http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/ten-examples-of-direct-resistance-to-government-raids
[links in on-line article]
Wednesday, 22 February 2017 06:22
Ten Examples of Direct Resistance to Government Raids
Resistance to unjust government action is the duty of all people who
care about human rights.
As Dr. King reminded us in his letter from a Birmingham jail, “Never
forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”
It is now clear that Latinos and Muslims are Trump’s first target for
government actions. The orders just released put ICE (Immigration and
Customs Enforcement) and US Customs and Border Protection on steroids.
These new policies also will have a devastating impact on LGBTQ , as
well as Black and Muslim communities.
Here are ten recent examples of how people are directly resisting.
One: Blocking vehicles of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A
coalition of undocumented immigrants, faith leaders and other allies
blocked a bus in San Francisco which was full of people scheduled for
deportation. Other buses were blocked in Arizona and Texas. People
blocked streets outside of ICE facilities in Los Angeles.
Two: People have engaged in civil disobedience inside border highway
checkpoints to deter immigration checks. People have called neighbors
to warn them that ICE is in the neighborhood and held up signs on
highways that ICE is checking cars ahead.
Three: Cities refusing to cooperate with immigration enforcement and
targeting. Hundreds of local governments have policies limiting
cooperation with immigration enforcement.
Four: Colleges and universities declining to cooperate with immigration
authorities and declare themselves sanctuary campuses. Dozens of
schools have declared themselves sanctuary campuses and over a hundred
more are considering some form of resistance to immigration enforcement.
Five: Churches sheltering and protecting immigrants scheduled for
deportation in their sanctuary. Over a dozen churches are already doing
this with hundreds more considering sanctuary. The Episcopal Diocese of
Los Angeles declared itself a Sanctuary Diocese in December 2016 and
pledged to defend immigrants, and others targeted for their status.
Six: Detained people demanding investigation into illegal actions. Over
400 detained immigrants in Broward County Florida wrote and publicized a
letter to government officials challenging the legality and conditions
of their confinement.
Seven: Divesting from stocks of private prisons. Private prison
companies CCA and GEO have pushed for building more prisons for
immigrants and have profited accordingly. Columbia University became
the first university to divest from companies which operate private prisons.
Eight: Lawyers have volunteered to defend people facing deportation.
People with lawyers are much less likely to be deported yet only 37
percent of people facing deportation have an attorney and of those
already in jail the percentage drops to 14 percent. Los Angeles has
created its own fund to provide legal aid to those facing deportations.
Other groups like the American Bar Association recruit and train
volunteer lawyers to help. Know Your Rights sessions are also very
helpful. Here are CAIR Know Your Rights materials for Muslims. Here
are Know Your Rights materials for immigrants from the National
Immigration Law Center.
Nine: Restaurants declaring themselves safe space sanctuaries for
undocumented and LGBTQ workers. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics
reports that 25 percent of workers in restaurants are Latino.
Ten: Sit-ins at elected and appointed officials at government buildings.
Bodegas have gone on strike.
Eleven. Social self-defense. Jeremy Brecher pointed out that decades
ago communities in Poland organized themselves into loose voluntary
networks called Committees for Social Self-Defense to resist unjust
government targeting. This opens resistance in many new forms in
addition to the ones identified above including: setting up text
networks for allies to come to the scene of ICE deportation raids, to
document and hopefully stop the raids; identifying and picketing homes
of particularly aggressive ICE leaders; providing medical, legal and
financial assistance to help shelter people on the run from authorities;
and boycotting businesses and politicians that cooperate with ICE.
Resist! For more information on how, check out some of the many
organizations already resisting targeting and deportations. Mijente
offers creative ideas and examples for action to expand the idea of
sanctuary to protect all residents from criminalization and deportation.
National Day Laborer Network has many resources for communities
seeking to stop deportations. Central to the campus sanctuary movement
is MovementCosecha. The National Immigration Project of the National
Lawyers Guild provides resources for lawyers. Faith communities looking
into this should connect with the Sanctuary Movement. Puente Arizona is
a great example of grassroots organizing in local communities.