Cross-Border Learning: Practical Lessons from the U.S. Migration Frontlines

We organise virtual events and series  for activists and funders that dig deeper into pressing political issues, spark honest conversation & experience sharing around difficult subject matter and build wider community ties across the European grassroots activist and funders scene.

Guerrilla Foundation

Migration is the wedge. Communities are fighting back. Join us for cross-border learning with organizers on the frontlines.

Migration has become a primary wedge issue for authoritarian movements around the world — a testing ground for democratic erosion, the normalization of detention, and the dismantling of rights. The tactics being deployed in the United States are being watched globally with alarm. Families separated on the street by armed state agents — without warning, without warrant. Migrants stripped of due process and access to legal counsel. Detention expanding as a tool of political control.For many watching from outside the United States, the alarm is not only about what is happening there. These tactics are spreading. The political logic behind them is already reshaping landscapes closer to home. And communities are fighting back.This tactical, interactive session brings two visionary leaders on the frontlines of this moment — Emilia González Avalos (MN Unidos, Minneapolis) and Silky Shah (Detention Watch Network) — into direct conversation with an international audience. They’ll share how their work actually functions on the ground: the mechanics of community defense, the infrastructure behind rapid response, and the strategies targeting the contracts and systems that enable detention at scale. Then we move into breakout groups to ask: what travels? What would need to adapt?This session is for you — whether you’re an activist or organizer, a funder navigating this moment, or an engaged community member who understands both the shared democratic threat and the power of organizing to push back against it. SPEAKERSEmilia González Avalos is Executive Director of <a href="https://unidos-mn.org" title="https://unidos-mn.org" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Unidos MN</a>, who led the rapid mobilization and training of thousands of Minnesota residents during ICE enforcement operations in her city — and transformed a student network into a statewide Latino powerhouse organizing with workers and families across Minnesota.Silky Shah — Executive Director, <a href="https://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org" title="https://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Detention Watch Network</a>Silky Shah has been working as an organizer on issues of racial and migrant justice for over two decades. She began fighting the expansion of immigrant jails on the US-Mexico border in the aftermath of 9/11, and joined <a href="https://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org" title="https://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Detention Watch Network</a> in 2009 — a national coalition building power to abolish immigrant detention in the United States. She is the author of Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition, and her writing has appeared in Truthout, Teen Vogue, The Washington Post, and NPR, among others.Christina Antonakos-Wallace — ModeratorChristina Antonakos-Wallace is a filmmaker, cultural organizer, and initiator of <a href="https://withwingsandroots.org" title="https://withwingsandroots.org" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">With Wings and Roots</a> and <a href="https://belongingbeyondborders.net" title="https://belongingbeyondborders.net" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Belonging Beyond Borders</a>. She has been working on migration and belonging for over two decades — getting her start as a youth organizer before going on to design cross-sector collaborations spanning grassroots organizations, public institutions, artists, and funders across 20+ countries. She is also the director of From Here (PBS), an award-winning documentary on migration, race, and identity. ABOUT BELONGING BEYOND BORDERSThis event is organized by Belonging Beyond Borders, a newly-launched transnational network connecting organizers, researchers, artists, and policymakers working across migration, democracy, and belonging. BBB strengthens movements through cross-border learning, strategic exchange, and shared sensemaking.Partners for this event include With Wings and Roots, Building Belonging, the Guerrilla Foundation, the European Philanthropic Initiative for Migration, and Humanity in Action. RESOURCES <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/14Os33vhEcHEmKKKC20943xbjfzWH7RaC/view?usp=sharing" title="https://drive.google.com/file/d/14Os33vhEcHEmKKKC20943xbjfzWH7RaC/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Community Defense and Democratic Resilience. An Ecosystem Map of Organizing Against Immigration Enforcement in the United States (Updated: March 16, 2026)</a>

Cross-Border Learning: Practical Lessons from the U.S. Migration Frontlines

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Cross-Border Learning: Practical Lessons from the U.S. Migration Frontlines

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