Dear People of Good Will,
A new group called Immigration Witnesses is working on a plan to help support immigrants at risk for deportation at this time of acute anti-immigrant rhetoric & action at the federal level which reaches into each state, county, and town. We are inviting local community members to become involved.
There are three ways community members can help:
1. Accompaniment of a person or family
This means that the accompanier will be given the names of 5 immigrant people, and the 5 immigrant people will receive the accompanier’s phone number. The immigrant will call when afraid of being detained and if and when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrive for that purpose. Accompaniers will be trained by lawyers about what they can do and say when they are with the immigrant and ICE.
2. Holding important documents
This means that the support person will keep copies of Power of Attorney and Guardianship papers so that if the immigrant is detained, the papers can be taken to the person who has the POA and/or Guardian.
3. Documenting and communicating with the media
Individuals who are doing accompaniment will be making videos of interactions on the street or when ICE comes. The people who take on this role will be witnesses about what has happened. They will be asked to write letters to the editor and/or post the videos online.
Contact “El Centro” or “City of Bloomington Latino Outreach”
An Orientation meeting will be held 6-8 pm on Monday, April 24th, at the Unitarian Universalist Church (2120 North Fee Lane, Bloomington), to give more information about this project, answer questions, and gain input from people who are interested in participating. A basic Bystander Training will also be part of the meeting, offering tips on how to intervene in a respectful, safe, and productive manner in public instances of anti-people harassment of residents in our diverse community.
For those who sign up to volunteer with this project, there will be a subsequent Training on Legal Aspects of Accompaniment and Witnessing by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union.
If you are interested this project, please contact Jane Walter at waltjm@gmail.com or (812) 272-9184 with your name & contact information, and also plan to attend the Orientation Meeting & Bystander Training 6-8 pm on Mon., April 24th, at the Unitarian Universalist Church.
Immigration Witnesses is one of several initiatives to support local immigrants. We believe that each one of these initiatives is important, and together they form parts of the puzzle of responding to policies of persecution that threaten the dignity of human life, and by extension, all of our lives.
Contacta a “El Centro” o “City of Bloomington Latino Outreach”
