SDARJ Town Hall – The Immigration Crisis: Stories from the Front Line”

The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ)  presented “The Immigration Crisis: Stories from the Front Line” at the September 10 Town Hall Meeting. A panel of professionals shared their experiences and described some of the challenges that immigrants face in our local communities.

Lending the perspective of a community organizer, Dalissy Washington, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is Co-Coordinator of Network Delaware’s Safe Communities Campaign, where she works to create change by raising awareness, educating the public, and advocating for the rights of immigrants.

Panel member Linda Dean described her recent trip to the border of Arizona with a group of concerned citizens.  For two weeks, she and the rest of a group of concerned clergy and parishioners were “witnesses at the border” – observing humanitarian aid workers provide food, water, and shelter, attending a court session where 54 men and 4 women were processed in less than 50 minutes, and traveling to the border of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico.

Kathryn Harris also spoke about the July 17th silent vigil which had more than 175 people in attendance and the activities that grew from it.

Zita Dresser spoke about the Shut Down the Berks Campaign to close the Berks County Family Detention Center in Pennsylvania, one of the three national immigrant detention centers.  She encouraged attendees to join the protest on September 15 at 3:30PM outside the Berks Center.

You can view the Town Hall meeting at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUPh9tP6xm8&t=1667s