After ICE raids, Norristown and Princeton communities are stepping up to help families impacted by detention

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Community organizations in the Philadelphia suburbs and New Jersey are fundraising to support family members of people detained by immigration enforcement officials.

“Están sufriendo las familias en diferentes aspectos”, dijo Mari, una residente del condado de Montgomery quien no quería compartir su apellido por miedo a represalias. “Emocional, económico, son familias rotas”.

“Families are suffering in different ways,” said Mari, a Montgomery County resident who did not wish to share her last name for fear of retaliation. “Emotionally, economically, they’re broken families.”

Mari, a volunteer, worked with Norristown nonprofit organization Centro de Cultura Arte Trabajo y Educación, or CCATE, to fundraise for several families of the 14 people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a supermarket on July 18.

Obed Arango, executive director of CCATE, said he and fellow organizers have seen “the necessity for humanitarian relief.”

“When we see children or people left behind with tremendous needs, it’s important to understand it from the humanitarian perspective and at the same time to understand those that are in need of representation, to have the legal aid,” he said.

To date, the fundraiser has collected more than $5,000 of its $26,000 goal. Mari said the resources have been distributed to the families to support with legal aid and other daily needs.

Similar efforts are ongoing in Princeton, New Jersey, where 16 people were detained in two separate ICE raids in Princeton, New Jersey on July 23 and 24, according to Paulo Almirón, media coordinator of Resistencia en Acción NJ, a migrant justice grassroots organization focused on Mercer County.

The organization has launched a fundraiser to support its rapid response network to ICE sightings in the area, and benefit families of detainees. So far, the fund has collected nearly $3,000 of its goal of $30,000.

Almirón said the organization is currently working with the families of 13 of the 16 people detained in the July Princeton raids. Resistencia en Acción is helping families with deposits for phone calls with loved ones in detention, supporting people in finding where their loved ones are being held and referring them to trustworthy legal services.

Almirón said his organization also sees family members struggling to cope financially after a family member is detained.

“In most cases, the person … detained is the breadwinner of the family,” he said. “Because it is so hard for immigrants to find jobs, it is often the father in a family that has to put hours, and people work six, seven days a week, and they cannot stop doing that because the cost of living, and it forces them to do all this. So when that person is gone, the family is left financially unstable, and it’s even worse when the person is transferred to an out of state detention center, because that adds to the expenses of whether people can visit.”

ICE raids have left communities ‘fractured,’ families ‘inconsolable’

Organizers say the increasing raids in the last few months are taking a psychological toll on families and entire communities.

“In terms of emotional distress, these families are inconsolable,” Almirón said. “They’re really devastated to see basically their relatives or loved ones being abducted.”

In one of the Princeton raids, he said, the little brother of one of the people being detained watched it happen.

“That’s a traumatizing experience that a lot of our community has to deal with, and even for families that are not directly affected, that spreads fear among the community people at this moment,” Almirón said. “They are afraid of even going to work or getting groceries. It’s a really terrible situation, emotionally and psychologically for the families in the community.”

Mari said in Norristown, the community is “fractured.”

“Han sido personas conocidas por nuestra comunidad”, dijo ella de las personas detenidas en las redadas. “Personas conocidas y queridas por nuestra comunidad que prestaban un servicio a nuestra comunidad. Y son apreciados y valorados por nosotros. Entonces eso nos motiva a apoyarlos aún más”. 

“They’ve been people known by our community,” she said of the people detained in the raids. “People who are known and loved by our community, that provided a service to our community. They’re appreciated and valued, and so that motivates us to support them even more.”

To help with people’s mental health and legal needs, Arango said that CATE is inviting therapists and attorneys to provide pro bono services to impacted community members. Those willing to lend their aid can contact the organization at contact@ccate.org.

Rapid response network, podcast share accurate information on ICE sightings, elected officials’ responses

Arango, referencing a phrase used by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said he and other organizers are working to “create a beloved community.”

To that end, Arango, who is also a journalist and a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, worked with community members at CCATE to start a podcast, “Diálogos de la Villa Inmigrante,” or “Dialogues of the Immigrant Village,” in November 2024.

“We think that good dialogue, positive dialogue with the authorities, to hear the community, to know the community firsthand, can provide a better understanding of who we are as a community,” he said. “That deep conversation, no, at every level of government is key … because that can help to actually build changes in the coming future.”

The podcast garners thousands of listeners for each episode. Recent guests included U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean and U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon.

Arango said the podcast also serves as a way to communicate verified, accurate information to community members.

“We are very always careful that the information that we present is proven, that it has a source, no, that it has a direct understanding of things,” he said. “We are very careful on that.”

For Resistencia en Acción NJ, the priority of providing accurate information to the community is also paramount, and carried out by volunteers in its rapid response network.

“We’ve been recruiting more people, fundraising for our rapid response team,” he said. “We have increased our patrols. We have people patrolling every morning, operators on the phone to attend to the rapid response line, people who confirm ICE presence in the area that’s reported. So that requires a lot of coordination and resources that we are covering through this fund.”

Almirón said those who are interested in contacting the organization to learn more about volunteering or resources can call 609-436-0207, or email at info@resistenciaenaccionnj.org. For the rapid response network, they can call 640-446-2386.