The paths that led them to advocate for immigrant rights were very different, but for Allison Hamilton and Evelyne Rivera, the goal is the same—to advance and defend the rights of immigrants in Alabama.
Hamilton serves as the interim executive director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, or ACIJ. Rivera is the organization's north regional organizer. They are working to build awareness of ACIJ in Franklin County and to let immigrants know the services provided by the coalition.
Hamilton, a Birmingham native, started with ACIJ two years ago. She is passionate about immigration issues and has the unique perspective of having been an immigrant in another country, so she's familiar with some of the challenges they face.
“Also, through many people I've known, I've always had friends who were immigrants to our country, and I see a variety of the issues they have to deal with,” Hamilton said.
For Rivera, her personal experience in coming to the United States serves as a major motivator for her to reach out to other immigrants through ACIJ.
“From my experience as a DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), being an undocumented immigrant pushed me to help and get some experience working with a non-profit organization in Kentucky,” Rivera said. “That pushed me to come back to my community and try and give back and make some kind of change. If we don't do it ourselves, who else is going to do it? This is a way to give back to others because I got a lot of help myself,” she added.
ACIJ's mission is to “advance and defend the rights of immigrants in Alabama.” The coalition consists of six non-profit organizations and has hundreds of members statewide.
With the assistance of Rev. Charles Dale, Hamilton and Rivera are working to boost awareness of their coalition in Franklin County. With 54 percent of Russellville City Schools' enrollment classified as Hispanic, a significant portion of the city's population is comprised of immigrants.
“We're trying to build up leaders in the community. We'll be hosting meetings, and with the census coming up, we want to help educate people about the census,” Rivera said. “Our goal is to inform people about anything they need based on the needs we see in the community. That includes hosting Know Your Rights workshops,” she added.
After the Alabama Legislature passed House Bill 56 in 2011, one of the nation's strictest comprehensive immigration laws, ACIJ “made a pretty powerful splash” on the state's advocacy scene, Rivera said.
“We partnered with a number of other organizations, including the ACLU, NAACP, Southern Poverty Law Center, Greater Birmingham Ministries, etc., and we have partnered with the Mexican state government to help facilitate tourist visas for parents who are living in Mexico,” Rivera said.
With enforcement of illegal immigration increasing over the last two years, Rivera said there's a pressing need for counselors, as a lot of children are facing the traumatic situation of having their parents deported.
“They aren't getting the mental health resources they need,” she said.
DACA is an American immigration policy that allows individuals whose entry into the United States was unlawful as a child to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation. And they then become eligible for a work permit. That is the situation Rivera faces.
The vision of ACIJ, “an Alabama that values justice, nurtures equality, and protects the rights of everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability or migratory status,” conflicts with the feelings of many Alabamians, who steadfastly support President Donald Trump's goal of building a border wall and hastening the swift removal of illegal immigrants.
Last year, Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks and the State of Alabama filed a lawsuit seeking to exclude illegal immigrants from being counted in the 2020 census, even if they complete the census forms. Their contention is that states with large numbers of illegal immigrants would benefit unfairly in the number of Congressional seats they would have due to the inclusion of illegals.
Hamilton regularly hears the concerns of Alabama residents that immigrants should not have come to the United States illegally and that it's unfair to legal immigrants. A major problem, she believes, is that it's difficult if not impossible for immigrants to go through the legal channels to enter the U.S.
“People just don't realize the line is out the door and is never going anywhere. The big thing we want to see is comprehensive immigration policy reform,” Hamilton said. “We all agree the way it is right now, it's not working.
“We need reform in our federal policies dealing with immigration. There are differences as far as what people think the solution is. But there's not much awareness about what's going on in the countries where these people are coming from and how the United States has contributed to these problems, particularly in Central America,” she added.
A major tenet of ACIJ is civic engagement for Alabama immigrants.
“When people realize they have avenues to affect change in their community, we want to help them do that,” Hamilton said. “We want to see them get involved and participate. That really builds a stronger sense of empowerment and creates opportunity for non-immigrants to interact in a healthy way to build better trust and bond the community.”
Hamilton said in areas like Franklin County, with large immigrant populations, the legal system is often unequipped to provide interpretation as required in Alabama courts.
“Some schools ask parents to show a drivers license to get their kids. That's not legal,” Hamilton said. “We want to see the state and local education implement policies to better protect families from those kinds of problems.
“Drivers licenses are a big issue here because public transportation is almost non-existent. We've been able to expand drivers licenses to be available to people with work permits. But undocumented people still aren't able to get drivers licenses and that's something we'd like to see happen,” she added.
For more information on ACIJ, log onto www.alimmigrant.org.
