food and the erosion of humanity

This week's post is about food. Who deserves it and who doesn’t? I want to bring your attention to a new executive order announced this week. The Department of Homeland Security has revoked its "sensitive" location protections. Schools, hospitals, and churches were all examples of these sensitive, or safe, places. Undocumented people could access those services without risking arrest. The new rules give greater access to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents.

Many groups use spaces like these to distribute food to members of their community. These communities of course include people without legal residency status. Agents are now free to enter any of these public spaces to ask for ID from anyone there. As we saw in 2017, this will have a chilling effect on who feels safe enough to visit a food pantry. Even people with legal status risk harassment or arrest based on the judgment of an ICE agent.

But their line of attack goes beyond this executive order. A bipartisan congress just passed the Laken Riley Act, a bill that President Trump will sign. It's a racist law that forces any undocumented person into mandatory detention. They don't have to be guilty of a crime, only accused.

People who consider themselves law-abiding citizens won't necessarily stay that way. Lawmakers can and have moved the goalposts on "what is a crime" for whatever reason they choose. Access to abortion, once legal, is now illegal in 13 states and rising. Jaywalking is a racist law that gave police a reason to detain Black and brown folks crossing the street. Under the new law, shoplifting (or even getting a parking ticket) is enough cause for detainment. Standing on one side of the law doesn't mean you won't one day be at risk.

In another executive order, Trump declared the end of birthright citizenship, a protection guaranteed by the 14th amendment. This would mean people born on u.s. soil would not automatically be citizens. As Adam Serwer writes, the intent is to create "a permanent underclass of stateless people who have no rights they can invoke in their defense."

Who gets swept up in the rush to create this new underclass? Trump allies like Marco Rubio claim there are 20-40 million undocumented people in the u.s. That's much more than the 11 million that the Center for Migration Studies estimates. Deporting 40 million people must include people who are here legally. Trump can already revoke protections for people from countries experiencing war or genocide. People fleeing their homes to seek asylum. People who came here as children and have lived without documentation for decades. This is more than 10% of the entire population.

it's not too late to act

If there was ever a time to stop collecting information about your clients, this is it. There is no need for food banks and pantries to collect this data. It's not needed for reporting. Holding this information may put your pantry and the families you serve at risk.

It's not enough to say that you secure and safeguard the data you collect. Many intake platforms store their data on Amazon's AWS. Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos has already aligned himself with the new administration. Companies store our data and the data of people who have everything to lose on those servers. They would turn our data over in an instant if it meant they'd make another dollar off it. If you're in relationship with a food pantry as a leader, participant, employee, volunteer, or even a neighbor, you have power. I'm not a lawyer and can't offer legal advice. Here are some actions you can begin immediately:

Don't collect more information than you need. Push back on your funders at every opportunity to end needless data collection. If you have no reason to ask people for ID, how would you know if a person has one?

Allow people to shop for their neighbors. There are plenty of people who need food who can't make it to their local pantry. Lots of people are afraid to leave their house for whatever reason, even in an emergency. Look hard at your rules and determine how they can better support people in this category. More importantly, talk with your visitors about how your rules may be making it hard to shop.

Know that you're not acting alone. So-called stealth food banks already operate in Arizona. Religious activist and doctor Scott Warren stood trial for harboring immigrants near the border. In his case it meant he gave immigrants water, shelter, and treated their injuries. A federal jury acquitted him of all charges. Natascha Uhlmann's article about his case in Teen Vogue makes it plain: humanitarian aid should never be considered a crime.

Review these resources. Know your rights. If you're in charge, help ensure everyone understands their rights. Designate private areas that require a judicial (not administrative) warrant to enter. Practice a visit to ensure that staff feel comfortable knowing what to ask for, and what to say.

• This guide by the National Immigrant Law Center explains the new rules in detail. They also offer recommendations to protect staff and clients. These recommendations benefit us all—regardless of our residency status.
• The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) published an overview of the government's harboring laws. The information is now more than 10 years old, but I found it informative enough to share.
• I've relied on the resources from the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) before. They offer webinars and other resources for interested lawyers and community members.
• NWIRP is updating a document specifically for non-profit social service providers. It's well-researched and includes guidance about the new executive orders.
• The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) is the largest immigrant-led coalition in Washington. WAISN's Resource Finder offers education and a directory of service providers for immigrants and their supporters.

The goal of orders and laws like these is the erosion of humanity itself. It's to deny someone their human rights by saying they are not human. We can't give in to this thinking. If the state gets to decide who can be declared inhuman, or even "alien," no one is truly safe.

This isn't about breaking laws that are unjust. What I'm asking is for food providers to ensure that people who need food can have food. I am asking you to consider what it means to help other people. At one time in the united states, harboring escaped slaves was against the law too. This is no longer a thought question: If you were alive back then, what would you have done? What will you do now?