Ohio Immigrant Alliance – August 2021 Update
Storytelling and Migration: Two Things As Old As Humankind
“I believe telling your story is the secret to survival,” Houleye Thiam told the Columbus Dispatch, perfectly capturing why storytelling is as central to the human experience as migration.
Later this month, read poems, essays, short stories, and interviews—and view artwork—from Ohioans with a deep connection to the migration experience.
Far From Their Eyes: Ohio Migration Anthology, Volume I is about to be published after 1.5 years in the making. Already, the anthology has garnered buzz in the Dispatch, Columbus Free Press, La Mega Nota, and Spectrum 1 News.
Sign up to receive notice as soon as the anthology is published!
Complete this brief survey to get a complimentary “Reflection and Creation Guide” as a companion to the anthology!
Our Friends Need Help
I’m very sad to report that our good friend Saidu Sow, a man who has repeatedly exposed detention abuses and violations while spending three years in various Ohio immigration jails, has been deported. Please read about him; share this Twitter thread; and donate here to help him get on his feet. I will keep you updated about his next steps when he is settled in a more stable situation.
Saidu’s deportation shows why the Biden administration must not only change ICE policies, but change ICE personnel. His Deportation Officer had a personal vendetta against him, because he stood up for himself and others in jail. She twisted the Biden administration’s policies to justify his deportation, something that should not have been allowed to happen. This is why we need to #FireICE and ultimately, abolish the agency. Deportation is far too extreme a consequence for a civil violation.
Saidu’s deportation is wrong for a bunch of MORAL reasons. But if you need a financial reason as well, consider the fact that the US government spent more than $200,000 detaining and deporting this Ohio father to a dangerous country after he lived in the United States for decades.
Another one of our friends—who was deported to Mauritania in 2019—also has an appeal that breaks my heart. After his deportation, “Moussa’s” family in Columbus lost not only their rock, their partner and father, but their main source of income. Moussa has been unable to find work where he lives now. Before deportation, he kindly took extended family into his home, and now ten people are trying to live off of an annual income of $14,000—not including “Moussa’s” cost of living in Africa. I am devastated to report that the family is about to lose their home.
Moussa purchased this home, paid taxes, and worked hard every day to support his family. For decades, he lived in Ohio and faithfully attended check-in appointments with ICE. His deportation was, in a word, devastating. On so many levels.
If his family does not start repaying some of their home loan this month, they will be out on the street by October 2021. This includes minor children who are U.S. citizens, one with autism.
All I can say is, please help! Donate and share: https://bit.ly/SaveMoussaFamilyHome.
