Just a couple of weeks before the raid, Kid Pax & I attended one of the first public meetings of a new local chapter of the New Sanctuary Movement. Originally begun by interfaith groups organizing around economic justice, New Sanctuary has expanded into several cities, drawing interest from a variety of faith communities, student groups, and yes, even a few of us old-timers who were involved in the sanctuary movement during the Reagan Era.

Rumors were flying everywhere that a raid might be imminent, and while a local indie press article about the Del Monte plant may not have been what put it on ICE's radar, the added publicity took away some of the element of surprise when the raid finally did take place. The numbers, though, were staggering. In this relatively small and closely-knit series of North Portland neighborhoods, even those who didn't know someone affected by the raid knew someone who had a friend or relative picked up. One man I know had worked at Del Monte in the past, but quit because of the working conditions. Another friend's sister had left the plant recently after suffering a workplace injury. A neighbor a few blocks away left when her pregnancy was so advanced that she couldn't stand for the hours at a time required.

Not counting their relationships to each other, I've calculated that I'm no more than two degrees of separation from at least 11 people picked up in that raid. Two weeks before it happened, I didn't even know the plant existed.

In the past two months, many of us have lived through a crash course in how to respond when an event like this strikes our neighbors. Please - take the following as a "Cliff's Notes" version of what you might expect, and start thinking about what you'd do where you are now. You may think your community isn't likely to be affected. I thought that too.

So first - some lessons, then a few updates, and how you can help.

Lesson One: Be Prepared

The first New Sanctuary meeting had left me feeling a little perplexed, as if they were an organization in search of a cause. Suddenly, that meeting appeared more prescient, as within a couple of hours of the raid's beginning, notices went out of two meetings to be held at a local Catholic church that evening. The first meeting was for New Sanctuary and other community folks, to share resources, strategize, and see what we could do to help. Following that meeting, Catholic Charities and other organizations held a meeting of family and friends of those affected, in order to share what little was known and to get names and other information for legal aid.

Truly, not much was known. Someone from an affected school spoke of children left unattended, and staff members coming together to walk the kids home themselves. In cases where nobody was home to receive the kids, they kept going until they found family or other neighbors to take them in. Lawyers and local politicians' aides were present, as were a surprising number of clergy from many faith traditions - some of whom I'd met less than two weeks previously at the New Sanctuary meeting.

At the meeting the evening of the raid, a committee was formed to write a statement in response, and names were collected of those who could sign on behalf of their faith communities. In some cases, nobody was sure how that might work. In many others, the community itself had never really discussed immigration issues, and didn't have any coherent shared perspective on how they might respond to this raid in a manner consistent with their faith and values.

All in all, quite a lot happened with very little advance planning or infrastructure. Had ICE waited a couple more months, maybe the New Sanctuary folks' ambitious plans would've had time to kick off, and maybe  those first few days would've been less chaotic. Or maybe not - people really rose to the occasion and came together admirably. But you? You have time - I hope.

Check out the New Sanctuary Movement website for information about groups working on this near you. Talk with your faith or community organization's leadership to find if there's a group meeting, or even a published statement about their views on the issue of immigration and deportation.

Lesson Two: Really. Be Prepared - Educate Yourself and Others

The ambiguity surrounding the circumstances of this generation's potential migrants in search of sanctuary is creating more controversy, more dissent, and more desire for lengthy and careful discernment among religious communities considering whether - and to what extent - to participate. The two communities with which I'm affiliated are still far from unanimous about how we should've responded. At the time of the raid, though, although both pastors signed the New Sanctuary statement, the communities themselves were far from conversant with the issue.

In the 1980s, we discussed whether we'd be willing to risk arrest as individuals to protect those who were escaping from violence in their homeland. Since the disasters from which they were running were largely of our country's making, it seemed to be the least we could do.

It's an entirely different question in 2007, when the risk of consequences for those participating in sanctuary may be greater, while some find the immigrants' stories perhaps less compelling. Instead of an indigenous Guatemalan family fleeing because US-funded death squads targeted members of the family, today's seekers of sanctuary may well be people who paid coyotes to transport them across the border in pursuit of work or a better free education for their children. Instead of pleading for refugee status, they may have used forged documents to get a job, and now live and working in the US, parents of children born here, but without any legal right to be here themselves.

Just as the major political parties are in disarray, trying to find common ground on matters such as preference points, "amnesty", and English language requirements, there's far from unanimity at the grassroots about just what to do. Since the bipartisan immigration bill went nowhere fast, we're left with a country in a frothy fit about the issue, but with no resolution in sight.

So what's a faith community to do?

Talk about it. The time to have these discussions is not after a raid, not after your imam, rabbi, or pastor has signed a statement that's been given to the media. The time to start talking about this is now - or rather, a couple of months ago, when the Portland raid was fresh news. Now works too, though.

After the raid, I was talking with a group of friends and fellow parents at a local playground. One mom - a friend, progressive, thoughtful - was saying how fortunate she felt that nobody we knew was at risk, since our Latino friends all were here legally. I nodded in agreement, just briefly catching the eye of a friend that I know to be undocumented.

And yes, language matters. I have no illegal friends - none. In my faith tradition, people cannot be illegal - only acts can be so labeled. I have friends who are in this country without proper documentation. When you're talking with your faith or spirituality community, make sure the language you use honors the humanity of those whose lives you're discussing.

Lesson Three: Work the Catholics

That means all of you, not just my fellow Catholics reading this missive. (And yeah, I'm being a bit tongue-in-cheek, but still. Do it.) Get to know your local Catholics. At the first New Sanctuary Movement meeting I'd attended, I'd joked that there were a few (very few!) good things about the Church's superauthoritarian bent. Should an incident ever occur, I could count on the Archbishop to tell me what to do within a few minutes! Sure, the hierarchy's credibility has taken a (justified) hit from their collective behavior around the abuse scandal, but issues like this are their opportunity to shine.

Portland's Archbishop Vlazny did just that.

Yesterday’s raid on the Fresh Del Monte Produce plant in North Portland is an affront to a nation whose tradition has always welcomed the stranger in search of the security and livelihood which he cannot find in the country of his origin. 167 families have been torn apart. They live in uncertainty. Many do not know where the sole support of their family has been taken. They have no idea when or if their loved ones will return. Within the immigrant community, there is a fear that raids such as this are aimed at ridding the country of a significant number of immigrants before immigration reform is achieved.

The statement hit the street less than 24 hours after the raid, and was also immediately distributed to parishes for dissemination the following Sunday. By then it was old news, as every local media outlet had carried the story, nearly all including the full three paragraphs of the statement.

As a practical matter, what this did was establish a quick, overwhelming frame. Sure, there were local folks who were cheering on the ICE folks as the raid was underway, but the Archbishop's statement dominated the news, and really helped frame public opinion.

Now - not everyone has an Archbishop Vlazny. (And no, you can't have him. He's ours.) However, it's well worth pulling a copy of his statement, and then also going to the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform's Justice for Immigrants website  to gather resources. Work your local friendly Catholics, and get them to work the Chancery. DO NOT WAIT until your community is raided. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Migration & Refugee Services website contains the authoritative teachings (and links to Justice for Immigrants). Frame the issue instantly, quickly, and decisively. You'll grab the news cycle, and get there first.

Lesson Four: Know Your Government

OK, so we know where Bush stands. But what about your mayor? Our mayor, Tom Potter, took pretty significant heat for condemning the raids. It took a couple of days for the word to get out that his office was being barraged by anti-immigrant callers. Everyone who was scrambling to pull together the statement from faith communities through New Sanctuary, or even to collect diapers and food for the kids whose families were affected, just needed to take five minutes to call the Mayor to thank him for his outspoken support.

In Portland, the police have stated that they will not participate jointly with federal officials in these raids, and they were not involved in the Del Monte raid in June. What about your city or town? There's speculation that many cities will simply ignore new immigration laws - San Francisco, Houston, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago - all are on record stating that they will not participate in raids designed simply to identify and deport undocumented residents.

In Oregon, a state law precludes law enforcement officers from using any resources for questioning, detaining or arresting someone solely for the purpose of determining whether they are in the United States legally. Different cities interpret that law in different ways, even here.

Lesson Five: Love Your Neighbor

Do you know your neighbors? Maybe the folks on either side of you, yes, but do you know the folks on your whole block? What about on adjacent blocks? If kids you idly saw playing on the sidewalk one afternoon were to disappear, would you notice?

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't notice. Well, not until the Kid and I were walking around later that week and the streets were eerily quiet. No, none of these families were directly affected, but the rumors of ICE agents trolling through neighborhoods (false) or looking up past employee records at Del Monte (true) kept everyone on edge. It's been two months, and the fear is still palpable.

In an article published the month after the raid (WARNING - large .pdf, article's on the first page below the flip), a neighborhood paper interviewed several Latino community members - shopkeepers, church members, and others - about the climate in the neighborhood after the raid. In a word - fear. Nothing's changed in the subsequent weeks.

Lesson Six: Know the Cost

I didn't know anything about Fresh Del Monte until the raid. In the days that followed, I learned that nearly all of those handy pre-chopped packages of melon or pineapple, as well as those tastefully-arranged fruit or vegetable trays that you can grab at most large chain supermarkets for your party or potluck - they're prepared by undocumented laborers, often in conditions that violate US occupational health and safety laws. Of course once I thought about it for a fraction of a second it was obvious - but it hadn't occurred to me to even consider who did that work.

How is your life made easier or more convenient or more pleasant by the work of undocumented immigrants? As good progressives, we all know that agricultural work is roughly a 70% undocumented business, with regional and seasonal variations. So are many restaurant jobs, construction, landscaping. Look around your community. Do you have plants like Fresh Del Monte that might be targeted? As of Bush's latest statements, none of us can say we weren't warned.

Lesson Seven (and status update): Be in it for the Long Haul

I'd like to say that everything from the Fresh Del Monte raid is resolved. I can't give you much in the way of retrospective information, though, because we're really still in the early stages of this story.

About 25 women who were either pregnant or who had young children at home were released within the first few days after the raid on 'humanitarian grounds'. Pardon my cynicism. These women are required to wear ankle bracelets and are effectively under house arrest, with few exceptions.

Which means no work. Which means no income. Which means no means of paying rent, keeping food in their kids' tummies (and their own). Oh, and those kids? Remember -they're US citizens. If anyone's looking for examples of "the least among these", it wouldn't hurt to start with them. Even a friend who cannot fathom my personal perspective about immigration laws and these raids in particular has bought and donated diapers for the kids. She's an ally in my book.

The women have organized, and as "Las Mujeres del Brazalete" ("the women of the bracelet"), they've sold tamales and other food after Mass at several local parishes on Sundays, and a salsa dance fundraiser was recently held to raise money as well. Legal expenses for those fighting to stay in the US may run to $20,000. Some of the first hearings are beginning before the end of summer. Others may be months away - or even over a year. Who's going to feed the kids in the interim? Right now, it looks like it'll be the local community.

In the meantime, two women who were pregnant when they were arrested have given birth. A baby shower will be held shortly, although we're advised to consider giving cash or gift cards for food, because deportation may be imminent, and most goods that might be given would not be sent with the women.

In Portland, a slightly pro-immigrant mood has been shaken by news that a young woman who was murdered last week was killed by two young men who had entered the country illegally. One of the two had been stopped by police on more than one occasion for drunk driving, but had never been asked about his citizenship. (Portland police have a strict interpretation of the law I mentioned above. They don't ask.)

Most of the detainees are being held at an immigration facility just south of Seattle. That's roughly a three-hour drive north of Portland, prohibitive for family members and challenging for lawyers as well. Uncontested deportations are likely to begin soon, if they've not already. In most cases, those deported first will be young single men. Nobody seems to be under any illusion that, once back in Mexico (or Guatemala, or elsewhere), they won't return to the United States - even to Portland - quickly.

And what of sanctuary? At present, I'm not aware of anyone availing themselves of public sanctuary, with the purpose of both remaining safe and drawing attention to the issue. Not to say it won't happen, but it's early days, and this won't be the last update. The New Sanctuary Movement folks are still organizing, still planning, working both to help with the families affected by June's Fresh Del Monte raid and to prepare for whatever happens next. Being hit once isn't like an ICE immunization for our city. They could still come back.

Politics abhors ambiguity. Or perhaps it's more that ambiguity leaves open those gaps where a President can slide in his own "initiative" that promises more children left unattended after school, more women wearing ankle bracelets to keep them at home, unable to feed their children. Family values, all. </cynicism>

Here in Portland we're just a little bit ahead of the curve. An editorial in the Houston Chronicle outlines what we might expect:

As reported by The Associated Press this week, ICE officials promised enforcement that "is going to be tough and aggressive," with "more worksite cases. And no more excuses."

I know I had a lot of excuses for not paying attention to the immigration debate - until my neighborhood was hit by the raid.