Newswire: How you can get involved amid ICE crackdowns
CAIR-Chicago Legal Director Heena Musabji leads Know Your Rights Training at a Mosque
Join a Know Your Rights training or canvassing
Several organizations offer regular trainings to help you understand your constitutional rights and what to do if you encounter ICE agents:
HANA Center, Know Your Rights workshop: Thursdays at 1 p.m., online | Register
The Resurrection Project - Immigrant Justice: Tuesdays at 2 p.m. (English); Thursdays at 6 p.m. (Spanish) | Sign up for a virtual training or request a training
Equity and Transformation, Black Voter Project and a coalition of Black-led community and legal groups are hosting Know Your Rights training sessions. Sign up here.
The National Lawyers Guild of Chicago offers Know Your Rights trainings for groups upon request. Email chicago@nlg.org.
CAIR-Chicago offers Know Your Rights training upon request. You can fill out their online form at https://www.cairchicago.org/request-a-speaker.
PUÑO (Pilsen Unidos por Nuestro Orgullo) organizes Know Your Rights Community Canvassing. The volunteer effort involves 15 minutes of training followed by 60- to 90-minute canvassing shifts in pairs. Check out upcoming dates and sign up for slots here.
Palenque LSNA hosts virtual Know Your Rights trainings upon request bit.ly/PLSNAVolunteer
Find your local rapid response team
The Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights has a network of rapid response teams throughout the city and the surrounding suburbs who verify, record and alert the community of immigration enforcement activity so you can stay informed. Those groups include:
Chicago Far South Side Rapid Response records immigration enforcement activity in Chicago's far south side and south suburbs.
Sign up for the Illinois "Eyes on ICE" Text Network. ICIRR's text alert system will alert participants of local ICE activity near your area, tips and reminders to keep you and your neighbors safe and opportunities to take action. Text alerts of ICE activity will only be sent if it is verified by an ICIRR-affiliated rapid response team and if the information is current enough to be relevant and helpful to local residents.
Get trained and get involved with rapid response
Pilsen Unidos por Nuestro Orgullo’s (PUÑO) regularly holds Migra Watch team training where you can learn how to identify federal agents, document ICE activity, and support immigrants in our communities. Follow PUÑO’s Instagram to stay updated on upcoming events
Sign up for the National Immigrant Justice Center’s Rapid Response team to receive urgent action alerts.
When documenting ICE sightings, the ICIRR recommends that you:
Stay at least an arms length away from an officer as you film. If they tell you to back up, film yourself doing so.
Film horizontally to capture as much of what’s happening as possible.
Narrate what you’re seeing and be as detailed as possible, including the amount of agents and what they’re doing.
Focus on filming the actions of the agents rather than yourself or those around you.
Call the Family Support Network Hotline at 855-435-7693. You can talk to an operator about sharing your footage and the ICIRR can share it with their network of lawyers.
The ICIRR recommends that you do not:
Post unverified information about ICE activity on social media
Interfere with the investigation or otherwise put yourself in harm’s way
Share the footage publicly without the permission of the person being detained, their family or the Family Support Network Hotline.
Take Action, help neighbors
There are many ways you can volunteer or donate to help neighbors affected by ICE enforcement. Here are some:
Organized Communities Against Deportation (OCAD) is looking for volunteers, as well as help sponsoring families facing deportation or who need financial assistance.
Volunteer for the ICIRR’s Court Watch program. Volunteers spend a few hours per month observing and bearing witness to detained immigrants’ hearings. Email icirrcourtwatch@gmail.com to get involved.
Sign up to get updates from the ICIRR about activities, campaigns and how you can get involved with the organization’s work.
Join a school ICE watch patrol
Help fight ICE targeting immigrant children and families by visiting schools during dropoff and pickup times
Street Vendors Association of Chicago launched a Vendor Relief Fund as vendors are arrested and their regular customers avoid areas that federal agents target. You can donate via GoFundMe or PayPal.
Sin Título, a Latina collective, operates the Neighbor to Neighbor initiative where volunteers can help run errands, pick up groceries and provide other support for families who don’t feel safe leaving home. The organization also offers Lyft reimbursements for people commuting to work. On their homepage, click “help/ayuda” if you are requesting help. You can also donate to the effort and sign up as a volunteer.