Immigration Task Force Update

When I was a stranger, you welcomed me.
—Matthew 25:35, Contemporary English Version

The Immigration Task force, a part of the Church and Society Committee, is busy with a number of projects:

Family Guidance Workshop

In May, the task force hosted a Family Guidance Workshop for immigrant parents and children. In partnership with attorneys from Justice for Our Neighbors North Central Texas, we helped parents fill out guardianship papers. These papers insure that, if parents were to be detained by ICE, their children would go to friends or family, rather than picked up by the state Department of Family and Protective Services.

We will hold another Family Guidance Workshop on Saturday, September 26.

Know Your Rights

On Tuesday, October 13, the task force will hold two Know Your Rights programs. At 6 pm, the program will be in Spanish and will explain every person’s constitutional rights. At 7 pm, the program will be held in English. It will also explain our constitutional rights so that we can share the information with immigrant friends.   

This program is especially important because the Denton County Sheriff’s Department can detain a person to investigate their immigration status and potentially arrest them on suspicion of immigration law violation during routine patrols, traffic stops and other community interactions.  

Activity Bags for Children Waiting at Dallas ICE Headquarters

The task force is recruiting groups and individuals to put together activity bags for children waiting at the La Colectiva tent just outside the Dallas ICE headquarters.   The tent is staffed by volunteers who offer immigrants information on what to expect, how to follow up their visits, and more. Children can get bored waiting for or with their parents, so we help them pass the time with bags filled with coloring books, small toys, and more.  So far, FUMC Denton groups have put together at 750+ of these…but we always need more. If you are interested in assembling some of these much-appreciated bags, contact Molly Tampke (see below).

We urge you to share these events with your friends and neighbors. It is informatio all of us need.

For more information about any of this information or the children’s activity bags, contact Molly Tampke.