DC Funds Legal Aid for DC Residents Detained by ICE!

Dear Members of our WIST, and WES Members who came out to advocate,

    Please take note that our WES advocacy efforts, along with Washington Interfaith Network, D.C. Congregation Action Network, and many others, bore this delicious advocacy fruit!  For the first time, the D.C. legal resources to assist immigrants will be available also to residents who are already in ICE detention.  Since that is when they need legal advice urgently, we campaigned hard for this.  CAIR Coalition, Legal Aid Society, and Rising for Justice received this year’s Immigrant Justice Legal Services Grant from the D.C. Government, to provide essential legal services to D.C. immigrants, before, during, and after detention by ICE.

    These photos are from Mayor Bowser’s Budget Forum and from the D.C. Council’s budget hearing.  Your attendance and support for these two advocacy actions helped to secure this much-needed outcome for our immigrant neighbors.  

THANKS AGAIN,

Katherine O’Kester, member of WES Immigrant Support Team (WIST)

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From: DC Values Means Keeping Immigrant Families Together [mailto:kilwp@georgetown.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 3:20 PM
To: okesterkat@earthlink.net
Subject: DC Funds Legal Aid for DC Residents Detained by ICE!

September 24, 2019 Dear Friends, Today Mayor Bowser announced the recipients of the $2.5 million for this year’s Immigrant Justice Legal Services (IJLS) grant program. For the first ever, DC will fund legal representation for DC residents who have been detained by ICE. CAIR Coalition, Legal Aid Society, and Rising for Justice are the three organizations that received funding to provide legal aid to our detained immigrant neighbors facing deportation. In total, 22 legal providers received $2,387,750 in funding to provide essential legal services to immigrants, including Know Your Rights workshops; legal consultations, language access services, pro-bono trainings, TPS legal defense, asylum applications, and direct representation for detained immigrants. We’ll be blunt: these are hard times for our communities. Every day the Administration finds new ways to undermine immigrant rights and Congress has failed to deliver permanent, comprehensive solutions for the crises we face. That is why it is so important that you joined us in advocating for robust immigrant legal services. Whether you came to a Mayoral budget forum, helped pack a Council hearing, contacted your Councilmember, joined us for our Lobby Day at the Wilson Building, or crafted a witty Tweet, you made it possible for countless immigrants to have a fair shot at remaining with their families and communities. We are grateful to Mayor Bowser and the DC Council for heeding our calls to deepen DC’s commitment to immigrant justice and extend it to all immigrants in the District. #DCValues #FamiliesBelongTogetherDC Values Means Keeping Immigrant Families TogetherWe are a coalition of legal providers, people of faith, and community groups advocating for legal resources and universal representation for all DC immigrants.