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ICE RAIDS
Hello
SF city staff and community supporters:
We
hope you are all well. We are writing on behalf of the San Francisco Immigrant
Legal and Education Network (SFILEN), a multi-ethnic coalition of 14 immigrant
rights organizations across the city. We are sure you have been following
up the news about the raids and the panic that that has created in our
communities. As the dust settles from the raids last Friday, we know that
73 people were taken. 9-10 were San Franciscans, most have been released
pending a deportation trial and only a handful were deported. Of all those
detained 3 were youth, 5 were either pregnant or lactating women and we heard
of that at least one four year-old who was not picked up at daycare the night
of the raid.
Thanks
to our city, labor and community organizations partnership through the
Sanctuary City work – attorneys were present and ready to deal with our
residents, families were provided support and we sent a clear message about our
city’s commitment to being a city for all. Since Friday, we continue to
hear that ICE is driving around our neighborhoods sending panic to Mission
residents.
We
want to thank each of you for your role in the Sanctuary City work. While
we can not stop ICE from violating our city, we can provide some relief to the
families impacted. While many have been involved in this effort the offices of
Tom Ammiano and Chris Daly, MOCD, DPH and the Mayor’s office have been particularly
invaluable in providing support on this issue. United Way also stepped up in a
big way by providing a hotline people could call for help. We have been
working with the American Lawyers Association, SFOP, BAIRC, the Interfaith
Coalition, the SF Labor Council and countless other groups to support families
in need.
Just
this morning we got another couple of folks who walked in requesting legal
representation because family members were picked up the Embarcadero last
night… it is awful! Unfortunately we expect more raids to come. The
good news is we will be better prepared. Please keep up the goodwill and
support to our immigrant families –they need it now more than ever.
If
you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call us.
On
behalf of the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network
Ana C. Perez, Executive Director
Central American Resources Center (CARECEN)
Eric Quezada, Executive Director
Dolores Street Community Services
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