Our ICE Out of Our Courthouses campaign is part of ongoing efforts to create a safer and more inclusive Oregon for all residents, regardless of immigration status. To widen the "circle of protection" until it includes all of us.
Throughout the summer, and in partnership with other immigrant justice organizations, local faith leaders have been organizing research meetings with local officials, participating in public actions, collecting signatures, sending postcards and e-mails, and accompanying community members directly impacted and threatened by ICE's presence in our courthouses and communities.
Starting Monday, and continuing over the next two weeks, members of local faith communities and friends will gather at county courthouses throughout the state to take photos demonstrating our support for efforts to keep ICE out of our courthouses. IMIrJ will compile these photos into a collage, putting a human face to our petition, and delivering them to state officials, along with an invitation to join us in our efforts to widen the circle of protection.
Scroll down for details on how to join or organize a Courthouse PhotoOp in your community. Through this simple, "light touch" action, replicated in counties throughout the state, we can continue to build the momentum and attention needed to keep Oregon courthouses and communities safe and inclusive for all.
In solidarity,
Alaide, Abby, Ron & Sarah
PS. Many of us will be participating today and in the days to come in actions to support young climate strikers and demand an end to the age of fossil fuels. As we do, let us consider the ways our movements for climate justice, racial justice, and migrant justice are inextricably linked.
This factsheet from the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) "introduces the concerns for climate change and consequences for migration, and the need to rethink global and national policies that are inadequate to address the 'large movements of forced migrants' that include those displaced by climate and other factors."
Don't see one listed in your community yet? Let us know if you'd like to help organize one for your county! This mini-toolkit can serve as a guide, and we're just a phone call or e-mail away.
