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SB4 Resources. SB4 (mandatory minimum) from special session 3 went into effect on February 6. SB4 (unlawful entry) remains blocked by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. This SB4 toolkit that community groups have put together has tons of helpful information available in different languages and it is regularly being updated.
Citizenship Clinic. Thank you to American Gateways, the Asian American Resource Center and our mini resource fair participants for another successful clinic! We helped dozens of people complete the N400 Application for Naturalization and connected others to resources as they continue on their citizenship journey. Our next citizenship clinic will happen this fall - the date will be announced shortly. |
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- The Texas Senate Committee on Criminal Justice is planning on holding a meeting in early June to "examine charitable bail organizations." This could severely impact community bail funds that free people by paying their bail/bond.
- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an application for a Temporary Injunction against El Paso-based immigration advocacy group Annunciation House, two months after a judge temporarily blocked a similar effort.
- The Biden administration announced a final rule on May 3 which would expand healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients. It is expected that as many as 100,000 DACA recipients—immigrants who entered the United States as children with their parents—would enroll in the program.
- Iowa is among at least nine states this year that have weighed restrictions mirroring portions of the Texas immigration law known as SB 4, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Proposals are still pending in some states. In others, they’ve failed to pass.
- There are nearly 1.3 million asylum cases now pending in immigration court. Although judges are unable to keep up with the flow of new cases into the courts, immigration judges are collectively on track to complete more cases than ever by the end of this year.
- The Biden administration wants to partially end a 27-year-old agreement that provides court oversight of how the federal government cares for migrant children in its custody. Children’s advocates say what is known as the Flores agreement has been instrumental in guaranteeing safe conditions for children, especially amid rising border detentions over the past two years that included nearly 300,000 unaccompanied minors.
- The Department of Labor recently published a new rule aimed at protecting workers on temporary H-2A visas and strengthening the agency’s oversight of their employers. The rule is set to go into effect on June 28, with a two-month subsequent grace period. The rule aims to ensure that H-2A workers are provided protections to organize against unfair treatment by employers.
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Last week, the Department of Homeland Security proposed changes to the asylum process in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Under these new rules, asylum officers could reject some asylum seekers based on factors that were previously only considered during a hearing before an immigration judge. The proposal would make the interviews harder for some asylum seekers to pass (and thus be given a full hearing).
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Tuesday, May 21 @ 12:00 PM CST
Digital Equity for Immigrant and Refugee Communities: Preparing for the Digital Equity Competitive Grant
The Digital Equity Act of 2021 provides an unprecedented opportunity to close the digital divide for all, including immigrants and refugees. With the Digital Equity Competitive Grant expected out in August/September 2024, immigrant and refugee serving organizations and State offices can tap into federal funding to support both new and existing digital equity and inclusion efforts. This webinar will feature an overview of the Digital Equity Act (DEA) and the upcoming Digital Equity Competitive Grant, joined by experts across the country leading digital inclusion work in their immigrant communities. Register here. |
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Tuesday, May 21 @ 6:00 PM CST
Unbuild Walls: Book Talk with Silky Shah
Asian American Resource Center - 8401 Cameron Road, Austin, TX 78754
Join the Asian American Resource Center for an author talk with Silky Shah to discuss her upcoming book, Unbuild Walls. Drawing from over twenty years of activism on local and national levels, this striking book offers an organizer’s perspective on the intersections of immigrant rights, racial justice, and prison abolition. Free and open to the public. Snacks and Beverages provided! RSVP here to receive updates about the event.
The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. For assistance please contact (512)974-3914 or Relay Texas 7-1-1. |
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Thursday, May 23 @ 6:00 PM CST
Book Release Event for The Jail Is Everywhere: Fighting the New Geography of Mass Incarceration
Nearly every county and major city in the United States has a jail, the short-term detention center controlled by local sheriffs that funnels people into prisons and long-term incarceration. While the growing movement against incarceration has called to reform or abolish prisons, jails have often gone unnoticed, or in some cases seen as a “better” alternative to prisons.
Yet jails, in recent decades, have been the fastest-growing sector of the US carceral state. Jails are widely used for immigrant detention by ICE and the U.S. Marshals and as a place to offload people that prisons can’t hold. As jails grow, they transform the region around them, and whole towns and small cities see health care, mental health care, substance abuse, and employment opportunities taken over by carceral concerns. Register here to learn more about why jails must be included in our movements for immigrant justice and against mass incarceration.
This virtual event will feature:
- Xochitl Bervera, organizer, Near Futures Project
- Liz Blum, organizer and co-founder, Decarcerate Sacramento
- Silky Shah, executive director, Detention Watch Network
- Wes Ware, campaign strategist and trainer
- Judah Schept, Jack Norton, and Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, editors and authors of The Jail is Everywhere
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Wednesday, May 29 @ 6:00 PM CST
Equity Action Team Meeting
Street-Jones Building - 1000 E. 11th Street, 4th Floor conference room
Agenda:
- Austin Sanctuary Network (ASN) will join us to talk about CAFA (Counsel at First Appearance)
- VOCAL-TX will also join us to talk about their organization and their current efforts around Rapid Rehousing and Permanent Supportive Housing.
- We also make time for community updates, shoutouts & resource sharing!
Interpretation in Spanish will be provided. Dinner will be provided including vegan options. We look forward to being in community with you! RSVP here
Parking/Public Transportation:
Guests can park in the lot attached to the Street-Jones building by turning north on Waller Street and then immediately turning left into the parking lot. Parking validation might be needed, so please have your license plate number handy to complete the process.
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Thursday, May 30 @ 1:00 PM CST
The Impact of Texas' SB4 on Immigrant Survivors
This webinar will take a deep-dive into Texas’s Senate Bill 4. Presenters will discuss the bill’s provisions, pending litigation, and the potential impact on immigrant survivors and those who serve them, including domestic violence/sexual assault programs and immigration practitioners. The webinar will also include tips for immigration and family law practitioners and programs serving immigrant survivors in Texas and around the country. Register here. |
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Saturday, June 1 @ 2:00 PM CST
Legal + Community Resource Fair
St. Francis School - 300 E. Huntland Drive, Austin, TX 78752
Asian Family Support Services of Austin (AFSSA) invites you to join us at our second annual legal and community resource fair. Several family law and immigration attorneys will be available to answer questions you may have about recourses to violence and your rights. In addition, this year, we will include community representatives who can provide information and resources on healthcare,benefits, employment and healthy parenting. |
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ICYMI: Empowering Immigrant Communities to Fight Against Fraud
Welcoming America jointly hosted a webinar with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, and a member from the Welcoming Network. We discussed ways to empower the communities you work with to fight against fraud. In this webinar, we share how to spot and avoid common scams, as well as how to use the FTC’s new educational materials in multiple languages to help people in your community protect themselves against scammers. Watch here. |
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ICYMI: Know Your Rights Webinar for Immigrant Activists
You can watch the recording from this webinar here. As we continue to witness mass mobilizations across the country to help stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza, it’s important for immigrant and non-citizen activist to know their rights while participating in protests. This webinar was hosted with legal experts and organizers to talk about why it’s important to show solidarity in this moment, and to share information about your constitutional rights while protesting. You can also find resources for immigrant protestors here. |
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