Feel Helpless Amidst the Horrific Immigration News? You’re Not. Here’s What To Do.
By: Together
Tags: Take Action, Immigrants, Helping Others, Immigration, Immigrant Rights

What you can do in the short-to-medium term:

Sponsor Know Your Rights workshops or legal clinics: Work with local organizations to host and sponsor Know Your Rights workshops or/and legal clinics in churches, schools, and centers that are proximate to immigrant communities. Figure out what days and times tend to work for families who often have heavy work responsibilities that they cannot miss, as it can jeopardize a fragile financial situation. Provide translators, childcare, a food bank, and clothing and household items for people to take home with them.

Consider acting as a sponsor for asylum seekers: Contact organizations that are working with asylum-seekers at the border and in detention centers and inquire about how you might act as a sponsor. There are many people in detention who would be closer to release with a US Citizen sponsor. Sponsorship does not always require actual financial nor even housing support. It’s not something to go into blindly, and it’s more appropriate for some than for others, but it is less onerous than it sounds. And it makes a tangible difference.

Create a giving circle: There is power in numbers. Consider creating and/or contributing to a giving circle within your own community, for the express purpose of making no-strings-attached microgrants to people in need. There are working models out there that can be easily employed toward this end. If you are curious, here’s a great example of one.

For the long-term, as a way of life:

The basic idea here is that you should aim to become a safe and trusted person known to the vulnerable people in your community. Build authentic relationships so vulnerable people know they can seek you out if they or someone they know needs helps. The goal is not to replace or usurp the social and emotional networks that people already have, but to find ways to authentically use your own social, cultural, and financial capital to help alleviate burden for those who are in harm’s way.

If you can afford it, give money when need is expressed: Once you know people sufficiently well, check in and ask if they are ok for groceries, rent money, prescriptions, childcare, etc.

We often feel squeamish about giving money to people in need — how will we ensure it will be spent wisely? Many people are socialized to be skeptical of the decision-making of those who have less financial capital and those perceived as “other.” We prefer to make “safe” (and tax-deductible) donations to established organizations. But usually these organizations come with external costs and are typically slower to move than individuals can be. Consider that many well-respected organizations are shifting aid to no-strings attached cash assistance models, which are proving to be the most effective and efficient way of delivering desired outcomes. So, where there is a need you can directly meet with money, try to give generously.

Put your social capital and middle-class know-how to work: Imagine what you would do if your child was rejected from their program of choice at whatever school as the result of a clerical error. What kind of effort would you put into righting that wrong? Who would you call, what string would you pull, what favor would you call-in? Use that energy to advocate for people (with their consent and full knowledge) who don’t have that same bandwidth.

Some examples:

Ask if people need help finding legitimate and no-fee legal counsel. If so, get on the phone and make 1000 calls. Track down an organization or lawyer who will answer the phones and answer your questions. Endure dozens of nos for every yes. Persist.

Make noise and advocate for individuals who are being exploited by bosses, landlords and lawyers, or who can’t seem to get the attention of the organizations that are meant to be helping them. Make a call or a dozen on their behalf because it will flag that someone is paying attention.

Help people who’ve interacted with the US medical system and have the bills to show for it request charity care and debt relief. Call the hospital on their behalf until the debt is forgiven.

Share the load: Work with and alongside others in your community and your social groups. This type of work requires sustained effort, and it’s most discouraging when you feel completely alone in it. Find the community that is going to support you, the person you can call when you feel overwhelmed. What feels like burden as an individual can feel like joy when partnered with others.

What have we missed? Please share so we can add to this list!