From: Housing, Organizing, & Movement Empowerment Society
Date: February 10, 2025
Subject: HOMES - 02/10 Newsletter


Hi, everyone!


Good morning, and happy Monday! We hope everyone has been able to stay warm with all the snow! Shout out to all who showed up last week to help support a local encampment off Comm Ave. For an update on that, click here!

Also! BU HOMES Elections are coming up on Friday, March 7th from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm on Zoom. If you want to run for a HOMES E-Board position, click here! Interest form submissions are due March 6th at 11:59 PM. Please note, you must have attended two HOMES events (including, but not limited to, the Fall GBM, the Spring Social, Sword & Shield, CLVU meetings) over the course of the year to be eligible to run for an E-Board position. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

As always, one great way to get involved and stay connected is by joining City Life/Vida Urbana at their weekly tenant organizing meetings. City Life is a 50+ year-old grassroots organization fighting for racial, social, and economic justice through direct action, coalition building, education, and advocacy. They hold meetings every Tuesday (in English) in Jamaica Plain and every Wednesday (in Spanish) in East Boston to build community and inform people about their housing rights. 

Let us know if you have any transportation concerns, and we can help. The BU Public Interest Law Society pro bono transportation reimbursement form can be found here. If you'd like to attend a meeting with members of HOMES this week, please fill out the Google form below!

Weekly Sign Up for City Life/Vida Urbana Meetings

Also, Project No One Leaves has posted the canvassing sign-ups for the Spring 2025 semester. Click here to sign up to get involved! 

Teach-in & Know Your Rights Training
Join ILPS, the BU Immigrants’ Rights Clinic (IRC), and PILS for a teach-in by Professor Sherman-Stokes to learn more about Trump’s recent executive orders and a Know Your Rights presentation on Thursday, February 13th from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm in Room 103! This is an important chat to learn what steps we can take to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities in the face of increased immigration enforcement. The event will conclude with a Q&A session, and we encourage attendees to submit their questions here. This event is open to the entire BU community—students, staff, faculty, and workers are all welcome. This event is not open to the public. Please reach out to ilpsbu@gmail.com if you have any questions. (Pizza will be provided!)

ILPS x PAIR Project Intake Training & Detention Visit 
ILPS is helping organize volunteers for the PAIR detention visits! PAIR, a Boston immigration nonprofit, needs volunteers to help with intakes on their weekly visits to Plymouth County Correctional Facility, the only remaining ICE detention center in Massachusetts. With the new administration and new ICE units opening in Plymouth, PAIR is seeing an increased number of people in ICE detention and needs volunteers to assist with intakes. Volunteers do not need to have immigration or legal experience, but speaking a second language is highly preferred (especially Spanish, Portuguese, French, or Haitian Creole). Unfortunately, due to the nature of doing intakes in detention, there is no access to language lines or interpreters, so volunteers who are proficient in other languages are needed. Helping with intakes can be a great way to learn about immigration law and the immigration enforcement system, and gain experience speaking with clients.

PAIR will use the information you gather on intakes to decide whether they are able to take the case or pass the information on to pro bono attorneys who volunteer with PAIR. PAIR has a prepared intake sheet they use which you will be filling out during intakes. Sign up to volunteer here. Please email Kristen Cain (kmcain@bu.edu) if you have any questions! We will be holding an optional training for volunteers to learn about the intake process on February 11! Note: In order to get clearance to visit the detention center, you will need to provide PAIR with a photo of your government ID and social security number. We will reach out to you before the date to coordinate sending this information. 

Socialism 101 Reading Group
New to socialism? Curious about DSA? Joing the Boston DSA for a free, three-part virtual reading series, Socialism 101! The first event will take place on Zoom on Thursday, February 13th, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Register at bdsa.us/feb101! The next two events in the series will take place on Thursday, February 20th  & Thursday, February 27th, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Feel free to attend even if you have not had a chance to do the reading ;) Find more information here!

MAURA HEALEY: MAKE MASSACHUSETTS A SANCTUARY STATE
"Gov. Maura Healy said in December that Mass. is 'not a sanctuary state.' She doubled down on these comments the week of Donald Trump’s Inauguration after intensified ICE raids had already begun across the country, including in Mass. Healey has done nothing but parrot Trump and his racist anti-immigrant agenda while cutting housing access for all working-class families. These are pro-billionaire attacks on the whole working class — and Healey is siding with the billionaires.

It is up to us, as working people of Massachusetts, immigrant and non-immigrant alike, to stand together to demand the governor does everything in her power to protect our communities.
We Demand:
❌ No state or local law enforcement collaboration with ICE!
❌ Stop the racist demonization of immigrants!
❌ No new restrictions on housing assistance!
❌ No ICE in Massachusetts public schools or other public institutions!
Add your name, or endorse as an organization.
SIGN THE PETITION: SanctuaryStateMA.org"

Radical Boston History
On Sunday, February 23rd, from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm, Tim Devin and Jay Colbert will be hosting a discussion on the radical history of Boston! This will be at the Lucy Parsons Center (358 Centre St A, Jamaica Plain) as part of the Escaping Liberalism series. How much do you know about the city's history of class struggle, anti-gentrification campaigns, grassroots organizing, and labor movements? And what can we learn from it all? Come find out as we take an informational dive into the people-powered fights and victories that have shaped Boston. Find out more here!

Neighborhood Book Sale for Gaza
Somerville for Palestine is hosting a neighborhood book sale! "All funds raised will go to @thesameerproject, which has been providing life-sustaining support for displaced families in Gaza. If you any have gently-used (or new) books you would like to donate, please dm me. If you’re in the Boston/Cambridge/Somerville area, you can drop off your books at @narrativebookshop which is helping us collect donations. Book sale will take place on March 1 at Connexion Church, Somerville." Find more information here.

Here are some more upcoming events that might be of interest to you all:

Hang in there, guys. And remember, be humble, but don't sit down (unless it's for the flag) because your voice is very much needed.

In solidarity,

BU HOMES
Boston University School of Law
Greg Bowe, Co-President
Danna Lopez-Flores, Co-President
Angel Yi, Treasurer
Chloe Buck, Secretary
Zoie Valencia, Community Liaison
Thomas Hontz, Education & Training Lead
Will Kleisner, Substantive Law Specialist
Eliza Thorpe, Outreach Chair

Have you joined our GroupMe?
If not, click here to stay updated on important events and communications.


Sign up for City Life/Vida Urbana’s Action Alert emails!
Stay up-to-date with City Life’s organizing by joining their mailing list here. City Life sends out emails in both English and Spanish with time-critical event information.

Do you know who your landlord is?
If not, click here for more information on how to find out.

Want to check your landlord's housing code compliance?
Or do you just have some free time on your hands? Check out the following Housing Code Checklist. If you notice any issues, remember you have a right to unionize.

For more information on unionizing (either joining a pre-existing tenants union or building one with your neighbors), check out the Greater Boston Tenants Union here.

Job Resources!
The UCLA Prison Law and Policy Program has created a very helpful list of organizations and open positions for students interested in working with and advocating for incarcerated folks. Find the job search guide here. In addition, the Immigration Law and Policy Society has compiled a list of immigration employment and internship opportunities. You can access the running list here, and they will be updating the list throughout the semester. The OutLaw Summer 2025 Job Search Supplement can also be found here, and the Women's Law Association 1L Handout can be found here! We will make sure to send more resources your way as they become available. Make sure to stay on top of deadlines for the summer public service funding application. We recommend you apply for funding even if you have not acquired a job yet, as outside funding can make a potential intern more appealing to some PI employers (reach out to them directly, even if there are no listed openings, and introduce yourself!).

Looking for the Progressive Equivalent of FedSoc?
BU Law has its very own chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG). "The National Lawyers Guild is a progressive public interest association of lawyers, law students, paralegals, jailhouse lawyers, law collective members, and other activist legal workers, in the United States." In particular, the "Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild works to change the structure of our political and economic system. We seek to unite the legal community with organizers and activists in the service of the people, to the end that human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests." To get involved with the BU chapter, click here or reach out to Eliza Thorpe.

Housing, Organizing, and Movement Empowerment Society. Cover image

EVENT

HOMES E-Board Elections

clock Friday, March 7, 2025
2:00pm - 3:00pm
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During this meeting, we will conduct ranked-choice elections to determine who will be on HOMES e-board next year. If you are interested in running, we will be sending out an interest form for you to fill out.
REGISTER
Immigration Law and Policy Society. Cover image

EVENT

ILPS x PILS x HOMES - Trauma Informed Discussion

clock Monday, March 17, 2025
1:00pm - 2:00pm
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Join ILPS, PILS, and HOMES for an insightful discussion on trauma-informed practices and navigating secondary trauma. As we gear up for summer internships, this event will provide helpful tools and guidance to approach your work with care and confidence. We’re excited to welcome a fantastic panel of speakers, including community organizers, social workers, and attorneys, who will share their experiences and strategies for trauma-informed advocacy.
REGISTER
Public Interest Law Society. Cover image

EVENT

ICE Watch and Surveillance Tech Teach-In

clock Tuesday, March 18, 2025
6:30pm - 8:00pm
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Join NLG, MLSA, HOMES, ILPS, and PILS for a training/teach-in combo:
We will first have a discussion about identifying ICE and providing accurate information when we suspect ICE’s presence. Then we will participate in a nation-wide teach-in on zoom with many other law schools to learn about the work of the End the Contract Coalition (ECC).

ECC is a nation-wide group of law students trying to bring awareness to the relationship between ICE and LexisNexis’s parent company RELX, along with Westlaw’s parent company, Thomson-Reuters. RELX owns a software called Accurint, which aggregates public and private information creating a person search database that is used to find and deport immigrants. You’ll hear from law professor & librarian Beth Jennings from Widener University Delaware Law, organizer Cinthya Rodriguez from Mijente, and staff attorney Dinesh McCoy from Just Futures Law, on how this legal research duopoly contributes to mass deportation.
REGISTER
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