Three Ways To Help Keep Immigrant Communities Together- Letters to the Housed

Letters to the Housed: Three Ways To Help Keep Immigrant Communities Together

by Paul Asplund

Photo by Bill Nino | Unsplash

Last fall, when Trump launched his first salvo against LGBTQIA+ rights, I expanded the purview of SecondGrace.LA and wrote a quick primer on actionable items and information we could take to support our communities. Since then, millions of words have been written about Trump attacking the rights of all our "vulnerable populations"—truly a bully picking on the people he sees as weak. National movements have risen up, culminating in over 5 million of us taking to the streets last week to let him know we won't comply, won't fold, even under real acts of intimidation and violence. I couldn't be more grateful for the millions who marched and the tens of millions who supported from the sidelines.

Trump's response has been to double down, and so must be our response. Double down and keep the heat on. We haven't won yet, but Trump's ego has been wounded—otherwise his response wouldn't have been so cruel.

The Underground Resistance Begins

Last week, I started to think about all the ways we could respond at the community level, and I want to ask one or two things of those of us who have the resources.

Our neighbors, documented and undocumented immigrants, are in danger every time they leave home. This is already impacting places of work and worship, of play and practice, every public and private space which can no longer be considered safe. Immigration forces show no restraint, and they work with impunity, above the law.

"So we must go underground. Small, local, effective responses to the needs of our communities will make it possible for the largest number of us to survive."

Photo by Simeon Jacobson | Unsplash

1. Income Replacement: Economic Justice in Action

I started working at Pico Union Project (PUP) on January 6 of this year, the day before the Palisades and Eaton Fires. By the end of January, the demand for fresh produce rose by ~40%. The Pico Union neighborhood wasn't directly affected by the fires, but the families were all impacted by the loss of wages.

What if every employer who had the means continued to pay their employees who aren't able to come to work?

The Legal Reality

As documented by Legal Aid at Work, undocumented workers have the same wage and hour rights as other workers, establishing their right to minimum wage, overtime pay, breaks, tips, and other forms of wages. Yet when raids happen, these workers disappear—not by choice, but out of fear.

In Los Angeles, business owners report that since ICE raids began, their income has dropped to 15% of normal as workers stay home in hiding.

This isn't just about compassion (though that should be enough). A University of Colorado Denver study estimated that for every 1 million workers deported, 88,000 U.S. native workers lost employment. When businesses can't operate, everyone loses.

What Forward-Thinking Employers Can Do:

  • Continue paying wages for workers who can't come in due to fear of raids

  • Offer leave while affected workers apply for work authorization

  • Set up emergency funds for workers caught in raids

  • Partner with organizations like the Colorado Benefit Recovery Fund, which provides direct cash payments to eligible undocumented workers who've lost employment through no fault of their own

Remember: Undocumented workers contribute billions in federal taxes through Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) and false Social Security numbers. They've been paying into systems they can't access. It's time we reciprocate.

2. Food Support: Nourishing Community Resilience

Also while I was at PUP, on a Friday morning where our line of guests wrapped around the block, HSI conducted a raid a block away, causing a panic. Our response was to move everyone inside and post PRIVATE PROPERTY signs around our perimeter, but we started to see more people asking if they could get extra groceries for their neighbors who were afraid to go outside.

This is a simple solution: In your building, or on your block, make sure that everyone can get groceries. Set up teams to shop for each other, order groceries through Instacart or from Costco—there are so many simple solutions to this. No one needs to risk their safety to get food. We can do that for each other.

Building Food Networks

The Mutual Aid Collective in NYC has over 500 participants across organizing and volunteer chat groups, with kitchens like La Morada in the South Bronx donating hundreds of meals per week. We can replicate this model everywhere.

Practical Steps for Food Security:

  • Create neighborhood Signal groups for grocery coordination

  • Set up weekly food shares in safe spaces (churches, community centers)

  • Partner with local restaurants and grocers who support the community

  • Follow the model of DC's Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, which coordinates community organizations and volunteers to support new arrivals

Photo by Elaine Casap | Unsplash

3. Family Care: Networks of Protection

Child care, elder care, basic neighborly interactions. Your neighbors might need support. You might need support. Ask for help, offer help to others.

The terror of family separation is real. Legal Aid at Work recommends completing a "California Caregiver Authorization Affidavit" to designate a trusted person to care for children if parents are detained. But paperwork is just the beginning.

What We Need Are Networks of Care:

  • Establish emergency childcare cooperatives in every building

  • Create "safe houses" where children can go if parents don't come home

  • Set up elder check-in systems for isolated seniors

  • Organize accompaniment teams for essential trips (medical appointments, court dates)

"About 45% of agriculture workers are undocumented. A third of domestic workers—nannies, house cleaners, and caregivers—are immigrants."

The Economic Reality: We're All Connected

Let's be clear about what's at stake. About 45% of agriculture workers are undocumented. A third of domestic workers—nannies, house cleaners, and caregivers—are immigrants. As one source noted, "farms and hospitality businesses were concerned the administration's far-reaching immigration enforcement was taking away 'very good, long time workers.'"

This isn't abstract. Los Angeles County supervisors noted that "ongoing immigration raids have created a chilling effect, with many families afraid to leave their homes to go to work or to support our beloved businesses". When people can't work, can't shop, can't participate in the economy, we all suffer.

Moving Forward: The Underground Railroad of Our Time

The scale of resistance is growing. Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids have spread nationwide, with demonstrations in cities including Spokane, Seattle, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Los Angeles. But protests alone won't protect our neighbors.

We need sustained, organized, community-based resistance. Every faith community, every block association, every workplace needs an emergency response plan. We need to move beyond fear into action.

"We need you, the people, to stand with immigrants. To say to ICE and this administration—we will not tolerate this injustice. If you are privileged, if you are a citizen, if you are not at risk of deportation, please go." — Pablo Alvarado, National Day Laborer Organizing Network

This is our moment. Not to be heroes, but to be neighbors. Not to save anyone, but to stand together. The systems of oppression are powerful, but they depend on our compliance, our silence, our division.

We refuse.

In community, in communion, we build the world we need—one block, one workplace, one family at a time. The underground railroad of our time isn't about moving people to safety; it's about making every community safe for everyone who lives there.

Choose to join this effort, to strengthen this community, to share your ideas, resources, and dreams to leave fear and doubt behind. There are thousands of people like us who believe in this, but until now, there’s never been a place we can all gather.

Thank’s again for reading this latest installment of Letters to the Housed. Let's end homelessness together.

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