Beyond Know Your Rights Call – Rural Organizing Project

Please join ROP and immigrant rights activists around the state for a

Beyond Know Your Rights
Conference Call

Tuesday, July 14th from 3:00 – 4:15 pm

Who: ROP members and allies from around the state who are engaged (or want to be engaged) in Beyond Know Your Rights work

How: RSVP to cara@rop.org or 503-543-8417 and we’ll send you the call-in info.

Why: ROP leaders from across the state are reporting problematic interactions between local law enforcement, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents, and immigrant community members. Know Your Rights trainings have long been a tool designed to teach immigrants and people of color what their rights are, but just being educated about your rights does not mean that they will be respected.

ROP members are developing and testing new strategies and tools to help rural immigrant communities and their allies assert, defend and expand their rights. From community accountability meetings to documentation and tracking systems to community surveys and forums, rural Oregonians are tackling abuses head on, even as they work for the more systemic change we all hope will come through a just and inclusive overhaul of our nation’s immigration system.

This conference call will be a small, first step to get all of you amazing community activists in touch with each other – to share and compare strategies, and to identify some next steps as to how we can support and advance each others’ efforts.

Take a few minutes before the call to look at the following materials:

Letter to all 36 Oregon Sheriffs from ROP re: contracts with ICE
Lincoln County: summary of Centro de Ayuda’s work re: local law enforcement and immigration
Morrow County: Umatilla Morrow Alternatives community survey on racial profiling
Wasco County: invitation to community forum on relationship between local law enforcement and latino community (see below)

Draft Agenda

1. Introductions

2. Sharing ROP’s general framework for Beyond KYR work

3. Highlighting several examples of current Beyond KYR work from rural Oregon communities (Deschutes, Lincoln, Morrow, Wasco)

What is the problem/issue your community is facing?
What strategies, tactics and tools are you using to address the problem?
What have you learned in the process?

4. Facilitated discussion/Q&A

5. Next steps on how ROP and all of us can best support each others Beyond KYR across the state

Community Forum sponsored by The Dalles Nuestra Gente Latino Organization and CAUSA Oregon

Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Location: St. Peter’s Catholic Church, 1222 W 10th Street, The Dalles, Oregon 97058

Topic: What is the Relationship between the Latino community and law enforcement in the Dalles area?

Special Guests: The Dalles Mayor, City Manager, and Police Chief

For more information contact Alex Jara at (541)296-2876 or jaraalex07@gmail.com

FORO ABIERTO PARA LA COMUNIDAD organizado por la organización Nuestra Gente en The Dalles y apoyado por CAUSA Oregon,

Asunto a discutir: Construyendo una mejor comunicación entre la comunidad, oficiales electos, y el departamento de policía en la ciudad The Dalles y el Condado de Wasco
Esta es una gran oportunidad para hacer escuchar nuestras voces y crear una mejor comunidad.

¡Interésate, Asiste y Participa con tus ideas!
¿Cuando? jueves 16 de julio del 2009
¿Donde? En la Parroquia Católica San Pedro
1222 W 10th Street, The Dalles, Oregon 97058
¿Hora? 6:00 p.m.

Invitados Especiales, Alcaldesa de la Ciudad The Dalles, Administrador de la Ciudad y Jefe del Departamento de Policía. Ellos responderán a preguntas y preocupaciones de la comunidad.

Para más información llame a Alex Jara al teléfono (541)296-2876 jaraalex07@gmail.com