Give A Little, Do A Lot.
Here are some updates about what’s happening at the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. Donate to support our work here: https://bitly.com/DonateToOHIA (via Anacaona). Thank you!
OHIA Organizer Maryam Sy, #ReuniteUS, and a documentary project in Truthout. “A forthcoming documentary Sy’s group is producing to advocate for temporary protected status (TPS) for Mauritanian migrants, one man sums up the tragedy he’s fallen prey to, saying he has his diplomas, he is a doctor in sociology, but he is enslaved. He goes on to say that when he asks for money, those who have enslaved him say they won’t pay and threaten to call the police, or they beat him up. ‘This is a form of modern slavery,’ he says.”
“Far From Their Eyes: Ohio Migration Anthology” in Arts Fuse. “What comes out of reading about these experiences? What comes out of knowing about the different things people endure on their way from being in one place to another? To read about the movement of others isn’t about preparing for the inevitable — it’s about finding the intersections that inevitably remake us all.” See also our “review” of the review and coverage in Mahoning Matters.
Book event with Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers at Loganberry Books, December 12. All profits from book sales go directly to the contributors, as well as the Ohio Center for Strategic Immigration Litigation & Outreach (OCSILiO) and the Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers (CABS). At the event, USTogetherCLE will also sell their coupon books to immigrant-owned local businesses. Discussion and RSVP here.
Here are some of initiatives we are working on right now, all of which need funding:
Save Moussa’s home! A Columbus family, whose father was deported in 2019, is in danger of losing their home because he’s unable to find work in Senegal (after fleeing Mauritania for the second time). Donate to help here.
#ReuniteUS. Maryam and her team have interviewed over 200 people who were deported and hope to return home one day. We desperately need funds to pay for lawyers and filing fees. Donate to #ReuniteUS here.
Documentary on abuse of Black Mauritanians after deportation. This is a new project that will be groundbreaking, although I can’t say much more at this point. There are some start-up and production costs we haven’t been able to cover yet. Donate here.
Commissary and other financial assistance. Bayong, one of the plaintiffs in the civil rights lawsuit against Butler County Jail, is still in immigration jail. Saidu, a whistleblower deported to Mauritania in July, is trying to start over in a safe place. We are helping other Ohioans in immigration jail with money for commissary accounts, phone calls, and messaging services, so they can stay in touch with family and lawyers. Donate to help Saidu and others here.
These donations are NOT tax-deductible, as they are processed through our parent company, Anacaona. To make a tax-deductible donation, contact ltramonte@ohioimmigrant.org. Thank you!
