Washington Post: "Immigrant group in Virginia sues ICE over 'collateral arrests' it calls unconstitutional"

The Legal Aid Justice Center is filing a lawsuit on behalf of two Virginia men who were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as "collateral arrests." Essentially, "collateral arrests" are when ICE goes to arrest somebody they have grounds to detain, but also grabs unrelated parties suspected of being undocumented immigrants. Because the suspicion isn't based on any knowledge about these unrelated parties, just their ethnicity and proximity to an ICE investigation, this tactic is just racial profiling by another name.

Under Trump, arrest of immigrants with no criminal records has more than doubled, partially because of "collateral arrests."

Read the Washington Post article here.

SONG June Campaign Meeting

This Thursday, June 22nd 2017, from 5-7pm, at the Legal Aid Justice Center (123 East Broad Street, Richmond VA), the Richmond chapter of Southerners On New Ground (SONG) and the Advancement Project is holding a meeting for the Free from Fear campaign. Originally launched in Durham, NC in 2015, the Free from Fear campaign is working nationwide against the racial profiling and state violence endured by communities of color at the hands of police and immigration officials.

Here in Richmond, our local chapter of SONG is working to institute a Community Review Board to oversee the police. Learn more at the meeting.

For more information and to RSVP, see this link.