Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino and his minions returned to the Chicago area for a new round of terror and intimidation.
Look for new opportunities for action, education, community, and solidarity in and around McHenry County here every week. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, festive Solstice, cool Yule, and all the other Festivals of Light this season. Holiday activities and Winter weather will combine for a well-deserved hiatus from many protests and actions, but there are still things we can do from home and we must be alert to the possibility of emergency response. Thanks for all you do.
Anti-ICE and Military Occupation Protests. Just in time for Christmas, Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino returned to the Chicago area Tuesday, leading a caravan of federal agents in what was the most visible immigration enforcement activity since he left town last month. Agents swarmed heavily immigrant communities. The caravan roiled tensions from Brighton Park, Little Village, and Pilsen as well as suburban Berwyn, Cicero, and Austin. Their cars frequently blew red lights, blocked roads and cut in front of busy traffic as some protesters in trailing cars followed suit. That made for a chaotic, hours-long road chase disregarding many rules of the road. Tear gas and pepper pellets were used. People were swept off neighborhood streets, from small businesses, construction sites, and suburban parking lots where day laborers gather. Agents harassed a Teamster strike picket line. Protests continue at the Broadview receiving/detention center, in and around the Loop, and in communities across the region. Be aware of local alerts from the McHenry County Rapid Response Team on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/252228846373447.
AT&T/ICE Protest. ICE and Border Patrol are terrorizing our communities, and AT&T is profiting multimillion-dollar contracts with those agencies while they do so. We need to go on offense against the corporations profiting off of ICE’s work tearing apart our families and communities. We need to make it more costly for AT&T to keep working with these agencies than it is for them to drop the contract.
What the public can do—sign the petition and pledge not to buy or upgrade any AT&T products or plans this holiday season until AT&T drops these contracts and pledges not to sign new ones. Visit https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/att. Sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Action Network of IllInois (UUANI) and its allies.
National Alliance to End Homelessness Petition. The United States policy on homelessness just changed. It is bad. Really bad. It will absolutely cause homelessness (especially street homelessness) to skyrocket in 1-2 years. (Federal policy changes take a couple years to be felt.) The basics:
Beginning in 2004, federal homelessness policy started being guided by research. The impact was clear and immediate. I can tell you from first-hand knowledge that everything changed for the better! HUD just released a new funding plan that reverts to the failed policies of the 1990’s. There is still a little time to fix this before it goes into effect. (Not much, but a little).
The National Alliance to End Homelessness made it easy. It only takes two minutes. Go here: https://endhomelessness.org/action/stophudnofo/
Compassion for Campers for Happenings December 19
Compassion for Campers is at Community Resource Days at Willow Crystal Lake, 100 South Main Street on the first and third Friday of every month from 10 am to 2 pm. C4C is one of over 25 agencies at Willow. C4C’s next distribution will be this Friday, December 19 and then in the New Year on Friday, January 2. Please come and see what we are doing.
The extended thaw, now expected to last nearly into the New Year, means that everyone who got cold weather emergency hotel rooms are back on the streets. Many have returned to campsites destroyed by heavy snow and subsequent melting or by raccoons and other animals. Some may find their possessions stolen or destroyed.
Compassion for Campers will be hard pressed to resupply many and accommodate new commers who continue to be displaced from their homes and apartments. Cold overnight temperatures and wet conditions signal new clients and shifting needs like rain ponchos, tarps and sleeping pads, hand warmers, and Mylar blankets. We can always use donations of supplies like clean and serviceable tents and sleeping bags in original bags for easy transport, clean blankets, tabletop grills, wrapped toilet paper and paper towels, and non-perishable food. Money donations are always welcome.
As you consider your year-end tax deductible charity donations, please consider adding Compassion for Campers to your list. Dollar for dollar no other contribution you can make goes more directly to the needs of our clients since we have no paid staff and our minimal administrative costs are provided to us for free by Tree of Life UU Congregation in McHenry.
We need people to share leadership tasks including shopping, transportation, acknowledging donations, coordinating with other agencies and religious groups. These tasks can take a few hours a week. People with flexible schedules with some day-time availability are ideal candidates. A good way to start is to volunteer for our distributions a time or two to see if we are a good fit and stir your passion for justice and service. Interested? Email compassionforcampers@treeoflifeuu.org
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