Love Resists through radical presence and support of local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and court accompaniment programs.
Accompaniment programs can make a real difference in our immigration and criminal justice systems. Accompaniment helps stop deportations, reduce bond fees, and keep families together. By centering people’s dignity and choices in a system that takes away dignity and choices, we care for those who are criminalized for their being.
More and more congregations are looking for ways to do this effectively; to resist the current administration’s racist actions and to stop unnecessary deportations. ICE and court accompaniment programs enable supporters to journey alongside people fighting for their own freedom and dignity, and hold the system accountable. In our immigration and criminal justice systems that often results in unjust outcomes, accompaniment programs can make a real difference.
What You Can Do Right Now
- Open your home and heart to sponsor asylum seekers.
- Partner to defend and protect through immigration justice accompaniment.
- Watch this free 4-session webinar series: Changing systems, changing ourselves: Anti-racist practice for sanctuary, accompaniment & resistance
- Join a volunteer team to support frontline justice-makers.
- Support a local or national immigration bond fund.
- Get fired up learning about ICE functions and how people are resisting with Mijente.
Learn More
For resources about different ways to accompany folks who are being criminalized checkout Freedom For Immigrants (formerly CIVIC), Worthy Now, the CLF’s Prison Ministry Network, Black and Pink, and Queer Detainee Empowerment Project.
Going Deeper
- Webinar: Love Resists Through Radical Presence: ICE & Court Accompaniment Programs
- Webinar: Getting started with accompaniment networks and hosting asylum-seeking families and individuals
- Freedom for Immigrants
- Visitation Network
Working with Transgender Individuals 101: A Training Video for Visitor Volunteers
- Do’s and don’ts for bystander intervention (PDF, 6 pages)
Spiritual and Worship Resources
- Prayer for Accompaniment
- Prayer for when you reach out to a potential partner
- Spiritual practice for challenging moments
- Action of Immediate Witness: End Family Separation and Detention of Asylum Seekers and Abolish ICE
Partners and Local Accompaniment Networks
For inspiration about the diversity of ways that local accompaniment networks thrive, check out