Dear friend of IDP,
Like many of you across the country, we at the Immigrant Defense Project have struggled these past few weeks as ICE and CBP have escalated their violent assault on Minneapolis.
Millions of people have borne witness to the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti; to the vile campaign of lies that followed; to increasingly vicious abductions, disappearances, and family separations around the country; and to a systematic pattern of violence by these agencies on the streets and behind the bars of detention centers. The last year alone has seen fifteen shootings by deportation agents, including the killing of Keith Porter in Los Angeles, and thirty deaths in ICE detention.
The weight of this moment risks driving us to numbness. But instead, the people of Minneapolis have set an incredible example of solidarity and mutuality that will reverberate for generations to come. People all across the country have stepped up to take action to protect our immigrant loved ones and neighbors and uphold our shared humanity.
As an organization not based in Minneapolis, we encourage you at this time to support organizations that are working directly on the ground there.
Enragingly, despite the violence ICE and CBP have unleashed, Congress is considering whether to keep supercharging these agencies with more money. You can contact your Senators and Representatives here to demand they refuse to give a single penny to ICE and CBP, claw back the extra tens of billions they already gave, and instead pass real policy changes to stop this violence.
Finally, we are humbled beyond words by the outpouring of support we have received from around the country in the last few weeks. We will double down on our mission to fight for justice for all immigrants, especially those impacted by the harms of the criminal legal system, through legal support and litigation, advocacy and policy change, community defense and narrative change.
If you’re a new supporter, you can learn more about our work here:
Yasmine Farhang
Executive Director
