Last Monday night, more than 50 members of the No More Deaths community gathered in a church in Tucson. We came together to strategize on the impacts of the Trump administration’s plans to target the US undocumented community with mass deportations, to revoke DACA, and to increase border militarization. As always, we closed our meeting with a moment of silence, thinking of those who have lost their lives crossing the border.
Friends, you—and ten thousand No More Deaths supporters like you—were with us in that room. You—and tens of thousands of migrants and refugees who found our water, received legal services at our clinic, and were helped by our volunteers after being deported to a strange city—are the strength, and heart, of our movement.
Trump’s promises are an escalation of current border strategy, not a change in kind. These policies were put in place decades ago. As humanitarian volunteers in the field, we witness their violent and cruel effects daily.
Today as yesterday, we are committed to the mission of No More Deaths: to end death and suffering on the US–Mexico border. We are steadfast in our opposition to border militarization, deportations, and human-rights abuses. Our conscience and our spirit move us to action.
During these urgent times, we reach out to you with three requests:
- We ask for your financial support for an expansion of our work over the next two months. We are implementing several rapid-response plans:
- We are working with local partners to establish a second humanitarian-aid base camp in the Sonoyta–Ajo–Gila Bend corridor, home to the “Devil’s Highway.” For December and January, we will increase our aid work in one of the deadliest migration corridors on the border.
- Our abuse-documentation team is preparing for the December 7 release of part 1 of Disappeared: How US Border-Enforcement Agencies Are Fueling a Missing-Persons Crisis, our new report in collaboration with La Coalición de Derechos Humanos. Follow us on Facebook and share our findings on December 7.
- Our Keep Tucson Together legal clinic is working with hundreds of DACA recipients to renew their statuses before January 20.
- In Nogales, Sasabe, and Altar, we are strengthening binational partnerships and building our services for deportees and migrants.
Your support is vital to our ability to carry out these efforts on the ground. Please donate online or write a check to “UUCT/No More Deaths.” Mail it to PO Box 40782, Tucson, AZ 85717.
- We invite you to join us on the border in the year to come. Our volunteer programs run year-round. We are organizing a Tucson volunteer fair in January with new opportunities to get involved. Find out more at our volunteer page.
- We call on you to join allies across the country in solidarity with undocumented communities. No More Deaths’s roots are in the Sanctuary movement, which was a historic effort to protect the fundamental human rights of refugees fleeing violence inflicted by US policies in Central America. Act today to support undocumented students, families, and community members where you live:
- Sign the pledge to open up your faith community as a sanctuary space.
- Become an ally of Movimiento Cosecha, a national movement led by undocumented activists, and share resources to organize your school as a sanctuary campus.
Thank you for your generous support of No More Deaths, and for standing with undocumented communities.
In solidarity,
The No More Deaths community