Every One. All Ways.
West Marin Immigrant Rapid Response Network
24 HOUR HOTLINE: 415-755-3622
The West Marin Immigrant Rapid Response Network (WM IRNN) provides a way for people to respond to fear and anxiety in our community as a result of the increase in immigration enforcement, ICE raids, and other attacks against our community. The network provides a 24-hour hotline to immigrants facing a raid or public arrest by federal immigration agents, dispatches trained legal observers to the raid/arrest location, and offers accompaniment to impact people and families following a raid.
Working with the heartfelt support of our whole community including West Marin Collaborative, Multicultural Center of Marin’s Marin Rapid Response Network, Marin County Public Defender’s Office and others, we sponsor “Know Your Rights” events, developed a Rapid Response Team, offer meetings with immigration attorneys, and help cope with stress and fear.
Our mission is to mobilize an emergency response network, serve as a witness to immigration enforcement actions, uphold the rights of immigrants, and provide services to affected West Marin residents.
Are you interested in backing up our immigrant community members? Get trained up as a Legal Observer! Contact us today!
Contact
415-663-8361 | abriendo.caminos@westmarincs.org
Legal Observervation Team
The Legal Observation Team is in coordination with the broader Marin County Rapid Response Network. Legal Observers respond directly to the site of an ongoing ICE raid or public arrest. Observers bear witness to immigration enforcement actions and provide data for the network and the impacted community member’s legal defense.
Accompaniment Team
The Accompaniment Team has made a long-term commitment to be present for the impacted community members and involved in the work. These teams will work to support community members with presence to their needs – rides, connecting to resources, food, making appointments, housing, etc.
Know Your Rights for Immigrants
We host know-your-rights trainings for immigrants in Spanish. These trainings cover a broad range of topics including power of attorney, DACA renewal, and what to do if immigration is at your door.
Abriendo
Caminos
Abriendo Caminos (Finding our Path), builds on decades of work to move us toward the goal of being one community.
About
Abriendo Caminos serves as a bridge between the Latino population and the larger West Marin community through thoughtful engagement. We aim to empower the Latino community while addressing the cultural divide and working toward the goal of being one community. By becoming one community we can progress towards a more beautiful, diverse, and equitable West Marin.
For over 35 years, dedicated agencies and individuals have accomplished much in bringing the local Latino population, often isolated on rural ranches, out of the shadows.
The bridges built through these efforts, as well as the collaboration and respect on all sides, resulted in Abriendo Caminos, a model program which has expanded to include the West Marin areas of Point Reyes, Tomales, Bolinas, and the San Geronimo Valley.
Program Objectives
- To collaborate with the Latino community in order to provide opportunities for leadership and engagement
- Support our Latino neighbors to vocalize their needs and concerns and find solutions
- Allow the cultures from our minoritized communities to be shared freely in efforts to immerse themselves with the larger West Marin
- Commit to a bilingual way of sharing and receiving information in order to be inclusive to all
Program Outcomes
Periodic Latino focus groups identify key issues of labor rights, housing, education, cultural events, and immigration. Additional events and trainings have been held in these areas, with a particular focus on immigration since 2016.
While continuing these trainings, the next step for this program will be to create a space for community-wide conversations to identify what systems and cultural aspects we can shift together. We can change the perception of who we are and find pathways to promote equity and mutual respect.