Jefferson County Immigrant Rights Advocates / Defensores de los Derechos de los Inmigrantes del Condado de Jefferson
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November JCIRA Newsletter

11/1/2019

 
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Our mission is to support the rights of immigrants and their families, giving priority to those who live or work on the Olympic Peninsula and immigrant detainees within Washington State,  through access to legal services, standing witness, family support, community education and advocacy for local, state and national issues.
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Upcoming Events!!
 
Tuesday, Nov. 19, 4:30-6pm,  JCIRA Monthly Meeting 
Agenda will include election of new JCIRA Board Members (see box below for more info). Members can also vote by emailing their vote to jcirawa@gmail.com by 11/18.     
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In Case You Missed It...

(Highlights from JCIRA's monthly mtg in October)

  • Bruce Springsteen and his band accompanied us as we sang "This Land Is Your Land".
  • Board Member elections will be held at the November General Meeting.  All JCIRA members in attendance can vote. A JCIRA membership form will be included in the November Newsletter.
  • Report on the Tacoma Detention Center rallies and efforts to close detention centers nationwide.
  • Update on the Backpack Project.
  • Report on initial exploration of "sponsoring" in our community persons released from the Detention Center and awaiting legal proceedings.
  • Budget surplus allocations.
  • Report on Rapid Response Team training in Forks and East Bremerton.
  • An Accompaniment Story - a difficult but successful (so far) relocation in Nebraska of a family fleeing violence in Central America.
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JCIRA Board Elections
 
More info about the board, if you are interested:
Each board member serves staggered two-year terms.  There are
7- 12 board members and so each year about half of the board rotates off the board or may run for re-election.   We advertised the upcoming elections and solicited for candidates through our newsletter and at our general meetings.

We have six candidates for the six open positions, so none of the positions is contested this year.  New Board Member Officers will begin their terms in January of 2020.  If you are interested in being considered for the Board in the future, please let us know!


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Get Involved!

If you've been wondering how JCIRA supporters can help respond to an ICE or BP event here in Jefferson County, take this Rapid Response online training.  It will give you the basics, and then we can fill in a few details that show the slight local variations that JCIRA uses. Unfortunately, this conflicts with the JCIRA monthly meeting, but may be worth choosing over the meeting if you are interested in becoming a member of our Rapid Response Team.  

Rapid Response Network Training

Tuesday, November 19      5-7 PM
Register for online training at: 
https://actionnetwork.org/forms/waisn-rapid-response-webinar-trainings

​
The above Training will be facilitated  by Monserrat Padilla from Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN)
 
​The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network's - Rapid Response Network (RRN) is a community defense project developed to protect immigrant & refugee communities from deportation threats and to provide support during and after a community member’s arrest or detention. JCIRA is part of the WAISN Rapid Response network.

For more information contact Jean: jmwalat@gmail.com. 

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Retrial of Scott Warren Set for Nov. 12th in Tucson

​Scott Warren is a 36-year-old aid worker with the Tucson-based humanitarian group No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes. Warren was indicted on one count of conspiring to smuggle two Central American men in January 2018 and two counts of harboring them at a structure in Ajo known as The Barn that is used as a staging area for humanitarian aid efforts. He testified he leaves water and food for cross-border migrants in the treacherous deserts near Ajo. He also searches for migrants in distress and has recovered 18 sets of human remains believed to belong to migrants. His trial in June of this year resulted in a hung jury split of 8-4 leading to a retrial set to begin on November 12th. 

What follows is a letter sent by his parents, 

In one week, our son Scott will face federal charges  for the third time this year for his humanitarian efforts along our southwest border.  He has already stood trial on federal misdemeanor charges for putting water in the desert and on federal felony charges for offering food, water & clothes to two migrants from Central America.  He is now being re-tried on the felony charges because in June a jury  failed to reach a verdict in his case.

We want to invite everyone who has stood with our son over the past year to  join us on Sunday, November 10th at 1pm MST for a webinar hosted by No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes.  This webinar will give you the tools to clearly and concisely talk with your community about our son's case and why the criminalization of aid work poses a grave threat to our democracy.  Register  here.

Additionally, if you are outraged about the government's ongoing prosecution of aid workers in the midst of a crisis of death and disappearance, we invite you to  write an op ed or letter to the editor and to  post on social media during his trial.


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OTHER NEWS
 
1. Most Major Banks Divesting from Private Prisons and Detention Centers
The American Friends Service Committee (The Quakers) reports "In a remarkable development, almost all major U.S. banks have announced they would stop financing companies that run private prisons and immigration detention centers, particularly the two companies that dominate this industry, CoreCivic and GEO Group." For the AFSC report click here.

2. Good News Department - The New York Times reports research that shows "Immigration to the United States has consistently offered a route to escape poverty — if not for poor immigrants themselves, then for their sons....If the American dream is to give the next generation a better life, it appears that poor immigrants have more reliably achieved that dream than native-born Americans have." Click here for the NYT article.

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    Emergency Funds Due to Covid-19 are Needed!
    Donate Emergency Funds Here

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    Washington HOTLINE : 
    1-844-RAID-REP
    ​(1-844-724-3737)

    Jefferson & Clallam County: 
    ​
    Rapid Response Team (RRT)
    Hotline: 360-531-2656

    For more information on Deportation Defense Click Here

    Donate to JCIRA!

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    JCIRA

    We are an immigrant rights advocacy non-profit in the North Olympic Peninsula of Washington State

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  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • About JCIRA
    • JCIRA in the News
    • Board members
  • What We Do
    • Free/Low-Cost Legal services
    • Fund
    • Rapid Response Team
    • COVID-19 Immigrant Relief Fund
  • Get Involved
    • JCIRA Community Calendar
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
    • Contact Us
  • Resources
    • Washington Resources
    • Community Partners
    • Workshops
  • Petitions