This week has been intense. We are sending you a lot of care and support, and also an invitation to step into action and community with us.
We appreciated these words from SURJ National and wanted to share them with you:
We are grieving and horrified by the murder of Renee Nicole Good, who was killed this week by ICE. Today, we are sending solidarity and care to each of you in this very intense week, and writing with action steps you can take to show up in solidarity.
Renee was likely taking action against what the Trump administration is calling the “largest immigration operation ever,” a deployment of 2,000 ICE agents sent to target Somali and Latino communities. They claim 150 arrests were made on Monday alone. Since Trump’s inauguration, there have been 32 reported deaths in ICE custody.
Renee was killed less than a mile from where George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police in 2020. Once again we see reckless, racist state violence resulting in the loss of life.
We know that militarized state violence – whether abroad in Venezuela or here at home – does not make any of our communities safer. It is deadly to communities of color – and no one who stands in the way of authoritarianism is safe.
This week, a white woman did what those in power fear the most: she broke rank, rejected the racist lies aimed at winning over white people, and instead chose to stand in solidarity with her immigrant neighbors.
Right now many of us are scared, angry, and grieving – and this is a time for those of us who are white to root in our commitments and continue to take risks and step into action. In the face of intimidation and state repression we must stand resolute, refuse to be intimidated, and recommit to the fight against ICE and white supremacy everywhere.
While ICE is not yet targeting NYC at the level we’re seeing in Minneapolis or have seen in other cities, New Yorkers are being abducted every day. We cannot allow this militarized force on our streets to be normalized. This moment requires all of us to take a deep breath and then take a next step into greater action. The SURJ NYC community is here to do that with you.
Below you will find many ways to take action against ICE, remotely and in NYC. A few highlights:
Travel to Albany with our Immigration Justice Working Group on Tuesday, January 27, for a mobilization with the Dignity Not Detention campaign
We will rally and meet with state lawmakers to demand they support legislation to end detention contracts with ICE, which allow ICE to use county jails to lock up immigrant New Yorkers.Urge Senators and Members of Congress to Cut ICE Funding
Answer Detention Watch Network’s call to contact your elected officials and urge them to cut funding to ICE. Congress is currently proposing to increase resources to immigration detention even more than the $45 billion given to ICE last year.Join as a SURJ NYC Member to commit to being in action with us!
We’ll add you to an email list where we share more frequent rapid-response updates. This weekend SURJ members joined thousands of New Yorkers at Sunday’s No Wars, No Kings, No ICE action, for example. We’re also sharing ways to get involved in ICE watch and other types of action.
Onward,
SURJ NYC