So many of you have reached out asking how you can help the community of O’Neill following last week’s devastating ICE raids that shattered hard-working families and left many people in dire financial circumstances.
Here are a couple ways you can take action today to make a big difference.
Make a Donation
Local organizations have set up ways to make a financial donation that will help the families in O’Neill meet their basic needs. With many families facing the arrest of a breadwinner, finances are tight and many families are facing bills coming due.
You can make donations through this fund set up by the O’Neill Ministerial Association or this fund created by Nebraska immigrant advocacy organizations.
Financial donations can help local advocates be flexible to meet the ever-changing needs of the families in the area. Every small bit helps and is greatly appreciated.
Lutheran Family Services has a list of physical goods that are needed by O’Neill families with drop-off locations in Lincoln and Omaha.
Items needed include:
- Diapers, especially sizes 4 & 5
- Feminine hygiene products, especially pads
- Infant formula
And the O’Neill Cares Coalition is accepting local donations of canned goods, fresh produce, and physical goods to make sure all families are getting the food they need.
Contact our members of Congress
Tell our members of Congress they must lead efforts to update our outdated, antiquated immigration laws that allow families and communities to be devastated like this in the first place.
U.S. Senators
Sen. Deb Fischer (402) 441-4600 Sen. Ben Sasse (402) 476-1400
U.S. Congressmen
Dist. 1 – Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (402) 438-1598 Dist. 2 – Rep. Don Bacon (402) 938-0300
Dist. 3 – Rep. Adrian Smith (308) 384-3900
Click here to find your U.S. Representative
We’ve seen before in Nebraska how raids like these send damaging ripple effects throughout entire communities. Parents are afraid to to go work or send their children to school. Law enforcement officials lose the trust of local residents, who are now understandably afraid to go to the police with information that could help solve cases.
Tonight, there will be children who will try to go to sleep in a home missing one of their parents. There will be local businesses unsure if they can reopen or provide a safe workplace to their employees. We all now have seen firsthand the destruction these anti-immigrant policies leave on families and communities.
Call our U.S. Senators and your Congressman today. Tell them to fix our antiquated immigration laws to allow hard-working Nebraska families to stay together, live in peace, and keep our communities whole.
Words fail me – I’ve spent a lot of my life educating others about white privilege and working toward cultural competency. And our own government DOES NOT get it! Thank goodness for people like those at O’Neill public schools for know what needs to be done immediately! How sad that we have to be as prepared as the Jews were in Nazi Germany to be afraid of families being separated and for those who are NOT white to be afraid of this action. We’ll keep educating because the kids get it and might make a difference someday when they will just vote conscientiously instead of being swayed by fast talkers.