East Bay Sanctuary Covenant

08/18/2026

El viernes pasado, fue el placer del grupo Voces Maya participar en un taller facilitado por la psicóloga Elena Jiménez Díaz, una profesional de salud mental de origen Ayuujk y hablante del idioma mixe, nacida en Santa María Tlahuitoltepec, Oaxaca.

Estamos tan agradecidas de tener la oportunidad de aprender de ella; su sabiduría, compasión y técnica excelente de facilitación nos impactó mucho. Nuestro grupo de intérpretes y trabajadores de alcance no siempre tenemos la oportunidad de conectar con profesionales indígenas de otras comunidades, entonces se sintió especial poder colaborar y compartir nuestro conocimiento.

Elena nos dió un espacio para pensar en cómo promover la salud mental en nuestro idioma y en nuestra comunidad. En el taller pensamos juntas en cómo las emociones se manifiestan en el cuerpo y cómo las expresamos para cuidar nuestro propio bienestar.

Gracias a Elena, tenemos unas herramientas más para empoderar a nuestra comunidad. Elena, agradecemos su valioso tiempo y el esfuerzo que tomó de organizar este apoyo para nosotras.

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This past Friday, our Voces Maya team had the pleasure of participating in a workshop facilitated by psychologist Elena Jiménez Díaz, a mental health professional of Ayuujk heritage and a Mixe speaker, originally from Santa María Tlahuitoltepec, Oaxaca.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to learn from her; her wisdom, compassion, and excellent facilitation skills made a deep impression on us. As a group of interpreters and outreach workers, we do not always have the chance to connect with Indigenous professionals from other communities, so it felt special to collaborate and share our knowledge.

Elena provided a space for us to reflect on how to promote mental health within our own language and community. During the workshop, we explored together how emotions manifest in the body and how we express them to nurture our own well-being.

Thanks to Elena, we now have additional tools to empower our community. Elena, we appreciate your valuable time and the effort you put into organizing this support for us.

08/14/2026

Take action to stop the detention and deportation of our immigrant neighbors! Tell Congress to sign onto the discharge petition to bring the Dream & Promise Act to a vote on the House floor!

The Dream and Promise Act would create a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and TPS holders. At this moment, TPS holders across the country are losing status and their jobs. DACA recipients have been experiencing months-long delays in their work permit renewals, with many being forced to leave their careers. ICE continues to terrorize our communities with violence and lack of accountability.

Congress must act NOW to protect our immigrant neighbors.

Contact your reps here:

For months, the Trump administration has carried out the largest effort in modern U.S. history to strip legal protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Immigration agents continue to shoot and kill our neighbors. Employers are being forced to lay off hundreds of thousands of TPS holders....

08/06/2026

No one should face detention & deportation without a lawyer by their side—but that’s the reality for many immigrants being torn from their homes, workplaces, families, and communities without a fair hearing or the chance to defend their rights.

🗣️ Tell your reps to support the , which would ensure that everyone facing deportation has a right to counsel. We have the collective power to:

➡️ Fight for family unity & due process
➡️ Invest in legal defense for people facing deportation
➡️ Pass the !

No one should have to face the complexities of the immigration system in the United States alone. It's time for the Congress to act and pass the Fairness to Freedom Act.

08/06/2026

What is due process—and what happens when it’s denied?
🛑 Due process requires the government to give a person the opportunity to make their case in a court of law BEFORE separating them from their families and deporting them.

❌ Immigrants are routinely and historically denied this right. If they cannot afford a lawyer, people facing deportation and being held in inhumane detention often do not have access to legal representation or a fair hearing.

To truly access due process, it’s past time to guarantee universal legal representation for everyone in immigration court.



https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-BqU5aZ5sAQ

08/05/2026

Join Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity TODAY at 11am to honor the many lives recently lost at the hands of ICE.

Please register for event: bit.ly/HonorthedeadIM4HI

Program Schedule and Locations:
11 AM – An Interfaith Public Memorial will be held at 630 Sansome St., San Francisco. Please wear black.
12 noon - A procession will commence to 333 Bush St., San Francisco.

We lift up people who are detained in California City CoreCivic and their campaign for Hugs Beyond Bars. Please add your name, sign and share the petition calling on ICE and CoreCivic to allow contact visits at California City Detention Center. Petition signatures will be delivered to local, state, and federal officials.

Sign Hugs Beyond Bars Petition: https://hugsbeyondbars.org/

07/31/2026

We are disheartened by the termination of funding for the Unaccompanied Children Program, a network of more than 100 organizations, administered by the Acacia Center for Justice, which has been a lifeline for over 20,000 immigrant and refugee children in the United States.

By allowing the contract to expire, the Trump administration is cruelly abandoning children who must now face the immigration process alone, without an attorney or support system.

Congress must act NOW to hold the Trump administration accountable and fund services that protect immigrant children and families.

07/20/2026

Tell Congress to protect ! Many unaccompanied children arrived in the United States after surviving trafficking, abuse, and violence. Now the Trump administration is withholding $65 million from their lawyers — and the contract funding their representation expires July 31.

Every child deserves someone who can explain the process, protect their rights, and stand beside them in court.

Take Action➡️tinyurl.com/protect-kids

Without funding, tens of thousands of children — some too young to speak — will be forced to navigate a complex immigration system alone and face deportation back to the very violence, trafficking, and danger they fled. Raise your voice to protect immigrant children!

07/16/2026

Our 2026 Annual Dinner is almost here! Get your tickets and join us for an uplifting evening with delicious meals catered by immigrant chefs from Oakland Bloom, live music from Duniya Dance and Drum Company, and an inspiring program celebrating our collective efforts for immigrant justice. We can't wait to see you there!

DATE: Saturday, September 26, 2026
TIME: 3 - 7 PM
PLACE: St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Avenue, Berkeley

Register here: https://fundraise.givesmart.com/e/yfE9mA?vid=1ps90n

07/16/2026

Take Action to save for Haiti! Call (202) 224-3121 and urge Senator Adam Schiff to pass Senate Bill S4814.

Sample Call Script:
I am calling on Senator Schiff to support S4814, legislation that would extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for Haitians through 2029.

This program has saved 330,000 people from devastating conditions in Haiti and allowed them to build their lives in the U.S. Many have lived here for years as our neighbors, coworkers, and strong members of the community. They deserve to continue living here without fear of detention or deportation to a country that is unsafe for return.

I urge Senator Schiff to co-sponsor and support S4814, to vote for legislation extending TPS, and exercise congressional oversight regarding the Trump administration’s efforts to terminate humanitarian protections. Thank you.

Breaking News: Senator Padilla has just signed on to Senate Bill 4814 to extend TPS for Haitians for 3 years. Good work everyone! Now we need Senator Schiff to do the right thing and sign onto the bill.

07/14/2026

Thank you, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, for cosponsoring the LIFT the BAR Act to lower barriers to health and economic security for immigrant families!

Thanks, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon, for cosponsoring the LIFT the BAR Act, urgent and important legislation to lower barriers to health and economic security for millions in immigrant families. California organizations can support this urgent and important legislation at https://pifcoalition.org/.