I didn't set an alarm this morning. I was so mentally and physically exhausted from Saturday and Sunday, that I decided to allow myself to sleep-in a little. I got out of bed at around 7:30AM and began to respond to texts and emails. Approximately 300-350 people have been released from detention by ICE, and we are working on reaching out to the families of every single person who is still in detention as a result of the August 7th, ICE raids in Missisppi.
While our organizers conducted the outreach and intake work at our staging locations, I sat in my hotel room for most of the day today and called the family members of the detainees we have identified. We have identified 60-70 detainees, not all of whom are bond eligible. The conversations I had with the family members involved me doing a quick screening of potential criminal and immigration issues, and then a request for the family member to help me gather documents to file with the bond motions. I explained the bond process to the family members and explained that it was not guaranteed that their family member would be bonded out because that decision is ultimately up to the immigration judge. I walked the family members of the detained through the document checklist, texted them the document checklist, and challenged them to get as many documents as possible, as soon as possible. The sooner we get the documents from the family members, the sooner we can file the bond motions and the sooner we can get folks out of immigration detention.
The gathering of the documents will take a couple days at least. Once we have gathered the required documents, we can begin filing these babies and arguing our hearts out in immigration court. Stay tuned on that.
During my phone-banking, I received a text asking me to go to the Canton staging location because they were in need of a Spanish-speaking immigration attorney. There are only 2-3 of us on the ground, so if ya'll know of any Spanish-speaking immigration attorneys available to come to Mississippi for a few days, please send them my way! I arrived to Canton and was able to speak to a few families before things slowed down. My phone didn't have signal at the Canton staging location, so I returned to the hotel to finish my calls and attend our daily organizer debrief.
A PIVOTAL CONNECTION was made at tonight's organizer meeting. We went through the logistics and comms and newly identified needs, while I impatiently waited my turn to talk about bonds (please please please, let me talk about bonds, because this is like the most important part of this whole operation!!) I didn't act that impatient in the meeting, I promise. Finally, it was my turn. I asked for there to be a designated volunteer at each staging location to help make copies of families' documents, to help organize the documents, and to inform the families of anything else they can gather to make the bond request stronger. After the meeting, I went straight to one of the organizers to talk about a couple emergency cases. While I was speaking with the organizer, I noticed a gentleman had walked straight over to me and was waiting patiently to speak. Once I had secured the information that I needed, I turned around and for the first time shook hands with a man by the name of Mitch McGaffey. McGaffey looked me in the eye and said something along the lines of, "Hi, I'm an attorney in Mississippi who knows a lot of local attorneys interested in helping ensure there is a permanent legal infrastructure that will help address these types of needs (immigration removal defense) today and in the future. For free." What? Really?!? This was music to my ears. He went on to tell me about a pro bono asylum case that he has an individual hearing for on Monday. Needless to say, McGaffey is a hero. He and his contacts will soon be equipped (tomorrow) to argue bond motions in immigration court, and we can all rest assured that once the outsiders, like myself, leave, the victims of the ICE raids will be in the hands of talented, willing attorneys who are here to stay. Great day today for organizing. I'm elated, excited to be here and grateful as ever.
More good news, GLAHR organizers joined the movement today. GLAHR stands for the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (http://www.glahr.org/). GLAHR is headed by the one and only Adelina Nicholls. It was awesome to meet some of the GLAHR organizers at our debrief meeting. I sat right in the middle of two, Kevin and Geovani. They are great and we talked about our home state and it made me miss Georgia a little bit. Just a little bit.
I also heard a rumor that Emilio Vicente will be joining the ranks soon. Emilio just emanates peace, and I look forward to him being here.
Wrapping up this edition of my blog by saying thank you and challenging you to never be complacent. We get to sleep soundly in our beds tonight, but many, many people will be sleeping far away from their family members under the watchful eye of ICE.
#insolidarity
Link to donate: https://bit.ly/31KncXx
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Sunday, August 11, 2019
ELEVATE YOURSELF
Started the day with a 6AM wake-up call followed by a 2-hour drive to Laurel, Mississippi. There, I spoke to more families impacted by the raids and helped them identify potential immigration relief. The efforts in Mississippi are huge! At this point in time we have made contact with approximately 350 of the 680 people who were/are detained. There are so many organizations, churches, unions, and random volunteers like myself being put to work.
As many of you know, I like to get people of out detention, so after getting a feel for the evolving infrastructure and identifying a cozy spot for me to fit myself into, I emailed a couple of people in leadership this morning and mentioned my desire to go ahead and start getting the ball rolling with preparing bond motions. Considering my experience, language skills, and desire, I was instructed to do the following: ELEVATE YOURSELF. So, I did.
I had been instructed to first go to Laurel, then Carthage, and then Forrest. At our Forrest organizing location, I sat down in the warm Mississippi sun, took out my handy laptop and began to call the families of the detained. I explained that I am an immigration attorney, that I needed them to help me gather documents, because it's time to try to bond their family members out of immigration detention. Today was a gigantic step towards the goal I am here to accomplish and I appreciate the trust of the organizers to allow me to run with what I'm good at.
Our debriefing meeting was FIRE. We are beginning to find our ebb and flow and slowly but surely we are learning to harmonize our voices and talents. It's not easy to come into a tight-knit community and pour out enthusiasm and passion and make it look organized and efficient. We recognize that we are outsiders and reminded each other to humble ourselves and not lose sight of why we are here.
We learned of a man who was picked up in the ICE raid, detained, and subsequently released with an ankle bracelet. He went straight back to the plant that had been raided and asked if he could continue working there. They told him he could work 2-3 hours during the night shift, and that he would be paid cash. Considering the plants are among the largest employers in this part of MS, the man obliged because he has no other option. He is the breadwinner of the family- 2 to 3 hours of work per night.
I've gotten several inquiries about donations of various kinds. We will take non-perishables, toiletries, and school supplies. Please include a note indicating that your donation is in support of the families affected by the ICE raids, and mail your donations to the following address:
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
238 E Center Street
Canton, MS39046
In terms of what my immediate plans are, the donations I have received will allow me the flexibility to stay and continue working for longer than I had originally planned :D I will send out a poll to my donors later this week, so we can decide as a group where the money will go.
Thank you again for your generous support, and please continue sharing my link:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/alexis-ice-raid-defense-fund?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&fbclid=IwAR3ECBn2lMhu8-xwNKcmWvWnEtfr_kkv2uFooY0AOSbBttDqDestgtxmSZE
#insolidarity
As many of you know, I like to get people of out detention, so after getting a feel for the evolving infrastructure and identifying a cozy spot for me to fit myself into, I emailed a couple of people in leadership this morning and mentioned my desire to go ahead and start getting the ball rolling with preparing bond motions. Considering my experience, language skills, and desire, I was instructed to do the following: ELEVATE YOURSELF. So, I did.
I had been instructed to first go to Laurel, then Carthage, and then Forrest. At our Forrest organizing location, I sat down in the warm Mississippi sun, took out my handy laptop and began to call the families of the detained. I explained that I am an immigration attorney, that I needed them to help me gather documents, because it's time to try to bond their family members out of immigration detention. Today was a gigantic step towards the goal I am here to accomplish and I appreciate the trust of the organizers to allow me to run with what I'm good at.
Our debriefing meeting was FIRE. We are beginning to find our ebb and flow and slowly but surely we are learning to harmonize our voices and talents. It's not easy to come into a tight-knit community and pour out enthusiasm and passion and make it look organized and efficient. We recognize that we are outsiders and reminded each other to humble ourselves and not lose sight of why we are here.
We learned of a man who was picked up in the ICE raid, detained, and subsequently released with an ankle bracelet. He went straight back to the plant that had been raided and asked if he could continue working there. They told him he could work 2-3 hours during the night shift, and that he would be paid cash. Considering the plants are among the largest employers in this part of MS, the man obliged because he has no other option. He is the breadwinner of the family- 2 to 3 hours of work per night.
I've gotten several inquiries about donations of various kinds. We will take non-perishables, toiletries, and school supplies. Please include a note indicating that your donation is in support of the families affected by the ICE raids, and mail your donations to the following address:
Sacred Heart Catholic Church
238 E Center Street
Canton, MS39046
In terms of what my immediate plans are, the donations I have received will allow me the flexibility to stay and continue working for longer than I had originally planned :D I will send out a poll to my donors later this week, so we can decide as a group where the money will go.
Thank you again for your generous support, and please continue sharing my link:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/alexis-ice-raid-defense-fund?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&fbclid=IwAR3ECBn2lMhu8-xwNKcmWvWnEtfr_kkv2uFooY0AOSbBttDqDestgtxmSZE
#insolidarity
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Arriving to Mississippi and Getting Swept into the Movement
On August 7, 2019 approximately 680 people were detained in an ICE raid in Mississippi. As an immigration attorney in Atlanta, GA, I spend a lot of time in detention centers and in immigration court fighting for people's freedom. As a result, I'm uniquely equipped to help the victims of these raids and thanks to your support, I'm now on the ground putting my legal skills to work.
I left Sandy Springs, GA early Saturday (8/11) morning and arrived in Canton, MS about 7 hours later at1:15PM. I had been instructed to arrive at our designated meeting spot for an attorney training at 1PM. It was pouring rain when I pulled up, so I ran into the church and was immediately swept into the hustle and bustle of a packed building with people everywhere. I was waiting to receive instructions from one of the volunteer coordinators when someone else came up behind me and asked me to help unload an SUV full of supplies. I hurriedly followed this person to a door off the side of a large gymnasium and before I knew it, I was in the line of volunteers carrying supplies and officially, part of the movement.
Soon thereafter I was instructed to head to Carthage, MS. I drove the 40 minutes to a tiny town in the middle of the state and walked into yet another church full to the brim of victims of the ICE raids. There were individuals who had been detained and released, and individuals with family members still in detention. I plowed through intakes determining people's eligibility for bond and relief before an immigration judge. I was the only immigration attorney in the center today, and we did intakes for at least 50 families. It was grueling, I was hungry, and the line of people needing help never ended. We got to a point where we just had to stop. We cleaned up the center and headed back to Canton to meet up and debrief with our teams from Morton, Pines, and Canton.
Lots of amazing organizations are focusing their energy into this movement:
We went around the room and shared ideas and vocalized needs. We wrote lists on large post-it sheets and learned about immigrant women who are going door to door delivering food to families whose breadwinners are without work. We talked about standardizing the legal work. We heard the story of a man whose wife is pregnant, but neither him or his wife have left their mobile home because they are terrified to leave the protection of their home. We learned that there are still cars parked at the plants where the ICE raids took place because the car owners are unable to go pick up their cars due to the fact that they are in immigration detention. Some of these cars have been broken into. We learned that there is still so much work to do, but most importantly we learned that we are not backing down. Tomorrow, our day starts at 6AM. I feel like there are so many things left unsaid, and I wish I could share everything with you, but I have to pass out. Thank you again for supporting my cause. I commit to making the most of my time here. #insolidarity
Donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/alexis-ice-raid-defense-fund?fbclid=IwAR2Fq_LFugfzRkObAusBr5jbuA_aCnC0voq2F9xdVslZ5bapMcfpbBoc1nA
I left Sandy Springs, GA early Saturday (8/11) morning and arrived in Canton, MS about 7 hours later at1:15PM. I had been instructed to arrive at our designated meeting spot for an attorney training at 1PM. It was pouring rain when I pulled up, so I ran into the church and was immediately swept into the hustle and bustle of a packed building with people everywhere. I was waiting to receive instructions from one of the volunteer coordinators when someone else came up behind me and asked me to help unload an SUV full of supplies. I hurriedly followed this person to a door off the side of a large gymnasium and before I knew it, I was in the line of volunteers carrying supplies and officially, part of the movement.
Soon thereafter I was instructed to head to Carthage, MS. I drove the 40 minutes to a tiny town in the middle of the state and walked into yet another church full to the brim of victims of the ICE raids. There were individuals who had been detained and released, and individuals with family members still in detention. I plowed through intakes determining people's eligibility for bond and relief before an immigration judge. I was the only immigration attorney in the center today, and we did intakes for at least 50 families. It was grueling, I was hungry, and the line of people needing help never ended. We got to a point where we just had to stop. We cleaned up the center and headed back to Canton to meet up and debrief with our teams from Morton, Pines, and Canton.
Lots of amazing organizations are focusing their energy into this movement:
- Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition: https://www.tnimmigrant.org/
- Fair Immigration Reform Movement: https://fairimmigration.org/
- Southern Poverty Law Center: https://www.splcenter.org/
- Adelante: http://adelantealabama.org/
- Southeast Immigrant Rights Network: https://actionnetwork.org/groups/southeast-immigrant-rights-network
- Advancement Project: https://advancementproject.org/home/
We went around the room and shared ideas and vocalized needs. We wrote lists on large post-it sheets and learned about immigrant women who are going door to door delivering food to families whose breadwinners are without work. We talked about standardizing the legal work. We heard the story of a man whose wife is pregnant, but neither him or his wife have left their mobile home because they are terrified to leave the protection of their home. We learned that there are still cars parked at the plants where the ICE raids took place because the car owners are unable to go pick up their cars due to the fact that they are in immigration detention. Some of these cars have been broken into. We learned that there is still so much work to do, but most importantly we learned that we are not backing down. Tomorrow, our day starts at 6AM. I feel like there are so many things left unsaid, and I wish I could share everything with you, but I have to pass out. Thank you again for supporting my cause. I commit to making the most of my time here. #insolidarity
Donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/alexis-ice-raid-defense-fund?fbclid=IwAR2Fq_LFugfzRkObAusBr5jbuA_aCnC0voq2F9xdVslZ5bapMcfpbBoc1nA
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)