CLUE-VC

Today during Black Immigrant Advocacy Week of Action, we call on the #Biden administration to recognize and address systemic anti-Black racism within the U.S. a...sylum and refugee systems. #Act4BlackImms Seeking asylum is an internationally-recognized human right, yet far too many Black asylum seekers are denied due process, locked in detention, and eventually deported. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas must address racism in the asylum system and transform it towards justice! #Act4BlackImms After years of heightened discrimination in the asylum and refugee systems, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas must restore justice and root out white supremacy so that Black immigrants fleeing harm may find peace. Department of Homeland Security #Act4BlackImms #DefendAsylum #RefugeesWelcome #ImmigrationIsABlackIssue I fled on foot with my mother and siblings... The kindness of strangers helped us survive: from the refugee camp volunteers who taught me English to the first neighbors who welcomed me to Lancaster. #BlackHistoryMonth #Act4BlackImms https://ctt.ec/995BN [click to tweet] Deborah Jane, a Ugandan mother of four children and an acid attack survivor, reminds us America closing its doors on the most vulnerable refugees would be like pushing them to die. #BlackHistoryMonth #Act4BlackImms https://cwsglobal.org/stories/deborah

Please join us as CLUE VC brings awareness to immigrant justice needs in Ventura County at this roundtable event of presenters! This Saturday, 2-4pm. Information in the event. See you there!

Welcome to 2021, dear friends! Please consider joining us in attending this celebration hosted by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee of Ventura County. A virtual, safely held event to commemorate a great leader.

Happy New Year to our friends, family, community, and supporters! While 2020 has been difficult to say the least, we have been so grateful to grow in our collaborations with other local organizations and activists. Please spend some time resting and rejuvenating; the fight continues in 2021!

This July, Camarillo Vice Mayor Susan Santangelo and Councilmember Shawn Mulchay supported a resolution stating that Black lives matter. An alternate resolution passed, but with the "Black lives matter" removed. Yet, some Camarillo residents have begun circulating a petition to recall these council members. We are here to affirm that "Black lives matter" is not a radical statement - it is a bare minimum. We therefore express our support for Santangelo and Mulcay. Please consider signing and sharing. https://www.change.org/p/camarillo-affirmation-of-council-m

This Wednesday!!! Join us for art and discussion with Rev. Darren Hagood and friends. May listening lead to our action.

Incredibly educational video for those who have heard calls to "defund the police" and thought, "what the heck does THAT mean?!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT0YpOmk8NA

***ACTION ITEM!*** Before you start your weekend, will you take action to help address the inhumane continued detention of vulnerable folks at risk of COVID-19 in Adelanto Detention Center? Alongside Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, call on ICE to Help Release Melvin: Melvin is at risk of deportation, ill with Covid and at risk of dying while inside of Adelanto. He came to the US as a 12 years old with his family, this is his home. He has a wife and two babies who nee...d and want him home. (Learn more about Melvin below). Help Melvin by contacting his ICE officer, Juan Gutierrez. Juan has the power to release Melvin back into the care of his family. Email ICE Officer Juan Gutierrez: [email protected] or Call (between 8 am-3pm) (760)-561-6100 Script: "Dear Officer Juan Gutierrez, I am contacting you on behalf of Melvin Alexander Jimenez, A#213-612-052. I am a faith community member asking that Melvin be released back into the care of his family. Melvin's family members have developed a post-release plan that will allow him to quarantine safely before reuniting with his wife and babies. He can go through his immigration proceedings while staying with his family, not in detention. Thank you for your time." Melvin came to the US from El Salvador with his parents at the age of 12. He attended middle school and high school here. Following graduation, he started working in construction. Though he applied for DACA, he did not qualify the narrow requirements. Two years ago he married his longtime girlfriend Erika, with whom he has a beautiful 18 month baby girl, and a new baby on the way! Unfortunately in February, Melvin was apprehended by ICE and ripped from his budding family and incarcerated inside Adelanto Detention Facility. Last week, Melvin called to share with us that everyone inside his housing unit was reporting fevers, body aches, chills, and coughing. Melvin is certain that everyone in his housing unit is positive for COVID-19. Melvin is ill, and experiencing heightened anxiety due to the rate of spread of COVID-19 happening inside Adelanto. Melvin has family and community that want him home! His family members have developed a post-release plan that will allow him to quarantine safely before reuniting with his wife and babies. He go through his immigration proceedings with his family and not in deadly detention conditions.

Making our voices heard today, as part of a statewide banner drop! In collaboration with partners such as Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of California, and Buen Vecino, we are here to tell Gov. Newsom: STOP TRANSFERS TO ICE! You are endangering lives for political purposes. Thank you to those who came out!

Join us, tomorrow!

Thank you to Immigrants Rising for compiling this excellent resource for mental health services for undocumented individuals! They offer individual and community support and information, and you can sign up to get updates at the same link. https://immigrantsrising.org/start-here/mental-health/

The lack of justice for Breonna Taylor demonstrates how insidious anti-Blackness is in all our institutions, and how it is utterly lawful. This must change, and it will only change if we all turn to the spaces we occupy and seek to address anti-Blackness and racism in our own ranks. We join Immigrants Rising in sharing these resources and saying, loudly and always: Black lives matter. https://immigrantsrising.org//list-of-civil-rights-organi/

Remember - be counted! Complete your census today!

Unfortunately, tonight's webinar has already begun, but join us at the second webinar, "Defunding the Police and Immigrant Justice Webinar" on September 30th, 6-7:30pm, hosted by the ACLU of Southern California. The webinar will have translation for Spanish speakers, but be sure to note it on the registration page. Register here: https://aclu.zoom.us/web/register/WN_lt81c7JbT6m7Q6XVvPbWyg The Immigrant Rights team at the ACLU Affiliates of California write to invite you to a...n important two part webinar presentations to expand our collective understanding and framing of immigration issues to ensure our asks are in support and uplift the work of our allies in Defund Police and Black Lives Matter movements. The first webinar (which was tonight) will discuss the history of the United States' immigration system and how the criminalization of non-white bodies continues to be a crucial component to its functionality. The second webinar will discuss and dive deeper into the ways that immigrant justice movement should be in alignment with the current national fight to the defund and divest from police. Register here: https://aclu.zoom.us/web/register/WN_lt81c7JbT6m7Q6XVvPbWyg

Kao Saelee's story was the #1 read story in the UK Guardian yesterday. Please continue to take action to continue to support Kao Saelee and #StopICEtransfers once and for all by signing and sharing this petition widely! Read the story here (https://www.theguardian.com//california-inmate-firefighter) and sign and share this petition!!! change.org/FreeSaelee.

We join our friends at the National Immigrant Justice Center to call on policy makers and elected officials to take immediate and dramatic steps toward ending i...mmigration detention. Here are 5 reasons why: 1. The current detention system is historically anomalous, the result of the same anti-black, anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric that built systems of mass incarceration. 2. Building community safety for all of us means moving away from policies of control, detentions and deportations. 3. People from immigrant communities should be permitted to live in their homes and communities during case proceedings, with community-based case management available when needed. 4. Detention kills: Corruption, abuse, and systemic racism are endemic to ICE’s detention system. 5. The exponential growth of the immigration detention system is largely driven by profit, not sound policy. The U.S. immigrant detention system undermines community safety, leaves death and tragedy in its wake, and costs billions of dollars. The time to end immigrant detention is now. Read the full report below. Photo Credit: NIJC https://immigrantjustice.org//policy-brief-5-reasons-end-i #FreeThemAll #AbolishPrisons #PrisonAbolition #AbolishICE #Immigrants #Refugees #RefugesWelcome #Justice #KeepFamiliesTogether #NoHumanIsIllegal #ImmigrantsMakeAmericaGreat #ImmDef #ImmigrantDefendersLawCenter

Wonderful work!

ON SEPTEMBER 9TH, the Adelanto City Council will vote on the final decision to expand the Adelanto Detention Center to hold 2,690 immigrants. We can stop this together! Ways to Help: Stay updated! Text ‘Adelanto’ to 797979 to be the first to know when you can begin calling to submit a public comment during the Adelanto City Council Meeting Submit Public Comment! Tell the Adelanto City Council to deny the CUP 96-11, and halt the expansion to the Adelanto ICE Processi...ng Center via email by visiting bit.ly/sayno2geo Call in during the meeting! Text ‘Adelanto’ to 797979 to get a text reminder to call to submit public comment during the live meeting! A finales de agosto son 8 años desde que se le permitió al Centro de Procesamiento GEO Adelanto ICE (Centro de Detención) detener de manera inhumana a nuestros hermanos, hermanas y hermanos inmigrantes. Este septiembre, el Ayuntamiento de Adelanto votará sobre la decisión final de ampliar el Centro de Detención de Adelanto para albergar a 2.690 inmigrantes. ¡Podemos detener esto juntos! Maneras de ayudar: ¡Mantente actualizado! Envía "Adelanto" al 797979 para ser el primero en saber cuándo puedes comenzar a llamar para enviar un comentario público durante la reunión del Ayuntamiento de Adelanto. ¡Enviar comentario público! Dígale al Ayuntamiento de Adelanto que niegue el CUP 96-11 y detenga la expansión del Centro de Procesamiento ICE de Adelanto por correo electrónico visitando bit.ly/sayno2geo ¡Llame durante la reunión! Envíe un mensaje de texto con "Adelanto" al 797979 para recibir un recordatorio de texto para llamar y enviar comentarios públicos durante la reunión en vivo.

Hey Ventura County! We have until 9/30 to fill out our census! Make sure you are counted! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRemCbUfNdQ&feature=youtu.be

Did you know the last day to be counted for the 2020 Census is September 30th? Friends, we need your help! Join us over the next 30 days to help make sure all o...f Ventura County is counted in the census. Because you count, we count and Ventura County counts. Let’s help shape our future and the next 10 years. You can be a #CensusSuperhero by sharing our posts and spreading the word over the next 30 days as we count down to the end of the 2020 Census!