“Sanctuary for All” and “Keeping Families Together”

These are the themes for church and community efforts on behalf of our immigrant neighbors for 2018. “Sanctuary for all” means advocacy to ensure that all persons who are currently under threat in today’s climate of hostility (as we witnessed in Charlottesville this summer) toward persons of color, different ethnicity or citizenship status, or sexual orientation.  The “Welcoming All” program of the Central Virginia Sanctuary Network, of which WPC is a member, will be focusing more broadly on how people of faith can create and sustain safe spaces for all. Dick Redding is WPC’s representative to the Steering Committee of the Central Virginia Sanctuary Network.

“Keeping Families Together” is the theme of several efforts by the Charlottesville Immigration Resource and Advocacy Coalition (CIRAC), in which WPC members are involved:

• The creation and administration of a bond and legal defense fund for undocumented persons without financial resources; bond will enable family breadwinners to remain with their families, rather than being sent to detention centers across the country where they are cut off from legal counsel and family support, while their case is being adjudicated.
• Advocacy at public hearings of the Albemarle County Regional Jail Board to adopt a policy refraining from automatically notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of persons who have been jailed, and served their sentence, for a civil matter (such as child support) or misdemeanor (such as driving without a license); again, this enables families to stay together.

Legal assistance: Persons with a legal background (attorneys and paralegals) are needed to assist local organizations with bond fund administration, assisting at “Know Your Rights” legal clinics, being trained as a legal observer for the Rapid Response Hotline (in the case of ICE raids), and pro bono legal assistance under the supervision of experienced immigration law attorneys. WPC members who are interested in this kind of involvement may contact , , or .

 Transportation: Because undocumented persons cannot obtain a driver’s license in Virginia (multiple arrests for driving without a license becomes a direct pipeline to detention under the current administration’s policy), volunteers are needed to drive them to immigration court in Arlington, VA or to the US Citizenship Information Service office in Alexandria. This can be a very rewarding way to provide assistance to vulnerable, but appreciative neighbors. Contact Gail Wiley if you’d like to fill out a volunteer application to drive.

Detention Visitation: Volunteers are needed to work with the Capital Area Immigration Rights Coalition (CAIR) at Farmville Detention Center. Volunteers assist the legal team with documenting detainee’s story and situation for review to assess whether there may be legal remedies. Several WPC members participate in this; when sufficient numbers of interested persons are identified, CAIR will come to Charlottesville to offer another required two-hour volunteer training. Contact Gene Locke if you are interested.

Sanctuary congregations: Several congregations in Charlottesville have committed to providing physical sanctuary for undocumented persons. WPC has committed to supporting these congregations with funding and hospitality (groceries, laundry, rides, furnishings, etc.) necessary to comfortably house persons or families over periods of months. If you are interested in contributing to this hospitality effort, contact or .

DACA, Dreamers, and Charlottesville

Join Legal Aid Justice Center, community members, and other advocates to hear about ongoing efforts to protect immigrants in and around Charlottesville. Learn what steps you can take to help your neighbors.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017
5:30pm doors open; 6:00pm program

The auditorium at The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, Jefferson School City Center, 233 4th Street NW, Charlottesville.  This event is free and open to the public. To reserve a space, please register today:  RSVP here

These are young people who were brought here as children, grew up in the US, and are now young adults without U.S. citizenship.  In 2012 President Obama signed an Executive Order (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) to provide relief from deportation to qualified, young adults so that they can go to school, drive, and work.

On September 5, the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, announced that the DACA program will be rescinded.  Here are some specifics:

1. There will be no new DACA applications accepted. The program will end in March, 2018 unless Congress acts to continue it, for example through the proposed Dream Act.
2. DACA renewals (for some recipients) will be accepted until October 5^th for those whose status is due to expire before March, 2018.
3. USCIS (the federal government) will continue to charge $495 for each renewal application.

If you’d like to learn more about DACA and the current, national situation, here is a good website: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/trump-ends-daca-dreamers-immigration-442789653.html

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY

Here in Charlottesville, Sin Barreras and Legal Aid Justice Center have agreed to work quickly with as many of our local DACA recipients as possible to renew their status before October 5^th.  These two local nonprofits are and have been on the front line of helping initial and renewal DACA applicants – and they are currently poised to support dozens of DACA renewals if we can support the application fees.

Sin Barreras and Legal Aid Justice Center hope to raise  $25,000 to support these DACA renewals for any Dreamer on an as-needed basis.  Any additional funds we raise will be used for Dreamer’s legal support going forward.

Any size donation is very much needed – and appreciated.

 CALL TO ACTION

If you are willing to help our Dreamers, please go the Sin Barreras website (write “Dreamer” in the message box) at www.sinbarrerascville.com or send your check (write “Dreamers” in the subject line) to Sin Barreras, PO Box 6433, Charlottesville, VA 22906.

If you have questions or want more information, please contact , Ruling Elder.

The monthly meeting of the Immigrant Advocacy and Resource Coalition of Charlottesville/Albemarle will be this Wednesday, June 28th, 7 p.m. in the Library.

This group is a network of churches, faith groups, and other community organizations working to support and protect our immigrant neighbors. Lana Heath de Martinez of the Welcome All program and the Central Virginia Sanctuary Network of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, and Alina Kilpatrick, attorney volunteering with the Central Virginia Sanctuary Network, will be the speakers. Circles of Protection working groups will meet following their presentation.

This is an opportunity for WPC members who missed Lana and Alina’s presentation last Sunday to hear them and ask questions, as well as to join a working group – all are welcome.