To view this newsletter as a PDF, please click here.
US-Mexico Border Program, San Diego
Pervasive abuse of pregnant immigrants and asylum seekers
A new report co-authored by AFSC documents that, while in the custody of ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), pregnant people have experienced harrowing mistreatment, including denial of medical care while in labor and forcible expulsion to unsafe locations in Mexico days after giving birth. “ICE and CBP have shown time and again that they are incapable of respecting human rights, including the rights of pregnant people,” said Pedro Rios, who directs AFSC’s US-Mexico Border Program.
67 Sueños, Oakland
Reminder to fill out the census by September 30
Last month, 67 Sueños youth partnered with @ellabakercenter to get the word out on #Census2020. September is the last month to fill it out online, so do it now! 67 Sueños has geared up for the new school year with its amazing cohorts of youth leaders involved with META – Moving Everyone To Achievement. Follow their work.
photo: Peniel Ibe
Immigrant Rights Program, Denver
Court ruling clears path for deportation of TPS holders
A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals “is doubling down on the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant policy agenda, leaving nearly 300,000 TPS holders vulnerable to family separation and mass deportation,” said Jennifer Piper of AFSC in this joint statement with Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. Take action – tell Congress to protect TPS holders. AFSC’s ally and immigrant members met with many in the Colorado delegation over the August recess. You can view their report back here.
People of the Land Program, Albuquerque
ABQ Friends join in Cherry Tomato Chomp
Building on earlier successes with Terrific Turnip Tasting and Great Carrot Crunch, AFSC this summer worked to promote healthy food by connecting local farmers with school kids through the Cherry Tomato Chomp. “The Albuquerque Friends Meeting volunteered to help us label hundreds of individual bags and then filled them with cherry tomatoes so students and their families could eat them together at home,” writes Sayrah Namaste of AFSC, which also created this creative toolkit and activity guide.
Pan Valley Institute (PVI), Fresno
Updates on arts, civic engagement, and work around COVID-19
Myrna Martinez Nateras of AFSC provides this update on PVI’s ArteVism Fellowship Program and its ongoing advocacy work in collaboration with the Central Valley Pandemic Response Taskforce. With the distribution of 1000 COVID-19 Care Kits, AFSC and its partners will have reached 4000 farm workers. AFSC has created these educational materials to represent the San Joaquin Valley Farmworker community.
Project Voice Immigrant Rights Program, Oregon-Washington
Helping people affected by the wildfires in Oregon
Pedro Sosa of AFSC writes: “I want to thank everyone who’s helping our community in this difficult time; your donations are being giving to the community affected by the wildfires.” Working with a number of partners and volunteers. Pedro adds: “Needs are huge--we have served close to 200 families, many severely impacted, forced to evacuate, lost homes, unable to work. The majority are immigrant families.” Please consider a donation to the Farmworker Emergency Fund and AFSC Oregon-Washington.
Healing Justice Program, Oakland
“From Attica to Abolition” kicked off AFSC’s #FreeThemAll actions
Laura Magnani joined AFSC staff and colleagues in this webinar looking at the long history of prison abolition work in this country. “A lot of the work that has been done toward prison abolition started with the consciousness-raising that the Black Panther party did,” Laura said. “AFSC always worked closely with them when they were in their heyday.” Learn more from this toolkit, and join us on October 4 to celebrate Laura’s three decades of service with AFSC.
Economic Activism Program, Oakland
Find out if your 401(k) is paying for the prison-industrial complex
The nonprofit As You Sow has partnered with AFSC to build a new platform to help people find out if they’re invested in private prisons or the companies that support them. Learn more about Investigate, AFSC’s screening tool for companies that profit from state violence. Dalit Baum of AFSC recommends this article in Forbes, The Beginning of the End for Private Prisons, which describes how the combined pressures from the public (the national banks campaign as well as state campaigns) and from investors are bringing down CoreCivic and GEO.
Arizona Program, Tucson
AFSC-AZ calls for an investigation into election interference
On September 15, Caroline Isaacs of AFSC submitted a formal request for the Pima County Board of Supervisors to investigate both County Attorney Barbara LaWall and County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez for election interference, unethical conduct, and misuse of public funds that ultimately led to the disqualification of the Second Chances Act ballot initiative. The Board has already indicated that they will not honor this request, claiming they have no oversight authority of LaWall and Rodriguez. But AFSC bore witness to the truth on behalf of the tens of thousands of families presently torn apart by this system of injustice. This video and article tell more.
Roots for Peace Program, Los Angeles
Working to unpack anti-blackness
Roots for Peace has partnered with Vigilant Love (event organizers), Palestinian Youth Movement LA-OC-IE, Nikkei Progressives, and Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation - LA to co-host a three-part workshop series to “unpack anti-blackness” in our non-black communities. Together, we’ve hosted two out of three virtual workshops with over 70 people from Los Angeles, the US, and Canada. Roots for Peace staff have led ice breakers, reflections, tech support, and facilitated a teach-in around colonization in the Americas and its intersections with anti-blackness and islamophobia.
From Sept. 14-18, Roots for Peace staff and youth helped organize and participated in the AFSC Youth Programs’ Virtual International Gathering with over 50 AFSC staff and youth to build community, a collective vision, and collective power in the network. Through this gathering, youth from LA connected with youth, staff, and partners across the world working towards creating healing youth spaces and communities.
Short takes
California has passed a modified version of the Racial Justice Act….Check out resources from AFSC’s Radical Acting in Faith for White People….Here are excerpts from AFSC’s Call to Reflection and Worship to #FreeThemAll….AFSC joined 170 organizations in this global call for a recommitment to peace…The Interfaith Immigration Coalition offers this toolkit in support of an immigrant-inclusive COVID-19 relief bill….Rest In Power Beverly Sims, a lifelong justice advocate from Seattle.
Your support matters
Your gifts of time and money make a real difference. Please be in touch with any West Region program by visiting afsc.org, and support the AFSC West Region by donating today. Please share this subscription link for this newsletter with others. Thank you!