A total of 200 people showed up for the latest training session offered by the immigration rights group Sanctuary DMV, following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a large-scale operation by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) relating to deportation orders.
The group has been holding “bystander intervention trainings” in the D.C. area over the past two years. However, the one that took place on June 22 was attended by 200 people, which was the highest turnout.
Speaking to DCist, Brandon Wu, an organizer with Sanctuary DMV, said “People were really galvanized by Trump’s tweet about mass raids starting across the country”.
“We organized that training on 48 hours’ notice just with the idea that people were really on high alert because of that tweet and because of subsequent intel that ICE was going to target D.C.,” he continued.
Shortly before the raids scheduled for June 23, Trump called them off via a Twitter message. Despite the cancellation, at least two undocumented immigrants were reportedly arrested in the District.
🚨ALERT: Our ICE Emergency Hotline is now operated by live dispatchers 24/7🚨
Spread the word & call us if you see or are credibly aware of ICE activity in the DC-metro area pic.twitter.com/vZ1166c0i9
— Sanctuary DMV (@SanctuaryDMV) June 23, 2019
Sanctuary DMV has an immigration emergency hotline (202-335-1183) for people to report ICE actions in the D.C. region. It dispatches volunteers to film the incident and provide support to the affected person’s family members.
The group describes itself as “a feminist, anti-imperialist, all-volunteer group standing in solidarity with immigrants and marginalized communities in the DMV area (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia).”
“We resist policies and policy proposals that target and aim to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and discriminate against Black, Indigenous, Muslim, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ people,” Sanctuary DMV says on its website.
According to the group, D.C. police should not ask any individual about their immigration status and not detain noncitizens on ICE orders, “unless the person is convicted of a serious crime and ICE has agreed, in writing, to reimburse the District for the cost of holding the person in detention.”