Help Families at the Border: #bestlifeforall
When I look at my children, I can’t help but think about the unconscionable injustice in our world. Why does my family get to live out our vision for how we want our life to be? Why do my children get to grow up in relative safety while other families just fight to survive? Or don’t survive? How is the way that I live built upon the suffering of others? Most immediately, I am wondering, “What can we do to help families at the border?”
The recent New York Times editorial shares a lot of concrete ideas. I pasted some of them below for easy reference:
Ways to Help Families at the Border
Call Congress, your mayor and local representatives. Contact your members of Congress and tell them that you want impending raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be called off and detention conditions improved. The legal defense nonprofit Raices has provided a template and an online form that you can use to email your congressional representatives. You can also reach out to your local officials to ask that they initiate plans to help immigrant communities that are affected by the raids. This official government website has provided links to finding your city, county and town officials.
Donate to humanitarian efforts. Many immigrants are not informed of their legal and civil rights as they pursue asylum or face deportation. Several nonprofits are providing free legal representation and other services for immigrants and the families of those detained. United We Dream, the American Civil Liberties Union, Mijente, Immigrant Families Together, Save the Childrenand the Immigrant Justice Corps are coordinating advocacy and services at a national level. Local organizations providing legal aid include the New Sanctuary Coalition in New York, Las Americas in El Paso and Raices in Texas, Americans for Immigrant Justice in Florida and the Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund in Colorado.
Inform yourself and your community. The A.C.L.U., which joined forces with Brooklyn Defender Services, has shared a “Know Your Rights” page for encounters with ICE. It has also provided a video to help understand your rights and what to do if ICE officials come to your home.
Hold political candidates accountable. While the presidential primaries are at least seven months away, you can prepare to cast your ballot for a more humane border policy by following what each candidate has shared about his or her plans for immigration reform.
My Personal Strategies
To help families at the border, I am personally going to start volunteering at RAICES. I am also going to make a donation to RAICES. I will also contact Congress. Finally, I’m going to post on my school’s listserv to share ideas about how to help. Additionally, I will share the videos (in English and Spanish) how to educate yourself about interacting with ICE, since our community has many immigrant families.