Reunion is not entirely illegal but, in Washington, the organizers of this kind of sessions like to give themselves the tunes of resistance fighters. “Listen, we have nothing against French journalists butpolitely pray to Andrew, We would really like not to finish in Release. »» Promised: Andrew, a thirties with red hair, lawyer in labor law but “Former specialist in immigration law” will not end in their columns … and Reunion, intended to thwart the strategies of ICE (immigration and customs, sort of air and American borders) to expel undocumented migrants, can be quietly standing at All Souls Church Unitarian, a progressive church on Harvard Street, at the crossroads of Mounts Pleasant and Columbia Heights.
Here, we have placard posters to “Respect everyone’s pronouns” or for “Demantle systemic racism” : The place aims to be a havele of tolerance about thirty minutes walk from the White House, where to celebrate the 100 days of his presidency Trump posed a hundred signs with the photos of foreign criminals expelled by his administration. Zachary, threading build, brunette mop on a very small head, and T-shirt “Bernie Sanders should have won”organizes this workshop attended by a dozen people this Sunday in April in the federal capital, warns: “No photos but you can ask questions, all the questions you want. »»
The atmosphere is fiercely anti-top. Unsurprisingly we talk about “Administration madness”we make fun of Tom Homan, the immigration tsar in charge of evictions. At the bottom of the play, a sign, which wants to be humorous, castigates the “Vichy democrats”nickname given to the left elected officials, mayors of big cities, which such as Eric Adams in New York decided to cooperate with the federal authorities. ” Goodconcedes Andrew, There should not be many Americans who know the laws of Vichy. »»
If you are not allowed to photograph, and even less to film, Andrew and Zachary accept that we take notes. The session finally starts with a PowerPoint projection. It almost feels like an examination of the highway code. Andrew, prototype of what the Republicans Maga nicknamed the “Soy Boys” (These fairly meager young people, compared to the average American corpulence, which feed on soy milk), very voluble, has the gift of capturing its audience.
“Keep silence!” Do not say anything that incriminates you! »»
Please note, warns Zachary: “Under Trump II, Ice engages in all kinds of police practices, bordering on the doubt and illegal. »» The watchword is simple, typical of American law, and repeated almost both sentences: “Keep silence!” Do not say anything that incriminates you! »» And Zachary to add: “Citizens in good standing, or not, we are adults. As soon as you start to answer their questions, you provide them with a probable reason for illegal presence on the territory … Imagine that you are asked if you have papers here. You answer no. Boom! You have just admitted that you are undocumented. To open the door to the ICE and to say “yes, let’s talk about it” is already to give up your rights. “
“American Moulin Jean”
Unable to remain silent during this long presentation of two hours, a Salvadorian, of about fifty years, interrupts every ten minutes to speak, in a sabir made of English and Spanish at the limits of the intelligible: “Well, me, for example, the police, at Miami airport, held me away from the boarding queue – only me – while the other passengers went on board. The agent even gave the order that I am kept well at the sight of all. I asked him why he kept me, and he refused to tell me. So, I chose to be silent! »»
Andrew sometimes impatients his impatience, even his exasperation: “Ah, it’s true … at the airport, it’s more complicated, you have fewer rights, especially in the event of an international flight. »» But he bounces on the difficulty that some of these migrants have to speak English: “You have to make cards that you keep on you where you specify that you make your right to remain silent, possibly accompanied by the telephone number of a lawyer. Also have an English paper on you to refuse searches! »» And to engage on local specificities, specific to each state, especially when the legal vacuum benefits undocumented migrants: “The District of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia do not require that you give your name. »» And hop, we note and we highlight!
These “workshops”, as they are called here, swarm in Washington. They are displayed with red lights, on school walls, in some companies. The accession of Trump to power gave a little light to these “American Moulin Jean”, often from the most radical left wing of the Democratic Party, and whose background political models are Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, deputy for New York or Ilhan Ohmar, (veiled) of Minnesota.
Behind these pharmacies of the good feeling, there are lawyers’ associations, support committees for migrants and funders who pay Rubis on the nail training, documentation and rental of rooms. Old organization of more than sixty years, Community Change, based in Washington, supports these community initiatives, among its generous donors there are foundations such as the Open Society of George Soros and even the Ford Foundation, founded by the industrialist Henry Ford, in the 1930s, and which sprinkles with fresh dollars migrants.
Soros and the Ford Foundation water migrant defense committees with dollars
The organizations in charge of advising migrants to thwart ICE tactics still flirt with illegality. Helping a migrant to escape detection or providing him with accommodation knowingly is a federal offense. “If I currently gave you a training consisting of telling you to lie to Ice, I would be illegal”specifies Andrew, who continues: “Our friend Tom Homan does not agree but he is wrong. No one has ever been prosecuted for informing people about their rights. »» The session ends. The Salvadorian gets up: “If I do everything well, can I still be stopped?” »» An African, silent from the start, replies: “This is the magic of the system!” »»
