Hi, Rob here. I'm a public school teacher in Minnesota and have 32 immigrant students in need of Rental Assistance because their families are unable to leave their home to work, go to school, or go grocery shopping due to fears of being abducted by ICE or CBP agents. Their fears are very real - they are all in the US legally, but as most of you have seen, that has not stopped ICE/CBP from detaining and deporting people who have accents or black/brown skin. Many of them have already watched family members get taken away.

I want to tell you their stories, but infuriatingly, I have to be vague so as not to put them at risk.

Funds will be released immediately based on student need and we will be delivering them directly to them for as long as ICE is occupying our city.

In order to get these funds into the hands of students, anything raised from this GoFundMe will be first given to the Vietnamese Minnesotans Association (a nonprofit who has kindly offered to accept donations on behalf of our students; their office shares a building with my school). Then, they will be able to write checks to specific students or withdraw cash for them, depending on their rent needs. We are doing it in this way to make sure that these raised funds are going through a nonprofit to avoid issues with the IRS.

If you'd like more information about the students or how they will receive these funds, please contact me directly.

Thank you for your solidarity.