Dear Fellow RPCVs:
Many of us who served our country through the Peace Corps feel a responsibility to resist the impending loss of our democracy under Donald Trump and his administration. Now we have an opportunity, one that holds the potential of becoming a dramatic national symbol of resistance: creation of Sanctuary Communities across the country.
I hope you will share this idea with all RPCVs in your group and help to make this a national resistance movement that says NO WAY to Trump’s targeting of immigrants. Immigrants have made America great, so let us, as international citizens, stand up for their rights and our own.
Larry B., RPCV India-39 (1968-1970)
Email: [email protected]
Website: WeAreSanctuaryCommunities.com (once set up, please announce the name of your SC on this website)
Sanctuary Communities are groups of people saying “no” to the sometimes harsh and illegal treatment of lawful immigrants, the ignoring of basic rights – such as due process – and the trend toward a police state.
The Sanctuary Community movement is not an organization and has no leader. It is an idea around which people can organize themselves, creating groups from towns and communities in an area that the participants define.
Making it happen:
- Start by organizing a group of 6-10 people from different cities and towns in your area. It need not be statewide; in fact, the more such communities in a state the better.
- Write up your own Sanctuary Community statement. Here is an example.
- Create a name for your Community. Recruit others to form a somewhat larger group (say 20-30), listing as many different towns as possible that it comprises.
- Decide what actions your group (or subcommittees of the group) will take. See possible actions in the example document (link above).
- Announce the formation of your Sanctuary Community and the towns that your members are from (you do not need to list people’s names). Seek to garner newspaper and television coverage and definitely utilize social media to make it widely known and to invite others.
- Hold meetings every week or two, in person or online, to discuss actions taken and actions planned to deal with ICE’s heavy-handed and illegal actions.
- Each Sanctuary Community across the nation can operate on its own but in conjunction with sister Communities as national momentum and news coverage builds.
- There is no right or wrong way to do this; simply do what works for you.
A word of caution:
While the current administration has financially threatened cities that declare themselves Sanctuary Cities, as private citizens we are free to set up Sanctuary Communities (with First Amendment protections). While individual Communities can decide on what actions they wish to take, care should be taken to avoid illegal behavior such as actually interfering with ICE detention or arrests of immigrants. But feel free to video record all ICE actions, and to express verbal disagreement with them. It is anticipated that as the number of Sanctuary Communities grows across the nation, the Administration will threaten and intimidate us. It’s a sign of success, don’t let that stop us.
Note: CAPCA is not endorsing this post but presenting this information as an Item of Interest to our membership.