Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, there has been an avalanche of rhetoric and media coverage about the issue of immigration. More recently, federal actions against immigrants have occurred all over the U.S., resulting in detentions, deportations and family separation.
Hardly a day goes by when we don’t learn of yet another ICE raid or see news footage of people being picked off the street or dragged from their vehicles—often without due process. Friends, neighbors and those in our own communities live in fear. What is being done to address this turmoil?
The League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark and Union City (LWVFNUC), invites the community to the next installment of our speaker series, Defending Our Democracy.
For “Issues In Immigration: Keeping Communities Safe,” speakers will inform attendees about actions that are in place in Alameda County and the Tri-Cities designed to respond to federal immigration actions in our own backyard.
James Wood is a retired litigation attorney with nearly 50 years of civil trial and pro bono experience. His passion has been to provide services to the LGBTQ+ community for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel and at the Transgender Law Center in San Francisco. James will talk about “sanctuary cities,” provide examples of both excellent and inferior policies and evaluate the policy statements of Fremont, Newark and Union City.
Christopher Martinez is the executive director of the East Bay Spanish Speaking Citizens’ Foundation, an Oakland nonprofit serving the immigrant community. He is an immigrant himself, arriving as a child from Guatemala. Martinez has devoted his career to serving immigrant and refugee communities as a way of giving back to those who helped him on his journey.
Alyssa Simpson is an immigration attorney who has been practicing immigration law in various nonprofit agencies for more than 30 years. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Law. Currently, Simpson is part of the legal services team of the Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership.
While our programs remain FREE, we gratefully accept donations. For more information or to join the League, visit lwvfnuc.org.
Issues In Immigration: Keeping Communities Safe
Saturday, Dec. 6
10 – 11:30am
Niles Discovery Church
36600 Niles Blvd., Fremont
