May 16, 2018
In this issue...

Last Day to Register for the Convening!

Our third Statewide Immigrant & Refugee Rights Convening is only a few days away! We are thrilled to announce the full lineup of workshops and speakers - read it all on our website - a few highlights are below:

• Asian Refugee and Immigrant Community Organizing
• Improving Outcomes and Enhancing Relationships through Language Access
• Taller Comunitario de la Campaña de Escuelas Acogedoras/Welcoming Schools Campaign Community Workshop
• Driver’s Licenses for All Pennsylvanians: Organizing for Safer Roads & Communities Today
• Youth Organizing Space
• Legislative Advocacy Training with Tiffany Lawson, Executive Director, Governor Tom Wolf’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs and Rommel Sandino, Northeast Regional Field Organizer, Immigration, Center for Community Change/FIRM
• Immigrant Power In Action: A Conversation with Jonathan Jayes-Green, Director, Undocublack Network, Olivia Ponce, and Maria Sotomayor, Deputy Director, Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition

We have extended the registration deadline through the end of today to make sure everyone is able to attend. Register Today. We look forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Administration Takes Aim at Immigrant Families

Continuing its attacks on immigrant communities, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced an expansion of the administration's "zero tolerance" policy for anyone crossing the US-Mexico border without inspection. While in the past the charge of illegal entry was often charged as a civil offense, AG Sessions said that going forward, the goal is for "100 percent" of those crossing the border without inspection be charged with "improper entry by an alien" and face a prison sentence. He also stated that anyone caught crossing with a child, even their own child, would be prosecuted for smuggling. AG Sessions also announced that even those who are able to begin the legal process of applying for asylum will be referred to the DOJ to be prosecuted criminally while their asylum case is pending. These changes mean that children will be taken from their parents while they are in court proceedings, placed in federal juvenile centers, and in some cases, placed in kinship foster care. This increased targeting of immigrant families is a continuation of the current practice of jailing families seeking asylum. Whether the administration put families in jail, or separates them at the border, they are needlessly harming children and families. 

Victory! Bensalem Stops 287g

Last year, residents of Bensalem learned that the local Public Safety Director was actively interested in participating in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) 287g program, in which ICE partners with state or local police agencies that agree to help enforce immigration laws within their jurisdictions. Local community members and activists immediately mobilized, attending town council meetings, writing letters, and meeting with local Mayor and Public Safety Director. Just a few weeks ago, both officials committed that they would no longer pursue participation in 287g. So far, no jurisdication in Pennsylvania has signed up for 287g, and PICC members and partners are committed to keeping it that way!

What should you do if you are concerned about whether your local law enforcement agency is collaborating with ICE? Download PICC's "Ally’s Guide to Sanctuary." This toolkit will help you learn more about what it means to advocate for sanctuary policies and explore its historical meaning and current forms, along with providing helpful resources to implement or strengthen pro-immigrant policies in your community.

Enforcement Resistance Trainings

In response to increased immigration enforcement in Pennsylvania, PICC will be hosting a series of trainings on how to implement a coordinated community-based response to create safer communities and stop unjust deportations and detentions. Participants will learn about the “Community Resistance Zone” model, as implemented by Juntos in Philadelphia, and how to conduct strategic case-based campaigns that highlight injustices in the immigration system. This training will be interactive, allowing participants to practice new skills and plan how to begin a project in their local community. Skills and topics to be covered include:

• How to conduct door-to-door conversations with community members
• Recruiting allies to support immigrant-led campaigns
• Understanding the immigration system and the detention and deportation process

The training will be a full two days. Participants are expected to attend both days. Please register for one of the following training locations:

• Pittsburgh Training: June 2-3
• Harrisburg Training: June 23-24
• Philadelphia Training: July 7-8

Upcoming Events

Family Petition Screening Clinic/Clínica de Evaluación para Peticiones Familiares (Philadelphia)

Wed May 16, 5:00pm
Ceiba, 174 Diamond St, Philadelphia, PA 19122

What? Qué? Get screened for family petition eligibility by immigration attorneys, accredited representatives and trained volunteers. Evaluaciones legales para peticiones familiares realizadas por abogados de inmigración, representantes acreditados y voluntarios capacitados.

Eligibility/ Eligibilidad: Applicant must be US citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident. El aplicante tiene que ser cuidadano americano o residente permanente.

Please RSVP by calling (215) 634-7245/ Por favor haga una cita llamando al (215) 634-7245.

#StoptheHate Monthly Calls

Fri June 1, 12:00pm-1:30pm
Join activists from around the state who are working to stop all anti-immigrant legislation in PA and to pass pro-immigrant policies at the municipal and state levels. Every call we will have an in-depth presentation on a different topic or campaign. Please register to receive the information to join the calls.

Shut Down Berks Lobby Training

Thu Jun 7, 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Join us via webinar to get prepared for your lobby visit to Governor’s Wolf office. He needs to hear from constituents that 2018 is the year he issues an Emergency Removal Order to ensure no new families are brought to the Berks County Detention Center. This training will review the history of the center, how to lobby and the research that proves that the state of Pennsylvania can in fact issue an Emergency Removal Order. Please register today!

News from PICC Members & Partners

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

The Poor People's Campaign has emerged from more than a decade of work by grassroots community and religious leaders, organizations and movements across the nation. We are united together to fight systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation and the war economy, and to shift the nation’s distorted moral narrative. The Campaign aims to build a broad and deep moral movement – rooted in the leadership of poor people and moral leaders, and reflecting our deepest constitutional and faith traditions – to put before the nation a moral agenda.

Join the Campaign in Harrisburg, PA for a rally and nonviolent moral resistance as part of the Poor Peoples Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. The second week's theme is "Linking Systemic Racism and Poverty: Voting Rights and Immigration."
When: May 21, 2018, 2:00pm
Where: Captiol Steps - 501 N 3rd St, Harrisburg, PA 17120

New Community Justice Project Services in Pittsburgh

Do you need help filling out immigration forms? Contact the Community Justice Project for FREE assistance with:

• Green Card renewals
• DACA renewals
• Citizenship applications

If you qualify, we will fill out the waiver as well. For more information, contact Brenda Sólkez at (412) 980-4151 or bsolkez@cjplaw.org. Call, text, WhatsApp or email.

Please Donate to PICC!

PICC depends upon your support. Please donate to PICC today to support our advocacy and organizing work to mobilize the immigrant vote, build immigrant leaders, campaign for pro-immigrant policies at the local, state and federal levels, and support the effective implementation of pro-immigrant public policies.