SOUTH ORANGE — As a follow-up to the ICE activity that took place in South Orange on Friday, Aug. 7, two individuals were taken in South Orange at two different locations and two individuals were taken from a single location in our sister town of Maplewood.
When we reached out to ICE, their standard response was to confirm that “activity is occurring” and tell us we could “look up detainees in a database, which gets updated every 24–48 hours.” That obviously doesn’t help much when we may not even know who the individuals are, but I’m sure that’s by design.
However, because of the extraordinary participation of community members, we were able to identify the individuals very quickly. There are too many people to list who responded with pictures, videos, information, contacts and knowledge of what happened, but I just want to say thank you. You know who you are, and you helped us connect the dots very quickly.
I was able to personally speak with their loved ones, learn about them and their families, and offer support. These are fathers, husbands, brothers and caretakers going to work on just another day to provide for the families who depend on them.
Once we had names, I shared them with Congresswoman Mejia’s office (thank you, Jasmine Metellus) and reached out to the mayors of the communities where some of those detained primarily reside.
Within a few hours, I was so lucky to sync up with Matt Bloom, who co-runs SOMA Community Cares, which has raised significant funds to assist individuals and families impacted by detention. He was a rock star. He was connecting directly with families and also reached out to Rachel Salazar, a Maplewood resident and DDDI attorney, for additional assistance with assessing eligibility and potential legal options, including filing habeas petitions where appropriate. She jumped into action. One South Orange family also took it upon themselves to work with loved ones to find a private attorney. It was all hands on deck.
As of right now, there are three active GoFundMe campaigns created by Bonnie Ramsey, Shuly Adams and Matthew Chappina, which I’m providing below (please help however you can):
- Tonny: https://gofund.me/7ba964b96
- Edgar and Miguel: https://gofund.me/d1cbe7c33
- Omar: https://gofund.me/3673309c5
Next, please continue your financial support for SOMA Community Cares, which is making a tremendous impact behind the scenes and, importantly, can assist with rapid response when something like this happens: https://somacommunitycares.org
Friday was very emotional. It’s tough not to feel sad, angry, helpless, frustrated and resentful. I was feeling that way, and I don’t blame you if you found yourself in that headspace as well. We’re human.
But even more importantly, I got to witness the power of community and what it means to stand up for our neighbors. In many places, people just disappear…
Not here.
Here, neighbors noticed. People took pictures and videos. They shared information. They made calls. They helped us identify people. They connected families with resources, attorneys and financial assistance. Hundreds of donors have raised more than $50,000 and the total is climbing. And they did it quickly because they cared about people they might not even have known.
There are no limits on our ability to look out for one another.
– Sheena Collum is the mayor of South Orange.
About the Author
