Newsletter: October 29, 2025
| Good morning, 285 South readers, We hope you all are doing okay. The stories we’ve been working on over the last week have been heavy, and we haven’t had the space to work on a feature story this week, as we usually do. That said, there are many ways to plug in and get involved right now. For instance, in response to the SNAP interruptions we reported on this week—keep reading for more—the nonprofit Ethaar has launched an emergency food aid fund. And here’s a more comprehensive list of ways to help groups serving immigrant and refugee communities in the metro region. A few events happening this week: On Friday, Casa Alterna is offering a training for anyone interested in its Compas at the Gates program, where volunteers assist folks waiting for court dates and check-ins outside the downtown Atlanta ICE office. (We profiled their work a few months ago.) There’s also a training on November 21. Register here. On Saturday, Noor Family Services, a nonprofit that supports survivors of domestic violence, is having its annual fundraising dinner. More information here. On Sunday at Oakland Cemetery, the Consulate General of Mexico and the Institute of Mexican Culture are hosting a free Dia de los Muertos festival with dances, crafts, traditional food, and altars honoring lost loved ones. Sign up now for this citizenship clinic on November 15, hosted by Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Atlanta, along with Poder Latinx and Mi Familia, where experts will go over the process of becoming a citizen—including changes to the citizenship test. Here’s what 285 South has been covering: “Coming to America was like a dream come true, but then when I get here . . . I’m just overwhelmed with the fear of what happens tomorrow”  Rita, a Stone Mountain resident who didn’t want her last name shared, doesn’t know how she’s going to pay October’s rent—which is already late. “If I show you my bank balance, I have $20,” she told 285 South on Thursday, her voice breaking. “I haven’t paid the October rent, and November is on its way.” For a two-bedroom apartment, which she shares with her two children, her monthly rent and utilities are about $1,450. Rita was recently notified that, in November, “we might not receive food stamps. That’s just like another chaos and panic.” That places her among the 1.4 million Georgia residents who will lose their SNAP benefits on November 1 if the government shutdown continues. For recently arrived refugees like Rita, it will make it even harder to find stable footing, especially given that the support once provided by some resettlement agencies has also dried up due to federal cuts to refugee programs. To prepare, some community groups—like the Clarkston Cares Fund—are raising money to help families in the area. Read the full story here. “Every time I don’t hear from him, I panic,” says Adalina, whose husband is in immigration detention  At 3 a.m. on September 19, Adalina Merello was asleep at home in Westside Atlanta when she received a call from her husband, Jorge, who’d left a half hour before to go to a construction job in Alabama. Jorge had been stopped just west of Atlanta in Douglas County for speeding, he told her, by a police officer who’d discovered that he had a THC vape pen on him. She took an Uber out to meet him. “I saw Jorge in the back of the cop car, and I said, You have a lot of problems. Because it didn’t take much imagination to know what was going to happen next,” Adalina said. After spending a few days in county jail, Jorge was transferred to ICE’s Atlanta field office, and is now being held at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin. Since Jorge’s arrest, Adalina—a U.S. citizen—has been living in a state of constant worry and has been relying on the support of family, friends, and community members in Atlanta and in Oregon, where she was born and raised. A friend of hers set up a GoFundMe to help her pay for legal fees and living expenses, and Jorge’s family in Peru have also chipped in to pay some legal fees. Adalina turned to Facebook and LinkedIn, too, to share Jorge’s story. “I was just overwhelmed by how many people responded to it,” she said. Read the full story here. Stories we’re following: Locally: Former lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan—previously a Republican, now running for governor on the Democratic ticket—visited a Vietnamese senior center in Norcross. (Georgia Asian Times) The federal shutdown isn’t just affecting SNAP recipients in Georgia. It’s also threatening housing programs for vulnerable people, research at institutions like Georgia Tech, and jobs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recently laid off hundreds of employees. (Axios Atlanta) Nurses trained in other countries—like Maha Mousnad, who immigrated from Sudan to Clarkston five years ago—are helping make up for a shortage of RNs in Georgia and around the U.S. (Healthbeat) Suwanee restaurant Zoong Guk Jib combines retro aesthetics “that wouldn’t look out of place behind a Swensen’s counter circa 1975” with flavorful Korean-Chinese cooking. (Get the noodles!) (Georgia Asian Times) Told through the eyes of a young boy, a new Stories from Our Block comic explores how gentrification affected a Vietnamese immigrant community in northeast Atlanta. (Asian American Advocacy Fund) Nationally: On the north side of Chicago, as part of its ongoing siege of the city, ICE agents released tear gas outside a neighborhood elementary school while class was in session. (Intercept) Global warming is expected to force nearly 150 million people in the Global South from their homes by the middle of the century—and New York City is already seeing the effects of this climate-fueled mass migration, according to a new analysis. (Documented) Martin Luther King III has joined forces with the Latino organization Mi Familia Vota to promote voter turnout among Black and Latino communities across the country. (Axios) In recent days, federal immigration agents have detained two foreign-born journalists: Filipino American photojournalist Yaakub Vijandre and Sami Hamdi, a British commentator in the middle of an American speaking tour. (AsAm News) And before we go: Sophia spotted a 285 South sticker on a skateboard the other day! As we try to find joy in the little things, we’re thinking of making more tote bags, hats,T-shirts, and more stickers—so readers can proudly show their support for independent, local journalism centering metro Atlanta’s diverse communities. What do you think? Would that be something you’d be into? Hit reply and let us know so we can stock up. 🙂  That’s all we have for now – we’ll see you here next week. The 285 South team. |
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