Mission of immigrant aid group evolves
ELKHART — An immigrant aid organization begun 26 years ago to offer basic medical care now finds itself advocating for undocumented residents in new ways.
Staff from the Center for Healing and Hope spoke to the League of Women Voters about the group's mission Thursday. They also addressed services that CHH has started offering in recent months amid intense federal deportation efforts, such as offering packages of information to prepare families for an unexpected separation.
'Parents are getting pulled over by police on the way home from work and they're getting put in jail. And they're getting taken from jail over to detention in Clay County. So families are scared,' said Jane Ross Richer, immigrant resource coordinator. ''What's going to happen to my children if I'm taken, if I go to detention, where are my kids going to be? What's going to happen to my kids? My kids were born here in the united States, they've never been to the country that I came from. Who will take care of them?''
There are 37 inmates as of Friday who are being held in the Elkhart County Correctional Facility on local charges but whom ICE has requested be held when they would otherwise be eligible for release, according to department spokesman Capt. Mike Culp. He said the agency has 48 hours to pick them up from the jail once they're eligible for release.
Ross Richer said they talk families through gathering all their important documents and making them accessible to someone they trust, as well as figuring out who will take care of the children if their parents are taken off the street. It's something the organization started doing alongside their usual services such as providing medical care, a food pantry, support groups and emergency financial assistance.
'This is the family preparedness packet, unfortunately something that we need at this time,' Ross Richer said. 'I distributed 50 of those to Elkhart school social workers.'
They also distribute Red Cards, which contain immigrants' rights information that's needed when encountering police, and offer know-your-rights seminars in partnership with the National Immigrant Justice Center. She encourages those who live in Goshen to obtain a Goshen Resident ID card as well, which the CHH began offering at the end of 2017 as an alternative form of identification for those who can't obtain an official ID like a driver's license.
The card provides verified identification for purposes such as obtaining city or school services, purchasing prescriptions or when coming into contact with law enforcement. La Casa de Amistad offers a similar ID for Elkhart residents.
Ross Richer said the ID program is more important now than ever.
'If they do get pulled over by the police, number one, they want to give their real name, they want to give their real birth date. Because if they get taken into detention, we want to know how to find them, and it's hard to find people if they give a different name,' she said. 'And when they ask you where you're from? 'I'm from Goshen, and here's my card, because I belong in Goshen.' And if the police ask anything else, do not answer their questions. You do not have to answer their questions, you do not have to tell them what country you're from. It's not safe anymore to say where you're from.'
'Cruelty is the only word'
Richard Aguirre, a member of the CHH board of directors, said efforts to strip people of their legal status and to target over 10 million for removal, at an unprecedented rate of 1 million per year, shouldn't be surprising after the Republican National Convention last July focused so much on bordure closures and mass deportation. He noted the actions targeting immigrants this year haven't been the result of any new laws being passed but by a flurry of executive orders.
He said it's also no longer the case that schools, churches, hospitals and courtrooms are considered sensitive areas which border agents don't enter.
'If an immigrant was there for a court hearing, immigration agents would stay away because they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. They were reporting to the courts about their immigration status or some other situation, and that's gone away,' Aguirre said. 'They're arresting people who go to their immigration hearings because they were ordered to go there. And if they don't, they're subject to immediate deportation. When they go there, often the judge says, 'You're following the rules, continue what you're doing.' They step out of that courtroom and they're arrested. Cruel. Cruelty, there's no other word.'
Aguirre expressed dismay at the fact that it's necessary to hand out know-your-rights cards to children. He pointed to examples of migrant children as young as 1 year old being forced to go through deportation proceedings without a lawyer after the Trump administration cut funding in March for legal advocates for unaccompanied minors.
'More than 26,000 children lost assistance from an attorney, forcing them to go to court alone to stay in this country. A lot of these kids have fled violence, sexual abuse, gangs and family dysfunction,' he said. 'That's what we've come to in this country in 2025. That kind of fear that immigrants are experiencing on the streets of Los Angeles now, in the fields of California, the farm fields, the courtrooms, has spread to Elkhart County. Children are experiencing that trauma of not knowing, when they come home, whether their parents will be there.'
He said it's inevitable that mass arrests will come to Elkhart County. Blue states were targeted first, but to reach its deportation goals the administration will have to start reaching into the farms, factories and construction sites of red states, Aguirre said.
It would have a devastating effect on the local economy.
'If the RV industry is shut down, the impact that that will have on our economy will be substantial. It will be very negative. But it's going to affect everything that Jane talked about: It's going to affect retirement communities, who rely on those workers, construction, restaurants. A lot of social services that are provided by immigrants,' Aguirre said. 'I'm hoping that we'll be OK for a while. But if not, I hope all of you will consider stepping up and doing what you can.'
Aguirre encouraged the audience to share what they learn with others and to contact their elected officials. He pointed to the success in 2017 of grassroots efforts to keep a private prison company's immigrant detention center out of Elkhart County.
'The more they hear, the more they'll start to have a second thought,' he said. 'There can be an impact by people who contact elected officials. But I especially want to encourage you to reach out to local elected officials. That's the step that I don't think enough people are doing. Go to council meetings, go to county commission meetings and county council meetings. Start holding them accountable. Start telling them, 'Will you protect our RV workers or are you going to want our economy to collapse when the undocumented people are picked up?''
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ELKHART — An immigrant aid organization begun 26 years ago to offer basic medical care now finds itself advocating for undocumented residents in new ways. Staff from the Center for Healing and Hope spoke to the League of Women Voters about the group's mission Thursday. They also addressed services that CHH has started offering in recent months amid intense federal deportation efforts, such as offering packages of information to prepare families for an unexpected separation. 'Parents are getting pulled over by police on the way home from work and they're getting put in jail. And they're getting taken from jail over to detention in Clay County. So families are scared,' said Jane Ross Richer, immigrant resource coordinator. ''What's going to happen to my children if I'm taken, if I go to detention, where are my kids going to be? What's going to happen to my kids? My kids were born here in the united States, they've never been to the country that I came from. Who will take care of them?'' There are 37 inmates as of Friday who are being held in the Elkhart County Correctional Facility on local charges but whom ICE has requested be held when they would otherwise be eligible for release, according to department spokesman Capt. Mike Culp. He said the agency has 48 hours to pick them up from the jail once they're eligible for release. Ross Richer said they talk families through gathering all their important documents and making them accessible to someone they trust, as well as figuring out who will take care of the children if their parents are taken off the street. It's something the organization started doing alongside their usual services such as providing medical care, a food pantry, support groups and emergency financial assistance. 'This is the family preparedness packet, unfortunately something that we need at this time,' Ross Richer said. 'I distributed 50 of those to Elkhart school social workers.' They also distribute Red Cards, which contain immigrants' rights information that's needed when encountering police, and offer know-your-rights seminars in partnership with the National Immigrant Justice Center. She encourages those who live in Goshen to obtain a Goshen Resident ID card as well, which the CHH began offering at the end of 2017 as an alternative form of identification for those who can't obtain an official ID like a driver's license. The card provides verified identification for purposes such as obtaining city or school services, purchasing prescriptions or when coming into contact with law enforcement. La Casa de Amistad offers a similar ID for Elkhart residents. Ross Richer said the ID program is more important now than ever. 'If they do get pulled over by the police, number one, they want to give their real name, they want to give their real birth date. Because if they get taken into detention, we want to know how to find them, and it's hard to find people if they give a different name,' she said. 'And when they ask you where you're from? 'I'm from Goshen, and here's my card, because I belong in Goshen.' And if the police ask anything else, do not answer their questions. You do not have to answer their questions, you do not have to tell them what country you're from. It's not safe anymore to say where you're from.' 'Cruelty is the only word' Richard Aguirre, a member of the CHH board of directors, said efforts to strip people of their legal status and to target over 10 million for removal, at an unprecedented rate of 1 million per year, shouldn't be surprising after the Republican National Convention last July focused so much on bordure closures and mass deportation. He noted the actions targeting immigrants this year haven't been the result of any new laws being passed but by a flurry of executive orders. He said it's also no longer the case that schools, churches, hospitals and courtrooms are considered sensitive areas which border agents don't enter. 'If an immigrant was there for a court hearing, immigration agents would stay away because they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. They were reporting to the courts about their immigration status or some other situation, and that's gone away,' Aguirre said. 'They're arresting people who go to their immigration hearings because they were ordered to go there. And if they don't, they're subject to immediate deportation. When they go there, often the judge says, 'You're following the rules, continue what you're doing.' They step out of that courtroom and they're arrested. Cruel. Cruelty, there's no other word.' Aguirre expressed dismay at the fact that it's necessary to hand out know-your-rights cards to children. He pointed to examples of migrant children as young as 1 year old being forced to go through deportation proceedings without a lawyer after the Trump administration cut funding in March for legal advocates for unaccompanied minors. 'More than 26,000 children lost assistance from an attorney, forcing them to go to court alone to stay in this country. A lot of these kids have fled violence, sexual abuse, gangs and family dysfunction,' he said. 'That's what we've come to in this country in 2025. That kind of fear that immigrants are experiencing on the streets of Los Angeles now, in the fields of California, the farm fields, the courtrooms, has spread to Elkhart County. Children are experiencing that trauma of not knowing, when they come home, whether their parents will be there.' He said it's inevitable that mass arrests will come to Elkhart County. Blue states were targeted first, but to reach its deportation goals the administration will have to start reaching into the farms, factories and construction sites of red states, Aguirre said. It would have a devastating effect on the local economy. 'If the RV industry is shut down, the impact that that will have on our economy will be substantial. It will be very negative. But it's going to affect everything that Jane talked about: It's going to affect retirement communities, who rely on those workers, construction, restaurants. A lot of social services that are provided by immigrants,' Aguirre said. 'I'm hoping that we'll be OK for a while. But if not, I hope all of you will consider stepping up and doing what you can.' Aguirre encouraged the audience to share what they learn with others and to contact their elected officials. He pointed to the success in 2017 of grassroots efforts to keep a private prison company's immigrant detention center out of Elkhart County. 'The more they hear, the more they'll start to have a second thought,' he said. 'There can be an impact by people who contact elected officials. But I especially want to encourage you to reach out to local elected officials. That's the step that I don't think enough people are doing. Go to council meetings, go to county commission meetings and county council meetings. Start holding them accountable. Start telling them, 'Will you protect our RV workers or are you going to want our economy to collapse when the undocumented people are picked up?''
