"A threat is looming."

There is a threat looming. Several reports state that ICE agents plan to increase raids in sanctuary cities. As a founding member of the Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership (ACILEP), a coalition of nonprofits serving immigrants, Centro Legal de la Raza has been a rapid response and immigration legal service provider. This ongoing threat to our communities is why we continue to provide a rapid response to the legal needs of Alameda County residents. Families are facing imminent deportation and adverse action as a result of immigration enforcement activities like raids in homes, workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods.

Late last year, a Salvadoran man in his late 30's was detained by ICE despite having no criminal history whatsoever. He had fled his home country after being repeatedly targeted by violent street gangs. He’s now been a member of this community for over ten years. Nonetheless, ICE arrested him outside his home on his way to work one morning. His family called the ACILEP hotline and Centro Legal attorneys met with him immediately after he was apprehended. Our staff helped him overturn a negative reasonable fear finding that would have allowed immigration officials to deport him immediately. Thanks to our Immigrants' Rights team, he was happily reunited with his family.   Centro Legal is committed to supporting immigrant communities, and are quick to respond in an ever changing environment.

RAPID RESPONSE NETWORKS CHALLENGE ICE ACILEP signed on to a press release this week on October 7, part of 23 California Rapid Response Networks:  “ICE’s decision to conduct these operations during a pandemic is not only a reckless threat to human life but flies in the face of their own mandatory guidance on COVID-19. ICE can flex its muscles and push whatever narrative it wants about sanctuary cities but the crimes that need to be highlighted are the ones being committed by that agency every single day.”   Read the full press release.

As we navigate 2020, Centro Legal and ACILEP volunteer dispatchers provided Know Your Rights (KYR) trainings, placed KYR fliers in bags at food dispensaries for over 500 families, and received 522 calls via the ACILEP hotline. We don’t know when ICE will act next, but their threats are not without consequence. Together, we can continue to fight and defend the rights of all community members.  Help us combat the evils of ICE, and let’s keep our cities and neighborhoods safe for everyone - regardless of immigration status. Please consider supporting our work by clicking the button below. Thank you for your partnership!

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Centro Legal de la Raza | centrolegal.org

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