Refugee Safety Crisis in Reynosa, Mexico: Please Give Generously!

Warning: the letter that follows, from Angry Tias and Abuelas (one of the groups we partner with on the border) might break your heart. They are trying to fundraise rapidly to build secure shelters for migrants whose safety–and often, lives–are threatened by gangs and cartels who kidnap (for ransom, sexual exploitation, or to “recruit”)–or even kill.

This is a situation where every dollar makes a difference, and speed is essential. Click here to make your donation.

The primary author of this letter, Jennifer Harbury, has been fighting for justice for refugees for decades. Here’s what she wrote:

February 11, 2022
  On behalf of the Angry Tias and Abuelas, We would like to update you on the growing migrant crisis in Reynosa, and the efforts of our NGO network to alleviate the suffering there. There are well over a thousand people in Senda de Vida now, over a hundred in Casa de Migrantes, and we believe close to 1500 more in the cheap apartments near Casa de Migrantes and Casa Lulu. There are more than two thousand in the dangerous Plaza de las Americas near the international bridge, and thousands more in the outlying areas.  We are working urgently to build a large new compound, described below. 

We do not believe that the migrant population will lessen in the near future. Reynosa is a favorite location for coyotes and cartels crossing people into the United States. MPP is affecting few people at this point, and under Title 42 everyone else trying to cross is sent back to Reynosa. Meanwhile, survival is becoming more and more tenuous for families with children in the south. Gangs are now forcibly recruiting boys and girls at the age of ten for sexual purposes or to work in the drug trade. Those who refuse to turn over their children are killed.  Once they arrive in Reynosa they remain at great risk. Kidnappings, rapes, and trafficking are daily occurrences. If and when the border reopens, there will still be a great need for more migrant housing. 

The only safe places for these families are within the walled church shelters, Senda de Vida and Casa de Migrantes. Although Pastor  Hector of Senda de Vida already has triple the normal number of residents, he has agreed to build and direct Senda II on a nearby baseball field.  This enormous enclave will house the more than 2000 migrants now in danger at the plaza. Time is of the essence because of the grave dangers there; and because the city officials are determined to forcibly evict them in the near future. If dumped in the streets they will quickly be kidnapped or trafficked. 

Pastor Hector and a huge team of migrants from his Senda shelter began working to build the safety wall of brick and mortar around the perimeter. All team members had suffered in the Plaza earlier and were eager to help, and are proud of their work. Three of the women turned out to be experienced construction experts. We Angry Tias contributed about ten thousand for the wall and have given an additional  fifteen thousand to pay for the 30 toilets and sinks, 20 showers, materials  for the septic tank, and industrial sized stoves and kitchen equipment. Team Brownsville has committed to fund the buildings to house the toilets, showers and wash stations which will be built under the direction and expertise of the amazing team, Solidarity Engineering. Team Brownsville’s commitment extends to funding the provision of drinking water, toilet paper, and other necessities. Given the long wait periods facing the migrants, running water toilets and showers are crucial to their health and basic human dignity.   

In the near future we hope to build a second, much larger septic tank, which will cost about 4 thousand dollars, as well as large permanent block and cement dormitories. For now, once the plumbing is installed in the buildings, people can be safely moved in from the Plaza. 

Team Brownsville and the Angry Tias and Abuelas are also co-funding the food and utilities and support programs in Senda de Vida, Casa de Migrantes and Lulu’s House during the last three months. Given the ever-increasing population, the cold, and the continuing covid problems, this support has been crucial.
Please consider contributing to this expansive project which will shelter vulnerable migrants seeking protection at our southern border.     
 Sincerely,
 Jennifer Harbury and The Angry Tias and Abuelas

Click here to donate to Angry Tias and Abuelas to protect these vulnerable migrants.

HIAS’s Immigration Scorecard for Biden’s First Year

The change in US adminiatration has not lessened the need for US-based immigration justice advocates to be involved. The national refugee services organization HIAS (a frequent JAIJ partner) just released this scorecard for Biden’s first year. This is why we of Jewish Acrivists for Immigration Justice continue our work of holding the government accountable and building support for humane treatment of immigrants and refugees.

Click to read the HIAS report.

Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, and Orthodox Jewish Organizations Come Together to Say “Stop the Cruelty!”

147 Jewish leaders and organizations signed on to a letter to end Title 42 and Migrant Protection Protocol–two especially cruel Trump-era immigration holdovers–against immigrants and refugees. The letter will be delivered digitally today (Thursday, November 18) and read publicly by one of the signing rabbis at a Doctors for Camp Closure event across from the White House at Lafayette Park Friday. The event begins at 10 a.m.

Since both Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Centers for Disease Control Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky have credited their own Jewish experience in forming their approach (Mayorkas was even a Board member of the long-established refugee aid oganization and JAIJ coalition partner HIAS) calls on them to honor the Jewish values of healing the world and caring for others.

Secretary Mayorkas has already issued a strong statement on the need to end MPP, and the New York Times issued a powerful editorial this week on the cruelty and dysfunction of title 42
Written and circulated by Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice (that’s us!), the letter gathered support from members of all four major strains of Judaism: Reform (whose national body, Union for Reform Judaism endorsed the letter), Reconstructionist, Conservative, and Orthodox. Rabbi Arthur Waskow and author Noam Chomsky are among the many prominent individual signers.

With only ten days to gather signatures, we at JAIJ are deeply gratified by this outpouring of support on short notice, and we hope this letter inspires Secretary Mayorkas and Director Walensky to take immediate action to end these cruel policies. Of course, we and our many coalition allies (including the 90 organizations in the welcome With Dignity coalition) will keep up the pressure.

Click to read the letter and view the signers ( docs.google.com/document/d/1BIyTNPiWAfeAWv3OTtjDaCBqPL6m9O0fAKAFm5xTGIo/ )

Title 42 Must Go (The Hill) By Alice Levine

Great article in The Hill: Use of Title 42 (supposedly due to public health concerns) to keep asylum seekers out of our country is actually having the opposite impact on public health! This is a policy that was started by Trump–and is being continued by the Biden administration. Even once a court ruled that the use of Title 42 is illegal, the Biden administration decided to appeal that decision. Let’s hold Biden to his promises. People’s lives are at stake!

JAIJ’s Latest Newsletter: Quilt in Need of a Home–and More

Help us bring a powerful immigration-themed quilt with 45,000 squares to view in Western Massachusetts–we have everything but the venue!

Also:

  • Pressuring the Biden administration to change US immigration policy
  • Safety for undocumented people in Massachusetts
  • Protesting continued family separation and detention of children and teens in terrible conditions
  • Pledge to #WelcomeWithDignity

All in our latest newsletter, along with some stunningly beautiful artwork. Please visit https://conta.cc/3ekZBVT to read it.

Support the Driving Families Forward Act (Massachusetts)

Dear Community friends:
Please consider offering oral or written testimony in favor of the Work and Family Mobility Act!
The Joint Committee on Transportation of the Massachusetts legislature will hold a hearing on work and family mobility bills on June 23.
We invite you to submit written testimony and/or testify on bills you care about.
Access to driver’s licenses for all is crucial so that immigrants can live their lives, take their children to school, attend medical appointments, etc., without fear of being stopped and deported. Similar bills have been passed in several other states, and polls show that an overwhelming majority of MA residents are in favor. Undocumented workers provide essential work in the Massachusetts economy in industries such as farming, health care, food services, hotel management, and elder care.
Not only is mobility freedom, but having a driver’s license also means access to a more just and equitable healthcare system. Read more here.
Testimony on bills in this hearing should be addressed to Committee Co-Chairs Senator Joseph Boncore and Representative William Straus.
To testify live at the virtual hearing, please complete and submit this form no later than Wednesday, June 23 at 4:00 p.m.
Written testimony can be emailed to Kirsten.Centrella@mahouse.gov and please copy Senator Comerford (Jo.Comerford@masenate.gov). Written testimony will be accepted until Wednesday, June 23 at 5:00 p.m.
See Driving Families Forward Facebook page for more information.

Poet Jonathan Mendoza Kicks Off Three-Event JAIJ/NAAB Series

Please Note: Registration link is in the text, underneath the flier

Award-winning Latino-Jewish Poet Jonathan Mendoza Featured in “Waking Us From Our Complacency”: An (online) event on immigration justice and racial justice

First in a three-event series, presented by Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice of Western MA and Never Again Action Boston

Performance poet and social justice activist Jonathan Mendoza, who is Latino-Jewish, headlines the first event in a three-part series commemorating three Jewish holidays: Elul (in August), a month of reflection heading into the Jewish New Year; Sukkot (October), with an event focused on the traditional housing and food security connections of this eight-day harvest and spiritual holiday; and Chanukah (December), an eight-day festival celebrating liberation from an oppressive occupier and the power of faith.

In addition to Mendoza’s performance, the kick-off event will include the Elul tradition of blowing the shofar, an instrument made from a ram’s horn whose powerful sound wakes us from our complacency as we engage in spiritual preparation for the High Holidays in the fall. 

There is no admission charge and the public is welcome. Voluntary donations for the first event will go to Pioneer Valley Workers Center, working to protect immigrant rights in Western Massachusetts, and Resource Center Matamoros, assisting asylum seekers trapped in a refugee camp that members of JAIJ visited earlier this year. Register to receive the Zoom link at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_mr9GuUhLQsqaa1oUcuAMwQ

Future programs in the series will celebrate the Sukkot harvest festival with a program on food and housing justice in October, and the liberation festival of Chanukah in December. Dates and program specifics will be announced closer to those events. Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice and Never Again Action Boston gratefully thank the Harold Grinspoon Foundation for financially supporting the Immigration Justice is Racial Justice series.

This three-part speaker series explores the intersections between immigrant justice and racial justice, and centers the voices of people of color who are leaders on these issues. JAIJ especially aims to feature Jews of color whenever possible, to address the stereotype that all Jews are white. Each event will be held in conjunction with a Jewish holiday, and the themes of the holiday will be woven into the presentation. 

About JAIJ:

Formed as families were being torn apart at the US-Mexico border and imprisoned in deplorable conditions, Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice is a small affinity group (all current members happen to be in their 60s and 70s). JAIJ sent two delegations, first to the prison for migrant teens in Homestead, Florida (since closed due to public pressure) in June, 2019, and then to the US/Mexico border between Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico. The group has done numerous public programs and media interviews to share what we learned on these trips (including a rally that drew hundreds of people last September) and have met several times with area legislators. JAIJ works in coalition with many other immigration justice, racial justice, and progressive Jewish groups in Massachusetts, in Brownsville/Matamoros, and around the country. JAIJ’s website is http://jewishactivistsforimmigrationjustice.blog/ and the Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/JAIJWM .

About Never Again Action Boston:

A group of Jews and allies in the Boston area taking direct action for immigrant justice. “We are responding to fascism now as we would have if it was 1940s Germany: because we believe Never Again means Never Again for Anybody.” NAAB’s website is http://neveragainaction.com/boston and Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/NeverAgainBOS .

Featured Performer Bio:
Jonathan Mendoza is an award-winning, Boston-bred, Chicago-based Jewish and Mexican-American activist, spoken word poet, social justice educator, and musician. He is a National Poetry Slam Champion, a three-time award winner at the College Union Poetry Slam Invitational, and winner of the 2018 Sonia Sanchez – Langston Hughes Poetry Prize. 

His art focuses on multiracial and Jewish POC identity, Latinidad, migrant justice, mental health and masculinity. He aims less to make political art, but to make politics artful—fusing arts and education with organizing to empower social justice movements locally and abroad.

Jonathan has organized across the U.S. with local and national movements for migrant rights, economic justice, democratization, and police accountability. He’s a community organizer for housing and youth power with Pilsen Alliance in Chicago’s lower west side. 

Jonathan ties the artistic to the political, the academic to the emotional, galvanizing diverse audiences and making him a rising star.

Reach Jonathan Mendoza and see his books at MendozaPoetry.com or @Jmendoza010 (Twitter/Instagram).

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