New Sanctuary Coalition Aids Immigrants Targeted by Trump Administration

Interview with Ravi Ragbir, executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant attacks have taken two forms: detaining and then deporting thousands of newcomers at the border who are fleeing violence and poverty, mostly from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador; and arresting people who have been in the country for decades, often have U.S. citizen children and are fully integrated into their communities.
On Dec. 15, the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America hosted a fundraiser in New Haven to benefit the Connecticut Immigrant Bail Fund. The three immigrants who spoke at the event ran the gamut from a new arrival to a long-term resident. All of them had been incarcerated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and had been released from detention with assistance from the Immigrant Bail Fund.
The keynote speaker at the event was Ravi Ragbir, executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition, originally a New York City-based organization that has expanded into New Jersey and Connecticut. The group also now has a presence on the U.S.-Mexico border. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Ragbir, who describes how his organization trains volunteers to keep the focus on the immigrant’s needs. But he starts by telling his own story of almost being deported back to Trinidad after living in the U.S. for 24 years.

RAVI RAGBIR: That’s a long story, but basically, I went in for a regular check-in with my community of supporters and friends, my wife, my attorneys; ICE decided they were not going to give me a stay, even though they said they were looking at it. Instead they handcuffed me and took me away on Jan. 11, and flew me down to Florida. On Jan. 12 – even though there was a court order not to remove me – they were still planning to put me on a plane to Trinidad. Fortunately, they didn’t do that. Instead, they kept me in Florida until the court insisted I come back to New York, where they held me in the Orange County detention center. Then on Jan. 29, the district court, the Southern District Court, insisted that I be released from their custody.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Are you still fighting deportation, though, or not?

RAVI RAGBIR: Yes, I am. I haven’t won my case. In fact, there are eight court cases right now based upon me in New Jersey and New York and until two or three weeks ago, after we had the First Amendment hearing, we were very worried because there was only one stay in place, but in the Second District of New York we had a hearing and three days later they issued an order – not a decision – to ICE saying to keep their hands off me until they make a decision. So there was a First Amendment argument and hearing, and they said until they make a decision, I have to be kept in the U.S. So since then a lot of that weight has lifted off my shoulders.

And I was in San Diego and Tucson recently, and what was interesting was I hadn’t traveled before since Jan. 11, and through the process on Jan. 11 when they were moving me around, I didn’t know it was bothering me until two weeks ago when I was getting on the plane and as I stepped foot into the plane there was all this anxiety that has started to get agitated, and I didn’t realize I was still suffering from that traumatic situation, so, when people think they are not suffering, people who are living through this process, they are, but they cope with it on a very different level.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Right, probably everybody has PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), from the stories we heard from the three other people. So, you were talking about, when you train people to accompany other people. Can you explain what that means?

RAVI RAGBIR: Sure. So, we have three rules. One is no judgment. The other is respect. And last, do no harm. So what we have always told the citizens who are privileged is to be aware of the impact your actions have on other people, which means if a citizen has to get upset because of the injustice they are seeing, the impact would be on the person they’re accompanying, detrimental to their well-being, so we’ve had to teach them how to advocate without being confrontational. In fact, one of the ways we know if you’re doing the accompaniment program wrong is if you’re speaking; so we teach people how to be quiet, to shut up, but still have their presence felt, have their presence known, and that has made a difference because no one there is confrontational, but they are confrontational, you know what I’m saying? How can ICE react when they know someone is being nice to them. How can you remove someone when they’re being nice to you?

BETWEEN THE LINES: Where was this? Or is this in all your work?

RAVI RAGBIR: Our work revolves around New York right now, but we have done training in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, California, Phoenix, so we have done these trainings everywhere because it does make an impact and it is very, very critical to know that someone is standing with them through this process.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Do you have any presence on the border, or not now?

RAVI RAGBIR: We have a small presence right now on the border; we have a small team doing the trainings, and we expect to have a larger presence later in the week as things solidify. Our goal is to have a few hundred people who will be helping those who want to seek refuge in the U.S. with their paperwork and ultimately there will be 10,000 people who we will have helped throughout this process. And it’s not just about the border because when they come across they will need to go to their destinations, so if it’s in Connecticut, we will find a way to get them to Connecticut and to continue to support them through the process.

For more information on the New Sanctuary Coalition, visit newsanctuarycoalition.nationbuilder.com.

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