There’s a lot you can do to help support the children and their families. We’re keeping a listing here that we’ll update daily up here at the top.
Monday update 6/18 – added: (1) legislative call and a matching petition, (1) call to a US attorney to find his bravery and a communication storm to two companies who are planning to make money on this misery..
First, recharge your fighing spirit here. Then read Bill Moyer’s beat “A 15-point Guide to Surviving Authoritarianism” here. Memorize the last line…“EVERY authoritarian, totalitarian and fascist regime in history eventually failed, thanks to the PEOPLE.”
Keep calling your elected representatives!
Keep up the pressure on their office staff, who will remind their bosses to get this done. The Resistance is not fighting alone. More of our society is finally rising up and joining in. (Southern Baptist Convention, Evangelical Immigration Table, Anti-Defamation League, CATO)
Latest calls and tiniest scripts (30 seconds or less) here.
#1 – Monday 6/18 – ‘NO’ on un-American/anti-family/anti-business immigration bill H.R. 4760 / Call/ Petition by June 22nd (Friday)
Goodlatte’s bill H.R.4760 – “Securing America’s Future Act of 2018” is the un-American mash-up of white supremacists’ dreams. It hurts farmworkers, will deport more Dreamers, and keeps children in detention longer. It also funds a border wall, reduces legal immigration by 40%, eliminates diversity visas, and includes language that no state (Hey, we’re looking at you, CA!) or local government entity can limit a state, or local government official from assisting ICE. Even the right wing hates this bill as it is estimated to cost our economy $319 BILLION!
Minimal script: I’m from [zip code] and I’m calling to oppose the Goodlatte immigration bill.
More script if you want it: It harms farmworkers, Dreamers and kids in detention and I don’t want my tax dollars wasted on a border wall.
Contact:
Rep. Julia Brownley: (CA-26): DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779
or Rep. Salud Carbajal: (CA-24): DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348
Other Contacts: http://www.phoneyourrep.com
Then sign this petition from United Farm Workers here.
#2 – Monday 6/18 – Tell San Diego’s US Attorney Adam Braverman to live up to his name.
US Att. Braverman is planning to begin the mass prosecution of migrants in San Diego on July 2, 2018. This program is inhumane, unjust, and violates migrants fundamental rights and will lead to the separation of families. Given human rights violations that will occur, we urge him to not give in to the hateful rhetoric coming from Jeff Sessions and stop the move towards mass prosecutions.
Email him here. There’s already a script there or use your own.
Minimal script: I’m calling to ask US Att. Braverman to immediately stop his plan to begin the mass prosecution of migrants in San Diego. It is inhumane, unjust, and violates people’s rights and will lead to the separation of families. Given human rights violations that will occur, I urge him to not give in to the hateful rhetoric coming from Jeff Sessions and stop the move towards mass prosecutions.”
Call: 619-557-5610 or 800-544-1106:
For more scripts and information on these bills, go here:
Pace yourself. If you’ve never done this before, try to do two or three calls a day. Each call will take less than 30 seconds. Getting your phone set up for faster calling speeds will make it easier and more fun.
- #3 – ‘YES’ on H.R. 5820/S.2849: “Detention Oversight, Not Expansion Act” – “DONE Act” of 2018.
- #4 – ‘YES’ on S. 2468: – Fair Day in Court for Kids Act of 2018.
- #5 – Yes on Senator Feinstein’s new bill, S.3036 – ‘‘Keep Families Together Act’’
- #6 – Yes on H.R. 5414 “Help Separated Families Act of 2018”
- #7 – Yes on H.R. 5950 – “Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections for Separated Children Act”: (S.2937- also“HELP Separated Children Act” in the Senate)
Hold corporate collaborators responsible.
Sleeping Giants (who leads the charge against companies who advertise on Breitbart) and GrabYourWallet (aka Shannon Coulter who leads the boycotting of Trump-related products) have discovered the names of two companies are financially benefiting from the child separation policy: : A) MVM Inc. (Twitter: @MVMINC Phone: (571)223-4500), and B) General Dynamics (Twitter: @GDMS “Ethics helpline”: 800-433-8442). Let’s contact them by phone, Twitter, or by using the email addresses listed here to tell them what we think:
lryan@generaldynamics.com
Carol.Smith@gd-ms.com,
DDuBard@nassco.com
david.hench@gdbiw.com
Mark.Meudt@gdit.com
porterr@gdls.com
rafael.moreno@gdels.com
heidi.fedak@gulfstream.com
heinz.aebi@jetaviation.ch
laurie.vanbrocklin@gd-ots.com
dbarrett@gdeb.com
Here’s an email template helpfully provided by Shannon.
Hello,
It has come to my attention that your business is holding immigrant children in jails.
They are children and asylum seekers. They should not be separated from their parents and they shouldn’t be in concentration camps.
Please ask your leadership to back out of this contract as there is no way to justify this.
Thanks,
[You]
Protest
We had over a hundred people turn out in Ventura for our Families Belong Together Rally. Thanks to all who attended for taking an important step in the fight to help immigrants and their kids…visibly standing up and reminding our community that wrong is being done in our name.
Donate money
We can donate to eight organizations fighting this issue in one step here. This link also has information about each of these agencies if we want to contribute individually. Congressman Joe Kennedy III‘s campaign is matching the first $25,000 donated.
- We Belong Together – women for common sense immigration policies
- United We Dream – the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country
- Womens Refugee Commission – advocating for the rights and protection of women, children, and youth fleeing violence and persecution
- ACLU – fighting attacks through the legal system
- Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) – protecting unaccompanied children who enter the US immigration system alone to ensure that no child appears in court without an attorney.
- Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project – providing asylum seekers with legal aid and community support across the country
- Human Rights First – helping refugees obtain asylum in the U.S.
- La Union del Pueblo Entero – founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, a community union that works in the Rio Grande Valley from the grassroots up
Other organizations that provide lawyers or services to immigrant kids and their parents:
- Center for Children’s Advocacy is the largest child legal rights group on the east coast. Donate and volunteer here.
- The Florence Project: This Arizona-based organization offers free legal services to men, women, and unaccompanied children in immigration custody. Donate here.
- RAICES: This Texas-based organization offers free and low-cost legal services to immigrant children and families.While legislation to help separated families crawls through Congress, here is a direct action:
Help pay the bonds to get parents released here. Donate here and sign up as a volunteer here. - Pueblo Sin Fronteras: This organization provides humanitarian aid and shelter to migrants on their way to the U.S. Donate here.
- Together Rising: This Virginia-based organization is helping provide legal assistance for 60 migrant children who were separated from their parents and are currently detained in Arizona. Donate here.
- Texas Civil Rights Project: This organization has been using legal advocacy and litigation to help families separated at the border. Donate here
- Border Angels: This California-based organization supports San Diego County’s immigrant population and focuses on issues related to the U.S.-Mexico border. Donate here. Become a volunteer or intern here.
- Neta: This Texas-based grassroots organization helps asylum seekers on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Donate here.
- South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR): This project of the American Bar Association is currently supporting over 1,000 unaccompanied children in detention centers across South Texas. Donate here.
Donate skill
Lawyers: The children running for their lives will not have legal support for any potential asylum, or other, hearing they will face. However, attorneys who can provide pro bono legal services for these children can find out how to to help these children here. Lawyers, find out which organizations provide services near you and apply to be added to their list of free legal service providers. Thanks!
Lawyers, Paralegals, Law Students!:
A representative of the CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project tweeted yesterday afternoon: Attys, Paralegals, Law Students! If you speak Spanish & can aid detained parents & children in Texas (6-day stint), contact CARA Family Detention Project! The need is urgent! If you don’t speak Spanish but can find an interpreter-partner that wd help too. If we call into any of those categories, we can learn more here.
Volunteer with SIFI – Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative. Watch the video here.
Nurturing and Caring Foster Care Parents: When refugee and immigrant children arrive in the United States without a parent or loved one to provide the shelter, security and sustenance they deserve, Catholic Charities is one of the agencies that provides specialized foster care services. This foster care program for children leaving federal detention facilities is extremely important for children who are:
- Unable to name any family members or appropriate sponsors
- Facing prolonged immigration cases that make their future uncertain
- Hindered from returning to their home country in a timely manner
- Engaged in in-depth interviews or a gradual transition to family reunification
- At risk for and possible victims of trafficking, trauma or torture
To learn more about becoming a foster parent through Catholic Charities, visit our website here. All foster parents must meet eligibility requirements and pass a background check.
Donate money and/or goods.
The Florence Project, in Arizona, has put together a list of items we can send to comfort immigrant and refugee children in this Google Doc.
Find your local refugee resettlement agencies and donate goods here.
Write the appointed officials listed below.
(Print out copies of this letter.)
Our nation has a moral responsibility to protect children and treat them with basic decency, regardless of immigration status. The inhumane practice of separating children from parents as an immigration deterrent must stop. As a taxpayer funding this egregious neglect of duty, I urge you to take full and immediate responsibility for ensuring children’s well-being and safety. Keep families together. Stop locking them up. Sincerely, [name, state] (h/t)
- DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen
Secretary of Homeland Security, Washington, D.C. 20528 - Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 500 12th St. SW, Washington, D.C. 20536 - HHS Secretary Alex Azar
Office of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201 - Acting Assistant ACF Secretary Steven Wagner
Administration for Children and Families, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201 - ORR Director Scott Lloyd
Office of Refugee Resettlement, Mary E. Switzer Building, 330 C ST SW, Washington DC 20201
Connect to information.
Join this Facebook group: Comfort For Kids In ICE Detention
A good source of information for immigrants is collated here.
