Memphis Residents Rally to Support Immigrant Families Impacted by ICE Raids
As ICE enforcement expands, a grassroots community effort in Memphis delivers vital supplies to immigrant families too afraid to leave their homes.
As the Trump administration's expansion of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to spread across the country, a grassroots community effort in Memphis is stepping up to support immigrant families impacted by the agency's raids. Months before ICE operations began in Memphis, local activists and Latino leaders came together to figure out how to best meet their community's needs.
Amber Hampton, a member of Indivisible Memphis, a volunteer-run chapter of the nationwide civil rights organization, attended one of these meetings. Though she and many others didn't speak much Spanish, and many of the Latino community members spoke little English, they understood each other's concerns. ICE had already conducted raids in Los Angeles, and the community braced for the agency's operations to reach their city.
The solution they devised was a pantry that would deliver food, medicine, and other essentials to immigrant families too afraid to leave their homes. Within a matter of weeks, over 130 Memphis residents signed up to volunteer their time and resources to the cause. The pantry has become a lifeline for families who have effectively been made
Source: The Guardian
