**Update: 10/10/2020**
Wow. In less than 24 hours, you all helped us surpass our $10K goal! We can't thank our community enough for this love and support.
If you'd like to contribute further, we're redirecting all additional funds to our comrades at the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund. They have been instrumental in getting people like myself and so many others free from cages.
Please click here to contribute to the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund.
With your help together we raised over $14,000. With that money, we will be able to cover Nancy's legal fees & and any remaining funds will go towards starting a Vietlead Emergency Legal Fund supporting the legal costs of anyone else who may be arrested at Vietlead.
Thank you again for all of your support!
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Español abajo:
Our beloved comrade and friend Nancy Nguyen, Executive Director at Vietlead, co-Director of the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, and a mother of two, was just released after being unjustly detained for publicly speaking out against ICE. Nancy and her family need the community to come together and have her back. With your help, we can keep Nancy home where she belongs and make sure she has the financial ability to fight this case.
Please contribute what you can to help support her legal fees! These funds will go directly to her family.
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For more details on this unjust retaliation against Nancy by law enforcement, please read this statement:
At 7:30 PM on Thursday October 8th, 2020, Vietlead's Executive Director and longtime community advocate, Nancy Nguyen, was arrested. Nancy, mother of 2 young children was abruptly taken at her home without warning by Philadelphia police in collaboration with federal law enforcement.
Nancy was just released from detention in Philadelphia and may possibly be extradited to Virginia. She was arrested for allegedly trespassing and littering in Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday, September 8th as part of a nonviolent protest against Tony Pham, the new Director of ICE .
Tony Pham continues to use his refugee narrative to justify his qualifications to lead an institution that enacts state-sanctioned violence against Black and Brown communities. As ICE’s former top attorney, Tony Pham is directly responsible for the blatant cover-ups of human rights abuses and murders being committed by ICE agents against families, children, queer and trans people being held captive in their cages.
The illegal forced sterilization of migrant women in the Irwin County ICE facility has been on national headlines for weeks as yet another revelation of ICE’s long list of heinous crimes. Yet there has been no deliverance of justice - Tony Pham has helped conspire a narrative that convinces the public to be angrier at a department store being looted than at the forced mutilation of human bodies. Make no mistake, Tony Pham là kẻ tội phạm -Tony Pham is the criminal.
Nancy publicly spoke out in condemnation of Tony Pham and ICE’s guilty conscience as a representative of a broader Vietnamese and Southeast Asian community unified against all forms of state violence. As Viet people whose families have survived acts of war and violence, we cannot afford to be bystanders as our siblings get thrown in cages, abused and deported. We cannot allow anyone to become disposable.
The interstate coordination of law enforcement and involvement of federal agents for the completely debased, alleged misdemeanors levied against Nancy shows that her arrest is politically motivated - it was a message that said “this is what we are willing to do to you if you dare to fight back.” But we have no choice but to fight back against a system designed to destroy us, to rip apart our communities one by one.
We are enraged at the actions taken by the Philadelphia Police Department, and hold Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw responsible for participating in this retaliatory arrest. Commissioner Outlaw and Mayor Kenney must answer for allowing Nancy to be arrested for a political ploy, while they stay silent about thousands of incarcerated people - people who are our mothers, youth, elders, loved ones - being killed by COVID and the daily cruelties inside the jails, prisons and detention centers. The Philadelphia Police must affirm now that they will not do Trump's dirty work and target community leaders trying to resist during this urgent time in our country.
Nancy’s arrest today is a targeted retaliation from this fascist federal administration which will go to any lengths to continue its systematic perpetuation of racial violence against poor, immigrant and refugee working class communities. Tony Pham, ICE, the police and federal law enforcement are all part of the same carceral system that has historically weaponized the law and utilized state violence to silence any one who speaks out against the inhumanity of their actions. We know what you are doing, and we will not back down.
We demand:
- That all charges against Nancy Nguyen are dropped
- That all potential extraditions of organizers are halted
- That the Philadelphia Police affirm that they will not target community leaders resisting during this urgent time in our country.
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Nuestra camarada y amiga querida Nancy Nguyen, Directora Ejecutiva de VietLead, y co-Directora de la Alianza Política de Isleño del Pacifico Asiático, y una madre de dos, acaba de ser liberada después de ser injustamente detenida por hablar públicamente contra ICE (migración). Nancy y su familia necesitan que la comunidad se una y los respalden. Con su ayuda, podemos mantener a Nancy en su hogar donde pertenece y asegurar que tenga la habilidad financiera para pelear este caso.
Por favor contribuya lo que pueda para ayudar con sus honorarios legales! Estos fondos irán directamente a su familia.
Para más detalles sobre esta represalia injusta contra Nancy por parte de cuerpos policiales, por favor lea esta declaración:
A las 7:30 PM el jueves 8 de octubre de 2020, la Directora Ejecutiva de VietLead y defensora de la comunidad por largo tiempo, Nancy Nguyen, fue arrestada. Nancy, madre de dos niños jóvenes fue repentinamente tomada de su hogar sin advertencia por la policía de Filadelfia en colaboración con cuerpos policiales federales.
Nancy acaba de ser soltada de detención en Filadelfia y posiblemente sea extraditada a Virginia. Ella fue arrestada por presuntamente entrar sin autorización y tirar basura en Richmond. Virginia el martes, 8 de septiembre como parte de una protesta no violenta contra Tony Pham, el nuevo Director de ICE.
Tony continúa usando su narrativa de refugiado para justificar sus cualificaciones para liderar una institución que enacta violencia sancionada por el estado contra comunidades Negras y de color. Como el ex abogado superior de ICE, Tony Pham es directamente responsable por los encubrimientos flagrantes de abusos de derechos humanos y asesinatos que agentes de ICE están cometiendo contra familias, niños, y personas queer y trans mantenidas cautivos en sus jaulas.
La esterilización forzada ilegal de mujeres inmigrantes en el centro de ICE del Condado Irwin ha hecho titulares nacionales por semanas como otra revelación de la larga lista de crímenes cometidos por ICE. Sin embargo, todavía no se ha hecho justicia - Tony Pham ha ayudado a conspirar una narrativa que convence al público de estar más enojados por una tienda de departamentos siendo saqueada que la mutilación forzada de cuerpos humanos. No se equivoquen - Tony Pham là kẻ tội phạm - Tony Pham es el criminal.
Nancy habló públicamente en condena de la consciencia culpable de Tony Pham y ICE como representante de una comunidad vietnamita y sudeste asiática más amplia unida contra todas las formas de violencia por parte del estado. Como personas vietnamitas cuyas familias han sobrevivido across de guerra y violencia, no tenemos el lujo de ser transeúntes mientras nuestros hermanxs son tirados en jaulas, abusados, y deportados. No podemos permitir que nadie se convierta disponible.
La coordinación Interestatal de los cuerpos policiales y la involucra coin de agentes federales por los delitos menores presuntos y completamente degradados cobrados contra Nancy muestra que su arresto es motivado por la política - es un mensaje que dijo “esto es lo que estás dispuestos a hacerte si te atreves a defenderte.” Pero no tenemos otra opción que defendernos de un sistema desdeñado para destruirnos, para destrozar nuestras comunidades una por una.
Comisionada Outlaw y el Alcalde Kenney deben responder por permitir que Nancy sea arrestada como parte de un plan político, mientras permanecen silencios sobres miles de personas encarceladas - personas quienes son madres, jóvenes, mayores, seres queridos - muriendo por COVID y las crueldades diarias dentro de las cárceles, prisiones, y centros de detención. La Policía de Filadelfia debe afirmar ahora que no hará el trabajo sucio de Trump y dirigirse contra líderes comunitarios tratando de resistir durante este tiempo urgente en nuestro país.
El arresto de Nancy hoy es represalia dirigida por la administración federal fascista que tomará cualquier medidas para continuar la perpetuación sistemática de violencia racial contra comunidades de clase obrera, pobres, inmigrantes, y refugiadas. Tony Pham, ICE, la policía y los cuerpos policiales federales todos son parte del mismo sistema carcelario que históricamente ha usado la ley y como arma y utilizando violencia por parte del estado para silenciar a cualquiera que alza su voz contra la inhumanidad de sus acciones. Sabemos lo que están haciendo, y no nos detendremos.
Exigimos:
- Que todos los cargos contra Nancy Nguyen son retirados
- Que cualquier posible extradición de los organizadores son detenidos
- Que la policía de Filadelfia declare que no persigue a los líderes comunitarios resistiendo durante este momento urgente en nuestro país.
