Don’t Forget Immigrants with Disabilities in Protection Efforts

Across the country, groups are springing into action to protect our communities from violent, harmful anti-immigrant actions like workplace raids, family separations, and mass detention and deportation without due process. This includes know-your-rights training and materials; providing information to sensitive locations like schools, healthcare centers, and churches; doing rapid response to raids; and supporting separated families.

As we do this important work though, we must include people with disabilities in planning and response. There are millions of immigrants with disabilities in this country, who are disproportionately harmed by indiscriminate immigration enforcement that separates them from family and caregivers, their sources of income, and their community supports. People with disabilities have long faced disproportionate harm and rights violations in the immigration system, including in court and in detention. Meanwhile, people with disabilities across the country are also facing cuts to Medicaid, attacks on public education, and dissolution of programs that support accessibility. And of course, many healthcare and direct support workers who work for and with disabled people are themselves immigrants. Disability rights are immigrant rights! Our work must be driven by the people most impacted, and this includes people with disabilities and their families affected by ongoing anti-immigration efforts.

How can the rights of people with disabilities be centered in our efforts to protect immigrants and their families?

• Partner with disability organizations and advocates (or even better, hire immigrants with disabilities yourself!). The disability community’s mantra is “Nothing about us, without us” and people with disabilities themselves are going to be best situated to identify concerns and resources. Offer to provide Know Your Rights (KYR) training or materials to them. At the same time, immigrant-serving groups may also need to educate disability groups on the specific concerns of immigrants with disabilities, such as language access or limited access to government-funded supports and services based on documentation status. Partnership goes both ways! Here are some ideas on partnership:
• Train your staff on ableism, disability discrimination, and basic disability legal protections.
• Connect to your local Center for Independent Living (sometimes known as Independent Living Centers). CILs are nonprofits run by and for people with disabilities that can provide information and referrals, training, peer support, and advocacy.
• Connect to your state’s Protection & Advocacy organization (they usually have names like Disability Rights California or Disability Rights Texas). The Protection & Advocacy system is a nationwide network of federally mandated disability rights agencies. P&A agencies have the authority to provide legal representation and other advocacy services, under federal laws, to all people with disabilities.
• Finally, there are a few groups that work specifically at the intersection of immigration and disability. If you are in upstate New York, for example, check out Deaf Refugee Advocacy. In Chicago, check out Access Living’s Cambiando Vidas program or their Disability and Immigration Taskforce.
• Make an organizational plan for disability access — ahead of time. You do not want to be scrambling to identify resources and allies in the middle of a rapid response or crisis situation. Based on the kind of services your organization is providing, here are some things to consider:
• Do you know how to locate a sign-language interpreter — including interpreters of Venezuelan or Mexican or other non-American sign languages? If you are going to use video interpretation, have you practiced setting it up and making sure any technology works?
• Do people you work with have a clear and easy way to request accommodations that they might need from you?
• Are your materials in plain language? Are they accessible to people who use screen-readers?
• If you are meeting in person, or hosting in-person community resource sites, are those locations accessible? Can you set up a space as a quiet room?
• Can you identify places in your community that might donate or lend equipment such as walkers or wheelchairs?
• What about resources to support people with higher needs? The Migrant Clinicians Network, for example, can do training and technical assistance and in some cases virtual case management. There are also disability groups that serve people with particular disabilities, like The Arc, a national organization for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities or the American Diabetes Association, that can provide information and referrals, and in some cases also do advocacy.
• Also consider mental health.
• Educate people on their disability rights in immigration detention, including for example, the right to communication access, to physically accessible spaces, and to access to medication and medical treatment.
• Also be aware of the specific needs of children with disabilities in immigration detention. Immigration detention harms kids, and particularly kids with disabilities or health issues. The position of the American Academy of Pediatrics, for example, is that no child should be placed in detention, and that even short periods of detention can cause psychological trauma and long-term mental health risks. The National Center for Youth Law, in their role as Flores and Lucas R counsel, and other groups have done important work to uphold and expand the rights of immigrant children, including children with disabilities, in federal custody.
• People with disabilities also have rights to reasonable accommodations and safeguards in immigration proceedings.
• Support people with disabilities doing preparedness planning and recognize unique needs they may have.
• For children, families may want to make copies and share any education planning documents such as IEPs or Section 504 plans.
• People with disabilities who receive support from community-based programs may want to share their emergency plans with their case workers or direct support workers.
• Planning documents should include a list of any medications or treatment needs, and could also include daily routines and schedules, provider contact information, and communication access needs.
• It may be helpful for people to think through their network of support. For many people with disabilities, friendships and community connections can be the most reliable survival strategy.
• Prepare a Caregiver Authorization Affidavit or other written document that includes information about disability and health related decision-making.
• You might want to look at materials and planning that have been created related to supporting people with disabilities in disaster preparedness and response — in many ways, this violent wave of anti-immigration actions is a man-made natural disaster.

What are we missing? Feel free to get in touch at akelsey@theyoungcenter.org with suggestions and resources!

By Anne Kelsey, Young Center Disability Rights Senior Policy Analyst