Lancaster natives held a fundraiser Saturday, for local immigration resources.
Organizers and Torian Buckwalter and Madi Janz and came together to hold Dutch Blitz fundraiser for the nonprofit Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC) at Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster.
Dutch Blitz is a card game created in 1937 by Ernst George Muller, a German immigrant, who believed the game would help his children learn colors and numbers better. According to Liz Miller, development director of PIRC, the card game gained popularity in New York, and has been written about in New York Magazine.
PIRC provides free legal services for vulnerable immigrants at risk of detention or deportation and immigrant survivors of violence through legal services, education, and advocacy.
Janz has experience organizing Dutch Blitz community events for the nonprofit, Mennonite Action, to raise money for organizations that assist people in Gaza. This sparked her and Buckwalter to find smaller organizations in Pa. that assist with immigration resources. They contacted Miller and she saw their vision. “It’s a tough time but there’s so much value in everybody being together, having a little bit of joy and hope even in really dark circumstances,” said Buckwalter.
“Immigrant survivors are unique. When they experience crime they’re going to face barriers such as language, culture and immigration status which makes them even more vulnerable.” said Miller.
PIRC is a York based nonprofit that has been around for 30 years. It was started under the Clinton administration when immigrants were intentionally detained at the York County prison, which made it harder for them to have access to immigration attorneys. This activated community and bipartisan support to advocate for them.
Today, it services survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking and other violent crimes. The services range to Lancaster County and throughout the state. The organization is the only statewide provider of these services.
The organization provides removal defense, this involves individuals who are going in front of a jury or in detention to determine if they will be deported. A team at PIRC finds free legal help to assist the individual.
A couple of week ago, the organization’s Unaccompanied Children’s program, which helps children with no legal counsel represent themselves in court, was cut by the government.
“We’re seeing a decay of our due process, said Miller.” Last week, the organization was informed that one of its longest federally funded programs since 2006, that provides free education to immigrants in detention to know their rights, because they don’t get an attorney, has been cut. Miller explained that it is going to affect many people. The organization serves the largest detention center in the northeast, Moshannon Valley Processing Center and is the only organization that provides legal orientation sessions in the prison.
“That is why seeing all of you together in this room hearkens back to how we got our start, it is with community and in community. Thank you all for being here.”
