See ICE? Call LUCE: (617) 370-5023
Another Father, and Husband, Kidnapped Tuesday Morning
Dear Friends and Members of the Franklin County (FCCPR.us) Rapid Response Network:
Tuesday morning (5/27) around 6 a.m., four unmarked vehicles surrounded a car driven by the roommate of a worker from a local farm, a few minutes after they had left their home in Springfield, MA to drive him to work.
Ordered to hand over her keys and stay in the vehicle, she watched as federal agents took her roommate, handcuffed him, and put him in one of their vehicles.
She told them she needed to translate for him, but the feds would not let her leave the car. After they had driven her detained roommate away, they gave her back her keys and told her to leave.
She left the scene, concerned about the well-being and safety of the detained man’s wife and two-month old daughter, who were left at home.
At around 9:45 on Tuesday morning, the worker’s wife was able to speak to her husband at a detention facility in Hartford. All he was able to tell her was that he was about to be transferred to another detention facility, location unknown.
His wife then spoke with one of us on the phone, telling us, “I cannot work, because my daughter is too young to be in daycare. My greatest concern, besides my husband’s safety, is being able to put food on the table, buy diapers, and have enough money to put gas in the car.”
To contribute to the GoFundMe for this family, go to:
No family should suffer the weight of the federal government’s campaign of terror against our immigrant neighbors alone, without support from the community around them. Please give generously to this GoFundMe campaign. We must stand in solidarity, and we must act to support the most vulnerable among us.
If you are able, please also consider giving to the FCCPR.us fund set up to directly meet the pressing needs of other immigrant families in our Valley. FCCPR is collecting money to distribute to groups helping our neighbors who are affected by having a family member detained by ICE and/or other federal agents. Money will be needed for everyday living expenses as well as legal fees. Please give generously by going here:
-Writing for the Activator Team of the Franklin County Rapid Response Network, – David Detmold, Montague
MAY 24 PROTEST AT THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE
NORTHFIELD — More than 100 people lined Route 63 outside Northfield’s Thomas Aquinas College Saturday, May 24, at noon to protest Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts, who delivered the commencement address at the conservative Catholic school.
The Heritage Foundation is, among other things, an architect of Project 2025, an ultra-conservative agenda that guides the Trump administration in many policy areas, including: privatization, detention and deportation of immigrants, an expansion of the powers of the President, and the further limitation of LGBT rights and reproductive rights.
Among the signs carried by the protesters, who received what appeared to be an enthusiastic response of passers-by, were many that read “2025 = Fascism,” and others that pointed to Project 2025 as being at odds with Christian tenets.
Ferd Wulkan of Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution (FCCPR), which sent information about the demonstration through its “rapid response network,” said that the organization had not been aware of Roberts’ visit until early Saturday morning.
“It was a surprise,” he said.
Students, who engaged the protesters on friendly terms, said that while Roberts and other officials appeared aware of the protest, the actual commencement address had been delivered earlier in the day.
Second year students Zack Stark and Matt Clais described the curriculum as being outside the control of students but not highly political. The Thomas Aquinas Northfield campus, launched in 2019, was formerly part of the Northfield Mount Hermon School.
Release by Wesley Blixt 413-775-3553
- Sign up for the Rapid Response Network. Join our list of almost 700 people in Franklin County and beyond ready to take action in support of our immigrant neighbors.
- Local Actions List
- Other lists for actions and events:
- Indivisible/Swing Left Northampton: Find An Event
- Traprock Peace Center current newsletter
- Upcoming Nonviolence Training Sessions are full.