First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City joins lawsuit against ICE

The First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City joined a lawsuit, brought by four sanctuary leaders and immigrant rights advocacy groups, suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and various officials for targeting the women with retaliatory and excessive civil fines. For several years, one of the women and her young daughters have been living in the church, which offered them sanctuary when they faced deportation orders and feared persecution and violence if they returned to their home country. The other women took sanctuary in churches in Austin, TX, Columbus, OH, and Charlottesville, VA. The lawsuit alleges that ICE targeted the sanctuary leaders with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines in an attempt to stop the women from speaking out and participating in the sanctuary movement.

“The members of First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City voted to join the lawsuit because these fines are not only unconscionable, but illegal,” said Rev. Tom Goldsmith. “As a faith community, we cannot remain passive. We must advocate for those who have been marginalized in the humane effort to right the tyranny of injustice.”

Learn more on our website and watch the press conference on our Facebook page.

We condemn New York City's inadequate "Police Reform and Reinvention" plan

The latest on our blog is our response to the City’s NYPD reform plan, a policy that would expand police funding and reach through programs with no track record of fixing the problem of racially discriminatory policing and in all likelihood would make the issue worse. If approved and implemented, the City’s plans would expand the power and funding of the NYPD. Following the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota and daily protests calling for an end to police violence, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order 203 giving the director of the budget the authority to withhold state and federal funding from localities unless they pass a police reform plan by April 1, 2021. Without substantive collaboration with communities impacted by abusive policing or adequate time for input, Mayor de Blasio released draft versions of a New York City Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative plan. We condemn this plan and demand that the New York City Council pass a resolution that fosters real change. 

Continue reading on our blog, and read our statement.

The latest on our blog is our response to the City’s NYPD reform plan, a policy that would expand police funding and reach through programs with no track record of fixing the problem of racially discriminatory policing and in all likelihood would make the issue worse. If approved and implemented, the City’s plans would expand the power and funding of the NYPD. Following the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota and daily protests calling for an end to police violence, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order 203 giving the director of the budget the authority to withhold state and federal funding from localities unless they pass a police reform plan by April 1, 2021. Without substantive collaboration with communities impacted by abusive policing or adequate time for input, Mayor de Blasio released draft versions of a New York City Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative plan. We condemn this plan and demand that the New York City Council pass a resolution that fosters real change. 

Continue reading on our blog, and read our statement.

New "The Activist Files" podcast episode! Decriminalize Sex Work - Freedom Dreams of Black Trans Liberation

How can we honor the leadership of Black trans sex worker communities in struggles for gender and LGBTQIA+ justice this Women’s History Month? In the 36th episode of “The Activist Files,” Black Trans Nation Executive Director and Decrim NY Steering Committee Member TS Candii and Women with a Vision Sex Worker Advisory Committee Member Paris Jackson speak with Advocacy Associate maya finoh and Communications Assistant Alex Webster about their work to pass legislation ending the criminalization of people in the sex trades and trans people in New York State and Louisiana, as well as their freedom dreams for Black and trans liberation.

Listen to the episode on our website.