Refugee Mutual Aid in Washington DC

you know, moving the problem to him. And as a political stunt, this has largely failed as a humanitarian disaster, inflicting untold human misery on completely innocent people. It is still continuing to unfold. And here today to talk about this with us is Amy Fisher with Sanctuary d m V and the Migrants Solidarity Mutual Aid Network. Amy, thank you for joining us, and welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me so excited to be here. Yeah, um,

somewhat less excited that this is happening because dear God. Yeah, So, I guess to start off, do you want to tell us a bit about what's been I guess how this started in what the sort of initial reaction and non reaction of the d C government has been sure so UM. In April, Governor Abbotts started bussing people from the border to d C. UM. We knew from the get go that this was a racist publicity stunt, um, particularly because the first few busses were dropped off right in front

of the Fox News building. UM, and we all initially thought it was going to be a few weeks of bussing people. And here we are, um in the middle

of July, and the buses have kept coming. Um. Buses arrive to d C basically every single day of the week except for UM Monday evening and Tuesday mornings, and there have been probably around thirty people bussed from Texas to d C. And uh, not too long after, Governor Juicy of Arizona started doing the same thing and bussing people from the Arizona border to d C. And the d C government has basically been unwilling to grapple with

the reality of what's happening. You know, people are arriving to d C with very very little resources, typically like the clothes on their back. Sometimes they don't even have shoes on their feet. When they get off the buses, and it's been, um kind of amazing to see the way that the d C community has responded. It's been like the type of response that makes me remarkably proud of being a DC resident and being from the area.

And also, um, it's something that the DC government is turning in a blind eye to UM and pretending like, um, the reality that we are seeing when we are talking to people that are getting off the buses day in and day out, it's just it's like entirely different from what you know, the DC mayor is saying about the situation. Yeah, and I guess, well, okay, so before we talk, I guess fully about the DC governments just catastrophic. I don't even want to know if I want to say incompetence

so much is just like we'll just let these people suffer. Um. Can we talk a bit about what what what the community responses look like and what y'all have been doing. Sure, so maybe to back up a little bit to to tell you about sort of like what the experiences of the people that are getting off the buses. These are people that are typically UM coming to the United States to seek asylum. They're being processed at the border for

a few days. And I think what like have been commonly started to be referred to as like the Pereiras and jeleras at the border, so like the dog kennels, the ice boxes and the at the border and that are being paroled into the country and um, so the Customs and Border Protections CBP is releasing these folks to um like respite centers type of places at the border.

UM in Texas. Most of the folks are coming from Del Rio and Eagle Path UM and then they're being told that there's these free busses to d C. And it's it's a little bit mind boggling because we know that Governor Abbott is doing these bus this bussing purely out of the most like racist xenophobic in pensions. And also for many of the folks, it's a free bus

to to get to where they're trying to go. And so people are riding on the buses arriving in d C and then you know many of them are trying to get to other places along the east coast UM and many are planning on staying in d C. UM. And so what has happened is we've um developed a massive mutual aid response, which has been super cool. So, you know, we have a crew of volunteers that meet

the buses when they arrive UM at Union Station. And if you're not familiar with d C, Union Station is sort of the big transit center and in the middle of d C UM actually relatively close to where the capital is. UM. It's sort of like the DC equivalent of like Penn Station in New York or something like that. UM. And so they're dropped off in front of Union Station.

We have folks that will welcome them and UM typically we bring to folks to uh different churches around the area that have opened up their spaces as respite centers for us, and we uh you know, sit down with folks, We offer them some food and really try and talk through what their needs are and help them as best as we can meet those needs, whether it is you know, folks may have UM medical or like trauma that they

need to work through. UM. Maybe they're trying to get to New York, and so we'll help them, you know, communicate with family members or help them find their way

to New York. We you know, for the folks that are staying in DC, we've done our best to help them, you know, find a way to kind of get settled and put down roots in their new community, getting them connected to community members that help them you know, navigate DC, teach them how to use the metro, help them get to their you know, check in appointments as they're you know, having to jump through all of the hoops of ice and being surveilled by the state, and and helping them

you know, have access to lawyers to explain their legal process and really just kind of like I don't know, I took a dude to to Target to be to like help them get go shopping, and you know, took folks to get uh, just like the random stuff that people need when they arrive in a new place in the same way that like, I don't know, if I had a friend moving to d C, I would be like, hey, what do you need? Like how can I help you

get to know this place? Like this is how our bike share program works, Like just the most basic welcome get settled. Can we tell a little bit more about what the sort of legal process looks like here and what like, for example, like explained what check ins are and yeah, so um, the folks that are arriving are being parolled in UM and so basically what it means is that they are then under surveillance from the federal government UM from ICE, which is Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

And what that looks like is a little bit of a crapshoot. UM. So many many of the folks are UM at the border given cell phones UM that have tracking on them, and so with that cell phone, they're being tracked by the government. They basically have to take like selfies ever so often to UM check in and then they're basically being enrolled in this program called is APP, which is the I can't remember the acronym, it's it's

UM a supervision program. And so they have to go to an ICE office once they arrive in whatever city that they're arriving to UM. Oftentimes they're being asked to turn in the ICE the ICE cell phones and having to download an app on their cell phones. If they don't have a cell phone, they might be given an ankle monitor or what many of the Spanish speakers called like a great They be basically like an ankle shackle

UM for electronic monitoring. They'll have UM officers, you know, show up at their house, so sometimes they have to you know, be at home from seven am to seven pm so that you know, immigration come come by and make sure that they're like still there. And basically that part of the program is entirely so the government can keep a track of where these folks are. It has nothing to do with like the actual legal process that they are trying to go through to to be able

to stay here permanently. So separate and apart from that,

the vast majority of these folks are asylum seekers. And so what that means is that you know, once they're here, they have a year to apply for asylum and then they're thrust into the like totally broken asylum system that has you know, years long backlogs and things like that, and so then they'll be basically trying to find a way to um get an asylum grant to be able to stay here permanently while also navigating the surveillance that's happening on the ice side of things are so I know,

something that happens with like I guess regular prison a lot are people being forced to pay for the ankle bracelets no thank god, okay, which is which is like

something from their minimum but yeah, it's still Jesus. I mean, I will say that we've one of the issues that we have started, um sort of trying to figure out how to navigate, is that what we're seeing is people, you know, they get the ICE cell phones at the border, and then at their check in they're supposed to turn in the ICE cell phones and then download this at

this surveillance app on their phone. Um, many folks don't have a cell phone, or the app only works if you have I think a five G phone, So you basically have to have like the fanciest of the phones, which if you're an asylum secret and you just risk it all to come here to seek safety and you don't really have a support in the US, and now you're being told that you have to have this super

fancy phone or you get an inkle shackle. It's it's just kind of a ridiculous thing knowing that it's okay, maybe you're privileged enough to be able to be surveilled on your own personal cell phone, or you just have to have an inkle shackle at all times. So much of this process just like it really feels just like it's it's just it's surveillance, just sort of for the purpose of humiliation. It's surveillance for the purpose of humiliation.

It's surveillance for the sake of some Um. This idea that we've been dealing with in the US since September eleven, that uh, immigration is a national security concern that you know, if if immigrants aren't being surveilled twenty four hours a day, then like, lord knows what they could do. Um. When the reality is is these are folks that are just

like normal people trying to live their best lives. UM. And I also think how I think it's really important to say how much of this is also entirely based on government funding and availability that so oftentimes the decision as to what kind of surveillance you're under is based upon what is available, um, based on contracts with you know, private surveillance companies and private prison companies that have a

surveillance arm and things like that. It's it's entirely profit driven. Yeah, definitely, definitely. Again, I keep thinking about prisons, it's just like, yeah, I mean literally literally the same companies doing this kind of stuff. And how Yeah, and like I think, I don't know, there's there's this kind of like I mean, I guess, people,

it's just a prison industrial complex. But yeah, there's this whole there's a sort of like state private sector complex that both feed on each other, where you have these companies taking federal money to do stuff. You have these companies who are like have figured out ways to extract like money from the people that are surevailing. And I guess, okay, keep keeping on the thread of the state making people's lives miserable. Um, yeah, so Muriel Bowser not doing anything. Yeah,

we're talking about that a bit. So Mariel Bowser's messaging that we have received has evolved a little bit here

and there. So sometimes she says that the majority of people that are getting off the bus have everything they need and have family supporting them, and so there actually is no reason for the government to step forward because these people already have all of their needs met, which I would say maybe one person or one family every every few days has someone that's you know, ready to meet them when they step off the bus, but the

vast majority of people don't. And I would say that we're seeing an ever increasing amount of people that don't have anybody in the United States, and so they really are in need of a lot of supports to help them really figure out their way here because they don't have cousins or family friends or extended family, whatever it may be, to help them, you know, put down roots

in the in their new communities. UM. And in recent weeks her messaging has shifted a little bit because there is actually a Spain based organization that got a grant from FEMA to support on the buses. UM And so now Bowser's response is this organization, SAMU has it, It's covered. There's there's no like refuse one refusing to even acknowledge the fact that the Mutual Aid Network has been and continues to do the vast majority of the welcoming of

the folks that are arriving. And two once again refusing to acknowledge that there is any role that DC could be or should be playing here. Yeah, and it definite. It seems like I don't know. I mean, it's it's a kind of classic like State two steps, which was like yeah, on the one hand, it's like, okay, there's no problem. The second thing is we found an NGO we can sort of like pretend is doing the actual work.

UM And I guess one of your things that that I saw from y'all recently was a bunch of people got exposed to COVID while doing this and there was like, basically, you guys did basically a work stoppage. So last week, UM, we basically hit a ball. UM. Many of our core

organizers had been exposed to COVID. UM, we were running out of funds because this work is expensive, UM, and we had been doing this as volunteers around the clock, you know, twenty four hours a day, sevent days a week for months, and last week we kind of hit

a wall. And UM told this NGO that is receiving female funding that UM, we needed to take a beat, UM and take two days where you know, folks kid get COVID tested and make sure they were in the clear to come back to work and rest and also spend time like we you know, call it a work stoppage.

But we were all too working. We were all you know, having conversations as to how we make this work more sustainable, how we find you know, systems of support to to make this this welcome last And unfortunately that resulted in people basically getting stranded at Union station. UM. And when our folks were able to return to welcoming buses on um.

You know. Later in the week they ended up with like I don't know, thirty additional people that had basically been sleeping at Union Station because this other NGO that you know is receiving federal funding to do the work that the mayor is saying has it and therefore she doesn't have to do anything didn't show up and and there were a handful of good Samaritans that like you know, would be at Union Station and see a bunch of folks and they you know, spoke different languages and would

be able to support them kind of here and there.

But it really showed how um. I think it really proved the work that the futual Aid Network had been holding and that you know, if we tried to take a step back, things things fall um and really showed how much we need others to step in because the work that we've been holding has is has been you know, wearing us down and hiding the situation a little bit right that people don't people, you know, when we're able to really show up and and provide the folks that

are arriving with the support that they need. What it means is that the government isn't paying attention because it's it's not their problem. In that moment um, it means that DC residents don't have to walk by asylum seekers when they're trying to get to the metro after work. It means that, um, you know, the people are cared for and and that's great, and it's work that we're

proud of it. It's work that we're doing well. Um, But it's also work that we need support doing, um because it's it's a lot and the numbers have increased, you know, and and we want to be able to provide welcome. We want to be able to give the folks what they need. But as long as we're sort of living in this world where bus tickets are massively expensive and food is expensive and you know, we gotta we gotta help clothes people and and help people meet

their needs, then then we have to have support. And that's just that's just the reality. Yeah, That's one of the things that is really frustrating about this too, is it's like it's not like the resources that you just don't exist, Like it's not it's not even like the state hasn't like attempted to put resources out, but it just got fed into this NGO complex people who are

just doing nothing. And I don't know, like the the the way you get to see sort of both arms of what the state does, or it's like, okay, on the one hand, you have the part of the state that's just hitting people with clubs, that's just doing this stuff, and you get the sort of political army of the state who just like again, are just literally shuffling people's lives around as as you know, as political theater, and the political theory doesn't matter because these people's lives don't

matter to the state or to anyone who has even a tiny bit of power unless you know they're it's visible enough that people are like the people have to see it, and that people, you know, get annoyed because oh, hey, look at this thing happening. That's like interfering with my life now, and you know, and then it's like, oh, hey, they're supposed to be part of the state that like tastes care of people just isn't and that's just incredibly frustrating. I don't know, it's I think of a few things.

So when we first started seeing buses coming to d c Um, you know that people are dropped off in front of Union Station and at the time, there was an encampment of an housed people um that you know, had their tents and stuff in front of Union Station. And so folks would get off the bus and say, you know what are the tents? Like who are these people living in tents? And so be like, welcome, welcome to the nation's capital of this place that you just

came to seek opportunity, to seek safety. And you're immediately showing getting showed in in the most you know, visible terms possible of a way that the state is failing its own people because people in d C don't have housing um, and housing here is immensely expensive. And then um, I say in the early days because uh in I think it was in May uh that encampment was cleared

um and so those people lost their homes um. And now it continues to be a struggle that you know, if we are unable to provide housing for the people that get off the bus, they are going into the DC shelter system that is already overrun because there is a housing crisis and DC and aluming eviction crisis, and even for the folks that are arriving here, on the buses. If they don't have support, they're they're thrust into this situation in which the state is preventing them from working.

They don't have a way to work legally for at least a few months, um, presumably until you know, they can apply for a work permit, presumably after they file for asylum. But these are folks that don't have a way to work legally, that are have that have zero

support from the state. So how like, tell me how somebody is supposed to live in the United States, feed themselves, feed them their feed their families, um, have a roof over their head, survive, have a cell phone for your surveillance app have the means to travel an hour, you know, once every few weeks to check in with ICE. If they're legally prevented from working. It's just it's a total

abandonment of people who need and wholeheartedly deserve support. Yeah, and I think like it's it's honestly, like honestly think it's it's worse than abandoned, right Like if they just like, if these people were allowed to come into the US and the state did literally nothing at all, it would be better in the situation that exists now, Like it's not even just that they're being abandoned, is that they're actively being prevented from like doing the things they need

to live. And it's I don't know, I think this is something you see on a sort of broader level, right, whether there's a lot of I don't know, Back when I was in sort of social theory land, there's a lot of talk about like necropolitics and the state letting people die, and it's like, well, yeah, but like they're also actively helping to kill them too, like that that's

like it's not just that the state abandoned people. It's that the state abandoned people and then it it takes the resources and prevents anyone else from using them, and then you know, and when it when it does sort of yeah, I mean going back to sort of this NHO that's not doing anything, it's like, yeah, when it when it does sort of send these resources out, it's sending them into these like into its own sort of Paris state complex with the sort of geo sector that's

just not doing anything, And it's just I don't know, like it's it's this bind, right, because it's like, yeah, like on the one hand, like communities have to be able to support each other, but it's like we don't have the resources for it, and that has to come from somewhere, right, Yeah, it's impossible, and it's it's heartbreaking to see when DC is barely doing anything for the people that have been living here for generations, and then when we have new folks arrive, they're thrust into this

impossible situation and no one's really willing to engage with that problem. Um, and there are resources, it's just a matter of whether you want to use them for these purposes. And this is a problem that we're seeing intimately here in d C, but it's a problem that's existing everywhere around the country. And DC is supposed to be a sanctuary city, Like this isn't This isn't d C with a mayor that's, you know, politically aligned with Governor Abbott. This isn't a d C with a mayor who is

attempting to be vehemently anti immigrant. It's a mayor who is claiming to represent a sanctuary city, a city that is supposed to welcome immigrants, and yet m saying welcome doesn't actually mean welcome. Yeah, I remember, like I'm in Chicago, and you know Chicago's also sanctuary city and I I you know, we had to physically stop deportation flights with

our bodies. Like what the this like haunting memory always remembers like the first big like anti ice like anti quids in cages protests that we had one of the groups that showed up to this thing like what it's called Heartland Alliance and then you know they describe itself as like this human rights, an anti poverty organization and they were literally running five child attention centers in Chicago and it was like, I don't know, the doesn't mean that that was like this the sort of like the

it's it's it's the rubber hitting the road of saying you're a sanctuary city and what does it look like. It's like, well, it means that your microjestice organizations like run child prisons for immigrants. It's a refusal to engage with reality a little bit. And you know the NGO SAMO that is receiving female funding to presumably abandoned people. Union Station is also you know, if things go their way, trying to open up a facility and DC too, you know,

detain an accompanied children and that's welcome to things. Racity, it's probably worth meshtioning. It's like, you know, Spain another

country that has just like people getting like people. So Spain like has a part of North Africa they control, and you know they're like people like people get shot at the border by soldiers trying to like trying to climb fences getting in, and you know, it's it's it's this fun thing where we're seeing like, I mean, this is this what's been happening for the last I mean really like forever, like least five hundred years has been this. But this the sort of this, this incredible racist border

system is not just an American thing. It's in Europe, it's in it's been exported like into Mexico itself. It's been I don't know, it's it's it's it's it's it's a politics that's just sort of everywhere and like frontexs and THEU does this stuff like it's it's all just I don't know, it's borders are racist and they kill people and they kill people and it feels I don't actually think we have to go to it's it's I think it's helpful to make those analogies of how this

is replicated across the world. But I also think that you know, just a few weeks ago, there were over fifty uh migrants that were found dead in the backup attractor trailer in San Antonio, including you know, young indigenous folks. And we know that there have been thousands of thousands of Haitians removed under Title forty two um and Haitians that are drowning in the water trying to find a way to come to the United States to seek safety.

People are literally dying trying to get here. And what the folks that are coming to d C in a way are the lucky ones because they're from countries like Venezuela. They're from countries like Cuba where U. S Foreign policy finds it beneficial to allow them to enter. Two publicly say, you know, these are the quote unquote right asylum seekers and they're able to be paroled into the country and still have to deal with all of this crap that

they're dealing with. But there's countless other black, brown, indigenous folks that are arriving at the border and literally risking their lives and many losing their lives trying to get here because of these like racialized border systems that we have and that we're exporting all throughout the America's like go south to Mexico to Tapatula and you basically have

an open air prison of black asylum seekers. Yeah, I mean this is something that like like my my the reason my family's here is because we were able to like my grandpa got drafted into the Taiwanese army and he was like no, and because we were Taiwanese, we were able to get to the US. But it's like, you know, lots and lots of people like you know, if you if you were from South Vietnam, sometime to let you and if they if you were from Taiwan,

they will let you in. But like God help you if you're from like Indonesia or just like from I mean, so sometimes you get people from China. But it's like, yeah, the I don't know the way that just all of these people's lives are being used at geopolitical tools. They're being used and then you know, once they get here, they're being used as just sort of internal American political tools. And yeah, it's just as a lot of people getting killed with the borders and until we fucking make borders

go away. Like the stuff is just going to keep happening, and people are getting boarded onto buses and sent to d C because Governor Abbott thinks this is the way that he can run for president by being the most racist, xenophobic guy in town. Maybe maybe, and and these folks are just political tools, and um, it's it's devastating, um, and it's it's really also kind of amazing to be able to then also just like hang out with them and break bread with them and and realize that we're

all sort of fighting this this mess together. Yeah, And I think I don't know, like we we do. We do a lot of episodes here that are incredibly depressing, But yeah, like I guess, yeah, it isn't I guess important as a as a thing to sort of end on,

is it? Like yeah, I know, like we like we can take care of these people, like we can if we actually fight this together, we can beat these guys, like we I don't know, like it is actually possible, like these these all of the things that we're talking about, Like the stuff didn't used to exist. It's not it's not something that inherently has to exist. And we can

make it not exist again. I think the the response that we've had in DC has been are really like, I can't say it enough how beautiful it is that we have a group of like over two volunteers that have stepped up, UM and we've been able to raise

a remarkable amount of money. And we've had like, you know, little kids sell cookies to support our efforts and UM, it's it's really heartwarming, UM and people using their neighborhood listeners to you know, get donations of car seats to be able to you know, make sure that when we're you know, helping families, we can make sure that like the little kiddos are able to travel in car seats

safely and all of that. And we've been able to and we're doing more of this of like building relationships with folks around the country that are doing similar work. Or you know, if someone is taking a bus to New York and it you know breaks down in Philly, we're able to mobilize other volunteers and Philly to just like make sure that folks are like fine and okay

and like get on their next bus. And that is amazing and beautiful and to me, I think the thing that makes me optimistic and like mad at the same time is that there are both at the federal level and local levels, just billions and billions and billions of dollars that are being invested into into solutions that are

based on like detention, surveillance, border militarization. When God like, if instead we just devoted those billions, billions and billions of dollars into making sure that like when folks arrive here they can have like a comfy bed to to to like lay in at night and have food and be able to like support their families. I mean, it kind of sounds revolutionary, but but it's just like it's so simple, um, and there is such a concerted effort to do the opposite of the most basic Hey, welcome

to my town. How can I welcome you? There was if I remembering my like immigration history right there, they used they had this program in the UK where for a while where they would bring, okay you, you'd have a family they're coming to the US and they get paired with their British family, and the British family would like show them the ropes and it worked really well.

Everyone loved it and they stopped doing it because they once they brought people in like that, they couldn't deport them because the entire community would show up and just be like no, And so they up doing it. And it's like that's a problem, Like that's the problem that like people are then welcomed and loved by their communities, Like that shouldn't be a problem that we have to solve.

That should be like, oh, this is a resounding success. Yeah, And instead it's like it's like actually living in a better world, actually having a community where people care for each other and where people take care of each other and where people love each other or people will fight for each other, like that is something that the state

sees as a threat. And I don't know, I guess it's it's it's it's this, it's this weird thing where it's like, you know, we like the better world we could be living in, like is is literally being built right Like you know, you can, you can you can walk down the street and you can see people taking care of each other. And then it's like here is the state, who's the only thing that they want to do is just make everyone's lives increasingly miserable. It's yeah,

like is it? Is it? That's hard to just say. Hey, Like, folks want to be able to just like live. That's it. That's all they want to be able to do is just like live. They want to be able to work, they want to be able to support their family, they want to be able to be safe, they want to be able to like eat good food and have fun. And the state is doing everything but allowing that to be and are like mutual aid work is helping folks

navigate and do as much of that as possible. Yeah, I think I think that's a good note to end on, unless you have anything else, I don't think so cool. Um okay, so where where can people go to find and support this work? And where can they go to like give money if they want to or actually help volunteer too if you're in the area. Yeah, so, um, we have a link tree that has all of the

links to support us in all the ways. So if you're here in d C and you want to be able to support or if you want to donate, Um, we have really cool t shirts that we sell that say melt Ice that are designed by one of our volunteers. Um. And so it's the link tree is uh like the link tree h slash d C t X Solidarity twenty two and if you follow that link, you will be able to um see all about our work. Um, you know, get the demands that we have for Mayor Bowser, support

us in person, financially, whatever it is. All of that lives there. And yeah, we will. We will put the link in the description. So cool, that'd be great. I'll make sure you have it. Yeah, thank you, um and yeah, thank you, thank you so much for joining us, thank you for having me. Yeah, and this is be nicked app here. Go help your neighbors and go make the state not be able to prevent you from doing that. It could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media.

For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zone media dot com, or check us out on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It could Happen here, updated monthly at cool zone Media dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.