Immigrant rights groups launch rapid response network and hotline in LA

Immigrant rights groups launched a rapid response network and hotline on Friday to report and document U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the Greater Los Angeles region.

Led by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights alongside law, labor, faith and other organizations, the initiative known as the Los Angeles Rapid Response Network aims to protect migrants.

President Donald Trump signed several executive orders just hours following his inauguration to launch an extensive immigration policy that includes sending National Guard troops to the border with Mexico, eliminating the ban on ICE entrance to schools and churches for immigration arrests and ending birthright citizenship. 

A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship after 22 states sued against the order. 

LARRN organized a national immigrant assistance hotline, which can be reached at 888-624-4752 (or 888-6-CHIRLA) where people can report immigration enforcement operations and request referrals for local, regional or national legal immigration and other support services.

Following a report of ICE enforcement, members of LARRN will send out volunteers and staff to investigate and verify the report's accuracy.

Each group, or cell, is made up of attorneys, legal observers, educators, organizers and documentarians trained to verify reports and mobilize support efforts for those impacted by ICE operations.

"ICE has not waited a single moment to begin separating hundreds of families and causing fear and concern in various communities throughout the U.S.," Pedro Trujillo, organizing director for CHIRLA, said in a statement.

"In Greater Los Angeles, we are coming together through the LARRN to ensure Angelenos know there are resources available to them," he said.

Laura Urias, program director at Immigrant Defenders Law Center, emphasized that Los Angeles would not be the city that it is without its immigrant community.

"We stand united with all Angelenos facing an anti-immigrant administration that is determined to punish the most vulnerable people in our city for political gain," Urias said.

LARRN was established in 2006, formerly known as the Raids Rapid Response Network, as a response to mass raids in factories.

The network connects immigrants caught in enforcement operations with pro bono and low-cost attorneys, and works to shut down private, unaccountable immigration jails and bolster rights education throughout the county, according to CHIRLA's website.

Additional reporting by City News Service.