Update on the family in Sanctuary in Grand Rapids and the father in detention

Last week I reported on the Salvadoran family that went into sanctuary after the father was arrested and detained by ICE after coming to his scheduled appointment at the ISAP office on June 4. 

There are several updates I wish to communicate. First, the mother and her three children realized that after the campaign to get Senator’s Peter and Slotkin, along with Rep. Scholten, to call for an immediate release of Carlos Menjivar did not result in any action taken by these politicians, they decided to go back to El Salvador. The family had a voluntary departure option, so the mother took her 3 children and went back to El Salvador on Saturday.

Second, Carlos Menjivar is still locked up in detention and we are still asking for people to sign the Action Alert to apply pressure to Senator Peters, Senator Slotkin and Rep. Scholten to meet the demands listed in the Action Alert.

• For Carlos Menjivar to be released so he can voluntarily depart to his home country of El Salvador.
  
• Return Carlos’ passport, which the ICE agents took when they detained him.
  
• Change Carlos Menjivar’s status from deportation to voluntary departure, since a charge of deportation would have lifelong consequences for him.

Third, to attend the ICE Out of GR rally that takes place at 6pm on Tuesday, June 17 at Calder Plaza. People will find out a whole ranges of ways they can resist ICE in Grand Rapids, as well as become involved in the campaigns that Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have to get the City of Grand Rapids and Kent County to adopt sanctuary policies.

Fourth, to understand that the work of resistance involves a great deal of people and the use of a variety of tactics, skills, time and talent. Here is an incomplete list of all thethings that people have been doing over the past 2 weeks:

• Accompanying people to their appointments at the ICE and ISAP offices.
• Co-ordinating all of the requests for accompaniment.
• Providing legal assistance.
• Creating Press Releases.
• Hosting a Press Conference.
• Offering Sanctuary.
• Hosting a family in Sanctuary.
• Transporting the family in Sanctuary.
• Preparing and delivering food for the family in Sanctuary.
• Driving the family in Sanctuary to Chicago to catch their flight back to El Salvador.
• Conducting media interviews.
• Doing comms work on social media.
• Creating an Action Alert.
• Organizing more GR Rapid Response to ICE trainings.
• Organizations offering space for GR Rapid Response to ICE trainings.
• Documenting ICE activity and GRPD complicity.
• Providing crowd safety for Cosecha organizers.
• Tabling at events to further the work.
• Speaking at rallies to inform the community about the work.
• Having meetings to debrief recent activities, to plan upcoming actions and talk about strategic development of the work.
• Checking in with people doing the work and providing support.
• Affirming the work and other forms of emotional labor.

If you want to be part of this work, the community care work, the resistance work, then come to the rally, attend a future GR Rapid Response to ICE training or contact Movimiento Cosecha or GR Rapid Response to ICE.