Support for the Immigrant Community

by Brian Dugas

Meeting of the Community Justice Alliance, tomorrow, 9/29 at 5:30, Maffei Commons Room, King’s College, next to the Chapel up the hill from the Luzerne County Courthouse.

VIISTA certification course, Villanova University. There are many reasons for immigration: warfare, poverty, government collapse, climate change, economic reasons and many more. We have also learned about the ineffective and inept immigration policies in this country. We need an immigration system that recognizes the value and diversity that immigrants bring to this country and provides an effective path to citizenship. That is not what we currently have. The immigrant community is under attack and has asked for our support.

Legal Support
Challenges are great. There is no legal support for immigrants in Wilkes Barre. Hazleton and Scranton are more organized and have access to pro bono Immigration lawyers. Our goal will be to develop the legal network we need in WB or sharing resources with Hazleton and Scranton. VIISTA participation -Fundraising Fidelity Bank.

Other Support
Services and assistance that can be provided by people who do not have partial accreditation. Provide support such as transportation, interpretation, assistance with social services, moral support and friendship.
UUA  https://www.uua.org/loveresists/accompaniment

Love Resists through radical presence and support of local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ​and court accompaniment programs.

Accompaniment programs can make a real difference in our immigration and criminal justice systems. Accompaniment helps stop deportations, reduce bond fees, and keep families together. By centering people’s dignity and choices in a system that takes away dignity and choices, we care for those who are criminalized for their being.

More and more congregations are looking for ways to do this effectively; to resist the current administration’s racist actions and to stop unnecessary deportations. ICE and court accompaniment programs enable supporters to journey alongside people fighting for their own freedom and dignity, and hold the system accountable. In our immigration and criminal justice systems that often results in unjust outcomes, accompaniment programs can make a real difference.

Protection of Rights
ICE operations in NEPA monitor activity, call the hotline, response from a trained investigator.  Hotline, Training, Response.