On July 12, 2019, Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Detention Camps brought together thousands of people from around the country and world to protest the inhumane and criminal treatment of refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border by our government! Across Cape Cod and the Islands—at town greens, village centers, churches and synagogues—nearly 1500 people met on this day to protest inhumane conditions and stand in solidarity with refugees held at these detention camps.
At Trump’s detention camps, teen mothers and babies are held outdoors in “dog pounds,” sick and elderly are confined to a “freezer” for weeks at a time, medicine is confiscated and medical care withheld, LGBTQ and disabled individuals are held in solitary, and children as young as 4 months are taken from their parents. Trump is running raids now, ripping people out of their homes and other places of perceived safety. Perhaps most terrifying, refugees are being moved onto military grounds, where media representatives, lawyers, and human rights monitors will have no oversight.People from around the Cape and Islands—and around the country—stood in public rebuke of the atrocities happening on our soil and in our names. These rallies and vigils are the first step to bring about change, and this moment can be a turning point in our nation’s history, a moment in which we bring these camps directly into the public eye, stop the rapid slide into unspeakable horror, and stand up for the values our nation strives to uphold.
HERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW!
1. CALL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS—and frequently this summer—to condemn the cruelty of detaining children at the border. Here’s the script:
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m calling from [PLACE]. I’m calling to ask [MoC] to Defund Hate in this year’s budget by cutting funding for ICE and CBP in the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, and by getting rid of the slush fund in that bill that will allow ICE to continue terrorizing immigrant communities.
- MA Senator Elizabeth Warren (202) 224-4543
- MA Senator Ed Markey (202) 224-2742
- MA Congressman (Cape & Islands/CD-9) William Keating (202) 225-3111
If off-Cape, please call the House Switchboard (202) 225-3121 to reach your Representative
If you live in another state, please call the Senate Switchboard (202) 224-3121 to reach your Senator
2. SUPPORT SANCTUARY CITY legislation and proclamations in your community. Contact your elected officials to tell them you support the Safe Communities Act (S.1401/H.3573). Contact the Cape Coalition for Safe Communities to learn how you can help – capesafecomm@gmail.com.
3. SUPPORT SAFE COMMUNITIES – Text SAFEMA to 52866 to join its campaign.
4. HELP ELECT PROGRESSIVE SHERIFFS, REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS in your district. To learn how you can help identify and help elect progressive candidates in upcoming elections, contact the Cape & Islands Democratic Council at http://cidc-strongertogether.nationbuilder.com/contact-us. They need hands on deck this fall and in 2020!
5. TELL YOUR COUNTY SHERIFF AND LOCAL REPS TO END ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and END 287 (g)—a regulation authorizing agreements between ICE and state and local law enforcement agencies permitting local officers to perform limited immigration law enforcement functions and function under the supervision of ICE officers. Barnstable, Plymouth and Bristol Counties all have 287(g) Agreements.
State Senators
- Julian Cyr (D) – Senator, Cape & Islands District (Consisting of both Islands, all Cape less the Plymouth & Barnstable District above) Phone: 617-722-1570 julian.cyr@masenate.gov
- Vinny deMacedo (R), Senator, Plymouth, Barnstable District (Bourne, Sandwich, and Falmouth – Phone: 617-722-1330, vinny.demacedo@masenate.gov
Barnstable County Sheriff - Barnstable County Sheriff Jim Cummings—call Sheriff Cummings at 508-563-4300 and tell him to end Barnstable’s 287(g) Agreement
State Representatives - Timothy Whelan (R) Representative, 1st Barnstable District (Barnstable: Precinct 1; Brewster: Precincts 1-2; Dennis; Yarmouth: Precincts 1-4,7) – timothy.whelan@mahouse.gov
- Will Crocker (R) – Representative, 2nd Barnstable District (Barnstable: Precincts 2-10, 13; Yarmouth: Precincts 5-6) – Phone: 617-722-2014 – William.Crocker@mahouse.gov
- David Vieira (R) – Representative, 3rd Barnstable District (Bourne: Precincts 3-6; Falmouth: Precincts 3-4, 7-9; Mashpee)
Phone: 617-722-2230 – Email: david.vieira@mahouse.gov - Sarah Peake (D) – Representative, 4th Barnstable District – (Brewster: Precinct 3; Chatham, Eastham, Harwich, Orleans, Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet) – Phone: 617-722-2040 Email: sarah.peake@mahouse.gov
- Randy Hunt (R) – Representative, 5th Barnstable District (Barnstable: Precincts 11-12; Bourne: Precincts 1-2, 7; Sandwich; Plymouth: Precinct 9) – Phone: 617-722-2800 ext.8743 email: randy.hunt@mahouse.gov
- Dylan Fernandes (D) – Representative, Barnstable, Nantucket & Dukes District (Falmouth: Precincts 1-2, 5-6; Martha’s Vineyard; Nantucket) – Phone: 617-722-2430 – Dylan.Fernandes@mahouse.gov
6. DONATE TO ONE OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS working to provide financial support to those affected and needing legal and humanitarian aid:
- KIND — Kids in Need of Defense — has been leading advocacy efforts for kids in immigration detention
- The Women’s Refugee Commission is leading national efforts against family separation and child detention to preserve access to asylum, increase use of alternatives to detention, and improve detention conditions.
- The Catholic Legal Immigration Network plays a crucial role coordinating legal services in response to administration-created crises.
- The ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project are litigating these and other policies at the border. • RAICES is the largest immigration nonprofit in Texas offering free and low-cost legal services to immigrant children and families. • Al Otro Lado serves indigent deportees, migrants, and refugees in Los Angeles and Tijuana, Mexico.
- The Florence Project provides legal and social services to detained immigrants in Arizona.
- Lawyers for Good Government suggests that you can contribute to the Project Corazon Travel Fund to send more lawyers (particularly Spanish-speaking immigration lawyers) to the detention centers and refugee camps. You can also pledge your frequent flier miles to help get more lawyers to the border and volunteer as a lawyer or translator.
- Justice in Motion has created a network of human rights lawyers and nongovernmental organizations across Mexico and Central America to find parents deported without their children and help families reunite in their countries of origin.
- Immigrant Families Together supports bonds, living expenses, and medical and legal needs of migrant families.
- Innovation Law Lab builds tools for immigration-related crisis response, aiming to improve representation and due process.
- United We Dream, the American Immigration Council, and the National Immigration Law Center are organizing to help immigrants in the event of raids.
- Human Rights First is a national organization with roots in Houston that needs help from lawyers.
- The National Immigrant Justice Center represents and advocates for detained adults and children facing removal, supports efforts at the border, and represents parents in the interior who have been separated from their families as a result of aggressive enforcement
- ActBlue has a donation page–https://secure.actblue.com/donate/kidsattheborder–to support many organizations at once.
For a pdf of this handout, click here. POST-EVENT HANDOUT LIGHTS FOR LIBERTY