Dear Community,
At CAIR-SFBA our community is a priority, and protecting our clients is paramount. The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges that called for our legal team to quickly adapt when it came to how we provided legal services. We worked hard to rise to the occasion and respond to our community’s evolving needs. As the need for our services increased, we closed the gap with your support.
As we close the year, we are proud to report to you that together we:
- Surpassed 700 intakes for the calendar year, more than ever before, indicating growing demand for legal services on a range of issues including hate crimes, FBI visits, school bullying, and naturalization.
- Provided our direct services and educational clinics and workshops in COVID safe ways. We transitioned our meetings to virtual, accompanied clients in-person when necessary, and hosted more than 30 civil rights and immigration programs online.
- Grew our service offerings to include removal defense – supporting individuals facing deportation, and housing, unemployment, and stimulus – assisting individuals and families hit hardest by the economic crisis.
- Spearheaded the Yemeni American Repatriation Project, working with nearly 100 people locally, and many more nationally, to ensure that Yemeni Americans and their families were reunited through legislative and legal advocacy as the civil war and pandemic had a devastating impact on Yemen.
- Celebrate the success of a decade-long campaign where the Oakland city council withdrew the city and Oakland Police Department from collaboration with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). This was followed by the San Francisco Police Department’s suspension of participation with the JTTF, last year.
You make this work possible. Though the changing political environment gives many of us ease, we know that it will take time and effort to roll back years of terrible civil rights and immigration laws. So we must continue to protect our community.
Did you know that your gift can go further for you this year?
The CARES Act, which was passed earlier this year, enables you to claim more of your charitable gifts on your taxes! If you take the standard deduction this year, your additional donations of up to $300 in cash for single filing, or $600 for joint filing, to a qualified charitable organization means an extra above-the-line tax deduction for you. If you itemize your deductions, the new, temporary law for 2020 allows for cash contributions to be deducted up to 100% of adjusted gross income, up from 60% in the previous years.
We need to raise an additional $130,000 before December 31 to sustain our work in the coming year. Please donate $50, $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000 or any amount you are able, to ensure we can rise together.
ou can also donate by:
- Visiting our PayPal Giving Fund page
- Mailing a check to CAIR-SFBA, 3160 De La Cruz Blvd., Ste. 110, Santa Clara CA 95054
- Contributing stock, by emailing us at info@sfba.cair.com
- Signing up as a monthly donor and commit to building justice into your budget
Sincerely,
Amir Naim
Immigrants Rights’ Attorney