LOS ANGELES — While we have seen people hit the streets to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, others are getting organized and sharing tools to help their immigrant neighbors.
That was the goal, when one by one people filled an empty room for the Immigration and Asylum Teach-In hosted by the faith-based organizations Nefesh and Clery and Laity United for Economic Justice, C.L.U.E. Among those who chose to spend their Sunday morning educating themselves and others on the latest orders on immigration, was Miry Whitehill, founder of the Miry's List nonprofit.
"I want to just give you some tools for getting involved, because ultimately we are helping people," Whitehill said to the room full of people.
She has spent years helping refugee families all over the world through her nonprofit, but said they need more hands now than ever.
At a time where uncertainty and fear loom among immigrant and refugee communities due to immigration policy coming down from the Trump administration, Whitehill said it was important to be there and let people know these policies impact everyone.
"This is something that affects not only themselves and their immediate families, but the entire community. So we are doing everything we can to make sure that people have all of the information that's needed and to reassure people that we are not going anywhere," Whitehill said.
For her, it was the first asylum seekers she met that made her jump into action, but most everyone had their own stories like retired school teacher, Robin Potash, who remembers an encounter with an undocumented parent that really stuck with her.
"She was too afraid to leave because she didn't want to, she didn't want to be separated. If she would have gotten picked up walking home, she didn't want to be separated from her children," Potash said.
Like Potash, people listened to the speakers, took notes on what to do if they witnessed a raid and discussed ways to help protect their immigrant neighbors.
"We talked about it," said Potash. "He's like, 'What can we do to support the other families?' And I think and I told them as a community member, you know, put me on your list because I can help a parent walk to school if they need. I don't know if that's going to be a big issue where we live, but you never know."
As a former teacher, making sure kids make it to school to learn is important to her, which is also why she applauded a move by LAUSD to pass out Know Your Rights cards to students.
Like her, many who attended the workshop expressed the hope they felt seeing the room fill up.
"There is no immigration policy or government agency that has a bigger capacity to help someone than their neighbors," Whitehill said.
Guiding her community on how to be a resource for others.
