TL;DR February 5
Welcome to our news segment: TL;DR of Immigration News, for when the news is Too Long and you Didn’t Read it.
This is a weekly collection of immigration-related news stories. These bite-size summaries will keep you up to date without overwhelming your inbox.
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The new administration wants you to feel sad, overwhelmed, and powerless. And while some of the news we’ve collected below is sad, and it might be overwhelming, you are far from powerless. Read (or skip) to the end to see how people are fighting back, and some actions you can take right now.
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Immigrants in Wisconsin are Sending their Valuables Back to their Home Countries
ProPublica brings us a heartbreaking on-the-ground story from Wisconsin, where the mere threat of deportations constitutes a direct unraveling of what had been a burgeoning Nicaraguan immigrant community. Nicaraguans seeking a better life, financial stability, safety from persecution, and stable homes for their children had come to Wisconsin to do jobs in the state’s dairy industry--the financial backbone of the state--that dairy farmers were finding it impossible to hire for otherwise.
Now they are packing their most prized possessions for shipment back home. Some have left already, some are anticipating being forced to leave. A mother makes sure she has a passport for her 14-month-old son. A father buys barber equipment online, planning to open a shop when he gets deported and loses his current livelihood. The uncertainty is fully intentional on the administration’s part--the instability, and the cruelty it brings, is the point.
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DOJ Tells Legal Aid Organizations to Stop Representing Immigrants
Immigrants facing deportation and/or detention do not have the right to legal representation from public defenders. Instead, they rely upon legal aid services for representation and help navigating the confusing, labyrinthine system. Many of the organizations offering this legal aid receive federal funding from programs such as the Legal Orientation Program and the Counsel for Children Initiative. The Department of Justice issued a memo last week instructing legal aid organizations who receive this federal funding to cease representing immigrants.
This comes as part of a series of executive actions taken by the current administration to target immigrants by vastly expanding the group of people who can be prioritized for expedited deportation, attempting to end birthright citizenship, pausing the “Refugee Resettlement” program, reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” program, creating a “Federal Homeland Security Task Force,” and declaring a national emergency at the southern border. Many of these actions have been legally challenged as unconstitutional, and the current state of the law is unclear, making it even more challenging for detained immigrants to navigate without access to legal aid.
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Temporary Immigration Program is ended for Hundreds of Thousands of Venezuelans
One goal of the new administration that immigration lawyers have been sounding the alarm over is its determination to take away existing legal pathways to citizenship. This week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked TPS (temporary protected status) of 350,000 Venezuelans. This means that in two months, 350,000 Venezuelan children and adults will lose their work permits and deportation protections.
Created in 1990, TPS is a program that acknowledges that people who migrate from certain countries beset by war, environmental disaster, or other emergencies may not have a safe place to go back to, and grants immigrants temporary legal status and eligibility to gain work permits. The Venezuelan TPS program is by far the largest, but administration officials have also drafted plans to revoke TPS from Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans who came here during the Biden administration.
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“We Will Fight Back”: Aid Workers Fear Closing a Camp on the Arizona Border Will Endanger Immigrants
Supporting people the Torah describes as “the stranger” is sacred work and a mitzvah (a good deed, or a commandment from G-d). But the organizations and individuals who perform these labors have long been under siege by the federal government as part of a ruthless agenda of criminalizing all that is human and humane.
Most recently, volunteers from faith-based and humanitarian organizations like No More Deaths, Humane Borders, and Tucson Samaritans at a migrant encampment in Arizona have received notice from the Forest Service that they must close down the camp. There, migrants receive water, meals, blankets, bandaids and rest for tired and often-abraded bodies.
While the organizations vow to keep doing their vital work, following what one volunteer called “God’s executive order,” enhanced repression against them is likely. Closing the camp would push migrants into ever-more punishing terrain, without the resources and comfort provided by these organizations.
No More Deaths, Humane Borders, and Tucson Samaritans are all worthy organizations if you are in a position to assist financially. They also accept short-term volunteers; consult their web sites for more information.
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Protests Erupt Across the United States to Say Hell NO to Mass Deportation
All across the country, from massive protests that shut down the freeways in Los Angeles, California to huge crowds in Atlanta, Georgia and dozens of points in between, people are mobilizing to send up a giant middle finger to the Trump Administration’s plan to rip apart families, build a wall, and send tens of thousands of people to Guantanamo Bay. The link in the headline tallies at least 40 actions that have already happened, and more protests and student walkouts seem to be happening on a daily, if not hourly basis.
On top of this, we’re seeing Know Your Rights trainings everywhere we look - giving people the knowledge and the confidence to protect themselves and their communities.
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4 Actions you can take Right Now
Respond to reports of suspected raids in your area in real time by reading and sharing the information in this 1-page guide. For those of us who are allies especially, learn how to watch for ICE and protect your neighbors.
On February 19, 6:00pm - 7:30pm, join Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ) for a virtual Know Your Rights / ICE Watch training to learn more about the current threats to our local communities and how we can protect our immigrant neighbors. Facilitators will share the latest on what actions you can take against anti-immigrant policies and deportations, and how you can get involved with JFREJ's migrant justice and community safety organizing. Register here.
Never Again Action is equipping members to organize themselves into neighborhood groups (or “pods”) to be trained and respond to deportation threats on a hyperlocal level. Learn more: bit.ly/BuildAPod2024
Support Never Again Action’s organizing by making a donation today.
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Thanks for joining us for this week’s roundup! If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for next week’s roundup, drop us a line at neveragainaction@gmail.com.