Protests and actions have sprung up in response to the Trump administration’s decision to separate children from their parents when attempting to seek asylum in the U.S.. Below is a list of protests and actions that you can be a part of to speak up against the treatment of these children. This page will be continuously updated as more actions and protest arise.
Protests
Families Belong Together, Lyndonville
Friday, June 22, Lyndonville, 1-2:30
https://www.facebook.com/events/1784025375010353/
First Day of No School Rally: Stopping Family Separation Now
Monday, June 25, Vermont Statehouse
https://www.facebook.com/events/862389027279864/
Families Belong Together! Stand on the Right Side of History
Saturday, June 30
10:00, Burlington https://www.facebook.com/events/229851484463783
10:00, Manchester Ctr https://www.facebook.com/events/379980279177214
11:00, Woodstock, Tribou Park, https://act.moveon.org/event/families-belong-together/20931/signup/?source=&s=
1:00, Williston, meet at the corner of Maple Tree Place and Rte 2A to walk to the ICE Law Enforcement Support Center
1:00, Rouse’s Point, NY (Canadian border) https://www.facebook.com/events/214169392730658
5:00, In Brattleboro, Pliny Park, https://act.moveon.org/event/families-belong-together/20421/signup/?source=&s=
There will also be events in Barre; Bennington; Essex Jct; Rutland; Bennington; Keene, NH; Greenfield MA; and 100s more around the country. Click here for more details.
Learn the facts
Fact checking document from the ACLU
The Nation’s explanation of what the Executive Order means
Actions
Calls
Comment to the DOJ regarding their POLICY CHOICE of separating children from their parents at the border, the DOJ comment line # is: (202) 353-1555. It only takes a minute.
This tool will connect you directly with your senator’s office so you can urge them to take action on family separation. It took me less than 2 minutes and I was able to speak directly with a staffer for Senator Leahy.
Petitions
Join Rights & Democracy and sign our petition urging Gov. Phil Scott to do all that he can to ensure that Vermont is not party to these illegal and inhumane actions. (Click link to see list of what he can do.)
Codepink’s petition calling for resignation of DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
Places to donate
Local Vermont: Migrant Justice/Justicia Migrante
Al Otro Lado – serves indigent deportees, migrants, and refugees in Tijuana & Los Angeles
The Florence Project – providing legal & social services to detained immigrants in Arizona
Neta – a Latinx-run progressive media platform telling the stories of what’s happening on the border
Innovation Law Lab – working in immigrant detention centers and hostile judicial districts; keeping the definitive list of kids being held
Fuerza Del Valle – organizing workers & immigrant communities in the Rio Grande Valley
The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights – promoting the best interests of unaccompanied immigrant children
We Belong Together – women for common sense immigration policies
United We Dream – the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country
Women’s Refugee Commission – advocating for the rights and protection of women, children, and youth fleeing violence and persecution
ACLU – fighting attacks through the legal system
Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) – protecting unaccompanied children who enter the US immigration system alone to ensure that no child appears in court without an attorney.
Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project – providing asylum seekers with legal aid and community support across the country
Human Rights First – helping refugees obtain asylum in the U.S.
La Union del Pueblo Entero – founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, a community union that works in the Rio Grande Valley from the grassroots up
Vermont Freedom Bail Fund – To meet the growing need for immigration bonds, a group of allies has formed the Vermont Freedom Bail Fund. The new fund will raise money to bail people out of immigration detention. Migrant Justice encourages supporters to donate to this important new resource. To make tax-deductible donation, you can write a check to the Alliance for Global Justice and send it to 225 E. 26th St., Suite 1, Tucson, AZ 85713. Be sure to write “Vermont Freedom Bail Fund” on the memo line!
Grassroots Leadership – Grassroots Leadership works for a more just society where prison profiteering, mass incarceration, deportation and criminalization are things of the past.
Read this article for more ideas on places to donate to and calls to make.