Immigrant Justice Response Team

Our aim is to strengthen Indivisible ADK/Saratoga's work in immigrant justice by focusing our efforts and collaborating with the many existing, wonderful organizations in our communities. We're here to amplify voices, connect resources, and take specific actions that will make a real difference for immigrants in our region.

Our Mission and Vision

Indivisible ADK/Saratoga Immigrant Justice Team

Our Mission (What we do, simply)

The mission of the Indivisible ADK/Saratoga Immigrant Justice Team is to support all immigrants in our region through focused advocacy, community education, and construction of a robust Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) Rapid Response network alongside our partners.

Our Vision (What we hope to achieve together)

We envision a safe and welcoming region where immigrants are seen and supported, and their rights are upheld. Through our collective action and strong partnerships, we aim to contribute to a fair and just immigration system, ensuring all our neighbors can live without fear.

Our Guiding Principles (How we work)

These principles guide our actions and how we engage with our community and partners:

Focused Advocacy for Change: We will actively advocate for important changes in immigration policy at both the state and national levels, working to influence laws that protect immigrant rights.
Community Education & Awareness: We are committed to raising public awareness about immigrant justice issues and their local impact. We believe that understanding leads to action and a more welcoming community.
Building a Rapid Response Network: We will develop an effective ICE Rapid Response network. This means organizing to counter anti-immigrant actions and ensuring our communities are prepared and supported when needed.

Collaboration, Not Duplication: We are dedicated to partnering closely with long-standing local organizations, other Indivisible groups, and affinity organizations. We

Our Guiding Principles (How We Work)

Our Guiding Principles (How we work)

These principles guide our actions and how we engage with our community and partners:

Focused Advocacy for Change: We will actively advocate for important changes in immigration policy at both the state and national levels, working to influence laws that protect immigrant rights.
Community Education & Awareness: We are committed to raising public awareness about immigrant justice issues and their local impact. We believe that understanding leads to action and a more welcoming community.
Building a Rapid Response Network: We will develop an effective ICE Rapid Response network. This means organizing to counter anti-immigrant actions and ensuring our communities are prepared and supported when needed.
Collaboration, Not Duplication: We are dedicated to partnering closely with long-standing local organizations, other Indivisible groups, and affinity organizations. We aim to support existing efforts, share resources, and create stronger collective impact.
Dignity and Respect: We believe every individual deserves to be treated with dignity and fairness, regardless of immigration status. This principle drives all our efforts.
Empowering Our Community: We strive to empower volunteers and community members to take meaningful action, providing clear ways to get involved and make a difference.

Our Partners

Our partners will include, but are not limited to:

New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC): https://www.nyic.org/

LifeWorks Community Action, Inc. (serving Saratoga, Warren, Washington Counties) https://www.lifeworksaction.org/

Adirondack Regional Immigration Collaborative (ARIC) https://aric.network/

Saratoga Immigration Coalition (SIC) https://www.facebook.com/p/Saratoga-Immigration-Coalition-100077366816869/

Good Neighbors, Buenos Vecinos

Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmause, Albany https://www.risse-albany.org/

Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI Albany, serving Saratoga County, among others) https://refugees.org/uscri-albany/

New York State Office for New Americans (ONA) North Country Immigrant Resource Coordinator (serving Essex County, among others)

https://dos.ny.gov/office-new-americans-0 Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (LASNNY, serving Saratoga, Warren, Washington, and Essex Counties among others) https://www.lasnny.org/ P

Prisoners' Legal Services of New York (PLS, with an Immigration Unit covering NY State prisons and Rapid Response in North Country) https://plsny.org/programs/immigration-programs/

Resources

Letter to the Editor on Immigrant Torture-by Lale Davidson

Below is a letter to the editor written by Lale Davidson--Published by the Daily Gazette on August 10

In 1975, when my family prepared to live in the military dictatorship of Chile, friends warned us that we’d be beaten in the streets and kidnapped. Under Trump’s leadership, America is now like 1975’s Chile—a country where people are being abducted, mistreated, and/or tortured:

USA Today reports that migrants were “Chained for hours on a prison bus without access to food, water or a toilet. Told to urinate on the floor…Held ‘like sardines in a jar,’ as many as 27 women in a small holding cell. Sleeping on a concrete floor.” The Guardian reports that migrants in Miami “were shackled with their hands tied behind their backs and made to kneel to eat food … ‘like dogs.’” NPR reports that “guards routinely beat prisoners with batons in the hallway” in the CECOT prison in El Salvador. NBC reports that in “Alligator Alcatraz, people sleep in cages swarmed by mosquitoes all night and bright lights are blasted 24/7.”

Despite DHS denials, Human Rights Watch confirms “dangerously substandard medical care, overcrowding, abusive treatment, and restrictions on access to legal and psychosocial support.”

Legal or not, immigrants in America are entitled to constitutional protections. If deported, it must be done humanely and with due process.

In America, people are entitled to human rights not because of WHERE they are born. They are entitled to human rights because they are human.

Call your congresspeople and protest.

Lale

What Undocumented Immigrants are Entitled to Under Current Law

Emergency Medicaid: Covers emergency medical services for those who meet income and other eligibility criteria but lack qualifying immigration status. It does not include ongoing or preventive care.
Public Health Programs: Includes immunizations and testing/treatment for communicable diseases, available regardless of immigration status.
School Breakfast and Lunch Programs: Provided to all schoolchildren, including those who are undocumented, through the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Offers nutrition assistance to eligible pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and young children, with access available in every state regardless of immigration status.
Short-Term Noncash Emergency Disaster Assistance: Provides aid such as food, water, and temporary shelter during disasters, without immigration status restrictions.
In-Kind Services Necessary to Protect Life or Safety: Includes access to soup kitchens, short-term shelters, crisis counseling, and community services like child/adult protective services or weather emergency programs, as long as no income qualification is required for the household.
Public K-12 Education: Free public education for children, mandated by federal law regardless of immigration status.

Note: A 2025 policy update expanded the list of barred federal programs to include additional services like Head Start and Title X family planning, but the exemptions above remain intact.

Immigrants do NOT collect SSI. But they Pay.

Know Your Rights At Home (English)

Know Your Rights With I.C.E. (English)

Conozca Sus Derechos Ante I.C.E.

Know Your Protest Rights Wallet Card (English)

Tarjeta De Derechos Para Protestar

Know Your General Rights Wallet Card (English/Spanish)

"Abusive Practices at Three Florida Immigration Detention Centers Since January 2025"