Bold and Thriving Immigrants in the South Bay

Immigrant and Refugee Support

Applying a proven model or solution to a new issue or sector (e.g., using a job recruiting software or strategy to match clients to supportive housing sites, applying demonstrated strategies from advocating for college affordability to advocating for housing affordability and homelessness, etc.)

Currently there are more than 2.2 million undocumented families who reside in California and who experience entrenched racism as a result of the criminalization of immigrants and undocumented families- that criminality informs our public policies, systems of power, systems of care, and especially the unjust imprisonment of immigrants in prison detention centers throughout the nation.When it comes to the divergent needs of the undocumented and immigrant communities in LA county, resources alone are not enough to create a healthy, vibrant, and thriving South Bay for all immigrants. It is through dynamic leadership development and community organizing that deepen political education on systems of power and pedagogy and community- centered power building- that give way to the necessary fortitude to have conditions where all immigrants can truly flourish.

Through oRALE's liberation-centered leadership development and organizing pipelines, within its' Power Building programming BIPOC immigrant families and communities will: learn how to organize, strengthen political consciousness, learn strategies for community organizing, build power in impacted immigrant communities to shift systems of oppression in their communities, grow a membership base together to foster connection, alignment, and strategic visioning and organizing power. oRALE's Power Building pipelines include our Leadership Academy and IMPACT Fellowship, both of which educate and train community leaders and directly impacted individuals to build organizing power, strengthen their political consciousness, and learn how to shift resources and power away from the systems of punishment- to conditions and systems that support BIPOC immigrants' capacity to lead full dignified lives. Directly impacted community members who have been harmed by punitive legal systems and the immigrant detention system, will learn firsthand how these systems were built by design through the legacy of colonialism and develop skilled organizing skills. Simultaneously, community members who are a part of the leadership training will gain vital access and support their own health and healing via resources to community-driven safety net programs including oRALE's own mutual aid and community care hub which addresses food apartheid in Long Beach and nourishes more than 1,000 families a year.

When we center liberation and center strengthening the leadership of impacted community members, we bear witness to the transformative power of community. Through this program, we aim to: deepen our strategy, build rigor, and strengthen the leadership skills of undocumented and immigrant community and directly impacted BIPOC folks; increase public advocacy for safer communities; strengthen the leadership of community to shift local budgetary in Long Beach City policies to divest from systems of punishment and criminalization to budgets that reflect communities' priorities of safety and just systems of care as well as budgetary work in LA county through our Immigrants Our LA campaign . What we will bear witness to is a cultural and political shift, one where immigrants are front and center leading powerful decision making in LA County, and in the South Bay.

oRALE centers gradual, intentional, and embodied transformation, both environmentally, politically, and socially. oRALE assesses impact by monitoring statewide and national pro-immigrant policy changes, shifts in public discourse on immigration, budgetary changes that are aligned with community and priorities, and through the individual success of graduates. For example, oRALE and its leadership development graduates led efforts to change the Long Beach City Commission compensation policy. oRALE organized, mobilized partners, and advocated to change the City's commissioner compensation policy, and, in a historic moment, on March 21, 2023, the Long Beach City Council amended the compensation policy so that undocumented community residents can now serve on the City's commissions. As Mayor Rex Richardson stated at the signing ceremony, "oRALE is making a mark in the City of Long Beach and changing the lives of undocumented families."