IMMEDIATE NEEDS

Family Support: Support the Valle family by learning about what happened to Jose Valle Rodriguez and by donating funds to their page here.

Request for ride and accompaniment: We need a volunteer to accompany a community member to court on June 16 at 9 am in Ypsilanti. Must speak Spanish.

Fundraiser: Join us tomorrow support the WICIR Legal Aid Fund. Buy tickets or donate here!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Oppose Anti-sanctuary Bills HB 4105 and 4334: We need a strong showing of opposition to HB 4105 and 4334 which would prohibit sanctuary cities and require local police officers to ask a person about their immigration status if they suspect they might be an immigrant. Come to Lansing on Wednesday, June 7th and call representatives on the Local Government Committee. See the FB event for more ways to take action

Sanctuary Fundraiser: We also hope you'll come out for the Washtenaw Congregational Sanctuary Fundraiser on June 25th.

ID Business Outreach: The Washtenaw ID Project needs your help! Come out on the morning of Saturday, June 10th to help spread the word about the County ID! Learn more here.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU SEE I.C.E.

Please be on the lookout for increased ICE activity. If you observe ICE agents in the community, please call the WICIR Urgent Response line at 734-355-2707. We understand that video recordings of ICE actions have been valuable for some communities. Many people want to film ICE agents to hold them accountable for their actions.

Things to keep in mind while recording ICE activity:
--If you are not at risk of deportation yourself and you choose to film immigration officers, whether or not they are in the process of a raid or an arrest, please keep in mind that videos of non-citizens interacting with ICE agents could potentially be used against them.

--It is important to take precautions before sharing such videos to avoid accidentally putting people at risk. If you are uncertain about the contents of a video, we recommend that you consult with an immigration attorney before posting publicly. WICIR can assist with this process (wicir.washtenaw@gmail.com). Know Your Rights Document

WHAT'S THE BIG PICTURE?

You may have heard more about "detainer requests" recently. There are many ways in which the Department of Homeland Security detains the 400,000 individuals they deport every year. One way is by collaboration with local jails. When someone is booked into a local jail, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can issue a "detainer request," which is a request that the individual be held in the jail until ICE can pick them up. The jail is not legally mandated to hold these individuals, and many Sheriffs, including those in Wayne and Washtenaw County, do not honor these requests without a judicial warrant. The Trump administration, however, is trying to shame those who do not honor detainer requests, as recently happened to Wash Co's Sheriff Clayton. What's more, ICE is posing that if counties do not honor detainer requests, they will be forced to conduct raids to arrest individuals. Thus, a poorly conducted, violent, and publicly visible raid like the one at Sava's becomes a tool to bully sheriff's departments into holding undocumented individuals in local jails when no formal warrant has been issued from a judge. Be on the look out for the counties who stand up to these requests from ICE.