Juntos
Vamos juntos for a just Philadelphia
New Campaign Campaigns
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No Detention in a Sanctuary City!Last fall, profit-driven detention company VisionQuest announced plans to detain 60 Central American youth within Philadelphia, a sanctuary city. In response to this announcement, the community mounted fierce opposition. Philadelphia denied VisionQuest’s permit application, affirming its status as a sanctuary city and protecting immigrant youth from a detention company with a decades-long track record of physical and emotional abuse -- and even death. But the fight is not over. VisionQuest, which stands to reap $5.3 million on this immigrant youth jail contract, has now filed a lawsuit against the city. The company is claiming “discrimination” because the city has said no to locking up Central American youth here. On June 13th the courts sided with VisionQuest stating that allowing them to open their detention center now will cause "no adverse impact on or jeopardy of health, safety, or welfare of the employees of VisionQuest or the children placed in the shelter." even after multiple employees have come out publicly stating that the North Philadelphia location “Is not safe for us right now….“How would it be safe for the kids?” We ask that you join us in demanding that Visionquest stop pursuing the opening of their child detention center! VisionQuest is a company with a shocking record of abuse going back decades. Between the company’s founding in 1973 and 1991, twelve children died while being held in VisionQuest’s “care.” In 2017, VisionQuest closed its previous youth jail in Philadelphia after staffers punched, choked, and demeaned children being held there. Philadelphia youth subjected to VisionQuest have also reported being held in restraints, having ribs broken, and being burned with an iron. Speaking up in defense of their undocumented peers, these youth leaders have declared VisionQuest unsafe for youth. Questioned about such abuses in a public meeting, the company dismissed them as past events and argued that the new immigrant youth jail would “revitalize” the neighborhood and “create jobs” for the community -- absurd justifications that community members rejected. These community members prevailed when city officials rejected a new detention-for-profit scheme in our city. Help us keep winning in this fight by signing this petition and sharing it with your networks. En la lucha Juntos1,688 of 2,000 SignaturesCreated by Juntos i.
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Allow Javier To Leave Sanctuary & Be With His Family; Approve his U-VisaJavier deserves to be with his family and not be in they don't deserve to be in this state of limbo that they have been in for years. Javier is a good father who's main goal has always been to be with his family and take care of his children. USCIS has already considered Javier eligible for a U-visa but have not moved the case forward, citing his reentries for reason why. Every time Javier has crossed the border it has been to be reunited with his family, with his children. His family has struggled with severe psychological and financial hardship. His oldest daughter, Adamaris, is suffering from the trauma of having her father detained first by ICE and now of not having her father home with her while he is in sanctuary. His son, Javier Jr., has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and now refuses to leave his father's side for fear of losing him again, therefore living with him in the church. We must ensure that our families are kept together, not torn apart. The approval of his U-Visa is the only way for him to truly be free and to be able to be with his family without the fear of being deported. Please send a message to USCIS by signing this petition to show support for Javier’s pending case.1,021 of 2,000 SignaturesCreated by Juntos i.
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Give Immigrants and Youth a Vote on Philly School Board!Philadelphia has won back local control of our School Board after almost two decades of state control over our public schools. For too many years our families have felt powerless in trying to improve our schools but now we see an opportunity for change. As the city and our Mayor prepare to appoint new School Board members we must ensure that the voices of those most impacted by an unjust and unequal education system are at the forefront of how decisions are made. Philadelphia is home to tens of thousands of immigrants and their voice and vote MUST be a part of this new school board if we wish to call ourselves a welcoming city. That is why we ask that you sign this petition in support of having two amazing immigrant rights leaders, Olivia Ponce and Edgar Villegas, appointed to our next school board so they can represent our community with their voice and with a power to vote on decisions that will affect our everyday lives. Olivia Ponce is an is an immigrant mother from Mexico of two and community leader in South Philadelphia. She has a daughter who graduated from the School District of Philadelphia and has a son who is a freshman at Central High School. As such, she has experienced first hand the hurdles faced by many immigrant families in our city. In 2012 while her son's elementary school was slated for closure, she helped lead organizing efforts to keep her son's school open. Eventually his school was closed but it was her leadership along with many others that prevented many other schools from closing that year. She has passionately fought for language access in schools, more equitable funding for children of color, ending the criminalization of youth, parent participation in their schools regardless of immigration status and has been active in pushing for Sanctuary Schools. Edgar Villegas is a 15-year-old freshman who attends the Creative and Performing Arts High School. He is the son of undocumented parents from Mexico, and as such he knows firsthand the experience of growing up in a mixed status household. He got involved with the latino immigrant rights organization Juntos when he was 13 years old because he understood the growing threat of deportation that many undocumented people in his community face and wanted to fight back against it. While studying at Abigail Vare School in 2012, he was active in the organizing efforts to keep his school open. He strongly believes in the power of youth leadership and is committed in ensuring that all young people, regardless of immigration status, have their voices heard when it comes to their education345 of 400 SignaturesCreated by Juntos i.
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Ask the Philadelphia Eagles to #BoycottTheWhiteHouseWe could not be prouder of our Eagles for bringing home the Super Bowl Championship to Philly this year. We stand with every Philadelphian when we say we are overwhelmed to be from Philly today. As we prepare to celebrate we would like to ask our Eagles team to stand with Philadelphia by declining as a team any invite from Trump and boycotting the White House. Stand in unity with the thousands of immigrants in Philadelphia who love you and the millions more across the country who have been criminalized by this president. Stand with the overwhelming number of Philadelphia residents that have been incarcerated, detained, been put on probation or held down by an unjust criminal justice system. Stand with our brothers and sisters from Haiti, El Salvador and other Black and Brown nations who have been insulted by this president time and time again. And make a statement against police brutality by taking a metaphorical knee by not going to the White House. President Trump and Jeff Sessions have targeted Philadelphia since they entered into office for our Sanctuary City status, deportations have risen by over 30% in our city and thousands of men and women are reeling from a criminal system that profits off of their incarceration. Show them that you stand with Philly by refusing the invitation to the White House. #BoycottTheWhiteHouse #Not1More #FreeMeek980 of 1,000 SignaturesCreated by Juntos i.
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There's nothing "catchy" about racism: Pledge to Boycott "Illegal Tacos"In a time when there is a president who uses racist rhetoric to describe immigrants on a near-daily basis in order to drum up support for his white supremacist agenda, naming this restaurant "Illegal Tacos" is a slap in the face to those in our community who face this harassment and discrimination in their lives. Bragging about only hiring Mexican chefs to authentically prepare the food, as the restaurant's owner Florian Furxhiu stated in a Philly.com piece, only makes things worse. Once again our community is valued only for their labor and not their huamnity.If Furxhiu wants to open an authentic Mexican restaurant, he should do so in solidarity with the folks making his food and from whose culture the recipes come and not name his restaurant after a dehumanizing slur. PS: If you wish to actually support Philadelphia's immigrant community please consider donating to Juntos. We are a locally based immigrant-rights organization that fights for the rights and humanity of our community. To donate please go to vamosjuntos.org/donate1,558 of 2,000 SignaturesCreated by Juntos i.
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Mental Health Needs Aren't Deportable: Free Jorge Herrera, DACA Eligible Youth, From DetentionJorge Herrera is 21 years old, DACA eligible, and has lived in the US for the past 18 years with his mother Elena. On December 2016, Jorge was arrested by local police after his mother called 911 for help. Jorge suffers from mental health issues and on that day, he was having an episode. His mother believed the police would help her by de-escalating the situation and help her take Jorge to a hospital. Instead the police arrested him and the District Attorney's office threw the book at him. During the trial, Jorge and his mother received no translation services through their ordeal. They were advised to have Jorge plead "guilty" in order to access mental health support services but to this day no services have been provided to the family. He is now detained without bond at the York County Detention Center in Pennsylvania. Jorge has lived almost his entire life in the U.S. and is DACA eligible but ICE would much rather destroy another family than release him to the only place he calls home. Jorge needs mental health support services, not detention. Please sign this petition to ask that Immigration Judge John P. Ellington allow Jorge to be released from the York County Detention Center on bond and that ICE remove him from deportation procedings so that he can be reunited with his mother and to be able to seek the help he needs.916 of 1,000 SignaturesCreated by Juntos i.
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Tell Mayor Kenney to Defy Trump, Defend Philly & Make Us a Real Sanctuary CityDonald Trump just announced executive action on immigration and has threatened to not just defund cities that have policies that separate police and ICE but to also grow the deportation machine to round up, detain and deport our loved ones everywhere. We have worked hard over the years to build with our community, our city and our elected officials to create a Philadelphia we all want to live in. And it has been the work to defend black lives and to support and defend immigrants rights that will continue to make us stronger, not over policing and enforcement priorities built by Trump's racist ideologies. In the attempt to define ourselves as a city that protects its citizens from racist policies and rhetoric we need to build the actual "Sanctuary City" we all deserve. What does this look like? It means making a commitment to keep our police separate from ICE AND addressing the unjust criminal system that uses black and brown bodies to fill up jails through "broken window" policing policies, like "Stop and Frisk." Please tell Mayor Kenney and our local elected officials to take action to defend all of us at this time, all of the citizens of Philadelphia, regardless of immigration status from the grips of the deportation machine and the unjust criminal system. Trump's dictator style threats should have us showing the rest of the country that we will not sit by and abandon progress, especially not now.1,040 of 2,000 SignaturesCreated by Juntos i.