Author: Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity

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Resources

Abolition Resources

IM4HI/DND Pilgrimage for a Better Future 2022

We invite you to read and share the Pilgrimage For a Better Future Resource Guide with educational resources and ways to take action that congregations, school communities, and individuals can use.

Lessons from the ICE Detention Contract Termination in Contra Costa County 

In July 2018, the sheriff of Contra Costa County announced he would end his contract with ICE to house about two hundred immigrants in the West County Detention Facility (WCDF) in Richmond, California. The closure was a dramatic moment, after a seven-year public education campaign led by the faith community. 

During the months and years before the announcement, congregations and faith-based organizers had educated the public, built a network of relationships with lawyers and community-based organizations, and cultivated champions among elected officials. They had created a safety net of accompaniment and support for detained migrants and their families. When the sheriff decided to end the county’s involvement in detention, detainees, their families, lawyers, and community-based organizations scrambled to respond and adapt. 

A year later, after the passage of Assembly Bill 32, we convened some of the key players to discuss the lessons we learned and create this resource.

Just Closures Guide

This guide, created in partnership with the Dignity Not Detention Coalition (DND), provides information and resources around Just Closure. DND defines Just Closure as a phase-out process that ensures people are completely liberated from the cruel conditions of incarceration and are allowed to be reunited with their communities. This includes support beyond release from incarceration, including the ensuing legal battle to fight against deportation proceedings. Our Just Closure Model also calls on elected leaders to reinvest in localities that have been exploited by carceral profiteers that force under-resourced communities to rely on immoral prison pipelines. Just Closures shift power away from carceral punishment systems and empowers local communities to reimagine public safety, health, and restoration. 

The People’s Plan for Prison Closure

Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), a coalition of more than 80 organizations, is working to reduce the number of people in prisons, reduce the number of existing prisons, and redirect funding to build the infrastructure of vulnerable communities. This report, The People’s Plan for Prison Closure (PPPC) is a visionary roadmap that demands bold commitments to justice reinvestment. It provides detailed recommendations including the prioritization of ten prisons to close in the next five years and why, a call to close all women’s prisons, an analysis of cost-savings to be reinvested in impacted communities, and data-driven information about the roles racism continues to play in both prison expansion and overcrowding. 

Health and Safety for Young Migrants: Recommendations for Supporting Unaccompanied Youth

Thousands of immigrant youth arrive to the US without a parent of legal guardian and are placed in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) until they can be released to a sponsor. Often ORR detains these youth in restrictive, large-scale, congregate settings that harm their health and wellbeing. Rooted in the stories, experiences, and recommendations of young people who arrived to the US as unaccompanied youth, this resource draws from public health evidence documenting the heath harms of these large-scale, restrictive settings. It puts forward a vision for ending the current system of detaining unaccompanied minors in harmful settings and for shaping health, just, and supportive immigration policies for unaccompanied youth.

Following the work of organizations with experience and expertise in working with unaccompanied youth, including Detention Watch Network and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the resource presents a list of systemic and long-term recommendations that promote the health and wellbeing of impacted youth. 

Dignity Not Detention (DND) Coalition

@CADignity – The Dignity Not Detention Coalition is a statewide network of organizations fighting to abolish immigrant prisons. IM4HI is an active member.

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Updates

Over 340 Faith Leaders Urge Gov Newsom To Support the VISION Act

On Tuesday, August 23rd, 2022, over 340 faith leaders from across California and the United States will deliver a letter to Governor Newsom urging him to champion the VISION Act (AB 937) and sign the bill when it reaches his desk. The VISION Act would end California’s voluntary practice of transferring immigrants and refugees who have been deemed eligible for release from state or local custody or earned parole to ICE detention. 

Thousands of immigrants each year have been subject to cruel and inhumane conditions when transferred from jails and state prisons into ICE detention centers, which have been shown to be rife with neglect and abuse. Immigrant community members who have completed a jail or prison sentence should not be doubly punished by ICE detention and possible deportation.

In the letter, the faith leaders share “Though we are people from multiple faith traditions, we share a set of common beliefs that we, as humans, are capable of error, but also of redemption, forgiveness and transformation.  We know that with honesty, hard work, recognizing root causes and proper support, people are capable of change. It is unfair to transfer, deport and exile a person with a conviction for an offense committed decades or years ago, for which the person has served time and earned release.”

Rev. Noel Andersen, of Church World Service in Washington, DC, states that “As people of faith and consciousness, we are called to support the immigrant community and prevent harm and suffering caused by unfair and unjust policies. The California legislature has a moral responsibility to pass the VISION Act to help stop the ways criminalization and double punishment has harshly impacted far too many lives and wrongfully separated families. The people who have transformed their lives and completed their sentences should be able to return home to their loved ones immediately.”

Rev. Deborah Lee, of Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, states “Beloved community members, such as Phoeun You, a Cambodian refugee and genocide survivor who was recently deported by ICE, have not only made amends and transformed their lives, but become community leaders who others look to and learn from. They are family members, role models, friends, caretakers and mentors who their communities need at home.” 

Download the faith letter urging Governor Gavin Newsom to take action to sign the VISION Act.

Take Action:

Email or Call Gov. Gavin Newsom (916) 445-2841 to urge him to sign the CA VISION Act (Even those outside California can call!)

“My name is ____ and I represent ____ (organization, or city/county where you live). I am calling urging you to sign the VISION Act to protect refugee and immigrant communities, stop people from being doubly punished, and permanently separated from their families.  AB937 would protect refugee and immigrant community members, who have already been deemed eligible for release from being funneled by local jails and our state prison system into immigration detention. 

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Updates

IM4HI Celebrates: Ten Collective Victories

Over the past few years, we have accomplished much together toward the goal of liberating our communities. We wanted to share a list of 10 major victories we’ve won, recognizing that each of these is the result of the contributions and commitments of so many. As we look ahead to the work to come, let us ground ourselves in the joy of remembering what is possible when we join together.