Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition

Philadelphia Family Unity Network

 

The Philadelphia Family Unity Network

Who We Are
The Philadelphia Family Unity Network (PFUN) is a citywide coalition currently working to end ICE holds in Philadelphia. The coalition is comprised of grassroots community organizations, service providers, advocates, faith communities and lawyers. We dedicate our work to ensuring that all people have the right to remain in safety in their chosen communities, regardless of economic status, country of origin, immigration status, marital status, gender identity and history with the criminal legal system.

PFUN members currently includes 1Love Movement, JUNTOS, New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, and Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia.

What We Want
We demand that government policy and practice respect the unity of all families, including biological families, chosen families of friends and community members, and queer and transgender relationships, regardless of marital status or state recognition.

As such, PFUN asks the City of Philadelphia to stop honoring all ICE holds. ICE holds, also known as detainers, are requests from the federal deportation office to local Philadelphia law enforcement to hold someone who should otherwise be released. Holds are issued by ICE (not the police) to individuals solely because of their immigration status. They are not criminal warrants and they are not reviewed by a judge before they are issued.

PFUN seeks an end to all ICE holds and for the Mayor’s administration to work transparently with community organizations and affected community members to create a new and more just local policy.

Our Values
We honor and prioritize the leadership of immigrants, refugees and survivors of institutional, structural and interpersonal violence. We believe in people’s abilities to self-determine their own identities, paths and communities, to make mistakes and start over, and to be their own best advocates. We support each other in resisting identities and labels that divide our communities such as race, class, age, gender, criminal vs. non-criminal, immigration status, sexuality, and religion. We do not condone any stigmatizing or shaming of those who are not deemed to be “deserving” of justice and redemption by a system that our communities did not create.

PFUN Supporters
ACANA, ACLU of PA, Asian Americans United, AFRICOM, Boat People SOS Delaware Valley, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Concilio, Congreso de Latinos Unidos, The Council on American Islamic Relations, Decarcerate PA, FAVOR International, HIAS Pennsylvania, Media Mobilizing Project, National Day Laborers Organizing Network, Philadelphia Student Union, Women Against Abuse Legal Center and Women Organized Against Rape.