The Afro-Semitic Experience is participating in this important inter-faith fundraising event. Freedom Songs: An Inter-Faith Fundraiser for the Immigrant Bail Fund, which will be held from 5 to 7pm (doors open at 4:30) at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven. The program will feature family-friendly inter-faith music from the Afro-Semitic Experience, Music Haven, the Isabella Mendes Bossa Nova Trio, and other great local performers — plus direct testimony from local survivors of immigration detention.
The Immigrant Bail Fund—a project led by the Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance, Unidad Latina en Acción, Connecticut Bail Fund, Hartford Deportation Defense, and CT Students 4 A Dream—helps pay bail for Connecticut residents who would otherwise remain in immigration prison just because they cannot afford bail. In addition to securing freedom from imprisonment, this intervention also stops deportations. Whereas 97% of immigrants in detention without legal counsel are deported, 68% of those who are bailed out eventually secure legal relief to stay in the country. Moreover, the Immigrant Bail Fund operates on a revolving basis. Once a case is resolved, the bond money is returned to the fund — to help reunite the next family.
Of course, we’d prefer you come to this event, but if you cannot attend and still want to support this important fundraising initiative, please consider sending a check donation. Check donations should be out to Community Bonds, Inc. with Freedom Songs in the memo line. Mailing address: 347 Grand Avenue, New Haven, CT, 06513