The Immigration Working Group and our  Border Justice Project are co-sponsoring the kick off for the second season of the local Long Arc of Justice Film Series on Tuesday, July 28, with a film biography of Hannah Arendt, one of the 20th Century’s essential analysts of authoritarianism.  Some of you may know her foundational works, The Origins of Totalitarianism and Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil.  In Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny, we follow her tortured journey from Germany, her native land, where she observed and eventually fled the rise of the Third Reich, to the United States, where she bore witness to McCarthyism, the deceptions of America’s War in Vietnam, and the Nixon resignation.  The film is a cogent reminder that, as William Faulkner insisted, “The past is never dead.  It’s not even the past.”

The film will be shown at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall at 3845 N. Swan Street, Silver City, NM.  The screening will begin at 6:30 PM and end before 8 PM; a brief and entirely optional discussion will follow.  Admission is free.

Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny | Official Trailer | American Masters | PBS –

More films will follow in the fall. Stay tuned!

Ron and I were recently in Ireland and visited the Emigration Museum in Dublin. It was quite impressive! So on our return to the US it seemed only fitting to visit the American Museum of Immigration at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. So far it seems the current administration has not been able to corrupt the prominent message there…that our country is so much stronger because of all the journeys taken to our shores. To quote the Irish museum “We all come from somewhere.”

And lastly, two requests if you live in or near Grant County. First, Border Partners is looking for bicycles and tricycles for Palomas. If you have one that you are no longer using, please let me know.

And secondly, the women’s fiber cooperative in Palomas, La Cooperativa de Arte Sana, is looking for sewing machines. Again, if you have one in your back closet, please contact me.

We can arrange to pick up any of these items.

Thank you for being a part of the resistance and, more importantly, the change we need to sustain our community and ourselves  

~Barbara

First off, thank you to everyone who contributed to our migrant aid fund for Palomas. You were all more than generous and we’ll be set for several months. Remember that 75% of immigration detainees/deportees are arrests from the interior of the US, not border crossers. Above is David, the first to receive help buying groceries in Palomas.  He is looking for work while awaiting his next step.

We are so excited to be able to host Indica Simpson in Silver City. This will be the premier presentation that the Office of New Americans is doing in the state of New Mexico. Please join us on the 19th at the UU Fellowship building. There are so many ways that our community can benefit from their services. Both workers and employers. Come and find out more!

Be sure to take in The Art of Resistance art show in downtown Silver City this month. If you missed the Opening reception, you have plenty of time between now and the Closing Reception on May 1st. I’m including one of my favorite pieces done by local artist Gay Marks.

And lastly for those of you following the Supreme Court case regarding birthright citizenship, I was fascinated by this report in the New York Times tracing the immigrant lineage of all the Supreme Court Justices. I hope you can access it!  https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/us/politics/supreme-court-birthright-family-histories.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

You may contribute online via PayPal or you can mail checks made out to UUFSC (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Silver City) with ‘Border’ in the memo line to UUFSC, PO Box 4034, Silver City, NM 88062

Thank you for being a part of the resistance and, more importantly, the change we need to sustain our community and ourselves   ~Barbara

A strange sign to see on a highway, except, as you can tell, this highway runs right along the border wall in El Paso. On the other side is Juarez, probably the most dangerous city for deported migrants along our southern border. And those migrants aren’t just “illegal border crossers” picked up by Border Patrol. They’re also from Minneapolis, Chicago, Portland and countless other towns across the country. Picked up by ICE in their neighborhood grocery store or driving to work or at school. And because of the danger in Juarez, some people are migrating west to Palomas for safety. Deportees are showing up and needing assistance. WE HAVE BEEN ASKED TO HELP THEM!

The fire station shelter in Palomas is not open and we are not able to provide direct aid as we did for several years. Folks need money for food, places to stay and transportation. It’s still scary times and people are staying in the shadows. So we are going to provide financial assistance ONLY, at this time. We are NOT asking for clothes, food or medical supplies. You have been generous in the past and we are starting with the monetary resources we have. If you can donate financially for migrant aid, we will be able to help more people over a longer period of time. I will post regular updates on this Palomas project. Please see donation info below.

I hope to see local friends at the No Kings 3 Rally in Silver City next Saturday! And I assume the rest of you are creating great signs for your event 

“Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”   Cornel West

You haven’t heard from me in quite a while, probably since our Race for Border Justice in October. It’s been over a year since we packed our last GoBag and sent our last delivery to Border Servant Corps in Las Cruces. For now my updates will be about “local” actions and activities that you can partake in. Soooo…if you are one of my online readers from elsewhere, please feel free to unsubscribe! Or even if you are local and feel like you are overwhelmed with action emails, don’t feel guilty about unsubscribing. I do it all the time when my brain is full. I trust you are part of the solidarity movement around the country. See you on the other side 💞

Locals! Put this on your calendar! On Sunday, February 22nd, at 3:00, UUFSC will be co-hosting with the Gila Friends Meeting, a screening of Las Abogadas. “The film follows four immigration attorneys over a multi-year odyssey as the U.S. government under President Trump upends every law meant to protect those fleeing from persecution, violence and war. From setting up a legal clinic in a Volkswagen bus in the middle of five thousand desperate migrants, to persuading border guards to follow the law and accept a blind woman into U.S. custody, to crossing the border to counsel African migrants stuck in Tijuana to giving legal advice in the brutally hot Mexican sun.” Join us at 3845 N Swan Street in Silver City. Donations will benefit the NM Immigrant Law Center that aids immigrants in our state. Any funds that our Border Justice Project collects through February will go to this cause.

As you probably know, our local Silver City Indivisible meets on the second Monday of every month at the Hearth, 1915 N Silver. The meeting starts at 5:00 for half an hour of socializing which this Monday, February 9th, will include a singalong with the Raging Grannies of Bruce Springsteen’s new hit, “Streets of Minneapolis!” The business meeting which ends between 6:30 and 7:00, will include updates and lots of action items since our legislature is still in session.

And now onto New Mexico…I’m so proud of our state for enacting HB 9, The Immigrant Safety Act. On Thursday the Governor signed HB 9 prohibiting public entities across the state from signing onto ICE detention contracts and block law enforcement agencies from signing agreements to serve immigration warrants at local jails. Torrance County, notably, renewed their ICE contract after the law passed the legislature but before the governor signed it. The next bill to watch is HB 124 which has its next committee hearing tomorrow February 9th. The purpose of HB 124 is to establish by law the Office of New Americans, a current division of the Department of Workforce Solutions to support new Americans (immigrants) residing in New Mexico in achieving their maximum economic potential in New Mexico’s workforce and as entrepreneurs. The intersection of immigration and employment. We are hoping to have a speaker in Silver City in March to educate us about all the facets of this office. They have already provided emergency support to a family in our community.

And lastly, of course, join us every Friday 3-5, on the corner of Swan and 180 for our local rally. It feels more like Happy Hour every week 😍 with all the horn honking supporters driving by. Here are a few more photos from this past Friday. And yes, that’s me. I’m from Minnesota and proud of it! If only I could include an audio track…

You may contribute online or you can mail checks made out to UUFSC (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Silver City) with ‘Border’ in the memo line to UUFSC, PO Box 4034, Silver City, NM 88062

Thank you for being a part of the resistance and, more importantly, the change we need to sustain our community and ourselves 💞 🙏 ~Barbara