The Philly legal community is meeting to discuss how to best aid immigrant and refugees

We know the hardships refugee families in Philadelphia are working every day to overcome.

#ADayWithoutImmigrants showed us, and the rest of the country, how integral immigrants are to our society (and for some of us here at Technically Media, it was a day to remember how this “job is as important as it’s ever been”).

The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it’s revamping its efforts to enforce deportation for any of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., a move that has struck fear in families and individuals throughout the country and at home.

Now, the question for Philly, which remains a sanctuary city and even recently joined a national campaign called “Map the Impact” to show through hard numbers what immigrants do for the area, is this: How do we take action to protect these vulnerable residents?

Take Action Philly (TAP), a new initiative formed by the Philadelphia Bar Association with support from the city and several nonprofit legal aid organizations, will host its first meeting tomorrow to discuss this, focusing on immigrant and refugee policy. It will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel.

The event will discuss how the local legal community can organize its efforts to help immigrant communities in the face of changing federal and state policy, but there will also be information for those without any legal experience on how they can play a part.

According to Ajeenah Amir, deputy communications director for the City of Philadelphia, City Solicitor Sozi Tulante (who came to Philly as a refugee) and Immigrant Affairs Director Miriam Enriquez will be participating in tomorrow’s panels, in addition to Mayor Jim Kenney.

#TakeActionPhilly will ensure we're putting up the best possible plan of action for the immigrants of Philly! https://t.co/KjnsyUmJXD

— Mayor Cherelle L. Parker (@PhillyMayor) February 14, 2017

“In recent weeks, many of our city’s legal aid non-profit organizations have been flooded with phone calls from community members in need and many of our members have been contacting me asking how they can help,” said Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Deborah Gross in a statement.

“As a result of federal and state policy decisions, we decided to wrap our arms around these emerging issues and coordinate efforts to advocate for our most vulnerable residents.”