El Pueblo Unido in Action
Defending Our Community & Protecting Our Future
Over the past several months, our immigrant community has been under attack, in policy, in practice, and in spirit. El Pueblo Unido has met this moment with urgency, conviction, and an unshakable commitment to defend our people. We’ve taken to the streets, expanded essential programs, and stood up to injustice wherever it shows up. In a time of rising fear and hostility, our mission is clearer than ever: to protect our people, build real power, and keep organizing for dignity and justice — no matter who’s in charge.
Through our Education Services program, we’ve led numerous Know Your Rights workshops across Atlantic and Cape May County for over 500 community members, equipping families, workers, tenants, and youth with information to navigate encounters with ICE. Alongside these workshops, we’ve distributed over 5,000 red KYR cards to educators, small businesses, and partner nonprofits across the region.
Our Social Services program continues to provide assistance with applications, appointments, and critical translations. Just this past weekend, we partnered with the Mexican Consulate of Philadelphia to host a Mobile Consulate, helping over 150 people obtain passports, consular IDs, and birth certificates. We also launched a partnership with NJ CEED at Shore Medical Center to connect our community with cancer education and early detection services.
Our Legal Services program is currently supporting an immigrant mother facing ICE threats from her landlord and eviction after reporting mold and pests that caused her to develop asthma. We helped her document violations, file OPRA requests, bring the case to City Council, and secure pro bono legal support. We also helped her file a civil rights complaint under the NJ Law Against Discrimination with the Division on Civil Rights. We’re now seeking new apartment leads and relocation support. If you know of resources, please email Cristian@ElPuebloUnidoAC.org, our team can assist her with intake applications.
¡El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido!
The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
Since the start of the year, we’ve taken our fight to city halls, planning boards, state conferences, and the streets, organizing across Atlantic and Cape May County to defend our rights and build collective power. None of this would be possible without the members, partners, and allies who continue to show up for dignity and justice.
We packed Atlantic City Council meetings to demand a local resolution supporting the Immigrant Trust Act, and mobilized at AC Board of Education meetings to push for full implementation of NJDOE guidelines to protect immigrant students. We led “A Day Without Immigrants” uniting over 400 people and 50 local businesses to protest Senator Vince Polistina and denounce his anti-immigrant rhetoric. We helped defeat a proposed trash transfer station and incinerator by organizing with local residents and allies, and speaking out at the Pleasantville Planning Board meeting.
We joined Indivisible and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman at the Pleasantville CD-2 Town Hall to uplift immigrant voices and call out Rep. Van Drew’s attacks on our community. We also co-hosted the “Hands Off” protest with Indivisible in Atlantic City with over 200 people in defense of our community. We shared ICE defense strategies at the Latino Action Network Assembly with the New Jersey Alliance For Immigrant Justice, American Friends Service Committee, and Resistencia en Acción! and helped host the 2025 Movement Building Call to Collaboration.
We’re building something powerful — a community defense volunteer project rooted in love, care, and solidarity. Together, we’re showing up for immigrant families across Atlantic and Cape May Counties through Know Your Rights, Family Preparedness, Accompaniment, and Rapid Response.
Whether you can give a few hours or get deeply involved, there’s a place for you.
We’ve already trained over 50 community members, and the solidarity has been incredible. Now is the perfect time to jump in — join a team, get trained, and be part of this growing movement to protect and uplift our community.
Family Preparedness Volunteer Training: Support our Power of Attorney legal clinics by assisting with intake, logistics, translations, and document prep under the supervision of an attorney and trusted public notaries.
Tuesday, April 22 • 6:00 PM (Hybrid) • Register Here
Know Your Rights Volunteer Training: Help distribute educational materials and lead outreach efforts to reach working-class immigrant communities with vital information on how to handle ICE Encounters.
Wednesday, April 23 • 6:00 PM (Hybrid) • Register Here
Accompaniment Team Volunteer Team: Support vulnerable community members during court hearings, ICE check-ins, USCIS interviews, and other critical appointments.
Thursday, April 24 • 6:00 PM (Hybrid) • Register Here
Rapid Response Volunteer Team: Monitor ICE activity, activate our ICE Watch network, and support families during raids or detentions.
Friday, April 25 • 6:00 PM (Hybrid) • Register Here
All trainings are hybrid (join by Zoom or in person). Once you register, we’ll follow up with location and connection details
We’ve got a full month ahead! Here’s how you can take action, build community, and stand with us in the fight for justice.
Spring 2025: We’re currently enrolling our community members in free ESL classes in partnership with Atlantic Cape Community College. Classes run from end of April to June in Atlantic City and are designed for working-class immigrant adults. If you’d like to share information or resources with our students, please reach out, we’d love to connect!
April 19, 2025: Join us this weekend for the No Kings Protest with Indivisible-AtlanticCity, a powerful rally against authoritarianism and for real democracy. With special guest Mayor Ras Baraka! Register Here!
April 26, 2025: We’re honored to join the Atlantic City NAACP’s 51st Freedom Fund Gala, where our Executive Director, Cristian Moreno-Rodriguez, will receive the Sheila Oliver Civil Rights and Social Justice Award. Come celebrate and meet members of our board and intern team! Purchase your tickets here!
May 1, 2025 – May Day: Travel with us to Philadelphia for a statewide mobilization during oral arguments in CoreCivic v. Murphy. We’ll be there in support of New Jersey’s right to ban private immigrant detention centers. Message us to sign up for the bus!
May 1, 2025 – Evening: Celebrate culture and student power at Noche Vaquero, hosted by the Mexican Student Association at Stockton University – Atlantic City. The event will take place in the Fannie Lou Hamer Room. Tickets are available at the Stockton Student Information Desk!
Meet Our Immigrant Justice Fellow: Ashley Ramirez
We’re proud to introduce our 2025 Intern Cohort, four brilliant student leaders studying at Stockton University who have become an essential part of our team. At El Pueblo Unido, we believe internships should be meaningful, educational, rooted in justice and paid! These interns have fought alongside us every step of the way, helping provide critical services, conducting community-based research, and advancing advocacy efforts that center immigrant dignity and power. Their commitment, compassion, and courage inspire us every day.
Ashley Ramirez, Immigrant Justice Fellow • Major - Political Science
Alexander Mendoza, Legal Services Intern • Major - Political Science
Aleyshka Barbosa, Social Services Intern • Masters of Social Work,
Adan Rodriguez, Education Services Intern • Major - Languages & Cultures
Pictured: Thank you to Carlos G. Obrador Garrido Cuesta, Head Consul of Mexico in Philadelphia, and Matt Denafo, President of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority, for meeting with and inspiring our intern cohort. Your leadership and insight left a lasting impact.
Our movement has a home now! After years of organizing without a home, El Pueblo Unido is finally opening our first-ever Community Center at 3203 Atlantic Avenue in Atlantic City. This space will be a sanctuary for our legal, social, educational, and organizing work—a place built by the people, for the people, por el pueblo, para el pueblo! From legal clinics to Know Your Rights workshops, ESL classes to community assemblies, this center will help us grow, serve more community members, and help us keep building power across Atlantic and Cape May Counties
Thank you to our 2024–2025 funders who are helping us grow, build capacity, and deepen our work alongside the community. These partners believe in our mission and are actively investing in legal, social, and educational services—as well as grassroots organizing led by and for immigrant and working-class families across South Jersey.
We’re proud to be supported this year by the Latino Action Network Foundation, Equity Ahora, Thrive AC, the Atlantic City Community Fund, the AC Community Development Block Grant, the Atlantic County Council of Education Association, Food and Water Watch and the American Red Cross Community Adaptation Program!
Now more than ever, we need your support. Every donation goes directly toward supplies, equipment, and resources to bring our new Community Center space to life! You’ll be helping create a true home for immigrant and working-class families to organize, learn, and thrive. Donate HERE now through Action Network and help us build this together!
