Here’s the deal: An executive order that separates families and leaves refugees in danger. A judge’s partial stay of that order. A devastating impact on immigrants all over the world who need safety. Now is the time to show support for our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, our families, those we don’t even know who need our help, and each other. Say no to Trump’s discriminatory ban on Muslim immigration by taking action in the world and staying open in your heart.
1. Join the airport protests, bring signs, and connect with others who are resisting the immigration ban. Join and follow the organizers, such as Resistance SF.
2. Call your local international airport director and the US Customs and Border Patrol Office and insist that they refuse to comply with the executive order.
3. Call your city’s mayor and police chief and insist that the city government and police department not participate in or facilitate immigration enforcement at any level from checking IDs to deportation.
4. Call your senators and ask that they go on record rejecting Trump’s immigration ban.
5. Donate to the ACLU, to the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and to local organizations like the Arab Resource and Organizing Center who are on the ground fighting unfair immigration policies day in and day out.
6. Are you a lawyer? Brush up on immigration law and volunteer on behalf of immigrants who need urgent legal help.
More Radical Reads: 13 Realities As An Undocumented Immigrant During the 2016 Election
7. Be humble and thoughtful about your own immigrant past. Many of us need to remember that your family arrived here as immigrants, however recently or long ago. Acknowledge your privilege if you are an American citizen, and if you’re reading this an English speaker, and be generous in using those aspects of your identity to fight on behalf of newer immigrants.
8. Refuse to buy into “good immigrant/bad immigrant” thinking. All immigrants are vulnerable and need protection from this administration. This is just the beginning of the scapegoating of immigrants that is likely to unfold. Already the idea of keeping out “criminals” has turned into criminalizing undocumented immigrants and those who help them. Yep. That means me. And you.
More Radical Reads: The Hypocrisy of American Grief: Why We Shed Tears for Gun Violence But Not Refugees…
9. Keep your eyes and heart open in the midst of what will certainly be constantly changing policies and varying attacks against immigrants. We’re only getting started. Be ready.
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