Western Mass Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice
Ending child-asylum-seeker detention
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 …
Continue reading “JAIJ’s Latest Newsletter: Quilt in Need of a Home–and More”
Read it Here! Statement of Solidarity: Our commitment to stand together against the violent, systemic and racist destruction of Black lives Updates on issues in last month’s newsletter: Investigations of human rights abuses and violence against those detained by ICE in the Bristol County House of Correction; Progress on passing the Work and Family Mobility Act;Ongoing needs in …
They come in shackles. They hold their shackled wrists up to the bus window and blow kisses. We hold hearts and shout, “Lo queremos” (We love you) and “No estan solos” (You are not alone).But are they alone? Even the one who manages to open the slot at the back of the bus and poke …
Continue reading “REFLECTIONS ON WITNESSING AT THE AIRPORT: What if This Were a Train to Auschwitz?”
The delegation of the Western MA Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice who traveled to the Brownsville/Matamoros border for a week in February 2020 have seen and felt very directly the hardship faced bythe migrants stuck in the tent encampment in Matamoros, as well as the amazing organizations and individuals providing much needed care every day. …
Continue reading “Ways to Get Involved/Organizations to Support for Justice on the Border”
By Annique Boomsma To see up close our brothers and sisters from Central America being deported to countries they fled makes it impossible to EVER look away. At the airport yesterday where Trail Boss buses drove up with people in chains, 5 point chains we were told, we witnessed the horror of what our government …
Continue reading “Reflections on the Witness Action at Brownsville Airport”
By Susie Zeiger For the past two evenings most of us have been serving food prepared by World Central Kitchen to approximately a thousand asylum seekers who line up and wait patiently to be served. I was told that there have been fewer people waiting recently because it’s been so cold in the evening. The …
In times where so many of us struggle against becoming numb from the onslaught of depressing news headlines, we have found hope and courage here at the border, from listening to the dreams of the migrants themselves, witnessing their perseverance and fortitude in putting up with untenable situations, and from the many people and organizations …
By Betty Lynne Wolfson Please take a moment to read a bit about our first day’s experience, here at The Border. Every person, parents and their children, here in their encampment on the Border, were so warm, open, lovingly kind, and full of faith. I spoke with a woman at the Medical Tent, this was only …
Here we are, on the Brownsville/Matamoros Border, the place we’ve been talking about going to for months. Here we are, with our passion, our commitment, and our privilege, ready to do what we can to connect, to support, to witness, and to protest.We got up early this morning to meet Melba Lucio, director of the …
We crammed quite a bit into our first morning. Meeting at the Brownsville bus station, we joined a good-sized group of volunteers in a centering ritual before walking en masse across the bridge into Mexico. Crossing was smooth. They were telling people to open their backpacks for inspection, but when I got to the front …