Last month, it came to light that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was planning a series of raids aimed at Central American mothers and children who had recently arrived in the United States, many of whom were fleeing violence in their home countries. These raids are just the latest in a long series of aggressive immigration enforcement policies that have torn families apart and spread fear throughout immigrant communities across the U.S.

Sandra Sanchez, director of AFSC's Iowa Immigrants Voice Program, is an immigrant from Mexico and has lived in Iowa since 1991. She worked in the private sector in Mexico City for 11 years. Her immigrant experience prompted her to shift interests to social justice issues. Mrs. Sanchez worked for the Des Moines School District and the Des Moines Family Violence Center before she became the director of the Immigrants Voice Program for AFSC in 1995.

The strumming of the eight-stringed jaranas could be heard across the border into Mexico from the United States, accompanied by playful, melodious singing, alternating from one side of the metal barrier to the other. The plucking of a harp, the rhythmic foot percussion of the zapateado on the wooden tarima (scaffold), clacking café con pan… café con pan.

A few picks from AFSC staff this week:

As We #SayHerName, 7 Policy Paths to Stop Police Violence Against Black Girls and Women, by Andrea Richie, Colorlines

The following is a report from the 2016 AFSC Corporation Meeting, prepared by Ted Klyce and approved by the Friends Relations Committee of AFSC.

From across the country, Friends gathered at Friends Center in Philadelphia for the annual meeting of the American Friends Service Committee Corporation.  The theme for our time together was “Change the story, change the world: Telling the truth about militarism in US communities and around the world.”

The U.S. must address the flow of legal weaponry to Mexico—weapons that too often are used against Mexicans and migrants. 

Last month, more details came to light in the disappearance of 43 student teachers from Ayotozinapa, Guerrero. The students were in the city of Iguala one night in September 2014 when they were seized—and disappeared—by municipal police.

Jordy Silverstein is a historian based in Melbourne, Australia, and is a member of the Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS), an organisation which was created in 1984 and has the tagline "A Jewish voice amongst progressives, and a progressive voice amongst Jews". Recent campaigns run by the AJDS have included ‘Don’t Buy Settlement Products’ and ‘What’s Behind the JNF’.