On May 9th, over three dozen members, leaders, and supporters of the Virginia Immigrant People’s Coalition rallied at the construction site for the new Federal Courthouse in Richmond, VA, to protest a recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at the site that resulted in the arrest of 33 workers suspected of being undocumented immigrants.
The rally helped draw attention to the impact of ICE raids on immigrant families and communities. It was covered by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as well as other local media. You can read the Times-Dispatch article here.
The Virginia Immigrant People’s Coalition is one of the groups participating THREADS, Highlander’s new leadership and organizing school. THREADS is bringing together organizations from immigrant, African American, Native American, and low-income and working class white communities in an 18-month training program designed to strengthen their organizing and leadership skills and their ability to connect people and issues across difficult divides to build a broad-based movement. You can read more about THREADS here
Members of the Coaltion also participated in Highlander’s March 2008 interpreter training session. Information about our Multilingual Capacity Building Program, which organized and facilitated the session, is available here.