Eight drivers, five days: A migrant's emotional journey to find her daughter

Teachers, neighbors, and administrators came together to support children of immigrant parents during a raid. They converted an elementary school that was closed during the summer break, made sandwiches, brought toys, and took care of children that weren’t their own.

After a raid in a Tennessee plant resulted in 97 immigrants being detained, and 130 American-born children affected, a town came together to help their immigrant neighbors. A church was converted into a crisis response center, professors organized a speaking event at the college, 1,000 attended a prayer vigil, and 300 marched in a protest downtown. “We love Morristown. We are here to send a message of love and unity.”

In the state of New Mexico, policy makers, activists, religious leaders, and the community are all working hand in hand to make the state a safe harbor for undocumented immigrants. The state is refusing to cooperate with ICE and aside from California is one of the most friendly to immigrants. A community organizer says, “We wanted to push back against this narrative that ICE just gets to come in our communities and kidnap people from their homes.”

In the 90s, a teacher at Bowie High School, located on the border city of El Paso, Texas, found out that hundreds of his Mexican-American students were being harassed and questioned by Border Patrol agents. Their fourth amendment rights were being violated and a group of students decided to fight back—they sued Border Patrol and won. The court ruled that Border Patrol violated their civil rights and the decision effectively barred Border Patrol from questioning people on the basis of their appearance.

Volunteers, hotlines, community supporting families, these are the basic principles of rapid response networks. A rapid response network is a community led, volunteer response to immigration crackdowns that is being replicated in cities around the country. When people are getting detained, the rapid response networks are activated, volunteers receive a text that a neary neighbor is getting deported and they rush to the house. They take notes, and record with their cellphones. “I feel hopeful that there’s something I can do rather than sitting worried and angry, and I feel like I can be part of something that

Undocumented immigrant youth are turning to activism to find their voice. Across the nation, young undocumented high school students are finding support within activism groups and fighting for change. “I started to see that when you’re organizing and you get people together, it all works out perfectly. The effect is not negative, it’s positive. It’s bringing people up, giving them hope.”

In the 1980s the Mexican economy falls and a surge of undocumented immigrants begin crossing the Rio Grande river into El Paso, TX. Border Patrol agents begin stopping and questioning high school students near the border in Bowie High School. After one of the high school teachers finds out, the students began to organize, eventually suing border patrol for infringing on their constitutional rights. Ultimately, the high school students win a landmark civil rights case. “We couldn’t believe we took on the federal government and won.”

Albergue Assabil (the Shelter of the Path), by the Latina Muslim Foundation, is the first women-led Muslim shelter along the U.S.-Mexico border. It has been in operation since June 2022, providing a safe space for women migrants, supplying them with food, clothing, shelter and sanctuary regardless of their religious, social or cultural background. In the past two years, the shelter has helped about 3,000 migrant women.

Dalit hip-hop musicians are using their art and social media to propel the Dalit rights and anti-caste movements to the forefront of mainstream conversation.

As social distancing becomes increasingly important as cities and states work to control the coronavirus outbreak, people in New York are finding creative ways to communicate in order to help one another. In New York City, community members are utilizing a website where volunteers are matched with their vulnerable neighbors' requests for errands, while in Brooklyn, community organizers are using a spreadsheet to connect and find support.