I posted an article about the New Bedford immigration raid when it first broke, but haven’t updated since; there has been a lot of mobilization around this action by the U.S. government which tore mothers and fathers away from their families.
The governor of Massachusetts has said that immigration officials promised to work with the state during the raid; they broke that promise, putting the U.S.-born children of the workers in danger.
The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (found via Women of Color Blog) is currently organizing to fight this raid. They have the following short documentary up on their Web site.
They need the following:
Volunteers: Right now we need people willing to drive New Bedford families from their homes to and from the JFK federal building in Boston. Father Fallon has generously allowed the use of the Catholic Social Services passenger van, available for volunteers. Drivers must have a valid license and have some basic Spanish language capability.
If you are available, please call Father Fallon at (508) 997-7337.
We also need immigration lawyers willing to take pro-bono cases, preferably a bilingual Spanish speaker. Please call MIRA with your name and contact information at 617-350-5480 x212.
Material Donations: Needed items: Pampers in all sizes; Baby wipes; bottles and bottle liners; Enfamil Soy baby formula; all types of baby food and winter baby clothing. Canned food, bottled water and paper products are also needed. Donantions should be dropped off between 8:30am and 4:30pm, Monday through Friday ONLY at 2 Acushnet Ave, New Bedford at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Convent.
They are also accepting monetary donations, and ask that people write letters to the editor for local newspapers and letters to representatives and senators in Congress to give their opinion.
There is a tip sheet up on INCITE!’s Web site covering what to do during an ICE raid. This should be shared; even undocumented immigrants have the right to a lawyer when arrested. This is important for people to know.
Additionally, churches around the country have been joining the New Sanctuary Movement, led by Cardinal Roger Mahoney, in response to the New Bedford raids. In addition to working against immigration laws that are unjust, unfair, racist and classist, they are working to take in immigrants in danger of deportation and provide them sanctuary. They’re working on the concept of civil disobedience against unjust laws. It’s not just the Catholic church, either.
And a link roundup:
A new era of slave catchers — “Now, in the 21st century, 144 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, another people have fled both economic and political repression to come to this country to seek freedom and opportunity. The immigrants from countries south of our border have not come to break the law. They have come to seek the same opportunities for freedom. … And the new slave catchers, employees of the U.S. government, sweep down like vultures to capture those who have tried to liberate themselves.”
Changing the Terms of the Debate — “The tide of anti-immigrant sentiment, evident in local punitive legislation efforts, is negatively impacting legislators’ commitment and capacity to achieve truly comprehensive and rational reform. In order for this to change, leaders and sectors that recognize the valuable contributions of immigrants, the importance of respecting their human rights and the complex dynamics of immigration, need to communicate their insights effectively and broadly.”
Immigration’s impact — “Using data from the census and the 2004 American Community Survey, economist Giovanni Peri concludes that increases in immigration, both legal and illegal, between 1990 and 2004 helped boost wages for U.S.-born workers in California by an average of 4 percent.” [Makes you wonder why everyone's so up in arms, huh?]
And some other organizations working toward immigration reform that is fair and compassionate:
- Immigrants’ List
- American Friends Service Committee
- Immigrant Solidarity Network
- Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition
- Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
- The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School
Because George Bush’s proposed immigration law reforms would do what the Chinese Exclusion Act, immigrant IQ tests, and countless other racist, classist immigration laws have done in the past. It would keep out the “undesirables” — the poor, those escaping oppressive governments, and people from “Third World” (i.e., brown and black) countries. And the current INS raids targeting undocumented immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Pakistan, Palestine, Iraq, Somalia, Ethiopia, etc. (and not from Ireland, for example; there is a sizeable community of undocumented Irish immigrants in the U.S., but when was the last time a raid arrested people with last names like Sullivan, Reilly and O’Brien?) only proves this.
