Columbia County Sanctuary Movement

Columbia County Sanctuary Movement (CCSM) partnered with the Hudson Valley Young Farmers Coalition (HVYFC) to deliver Know Your Rights farm trainings to agricultural workers and farm owners across the Hudson Valley and beyond. CCSM developed the 'Protocol for Dealing with Immigration Law Enforcement for Farmers' training and partnered with HVYFC to deliver it — co-facilitating sessions and providing ongoing language justice support throughout the collaboration. Bilingual trainings were conducted in English and Spanish across farms and agricultural centers in the Hudson Valley and Capital Region. Within one week of the first training, a participating farm used the skills learned to assist their staff during a law enforcement encounter. The collaboration also led to an invitation from the Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming to present at the Hudson Valley CSA Coalition meeting, extending this work to an even wider regional network. This work is part of CCSM's broader Deportation Defense program, which builds community capacity to protect directly impacted people and allies in the face of escalating immigration enforcement.