Want to join the OCAD team? Please see below for responsibilities and qualifications for the Deportation Defense Coordinator position. To apply: please send a resume and cover letter to [email protected]. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD) is an undocumented-led group that organizes against deportations, detention, criminalization, and incarceration, of Black, brown, and immigrant communities in Chicago and surrounding areas. Through grassroots organizing, legal and policy work, direct action and civil disobedience, and cross-movement building, we aim to defend our communities, challenge the institutions that target and dehumanize us, and build collective power. We fight alongside families and individuals challenging these systems to create an environment for our communities to thrive, work, and organize with happiness and without fear.
OCAD is looking for a Deportation Defense Coordinator that will be responsible for family support and program contract work in family deportation cases, as well as strategy support for legal and public events. We are looking for applicants that have organizing experience, especially around deportation defense work, approach the work through an abolitionist lens, and share OCAD’s organizational values.
Responsibilities include:
● Coordinate the Family Support Network (FNS)
○ Coordinate and follow up with volunteers to operate intake process and the Family Support Network line
○ Bottom line intake follow-up when of interest to OCAD
○ Follow up and coordinate with partner organizations when necessary regarding letters of support, coordination of legal strategy, public support and campaign work
● Individual campaigns
○ Bottomline Initial intake forms
○ Be main contact person and maintain constant communication with family/ attorney if there is one
○ Conduct legal outreach for individual cases as needed
○ Bottomline public campaign events and strategize effective tactics
● Assess best way to support incoming cases, and whether a public or private campaign is needed
● Maintain and update database of individual cases, including keeping an up-to-date calendar of important dates in Clio (a legal case management software)
● Coordinate with membership organizer to strategize effective public actions
● Stay in touch with local and national organizations doing anti-deportation work
Compensation: This position is a full time, salaried position set at $50,000 plus benefits annually. Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Insurance Plan, 14 vacation days and 14 sick days accrued monthly with a 3 month probation period. Candidate must be based in Chicago, IL.
OCAD is an equal opportunity workplace and is committed to working closely and effectively with the communities that we serve. Individuals self-identifying as undocumented, people of color, LGBTQI, working-class or poor, persons with a disability, or as otherwise having backgrounds and experiences underrepresented in professional settings are highly encouraged to apply.
As an undocumented-led collective in the city of Chicago, we will take a moment to breathe and cherish this moment as we prepare to continue the ongoing radical grassroots organizing happening throughout the city. Trump is on his way out of office. However, we know that the same racist and inhumane structures of this capitalist empire are still up and running.
Este taller de criminalización es un recurso preparado por Comunidades Organizadas contra las Deportaciones (OCAD) y el Centro para la Nueva Comunidad (CNC). La clave para luchar contra el sentimiento anti-inmigrante es comprender que no se trata de delincuencia, sino de la criminalización.
We advocate for the elimination of the use of detention centers and deportations, surveillance mechanisms, and “reforms” that exclude the most criminalized amongst us. One way we are doing this is by advocating for the elimination of the City of Chicago’s gang database.
Genoveva’s case is one of OCAD’s first victories. OCAD supported her in filing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (something that takes a lot of courage). As a result, Genoveva got her U visa approved, is with her family and continues to fight for others.
Wilmer Catalan had been residing in the US for over 10 years and, in March of 2017, ICE agents unlawfully entered his home without a criminal warrant or consent. ICE had conducted a raid based on false information obtained from the Chicago Police Department indicating Wilmer belonged to a street gang.