OFTEN TIMES, MIGRANTS NEED HELP TO GET TO WHERE THEY NEED TO GO
THEY NEED THE SUPPORT OF COMMUNITIES TO GET THEM FROM POINT A TO POINT B
THAT'S WHERE THE BIRMINGHAM MIGRANT TRANSIT PROJECT COMES IN
The Birmingham Migrant Transit Project (BMTP) assists migrants in traveling to their sponsors after the expiration of Title 42.
In December 2023, ALIRP mobilized the Birmingham Migrant Transit Project (BMTP) to assist migrants in traveling to their sponsors after the expiration of Title 42. Title 42 is a public health measure that was put in place during the COVID 19 pandemic by the Trump Administration to block migrants from seeking asylum in the United States. In anticipation of a huge influx of migrants when Title 42 ended, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office in Alabama reached out to ALIRP and other nonprofit organizations near transportation hubs to ask if we could help migrants released from immigration detention facilities in Louisiana to travel to their sponsors throughout the US. ALIRP coordinated plans for the BMTP in collaboration with many other community partners, including the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Deported Asylum Seekers Assistance Project, Canterbury United Methodist Church, Trinity West United Methodist Church, Food for Our Journey, and many others.
Title 42 finally ended on May 11, 2023, and ALIRP volunteers welcomed 25 migrants on May 17, and 13 migrants on May 31. Volunteers met the migrants at the Willow Wood Park Recreation Center and helped the migrants contact their sponsors and purchase bus, plane, or train tickets, provided them with lunch and snack bags, hygiene products and weather-appropriate clothing, and transported them to the airport or bus/train station. If the migrants were not able to travel on the same day, we arranged overnight hotel accommodations.
Starting on June 7, the project will be coordinated by the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ). For information on how to help as this project continues, please contact the ACIJ by email at [email protected] or by phone at (205) 945-0777.
