RESOURCES

American Friends Service Committee

Subscribe to the ImmigrantRightsAFSC-NYMRO listserve (e-mail distribution list) for LOCAL refugee-related news, events and job listings in New York and New Jersey. To subscribe, go to webpage, www.topica.com/lists/ImmigrantRightsAFSC-NYMRO
Subscribe to the national Detention Watch Network listserve. E-mail for details.

1. Educate your congregation or community group by organizing an informational meeting. Discuss ways in which you could respond to what you learn (see #2 & #3).
   
   A. Screen a documentary on immigration detention, such as "Abandoned", distributed by BullfrogFilms, Tel: 800-543-FROG. For other suggestions contact, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service's Forgotten Refugees Campaign, Tel: 410-230-2753. E-mail
   
   B. Invite a former detainee, a practitioner from a voluntary agency or a representative from a refugee community to come speak to your congregation or community group. For ideas, contact Will Coley, AFSC, Tel: 973-643-1924 ext 31, E-mail or Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Tel: 212-845-5232.
   
   
2. Support individuals currently in detention.
   
   A. Collect foreign language books and dictionaries for detention center libraries. Contact Sue Lyons, Tel: 973-353-3092. E-mail
   
   B. Help boost the morale of detainees by forming a group to visit individuals in detention on a regular basis. Contact existing volunteer coordination efforts such as:
   First Friends: the Elizabeth Detention Center Visitor Project, Tel: 908-965-0455. E-mail
   Riverside Church Sojourners Ministry for Detained Immigrants (NJ and NY.) Tel: 212-870-6808. E-mail
   
   C. Volunteer to be an interpreter for pro bono lawyers. (i.e. Albanian, Arabic, French, Fulani, Portuguese, Tamil, etc.). Contact Will Coley, AFSC, Tel: 973-643-1924 ext 31. E-mail
   
   D. Provide support to individuals who have been released from detention(i.e. furniture donations, emergency housing, help with job searching. Contact Will Coley, AFSC, Tel: 973-643-1924. E-mail
   
   
3. Organize members of your congregation or community group to voice its concerns about the current immigration detention system and advocate for positive change.
   
   A. Participate in or organize a vigil outside a local detention center. For more information on up-coming events, contact:
   Interfaith Refugee Action Team Elizabeth (IRAT-E)
   P.O. Box 3354, Long Branch, NJ
   07740-3354. E-mail
   Coalition on Detention and Incarcertion (CODI), Contact Mac Scott, tel: 212-627- 2656 x14 or Ujju Aggarwal. E-mail
   
   B. Write to your Congressional Representatives about current efforts to change the treatment of asylum seekers. For sample letters, see the earlier websites of Lawyers Committee, LIRS, etc. At present, advocacy groups are mobilizing support for the Refugee Protection Act
   
   C. Write to the US Immigration Service (INS). Tell the INS Commissioner that political asylum seekers should not be held in detention and that standards for their treatment should be consistently applied nationwide. INS, 425 Eye St NW, Washington, DC 20536
   

How to help the "9/11" detainees (Arab and South Asian men) Advocates estimate that hundreds of Arab and South Asian men were picked up after the tragic events of September 11th and detained in county jails in New Jersey and New York. To date, none of these individuals have been linked to terrorism. As a result of their detention, their families have suffered greatly.

(Please note that we are still compiling information and this is may be an incomplete list.)

1. Learn more. See these websites for more information on the current situation:
   Amnesty International USA Human Rights Watch
   
   
2. Join the "Stop the Disappearances Campaign" (i.e. write letters to government officials, attend detainee hearings and join protests outside local jails that are holding the detainees). See www.geocities.com/detentionalertnyc/index.html or contact
   * Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants, Tel: 212-254-2591,
   * DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving), Tel: 718-205-3036.
   * Prison Moratorium Project, Tel: 646-486-6715 or 718-260-8805
   
   
3. Participate in weekly vigils outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, Every Saturday noon to 1pm, 28th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenue), Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NYC, Subway: N/R to 25th Street. For more information, call 718-624-5921, 800-454-1906. E-mail
   
   
4. Volunteer to be an interpreter for pro bono lawyers. Since voluntary agencies have limited resources, they often need the help of volunteers who speak other languages (i.e. Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, etc.). Contact Dan Goldman, American Friends Service Committee, Tel: 973-643-1924 ext 33. E-mail
   
   
5. Support the families of detainees. Contact
   * Arab American Family Support Center, Tel: 718- 643-8000
   * DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving), Tel: 718-205-3036
   * Islamic Circle of North America, Tel: 718-658-7028 or 718-658-1199
   
   
6. Financially support the advocacy and direct service work of agencies that are assisting the detainees.
   * American Friends Services Committee (Know Your Rights presentations, attorney referrals), 972 Broad Street, Newark, NJ 07102, Tel: 973-643-1924
   * Center for Constitutional Rights (class action lawsuits), Tel: 212-614-6478
   * Civil and Human Rights Project, Building Resistance, P.O. Box 20772, Tompkins Square Station, NY, NY 10009, Tel: 212-477-1189. E-mail
   * HELP for Muslims, Tel: 877-865-502