As the number of immigrant arrests and deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to rise, the Wyoming Rapid Response Network is seeking additional volunteers to respond and document ICE and law enforcement activity, to help families and individuals understand their rights and to connect families with immigration attorneys.
The Wyoming Rapid Response Network and the ACLU of Wyoming will be training new “confirmer” volunteers on June 29 in Cheyenne. Confirmers are dispatched to the site of a possible ICE incident to observe and document what is happening and to offer guidance to families impacted by detention and deportation proceedings.
Confirmer volunteers are extremely important to ensuring Wyoming’s growing immigrant community – of which approximately 27 percent are documented, according to the American Immigration Council – know their rights.
“The fundamental constitutional protections of due process and equal protection embodied in our Constitution and Bill of Rights apply to every person, regardless of immigration status,” said Heather Smith, executive director of the ACLU of Wyoming. “When the government has the power to deny legal rights and due process to one vulnerable group, everyone’s rights are at risk. The ACLU of Wyoming is dedicated to expanding and enforcing the civil liberties and civil rights of immigrants and to combating public and private discrimination against them.”
The Wyoming Rapid Response Network was formed in August 2018 in response to increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity throughout the state and is made up of trained volunteers who want immigrants in Wyoming to feel welcome and safe. It was founded by Juntos, an immigration activism group, and supported by the ACLU of Wyoming.
People facing an immediate immigration crisis can contact the Wyoming Rapid Response Network hotline at 1-844-864-8341.
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Wyoming Rapid Response Network Cheyenne Confirmer Training
WHEN: 1:30 June 29
WHERE: Unitarian Universalist Church of Cheyenne, 3005 Thomes Ave., Cheyenne
FOR INFORMATION: Go the Wyoming Rapid Response Network Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WyoRRN
About the ACLU of Wyoming
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wyoming is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of Wyoming is part of a three-state chapter that also includes North Dakota and South Dakota. The team in Wyoming is supported by staff in those states.
The ACLU believes freedoms of press, speech, assembly, and religion, and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, are fundamental to a free people. In addition, the ACLU seeks to advance constitutional protections for groups traditionally denied their rights, including people of color, women, and the LGBT communities. The ACLU of Wyoming carries out its work through selective litigation, lobbying at the state and local level, and through public education and awareness of what the Bill of Rights means for the people of Wyoming.
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