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Pen Pal Guidelines & Instructions
Last updated: October 4th, 2024
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Thank you so much for your interest in being a pen pal with an immigrant in detention. Your simple acts of kindness can provide emotional support for some of the most marginalized people in the world, and the VIDA pen pal team considers this to be sacred work.
Please reflect on the following items as you go about this work.
Letter-writing best practices
Our friends at Freedom for Immigrants have created these guidelines around corresponding with immigrants in detention. Please review the guidelines prior to writing to an immigrant in detention. Some of the key points that resonate with us include
Detention is an isolating experience; our letters offer hope to people who often feel alone and forgotten.
Write from your heart - consider what you would like to read and what would encourage you if you were in prison.
Include details of the outside world. Remember that in most detention centers, immigrants are not able to look out a window or see direct sunlight, so news you share from the outside world can remind them of what it is like to be free.
The need for consistency
Please understand the importance of writing to your pen pal on a regular basis, even if you do not receive return letters on a regular basis or at all. More background is available here in our FAQ document; in general, there may be numerous reasons that an immigrant may not write back to you, even though they enjoy hearing from you. It is therefore important that we send letters on a regular basis - at least once per month, or more frequently as you are able.
In addition to sending letters, you may want to consider sending postcards with a brief message, or sending artwork from kids or other personalized items that remind immigrants we are thinking of them.
If you need to take a break
As much as we all want to support detained immigrants, sometimes life gets in the way. If at some point you need to press pause on your pen pal commitment, that is absolutely ok. 😊 We simply ask that you let us know by sending an email to abqvida@gmail.com so that we can match another volunteer with your pen pal in detention.
Protecting the privacy of immigrants
It is important that we protect the privacy of the immigrants with whom we correspond; indeed, doing so can be vital to ensuring their safety. The key point to remember is that we should not widely share private information about immigrants without their permission. Please review these guidelines prior to writing to someone in detention.
Sending and receiving letters
Please review this document for information about addressing and sending letters to detained immigrants.
National Immigration Detention Hotline
Freedom for Immigrants has a hotline that people in detention can call, free of charge, to report abuse and be connected to resources. We want to raise awareness of this service among detained immigrants, especially since in-person visits are currently suspended by ICE due to the coronavirus. ICE is not supposed to be monitoring the hotline calls. Please consider passing along this information to the immigrant with whom you are corresponding.
When additional support is needed
If you receive a letter from an immigrant who indicates that they are struggling with mental health challenges, are in need of legal assistance, are being mistreated in detention, or are dealing with other extenuating circumstances, please contact our VIDA leadership team at abqvida@gmail.com so that we can talk about how best to address these issues.
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