“You have this situation in which families are separated, children are left at school alone, hundreds and thousands of Mississippians who have lived here for many decades were placed into immediate crisis,” Joshua Tom, interim executive director of Mississippi ACLU. In the largest raid on the U.S. immigration workforce, 680 poultry workers were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Mississippi. These indictments include fraudulently claiming citizenship, misusing citizens’ social insurance numbers and falsifying immigration documents. They also cover reentering the U.S. following deportation or removal. To raise funds for housing and medical expenses, the ACLU has partnered with Catholic Charities of Jackson as well as other groups across the country. According to the Mississippi Immigration Coalition fund website, almost $300,000.000 has been sent so far to more than 200 families. The money is distributed by churches in Laurel and Forest, Canton, Morton, Morton, and Forest. The legal side of things, the Mississippi Center for Justice has partnered with regional and national organizations, including El Pueblo and ACLU, Southeast Immigrant Rights Network and Mississippi Immigration Rights Alliance, to pair poultry workers detained in August with lawyers. Amelia McGowan is a senior attorney at the center. “So far, we have attorneys for everyone who has been released who has an appointment with a judge,” she said. McGowan said that there is still a “great need for attorneys” because more people will soon be given court dates. Her group plans to hold training sessions in January/February for any lawyers who are interested in learning how to help. McGowan said that those held in August can’t work and it could take many years for them to be granted court dates and the removal process to unfold. She said that all of this is compounding as you wait for a court date. This may not happen in one year or two years. “So you are living in limbo, where you can’t even do anything. This is even after you’ve been released.” To explain court procedures, the Mississippi Center for Justice hosts legal clinics in affected regions. Tom is concerned about the possibility of humanitarian funds running out. Tom projects that the $120,000 left will be spent within the next few months. He stated, “What we are facing is: Families will soon have to make some really difficult decisions because they don’t have enough money for their housing, heat, water, etc.” It’s difficult to keep the issue in people’s minds, he said. “Events like these are often a flash in the pan. Then people move on and life goes on.”_x000D