The Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition held a press conference yesterday at noon outside city hall to announce the formation of their rapid response team. This team will monitor the activity of Immigration of Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Athens, making sure that these federal police officers are following the law. They will spread news of their actions in our community and they’ll do what they can to help affected community members.

Alys Willman, one of the leaders in the coalition, addressed the assembled group of about 35 people.

“Our community here in Athens is under threat. Our neighbors are under threat,” she said. “These [anti-immigrant] policies and the people promoting them are intentionally trying to sow fear and division in our community. That’s what they want, they want us to be scared and they want us to turn on one another. The antidote to fear and division is connection and that is why we are here.”

Due to a swelling of community support after the recent presidential election, Willman announced that the Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition now has almost 100 volunteers for their rapid response team. She explained that the purpose of the team is to “mobilize to nonviolently observe and witness ICE and federal immigration enforcement activity in our community and we support the people who are being targeted by that activity.”

Willman also had a message directly for ICE.

“Whatever you do here in Athens, we are watching. We are watching. We are documenting it. We’re going to make sure that you’re following the law. If you’re not following the law, you’re going to hear about it,” she declared. “The activities here in Athens will not go unchallenged.”

Other speakers at the press conference included Beto Mendoza, coordinator of the Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition, Rev. Pippin Whitaker of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens, Mokah Jasmine Johnson of the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement and others.

The rapid response team is one of many teams and committees in the Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition which you can join to do your part to help the immigrant community. These include the safe schools committee, the communications committee and the advocacy and policy committee among others.

The next meeting of the Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition will be on March 21 at 5:30 pm at the Oconee Street United Methodist Church fellowship hall (595 Oconee St).

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