Immigrant Rights Action/Grupo de Acción Doylestown

Immigrant Rights Action of Doylestown was formed in March 2017 in response to an ICE raid in our community that apprehended 4 local restaurant employees. Since then we have organized into a robust volunteer neighborhood collective documenting area ICE activity & offering immediate support to individuals who have been detained or threatened with deportation, and their families.

Every penny we raise on this platform is spent exclusively on legal defense. Since this call for support was launched in March 2017 for 4 of our neighbors in immediate need, we have made more than 30 referrals to reputable & competent attorneys and been able to help financially with 18 cases. Generally this takes the form of making an initial $500 retention deposit so that a formal contract of representation can be signed in a timely fashion -- important both in detention cases and when an individual is pursuing an asylum claim.

In addition to ensuring rapid access to high-quality legal representation, we work to demonstrate that "No están solos/You are not alone" by providing accompaniment to ICE supervision check-ins, legal consultations, and court appearances. Multiple volunteers have provided companionship on dozens of trips to Philadelphia and locally.

Finally, our legislative advocacy has secured us meetings with municipal, state, and federal representatives as we seek assurance that the constitutional rights of all Bucks County residents are consistently upheld. We have closely monitored & reported on the conduct of ICE agents in making apprehensions in our area, and have met 3 times with our Congressman , a member of the House Department of Homeland Security oversight committee, to present our detailed concerns about their pattern & practice.

We hold monthly, well-attended, bilingual English-Spanish meetings in Doylestown and are proud organizational members of the PA Immigration & Citizenship Coalition. Through PICC, in June 2018 we were awarded competitive PA is Ready! grant to offer a series of Know Your Rights and legal clinics throughout Bucks County in 2018-19. We provide direct hands-on volunteer opportunities for individuals who are concerned about immigration on the global and national scale and want to engage locally. Our volunteers include both allies & members of the immigrant community.

You can read more about our history here and join our mailing list here to receive regular announcements of our meetings. If you cannot volunteer or attend in person, we hope you will be moved to generously support our legal defense fund and ensure that we always have sufficent funds to meet the next urgent need.