OCAD stands for Organized Communities Against Deportations. We’re a group of undocumented, unapologetic, and unafraid organizers building a resistance movement against deportations and the criminalization of immigrants and people of color in Chicago and surrounding areas.
We defend our communities, challenge the institutions that target and dehumanize us, and build collective power through grassroots organizing and cross-movement building. We fight alongside families and individuals challenging these systems to create an environment for our communities to work, organize, and thrive with happiness and without fear.
We envision a future without displacement and borders, without incarceration, and without deportations. A future where people can choose to stay or migrate freely. A future where our bodies will not be commodified or exploited to fulfill quotas, to fill cages, or be used to generate profit.
We envision a future where we determine the use of resources to ensure our collective well-being. A future of liberation for indigenous people, immigrants, people of color, women, LGBTQ, black, and all oppressed individuals. A world of dignity and resistance, and a world ruled by systematic transformation, laughter, and love.
OCAD emerged out of the fearless movement led by the young people of the Immigrant Youth Justice League. It is in their spirit that we continue to center our work on undocumented people, but now in a different iteration.
OCAD is an intergenerational collective of individuals who come together to fight against deportations and criminalization. Many of us know first-hand what it is like to live as undocumented people in this country and have ourselves experienced the brutality of detentions and deportations. From 2012 to 2018, we functioned as a volunteer collective, composed of individuals who came together under the shared goal of wanting to see our people free. In 2018, we made the decision to hire our first full-time staff member and, since then, we have fundraised to ensure that we have a team of staff that can consistently carry out our work.
While we now have dedicated staff, our decisions continue to be made collectively and there are many, many people involved in carrying out our work.
Our collective liberation requires that we develop an intersectional analysis of the crises impacting our communities. We would be nothing without the love and solidarity we share with our friends in the struggle. These organizations have pushed our analysis, challenged our work, and helped us grow into the organization we are today.
Mijente
No Cop Academy
Assata’s Daughters
People’s Response Team
Arab American Action Network AAAN
Black Lives Matter Chicago
BYP 100
University of Chicago Church
HANA Center
Never Again
BYP100
Brighton Park Neighborhood Council
BPNC
Albany Park Defense Network APDN
Autonomous Tenants Union ATU
Centro de Trabajadores Unidos
ICIRR
Beyond Legal Aid
PASO
Detention Watch Network DWN
Chicago Community and Workers Rights
Access Living
Just Futures Law Wilson Avenue Church
McArthur Justice Center
Solorio’s Dream Team
UIUC I-CAUSE
Dominican University
NIU Dream Action
Crossroads Fund
Woods Foundation
Open Society Foundation
Borealis Immigration Litigation Fund
Field Foundation of Chicago
Lush Charity
PotPolk Brothers Foundation
Public Welfare Foundation
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