Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition (PIC)

Dear Community, the last 24 hours has had us feeling fear, sadness, and anger. For so many it has raised serious questions about safety and the future. We hope those who are also heartbroken get time to rest, be with their community and receive care. We the people protect each other. For 20 years, the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition has advocated for the rights of immigrants, migrants and refugees on the local, state and federal level. Dear community, we promise you, we are ready to fight. And when our communities are organized, we can win. Here in Pennsylvania, the immigrant rights movement has a plan to fight back. So yes, we will grieve and we will scream and we will cry. But we will also organize, educate and mobilize. We will hold the urgent needs right alongside the long-term organizing needed for structural change. We will provide care as well as political education, services alongside leadership development, and we will do this work locally and nationally because there is no other choice. We will fight back until we win. Because in Pennsylvania and across the nation our communities are strong, brilliant and powerful. There will be more ways to take action in the weeks and months to come. Here is what you can do right now. If you live in Pennsylvania, you can see which PIC members are doing work by county. Get involved and/or donate to your local immigrant rights organization. https://lnkd.in/eBVJ4Rb5 And here at PIC, we will keep coordinating the advocacy plans this coalition has laid out. If you're an ally, you can volunteer or donate. https://lnkd.in/eZpaxwvH https://lnkd.in/este37tQ If you're an immigrant rights organization or immigrant leader, you can become a member. https://lnkd.in/eQC8g79K This week has been hard, and there will be many more hard days to come. But the power of the community is stronger. Together we will build and together we will win. #ImmigrantsGrowCommunities #ImmigrantRightsAreHumanRights

📣!Learn more about PIC’s values and donate today!📣 https://lnkd.in/este37tQ PIC is a coalition of 60 immigrant rights organizations across 27 counties in the state. We are guided by our four values; Collaboration – We are committed to broad-based coalition work and embrace the challenge of finding common ground and building positive working relationships between diverse groups and individuals. Engaging Diversity – We believe that by working together as diverse immigrant groups we increase our collective power and impact. We are committed to addressing diverse communities’ identified needs, reflected within our advocacy, organizing and program work, as well as within PIC’s leadership. Immigrant Leadership – We support and facilitate the development of leadership within immigrant communities to ensure that immigrant communities are at the fore in defining and leading our work. Collective Ownership – Our work moves forward through the time, energy and commitment of our member organizations, community leaders, staff and Board. #ImmigrantRightsAreHumanRights #ImmigrantsGrowCommunities

March For Immigrant Lives! Wednesday, Dec 18th - 2 pm to 5 pm - Meet at Liberty Bell, 510 Chestnut St. Philadelphia https://lnkd.in/eGd4pq3U Join immigrants' rights movement leaders at the Liberty Bell (510 Chestnut St) for a rally and march for immigrant, migrant and refugees' lives. The Trump administration plans to expand immigrant detention, deputizing local law enforcement and the military to execute mass raids and deportations, denaturalizing immigrant citizens and ending birthright citizenship. Biden must not make the mistakes of the past, demand that the Biden/Harris administration does not hand over an expanded detention and deportation system to Trump. The Biden administration must dismantle as much of the deportation machine as possible before inauguration day. Full list of demands below. 1. End ICE contracts to close immigrant detention centers and release people in detention. 2. Halt expansion efforts of immigrant detention system. 3. Enforce that the Department of Homeland Security to use its prosecutorial discretion to cancel pending deportation cases. 4. Lift the June presidential executive order that closes the border and guts asylum. 5. Use presidential pardoning power to protect all undocumented people. Let's raise our voices and fight for the freedom and safety of our neighbors, friends and family! #ImmigrantRightsAreHumanRights #ImmigrantsGrowCommunities

March For Immigrant Lives! Wednesday, Dec 18th - 2 pm to 5 pm - Meet at Liberty Bell, 510 Chestnut St. Philadelphia https://lnkd.in/eGd4pq3U Join immigrants' rights movement leaders at the Liberty Bell (510 Chestnut St) for a rally and march for immigrant, migrant and refugees' lives. The Trump administration plans to expand immigrant detention, deputizing local law enforcement and the military to execute mass raids and deportations, denaturalizing immigrant citizens and ending birthright citizenship. Biden must not make the mistakes of the past, demand that the Biden/Harris administration does not hand over an expanded detention and deportation system to Trump. The Biden administration must dismantle as much of the deportation machine as possible before inauguration day. Full list of demands below. 1. End ICE contracts to close immigrant detention centers and release people in detention. 2. Halt expansion efforts of immigrant detention system. 3. Enforce that the Department of Homeland Security to use its prosecutorial discretion to cancel pending deportation cases. 4. Lift the June presidential executive order that closes the border and guts asylum. 5. Use presidential pardoning power to protect all undocumented people. Let's raise our voices and fight for the freedom and safety of our neighbors, friends and family! #ImmigrantRightsAreHumanRights #ImmigrantsGrowCommunities

ICYMI: Last week PIC was in Harrisburg for a joint policy committee hearing reviewing our 2024 report, “Immigrants Grow Communities: The impact of immigrants and immigration on Pennsylvania.” “It’s been laid out very clearly. Unfortunately, it’s going to be immigrant detention and deportations on the horizon,” Julio Rodriguez, political director of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, said. “So now it’s crucial that this legislature not only has welcoming policies to support immigrants, but to fight back against these proposals.”' Cathryn Miller-Wilson, executive director of HIAS Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization that provides aid to immigrants and advocates on their behalf, noted that the United States has gone through several cycles of liberal and conservative immigration policies. After Congress passed the National Origins Act in 1924, which severely limited immigration, the country entered a period of stagnation that resulted in the Great Depression. “Now that wasn’t only because immigrants were kept out, but it certainly was in large part. We stopped creating patents, we stopped inventing, we stopped innovating, we stopped creating new businesses, we stopped hiring, we stopped increasing wages, and disaster ensued,” she said. Julissa Morales, of the Movement of Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania, said her organization is focused on passing legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, to do so with a taxpayer identification number and to protect information in PennDOT’s database from access by ICE. House Bill 769, sponsored by Burgos, was introduced in March 2023, but did not receive consideration." For full report https://lnkd.in/ezKXJ6Ch #ImmigrantsGrowCommunities #ImmigrantRightsAreHumanRights https://lnkd.in/eUBfjy9Q

Call to action Send a video to the White House and demand President Biden and Vice President Harris dismantle the deportation machine before Trump is inaugurated. They can begin by shutting down detention centers like the ones in our region, Moshannon, Pike, Clinton, and Elizabeth. Let’s keep our immigrant friends, family and neighbors safe and free. How can you send a video? It’s simple 1. Take out your phone and put on selfie mode 2. Record your message of why you want to see immigrant prisons shut down 3. Upload and tag @POTUS, @VP, @senbobcasey, @johnfetterman 4. Include the hashtags #ShutDownMoshannon #ShutDownPike #ShutDownClinton #ShutDownEDC

Who is the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition? PIC is a coalition of 60 immigrant rights organizations across 27 counties in the state. Our mission is to advance immigrants’ rights and pass welcoming public policies throughout Pennsylvania. We are guided by our four values; Collaboration, Immigrant Leadership, Engaging Diversity and Collective Ownership. Learn more about PICC and donate today! https://lnkd.in/este37tQ #ImmigrantRightsAreHumanRights #ImmigrantsGrowCommunities

There's been a lot of questions of how to meet this moment, how do we fight back against raids and deportations. Here is what is needed right now, and there will will be more ways to take action to come. 1. The Biden administration must dismantle as much of the deportation machine as possible before inauguration day. 2. Local governments should end data sharing, communication with and collaboration with ICE. Here's a toolkit on how to do just that with sample policy language. https://lnkd.in/ewwjbwD9 And now is the time to pass welcoming policies like welcoming schools and increase language access. Here's the toolkit. https://lnkd.in/eGjKvaAD 3. And get involved with your local immigrant rights organizations! https://lnkd.in/eBVJ4Rb5 Article: https://lnkd.in/enUyhF-T

We are ready for the fight to come, but we continue to celebrate and find joy for our communities. Let's celebrate twenty years of resilience, momentous victories and the immigrant leadership that got us here! Rooted in Resilience: PIC'S 20 Year Anniversary Gala Sunday, December 15th ⎸ 3:30 - 6:00 pm Esperanza Arts Center: 4261 North 5th St. Phila, PA 19140 Buy Tickets or Become a Sponsor at https://lnkd.in/ePuiuhjG #ImmigrantsGrowCommunities

The root of undocumented immigration isn’t the individual choices of a few “bad actors”—it’s our broken system. We don’t issue enough visas to meet our economic, demographic, and humanitarian needs. That massive gap is dysfunctionally filled by unauthorized migrants, who do essential work that we desperately need. Obviously, that’s not the right way to fulfill our needs — but it’s a problem of our own creation. Research shows that expanding legal pathways significantly reduces illegal entries. It’s time to address the real issue. #immigrationreform #fixtherealproblem #undocumentedimmigration