Every two months or so, Solidarity Room Project likes to update you on what's been going on with our project and in the news, and opportunities on how to support us. Welcome to newsletter number three!
For those of you just hearing about us, The Solidarity Room Project (SRP) is an all-volunteer run organization that fund-raises to provide living costs and helps coordinate other support for individuals and families navigating the asylum-seeking process in New York City. Sign up for email updates here. Or get more information on our website.
Events
We wanted to share this opportunity first in case you might otherwise miss the opportunity to join in!
In Bed By 11- Virtual Raffle Edition
Wednesday, 7/8, 8-9:30pm
Sara Hennessey (JFL) and Hallie Haas (Search Party) host the online Raffle Drawing and Comedy show that promises to have you in bed by a reasonable hour, streaming live on YouTube.
If you can't make the show, you'll be missing out on a fun evening, but you are still eligible to win our many raffle prizes! We will contact you by email if you've won, and find out an address to ship your prize to. All proceeds, including processing fees, go to The Solidarity Room Project.
Project Updates
Since our last newsletter, SRP celebrated the one year anniversary of our first guests living in NYC, the United Nations International Refugee Day, and surpassing our fundraising goal thanks to fiscal sponsorship from ioby.org and one day of matching funds from the ioby National COVID-19 Community Response Fund, which helped us successfully make up some of the funds lost from canceled events.
We've been working with other organizations such as Catholic Charities, Seafarers International House, and the Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (QDEP), and are regularly contacted by multiple other asylum seekers who need our help. Through the generous offers of support from people like you, we were able to match TWO asylees with stable housing in Brooklyn in the middle of a pandemic, and one other with emergency short-term housing! We have also consulted in-depth with cooperative houses interested in opening up a room to help asylum seekers land well in this city.
If you have space in your home and heart to welcome an asylum seeker into your life, please get in touch. We currently know of THREE asylum seekers in need of temporary housing. We can provide financial help but need your solidarity for our funds to reach more people!
Asylum Process in the News
Protesters holding a banner reading, "U.S. Immigration Policy Is A Crime" at a silent protest in January 2020. (Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)
COVID-19 and renewed protest against racist systems of control and policing have NOT stopped ICE from conducting raids, keeping people who are asking for our help locked up in unsafe conditions, or deporting people. The pandemic has also NOT stopped the danger people flee their homes to get away from. Here are a few selections of news items to keep you informed about this issue. For more news updates, follow us on Facebook.
Recently in federal court, the Trump Administration policy of requiring asylum seekers from Central America to apply for asylum in another country they pass through BEFORE reaching the US-Mexico border was struck down.
However, the judge ruled this way on the above case only because there had not been ample time for public comment before putting this policy in place. Currently, there is a much more sweeping rule change in the public comment period. If this new proposed change goes through, it could effectively end Political Asylum in the US.
A twitter thread that breaks down so many bad parts of the proposal.
The comment period ends on July 15th. Add your voice now!
This is all the more troubling because these are the rules by which immigration officials, not judges, make determinations about whether people are even allowed to start the asylum process. Just last week, the Supreme court ruled that asylum seekers do not have the right to challenge these determinations in court.
Judges are actually fighting back. On Wednesday, A group of Immigration Judges sued the Trump Administration over being prohibited from speaking publicly about immigration law or policy, and needing special permission before speaking on other policies. Immigration Judges Sue Trump Administration Alleging Their Free Speech Rights Have Been Violated
Asylum Seekers who remain in detention despite breaking no law are also speaking out. About two dozen asylum seekers on hunger strike were pepper sprayed back in May at a private prison where ICE is holding immigrants in New Mexico, after protesting unhealthy prison conditions which they feared made them more vulnerable to contracting Covid-19.
And as Black Lives Matter protests continue more than one month after of the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, it's important to know how anti-blackness affects vulnerable people around the world. Privilege based on skin color causes a hierarchy even among asylum seekers. Here's an article we posted almost a year ago about African asylees facing discrimination and militarization at the US-Mexico border.
Podcasts
If you love listening to podcasts, you may be interested in the following selections to learn more about asylum and immigration issues:
Where Donations Go
Thank you to friends, family, coworkers and comrades for your continued support! Through your generosity an asylum-seeking family has continued to receive support through the uncertainty of this stressful time. The Solidarity Room Project plans to support the family through the second month after the parents receive legal working papers, projected to be September 2020. Your contributions in the form of a one-time donation, a sustaining membership (more about this below), or buying a raffle ticket will directly cover the family's living costs in the coming months. Expenses include rent, toiletries, food, diapers and baby supplies, new clothes for mom who has lost some weight since giving birth, and new clothes for a growing baby. If you have clothes or supplies that you'd like to contribute directly, please send us an email to coordinate the donation.
Some specific needs:
child bike seat
pajamas for children up to 18 months
diapers (email for updates in size)
baby wipes
size ~4-8 petite women’s clothing
baby books in Spanish
gift certificates for groceries or pharmacies
Become A Member
Holocaust diarist Anne Frank famously wrote, “No one has ever become poor by giving.” We have indeed found it to be true that as we continue to welcome others through this project, our own lives have become significantly enriched as well. See for yourself by pledging your support and joining the Solidarity Room Project family.
In these uncertain times a monthly contribution goes a long way to help folks feel welcome in their new home and community. We hope that over time The Solidarity Room Project can support multiple asylum-seeking families and people. Your monthly contribution helps provide the stability to do so. Your support—big or small, financial or otherwise—helps remind us that this is a project built on community.
If you want to join The Solidarity Room Project as a monthly member, please do so at the following link: https://withfriends.co/the_solidarity_room_project/join
That's all for now! Stay in touch by signing up for email updates: https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/solidarityroomprojectupdates.
We smile to think of the day we can all see each other again in person. In the meantime, stay well!
The Solidarity Room Project team <3