are working with the American Red Cross to help those affected by natural disasters, as well as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which deals with the needs of children with serious illnesses.

In the case of family separation, American airlines made many statements. In June, American, United, and Frontier asked the federal government not to use the aircraft of these companies to transport migrant children after they were separated from their parents.

Miles4Migrants is working to get airline help using donated miles.

“We are actively working with several US-based organizations and moving a million miles per hour to use donations to help families who remain separated,” said Miles4Migrants co-founder Andy Friedman.

Even before Vilenski’s tweet became viral, an American organization with two years of experience had booked tickets for more than 150 people, and the focus was on reuniting families displaced by wars and persecutions from Syria and Afghanistan. At that time, the group received 3,1 a million miles. After 48 hours after the message of Vilnius, the Miles4Migrants received 4,5 a million miles, and by Friday the figure was close to the 8-million mark.

Domestic flights cost an average of 20 miles per ticket, and Miles000Migrants expects to fly more than 4 people and reunite them with their families, said co-founder Seth Stanton.

Фото: Depositphotos

Booking airline tickets is a complex process

Wilensky said she first learned about the 53-year-old and his father through a Michigan support group that aims to help families affected by separation policies. MSC shared the boy's story on a community page, and the professor responded by offering miles to book flights so the child's father could get to Michigan, where the baby was sent by the government. There are currently XNUMX such children in Michigan.

MSC also asks for donation miles, but in this case, donors are asked to book their own flights, as the organization does not cooperate with airlines that could facilitate the process. Miles4Migrants is exploring and seeking to improve this process by working with them, as this will be the first time that a non-profit organization has received such a large-scale call to help families in the United States.

“Our classic situation until this week looked like this: there is a family of Syrian refugees, divided by war. They ask for asylum, they get a positive decision, but they can't afford to fly, so we provide assistance,” Stanton said. “And now that (the separation of) families has come into our homes, we can take the experience and apply it here.”

In most cases, people do not have funds for the trip, and it is here that the donated miles will come in handy, but booking tickets with miles is also not free, which makes cash receipts equally important.

“If the result of this wave of donations and interest from media and consumers is that airlines allow us to use individual donations, that would be a huge win,” Friedman said.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Trump wants to complicate obtaining a green card and citizenship for legal immigrants

The judge ordered the transfer of illegal children from the immigration detention center

Immigrants from three countries may receive special status in the USA

Separated from children, illegal immigrants wrote a letter to the American people

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.