Even as the shifting demographics of New York are changing the Hudson Valley in positive ways, immigrant communities in New York have faced many years of targeting by ICE for deportation and detention. Keeping immigrants fearful and disconnected from their rights leaves people vulnerable to exploitation and erodes community power.

Columbia County Sanctuary Movement (CCSM) is based in Hudson and organizes throughout Columbia County, where they bring together new citizens, other immigrants, and allies to involve them in local policymaking. They ran a successful campaign to end local police cooperation with ICE in Hudson in 2017, and are now defending that victory as ICE continues to push the boundaries of people’s rights. CCSM has successfully intervened to stop detentions and deportations of their members and local community leaders.

CCSM runs Know Your Rights trainings and legal clinics so that local residents can stand up to ICE disruptions in their daily lives. They register new citizens as voters in smaller communities where every vote most definitely does count, and they are a regional coordinator of the statewide Greenlight Campaign to offer equal access to New York State drivers’ licenses without regard to immigration status.

We’re honoring CCSM for consistent, strategic actions that are in response to the leadership by immigrants in their local communities and for their ability to hold the line for immigrant justice in the Hudson Valley.