How You Can Help the Humanitarian Crisis at the US-Mexico Border… and Beyond
Tags: Borders, Immigrants, Immigration, Human Rights, Donations

Illustration by Mariana Pelaez / Photo derived from The Washington Post

When images of Oscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter, Valeria were published recently, we were outraged. We were heartbroken.

The situation at the US-Mexico border is a crisis: a humanitarian crisis. Because of the government’s stronghold on the narrative — coupled with a militarized lack of transparency — without stories and images from brave whistleblowers, activists and community members, the world would never know the human price of a broken immigration system. We also know that sharing images like these can retraumatize communities who are already experiencing abuse. We shouldn’t need to rely on images to compel us to act.

While we often think the only way we can help is by sending money, there are actually many things we can do to address the larger issues at hand and challenge existing power structures.

What you can do:

From The New York Times, “Children Shouldn’t Be Dying at the Border, Here’s How You Can Help”:

Report and document raids and arrests. The National Immigration Law Center has suggested reporting raids to local hotlines, such as United We Dream’s MigraWatch. Raices has urged that people verify any social media posts saying ICE has been spotted before sharing or retweeting them because false alarms could spread fear in immigrant communities. Check out this online verification training course from First Draft.

The National Immigration Law Center has suggested reporting raids to local hotlines, such as United We Dream’s MigraWatch. Raices has urged that people verify any social media posts saying ICE has been spotted before sharing or retweeting them because false alarms could spread fear in immigrant communities. Check out this online verification training course from First Draft. Call Congress, your mayor and local representatives. Contact your members of Congress and tell them that you want impending raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be called off and detention conditions improved. The legal defense nonprofit Raices has provided a template and an online form that you can use to email your congressional representatives. You can also reach out to your local officials to ask that they initiate plans to help immigrant communities that are affected by the raids. This official government website has provided links to finding your city, county and town officials.

From YES! Magazine, “20 Ways You Can Help Immigrants Now”

Educate yourselves:

Know your power. Check out our “Eyes on ICE” project, which includes the following resources:

Be aware of how companies like Amazon and Palantir are profiting from deportations and detentions.

Support and donate to our partners at the US-Mexico border and beyond:

Learn how to work with traumatic imagery, using this resource from the Dart Center.

Defund Hate. We want our tax dollars used to strengthen our communities by investing in education, housing, and health care programs that increase well-being, not bankroll xenophobic policies. Demand Congress #DefundHate and divest from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Take action today.

Illustration by Mariana Palaez / Photo derived from The Washington Post