President Donald Trump’s second term has been nothing short of a disaster for the immigrant community.
Masked federal agents have arrested people outside schools and homes. President Trump has violated due process rights to “disappear” people to a mega-prison in El Salvador notorious for torture. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents have abducted people from courthouses as they attended their own immigration hearings. The Trump administration has also targeted immigrants like Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, Dr. Badar Khan Suri, and Rümeysa Öztürk for their political speech.
Ms. Öztürk was taken by plain-clothes ICE agents outside her home in Somerville, Massachusetts on March 25. For nearly 24 hours, Ms. Öztürk’s attorney was unable to locate her as ICE quickly and quietly moved her to three separate locations across state lines before finally sending her to Louisiana. The ACLU joined her legal team to fight for her freedom. After 45 days in detention, a federal court finally ordered her to be released, allowing her to return home to Massachusetts and continue her studies while the case proceeds.
Ms. Öztürk recently shared her experience with Vanity Fair. While her story is harrowing, she hopes that it can inspire people to recognize their capacity to create change. Although many people and communities are directly affected and harmed, there are things you can do. Together, Ms. Öztürk and the ACLU have compiled this resource to offer some guidelines to start advocating and supporting immigrant communities right now.
Here are ways that you can take action and support immigrants’ rights:
1. Write your member of Congress and demand that they vote no on any bill that would punish noncitizens for exercising their First Amendment rights. Citizens and noncitizens alike have the right to free speech – but when the government tries to withhold the rights of some, all of our rights are at risk.
2. Stay informed on the abuses in our immigration detention system and share the stories of immigrant community members being impacted by this administration’s cruelty. The administration is trying to fearmonger and scapegoat immigrants, when the reality is that immigrants are vital to our communities and our economy – and they have been throughout U.S. history.
3. Know your rights when encountering ICE agents to help keep our communities safe: learn more about how you can protect yourself and your immigrant neighbors, share resources with your networks, and organize a know your rights workshop in your community.
4. Join protests or other actions in your community. Now more than ever, we must continue to raise our voices and support our immigrant neighbors and loved ones. Take action with organizations like the ACLU and sign-up to stay informed about events in your area.
5. Volunteer with trusted organizations protecting immigrants’ rights. If you speak more than one language, you can volunteer as an interpreter or translator with organizations like Kids in Need of Defense or the Amica Center. Navigating the immigration system is scary and even more overwhelming for people who do not speak English – translators help bridge that gap by providing language assistance to people in detention or during their court proceedings.
