by WebPost | Oct 8, 2026 | Immigration, Letter to the Editor, Race and Racism, Racial Justice Team
Americans ignoring cruelty toward immigrants
Reading Etty Hillesum’s diary from World War II Amsterdam prompts chilling comparisons to modern America. Hillesum and her fellow Jews were branded with yellow stars. Here, Haitian refugees, legal until recently, must now wear clunky ankle monitors, symbols of exclusion and humiliation. The walls surrounding Hillesum’s ability to work, travel and participate in civic life caved steadily inward. Here, millions of undocumented immigrants, many of whom have built law-abiding, purposeful lives while properly seeking legal status, face similar banishment. For Hillesum, who later died in Auschwitz, the threat of deportation to a foreign county was an inescapable reality. Now, under the Trump administration, third-country deportations — in which human beings are sent to countries where they know no one and their futures are bleak to non-existent — have become commonplace.
Amidst these cruelties, many unaffected lives carry on with minimal awareness or disruption, consumed by day-to-day trivialities and concerns. My dear fellow Americans, what in God’s name are we doing?
Margaret Edds, Richmond, Virginia
by WebPost | Sep 23, 2026 | Activity, Current, Immigration, Proposal, Race and Racism, Racial Justice Team
A Meeting-Wide Project to Support the Legal Rights of the Immigrant Community, Approved at Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, 18 Tenth Month, 2026
It’s become routine for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to violate rights enshrined in the Constitution as they detain and deport immigrants, not only across the country, but right here in the Richmond area.
Many among us are already responding individually to help protect and support the local immigrant community. However, it seems imperative that the Meeting as a whole respond with clear resistance to the inhumane actions of ICE. Towards that end, the Immigrant Solidarity Informal Committee is proposing that RFM commit to actively supporting the Sacred Heart Center in its mission to lift up and minister to the Latino community by raising $15,000 to support the Center’s Immigration Legal Services. This would enable the Center to hire an additional legal assistant who would be authorized by the Department of Justice to practice immigration law, so they can represent immigrants before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services, the Immigration Courts, and the Board of Immigration Appeals.
There are many ways that deportations can be successfully challenged legally and the Center’s legal team uses such strategies to support immigrants in our area who are facing detention and deportation. The need far exceeds the Center’s capacity—and our job, if we take it on, is to help fund another legal assistant so more vulnerable immigrants can be served. The need for outside funding is for one year only, as the position would be self-supporting after the first year.
There are many reasons to take this project on. It’s an opportunity to do something big with and for a community in jeopardy and an opportunity to live our Quaker values. Also, a project like this provides unity and builds community for us. It could be a way to get newcomers involved and would help establish a Quaker presence in the larger community.
To carry out this project, an ad hoc committee under the care of the Race and Racial Justice Team will be appointed by Levi Goren, Clerk. Members of the current informal committee have already expressed interest in seeing the project through. We see many ways to fund raise that would involve the community inside and outside the Meeting, as well as the Sacred Heart community.
The Ad Hoc committee will develop a concrete fundraising plan utilizing a variety of fundraising strategies. Financial Stewardship will arrange for a fund for accepting donations and expenses. Please understand that this needs to be an additional gift, not a substitute for your regular donation to RFM.
Please contact members of the informal committee (Plum Cluverius, Diana Maxwell, Mary Moore, Rhonda Ligon, Lynda Perry, Ellen Arginteanu, Verna Boos, Barb Pedrotty, Margaret Edds) with questions about this project, which was approved at MWB on October 18, 2026. It is our desire to begin to raise the money soon with the completion by the end of 2027. The need to assist our neighbors legally fight ICE is NOW.
by WebPost | Jul 23, 2026 | Activity, AFSC, Immigration, Social justice
Diane Bowden, RFM’s liaison to the American Friends Service Committee, will inform the community on recent actions of the AFSC during a program at 9:30 am on August 16 in the community room. Among the questions to be addressed: What is AFSC doing regarding the immigration crisis? How might we as a community be helpful? All are welcome to attend. The Race and Racial Justice Team, sponsors of the event, will provide coffee and muffins.
by WebPost | Jul 23, 2026 | Activity, Food Insecurity, Immigration, VICPP Working Group
Care is Resistance
Food Boxes for Our Neighbors: Health Brigade is collecting culturally appropriate food boxes for Latine and Afghan immigrant patients and families. Many families are experiencing a new level of food insecurity as they are avoiding grocery stores and public spaces out of concern for increased ICE presence. These boxes can offer relief and a reminder that people care.
Lists of items requested for each culture are on each box. Please bring any thing you can to Meeting and place it in the boxes outside the Meeting room. Name brands or generic products are welcome. Rhonda Ligon will collect your donations and develop the boxes for each family to be delivered to Health Brigade.
Items may be purchased in many grocery stores. It is extremely helpful to the immigrant community to support a local business, such as Arco Iris Latino Market or Mis Pais Mart for Latin items, or Mantu Market and Watan Market for Afghan products. There are Latin and Afghan wishlists to be found on Amazon and Walmart online sites.
by WebPost | Jun 23, 2026 | Activity, Fundraiser, Immigration, Peace and Social Concerns
Join Peace & Social Concerns Committee for lunch and fundraising for the Sacred Heart Center on July 12 at rise of meeting.
“Since 1990, the Sacred Heart Center has stood as a vibrant hub of hope and opportunity for Latino families in Richmond. Our mission is simple yet powerful—-to connect families with the tools, education, and support they need to thrive. Through empowerment, learning, and community connection, we create pathways to success and belonging for all.
“In Fiscal Year 2025, the Sacred Heart Center proudly served 9,558 community members through our core programs and initiatives—-a reflection of the trust and generosity of our donors, volunteers, and partners like you.”
by WebPost | Jun 23, 2026 | Immigration, Race and Racism, Racial Justice Team
If you have been looking for ways to stand with our immigrant neighbors as they face harassment and possible arrest and deportation, the Immigrant Solidarity Informal Committee (under the care of the Race and Racial Justice Team) has developed this guide to help you find volunteer opportunities in the Richmond area in immigrant-led and immigrant-facing organizations. Contact information is provided if you are led to pursue one of these opportunities.
by WebPost | Apr 30, 2025 | Immigration, VICPP Working Group
To assist with immigration guidance and updates, here are two resources. There are more, but these two are referenced by other sites on immigration justice, and provide help on this non-static concern. These sites are the National Immigration Law Center https://www.nilc.org/ and the Immigration Legal Resource Center https://www.ilrc.org/.