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Kern County immigrant rights coalition details tools to combat threats of mass deportations
‘We will not stand by while our [people] get attacked just because of their immigration status’
Bakersfield, Calif. — Days after a major weeklong operation by the border patrol in Kern County, a coalition of immigration service providers and pro-immigrant groups gathered Monday to help empower immigrant communities and offer necessary tools to combat attempts at promised mass deportations in the Central Valley by the incoming presidential administration. In the face of such threats, coalition members vowed to protect farm workers and all immigrants from attack.
Speaking before the Kern County Liberty Bell on Truxton Ave., representatives from the UFW Foundation were joined by leaders and advocates from the Rapid Response Network of Kern (KRRN), Building Healthy Communities and the Immigrant Justice Collaborative to assure immigrants they will continue providing vital immigration legal services to those who need them. The KRRN is a collaborative of local organizations, community leaders and immigrant rights advocates.
“We will not stand by while our families, friends, neighbors, coworkers and community members get attacked just because of their immigration status,” said Ambar Tovar, the UFW Foundation’s director of legal services.
Such services include legal help with family petitions, DACA renewals, adjustment of status, U-visas, VAWA, as well as novel services such as free “know your rights” workshops, free legal services to community college staff and students, and weekly legal workshops at local UFW Foundation offices in Bakersfield and Fresno.
This coalition of immigration service providers and pro-immigrant organizations hopes to empower the immigrant community and supply the tools necessary to combat any potential mass deportation efforts in the Central Valley by the incoming administration. This includes informative "know your rights" panels conducted by the coalition on Jan. 7-9 in Lamont, Bakersfield and Delano. Additional dates will be added in the future. The UFW Foundation will host additional "know your rights" sessions at their Bakersfield and Fresno offices every Thursday at 5 p.m.
Despite harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric, the coalition is prepared to protect all farm workers and other immigrants from any form of threat.
“We are ready and prepared for any effort to forcibly remove immigrants from their families, homes and communities,” observed Tovar. “The UFW Foundation and our partner organizations will fight to ensure that this upcoming administration does not succeed in its plans for unlawful detentions and deportations. The United States is a nation formed and built by immigrants. We will not let the cruelty of this new administration succeed in tearing apart the very fabric of our society.”
"The Immigration Justice Collaborative along with numerous other community organizations will again provide important information to immigrants and non-U.S. citizens about their constitutional rights and what to expect when the new administration issues its immigration executive orders later this month,” said H.A. Sala from the Immigration Justice Collaborative. “The information will be provided by licensed attorneys at the town hall presentations. It our goal to ensure the community that while there will be significant changes in immigration enforcement, those changes and how they are implemented must necessarily comply with the requirements of the U.S. Constitution."
"Kern's immigrant families are not alone,” said Reyna Olaguez from the KRRN. “The KRRN is available to support our communities with know your rights efforts, helping families prepare a family preparedness plan, and work with community leaders to set up a local rapid response network to monitor ICE activities and ensure that families are not separated.”
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