What Our Neighbors are Experiencing and How You can Help

Sometimes I wonder whether my friends and neighbors understand the impact that President Trump’s immigration policies are having on people of color in our country. I wonder whether people in Holliston know what is happening to people who live in our town and even more so in Framingham and Milford.

I volunteer for Metrowest Worker Center or CASA de Trabajador, which is an immigrant-led organization in Framingham. Originally, CASA was focused on helping immigrants when they were injured on the job or when employers failed to pay them what they were owed. The Trump administration’s policies changed all that. Now they are helping immigrants in any way they can: supplying food for families, offering legal assistance, transporting children to school, and accompanying immigrants to court hearings, medical appointments, anyplace they might be stopped by ICE. Almost all of this is done by volunteers from the local communities as CASA has only a few paid staff.

I know there are some people who still believe that the administration is only interested in deporting people who have committed crimes. That is simply not the case. ICE agents frequently look for people of color, stop them, and detain them. It doesn’t matter what their legal status is. My daughter graduated from a Ph.D. program at Michigan State University one year ago.  A friend of hers, who is a Uyghur from Cina, received her Ph.D. in May. She entered the U.S. on a student visa and applied for asylum when she graduated.  She found a job as a teacher’s assistant in a local public school. A month after graduation she was stopped by ICE in the Detroit airport and put in detention.

Recently, there has been a great increase in what are called “Master Hearings”.  These take place in Chelmsford and Boston. Neighbors who have applied for asylum are summoned to a hearing with very little notice. At the courthouse, attendance is taken, address information is confirmed, and they are given another date to appear in a short amount of time. The goal of this strategy is to burden and confuse neighbors. If they don’t realize they have to be there, or if they cannot get there on the date and time listed, an order for their deportation is issued immediately. Some neighbors who are working lose their jobs because of missing too much work.

I am one of two women who organize transportation of immigrant children to school. Why is this necessary? Many parents have been detained or deported, leaving a single parent and child behind. The remaining parent will have to work and may not be able to transport their child to school. They may not be able to drive or have a car.  If children live less than 2 miles from the school they are not given a seat on a bus. It is not safe for younger children to walk alone 2 miles to school, especially if they have to cross big roads and parents may not be able to walk with them. When a parent is detained or deported, families sometimes must move, often doubling up with other family members. Administrative barriers make it hard for families to access bus transportation when their address changes. Families who do not speak English may not understand the paperwork they must complete or the communications they receive from the schools.

There is also the fear, which is pervasive among both adults and children. When children have been traumatized by watching relatives and friends be arrested, detained and deported, they are, of course, afraid that they or their remaining parent will be next. In this situation, the stability of a school environment is desperately needed. School can be a safe place in which a child can relax, be with friends and caring adults, and experience growth and success. Those of us who volunteer to drive can contribute to the sense of safety and care that is the antidote to the climate of fear and hate.

If you want to hear stories of our immigrant neighbors and the people who support them, you can find them at https://cuentos-sin-fronteras.org/

If you want to help, you can email volunteerteam@mwc-casa.org.  Someone with speak with you about the many ways you can help. If you are feeling frustrated and helpless in this time of upheaval, finding something concrete to do can be good medicine. It is for me.

And if you have no time, but want to help anyway, you can donate to CASA by mailing a check made out to Metrowest Worker Center and sending it to PO Box 409 Framingham, MA 01704 or donate online at https://www.mwc-casa.org/donate.html.