Solidarity Fund for Local Immigrant Families
Troy Sanctuary Campaign and ICE-Free Capital District are raising emergency funds for local immigrant families who are struggling to make ends meet as they brace for winter while facing pandemic-related hardships and punitive treatment by ICE. It has been a profoundly challenging year for all of us, and undocumented families continue to face the worst fallout from this pandemic, from the health risks for front-line workers to the economic instability and the constant, arbitrary threat of incarceration in facilities where COVID spreads unchecked. We have an opportunity now to show solidarity with our immigrant neighbors - to reach across the alienating divides of distancing and documentation to insist that no human being is illegal, and create sanctuary everywhere.
Our initial goal is to reach $11,350 by January 5 to meet essential needs for these families. For their privacy and safety, we cannot share their names, but here are some of their stories:
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Families A and B are sharing close quarters while awaiting postponed asylum hearings. If we can raise $1,600 it will cover the first month's rent and deposit to get Family B into their own apartment.
Family C is coping with the economic fallout of their father's deportation. If we can raise $2,000 for them, that will contribute to attorney and filing fees to take steps towards bringing him back home, and help keep his wife and kids housed in the meantime.
Families D, E, F, and G are all single parents facing lost wages due to COVID because of reduced hours and temporary closures at their jobs. If we can raise $500 for each of them, it will help them make up their shortages and pay for essentials next month.
Families H and I are both single parents and domestic violence survivors. If we can raise $1,200 for Family H, it will go towards the filing fee to help their parent finally gain documented status. $1,300 will cover moving expenses and allow Family I to recover their housing security.
Families J and K are also facing housing insecurity due to their immigration status. Family J is in financial limbo while seeking deferred action from USCIS and coping with the severe illness of their child. If we can raise $850 for them, it will help cover their rent and living expenses for January. Family K is facing economic hardship, with parents out of work due to COVID. $950 will cover their rent and utilities.
Families L and M are struggling students determined to finish their college educations despite financial hardship. $850 will keep Family L's single parent housed and in school for another month. $600 will go towards rent for Family M, offsetting the limitations on work opportunities and financial aid imposed by an F1 visa.
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The first $11,350 we raise will cover the expenses listed above. Our secondary goal is to raise $13,350 by January 12, to put an additional $2,000 (15% of funds raised) into the Immigrant Solidarity Fund to be prepared for aid requests this winter. For example, we anticipate an increase in requests for help with legal filing fees following the USCIS rate increases this fall, which are making it even harder for immigrants to seek documented status.
The Solidarity Fund also enables the on-the-ground support our volunteers provide to people targeted by ICE. In addition to delivering groceries and driving neighbors to dentist appointments, last week our volunteers provided sanctuary for a woman bonded out from ICE custody:
After an unnecessary, inhumane year and a half behind bars, Latham ICE agents released this woman onto the dark streets of an unfamiliar city, wearing shirt-sleeves in the 20-degree winter night, with no money, coat, or means of communication. Fortunately, our volunteers had been coordinating for days with support teams in Brooklyn and Buffalo, and they were ready to bundle her into a warm car, get her a meal and hotel room for the night, and put her on a bus home to her family six states away the next day, wearing winter clothes and carrying food, toiletries, a prepaid phone, and some cash in case of emergencies.
Not every volunteer encounter is so dramatic, but every single dollar donated to the Immigrant Solidarity Fund is making it possible for our volunteers to say "Yes!" when people in impossible situations reach out to us for help. We don't know what 2021 will bring for us and our undocumented neighbors, but we know we can count on the fierce generosity and uncompromising will power of this community to stand up against injustice together.
With love and solidarity, on behalf of Troy Sanctuary Campaign's Fundraising and Direct Aid Work Group and ICE-Free Capital District:
Siobhan Burke
Brandon Costelloe-Kuehn
Aileen Javier
Caroline Nagy
Rebecca Rector
Rich Ring
Raquel Velho
