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Response to Immigration Raids and other Attacks Against Immigrants and Refugees

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A priority for the Trump administration is to wage a concerted attack against immigrants and refugees. We’ve already seen what this looks like: Muslim and Refugee bans, ramped-up internal immigration enforcement, racial profiling, harassment, and privacy violations at the US border. This is only the beginning. Trump is gearing up to unleash a wave of raids that will be unprecedented in both number and intensity.

It is no exaggeration to say that ICE agents are now terrorizing our communities, our neighbors, and our families. Immigrants fearful of being detained and separated from their families are being pushed deeper into the shadows. This is not who we are, and this is not what the majority of Americans voted for.

WE STAND INDIVISIBLE WITH IMMIGRANTS

Trump won’t stop terrorizing immigrants on his own—it is up to all of us to stop him. Fighting back on these attacks remains a top priority for Indivisible. We strongly believe that all of Trump’s anti-immigrant policies can be stopped by Congress. Indivisible will continue to pressure MoCs to do their job, to protect families from being torn apart, and to protect democracy from this aspiring tyrant. But protecting our communities will require an even greater commitment. To this end, we will support local efforts intended to shield immigrants and other vulnerable communities from the terror brought upon them by this administration.

WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO?

While Indivisible’s mission is to empower groups to realize their constituent power through congressional advocacy, we also want to recognize how important this issue is for all of us. Below are some suggested local activities to help protect immigrants and to fight back these anti-immigrant attacks.

  1. Connect and support local immigrant rights organizations. Local immigration groups will be on the front lines protecting families against Trump’s deportation force—and they need your help! We recommend connecting with these groups in your area. Invite them to your meetings, share their resources, sign up for their alerts. You may need to do a little bit of research to find out what groups operate near you, but here is one directory to get you started.
  2. Help spread “Know Your Rights” materials in your community. You and your neighbors may have lots of questions about what legal rights and protections immigrants have. Being informed can be the key difference between a parent being able to come home to their kids or finding themselves in ICE custody. We encourage you to read up on what those rights are and help disseminate them with your friends and family. You can find resources here and here.
  3. Make sure local officials aren’t facilitating immigration raids. In some cases, local officials, including police departments, are assisting ICE officers in their immigration raids. This should not be their job. Turning police officers into immigration officers does more harm than good and undermines the community’s trust of police officers. Talk to your local officials and let them know that you don’t want them acting as immigration officers. For talking points see here.
  4. Push your local government and other institutions to adopt “sanctuary” policies. Cities, local and state governments, colleges and universities, hospitals and clinics, and places of worship are adopting policies to help protect immigrants from immigration enforcement. A sanctuary policy is not a refusal to follow the law – it is a commitment to refuse to unnecessarily cooperate with immigration officers. For more information about sanctuary policies, see here.

FEBRUARY 22, 2017 RESOURCEROW2