Alejandra Oliva
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
📤 1031
📥 1490
📝 147
writer, embroiderer & translator | RIVERMOUTH out now | she/her
pinned post!
Happy #internationaltranslationday2023 -- I wrote a book about immigration, God, and how translation can change your life while changing someone else's đź§¶
Olivalejandra.com/books
loading . . .
Books — Alejandra Oliva
https://Olivalejandra.com/books
over 2 years ago
0
12
3
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Commonweal
1 day ago
"I did not want to undergo the mortifying ordeal of being known in order to be loved, did not want to be changed by this love I have so carefully avoided."
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
pens a reflection for the third Sunday of Lent:
loading . . .
Do I Take the Living Water?
Up until now, the bargain of Christianity has not always felt worth it to me. My work as an immigration legal-service provider has changed that.
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/oliva-immigration-lent-reflection-ice-well-samaritan
0
4
2
I feel very tender and vulnerable about this being out in the world, but i'm also quite proud of it?
add a skeleton here at some point
1 day ago
0
4
2
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Christian Century
about 1 month ago
“A favorable immigration ruling in Chicago was overturned. The growth of our bond fund was not.” –
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/voices/irrev...
loading . . .
Irrevocable harm and irrevocable good
A favorable immigration ruling in Chicago was overturned. The growth of our bond fund was...
https://www.christiancentury.org/voices/irrevocable-harm-and-irrevocable-good
0
3
1
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Christian Century
about 2 months ago
“We were getting tens of thousands of dollars each day—a tidal wave of people opening their wallets because there was a chance it would help undo the harms that had been done to Chicago over the course of a brutal occupation by federal agents.” –
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
loading . . .
Irrevocable harm and irrevocable good
A favorable immigration ruling in Chicago was overturned. The growth of our bond fund was...
https://www.christiancentury.org/voices/irrevocable-harm-and-irrevocable-good
0
2
1
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
A L O N Z O
about 1 month ago
Extremely back on my "wake up babe, new
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
just dropped"!! David Foster Wallace talks about the "this is water" of living a life made up of days. This really spoke to me about the process of making those days and ideals meet in reality.
open.substack.com/pub/ojosdesa...
loading . . .
On Human Touch
Seven hours at the Chicago ICE Field Office
https://open.substack.com/pub/ojosdesantalucia/p/on-human-touch?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
1
3
1
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Christian Century
3 months ago
“I want to live already in the future of all my beautiful things—the yarn in the crates transformed into the sweater I have planned for them, . . . books with my name on them ranged up on the shelf, my city calm and quiet.” –
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/voices/pract...
loading . . .
Practicing patience in difficult times
I want to be able to take my days and transform them into beauty. This fall in Chicago, it has felt like time is running...
https://www.christiancentury.org/voices/practicing-patience-difficult-times
0
2
1
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
MisterJayEm
4 months ago
The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund:
add a skeleton here at some point
0
25
35
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Dr. Lucian Walkowicz
4 months ago
You may have seen that 600+ detainees are eligible for release, which is amazing! BUT: you may not know that immigration detainees still have to pay for their freedom-- $1500 bond per person! The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund is raising money to help people get free, please donate:
www.mibfc.org
loading . . .
Midwest Immigration Bond Fund
https://www.mibfc.org
2
141
163
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
USDA Crit Beef Inspector
4 months ago
I am personally matching donations up to $500 made to the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund by Friday at 5pm. Send me a screenshot & I'll post my match by EOD Friday. They've got a larger $20k match on the table. Courts are finally stepping in some so let's get these folks home.
www.mibfc.org
loading . . .
Midwest Immigration Bond Fund
https://www.mibfc.org/
4
17
13
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Mike Fragassi
4 months ago
I'll second this call. ICIRR, the main organization doing work to help the abducted immigrants in Chicago, is endorsing this organization & this link as the primary way to help pay the bonds to release those still held by ICE. Help them get home for Thanksgiving.
www.instagram.com/mw_bondfund/...
add a skeleton here at some point
1
12
7
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Alex V. Hernandez
4 months ago
The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund launched in 2020 to provide bond assistance to people navigating the complex immigration legal system. That mission has become more difficult under the second Trump administration, the group said.
blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/17/b...
via
@blockclubchi.bsky.social
loading . . .
A Midwest Bond Fund Is Helping Detained Chicago Immigrants Return To Their Families
The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund launched in 2020 to provide bond assistance to people navigating the complex immigration legal system. That mission has become more difficult under the second Trump a...
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/17/bond-fund-for-people-detained-by-federal-immigration-agents-seeks-donations/
0
14
6
tinyurl.com/MidwayToFreedom
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
0
0
0
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Puff the Magic Hater
4 months ago
615 of the estimated 3,000+ detained immigrants who were kidnapped in Chicagoland during Midway Blitz are expected to be eligible for bond this week. The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund shows up for people in detention who need bond, but it costs, at minimum, $1,500 per person. Pls help them.
loading . . .
A Midwest Bond Fund Is Helping Detained Chicago Immigrants Return To Their Families
The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund launched in 2020 to provide bond assistance to people navigating the complex immigration legal system. That mission has become more difficult under the second Trump a...
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/17/bond-fund-for-people-detained-by-federal-immigration-agents-seeks-donations/
8
286
234
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Christian Century
8 months ago
“The work I do in front of the stove, the daily care I take with meals—this isn’t just about sustenance or being healthy. It is an expression of my morals and concerns, reminding me that the smallest of my actions is performed in a web of mutuality and care.” –
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
loading . . .
Cooking when the world is on fire
These days, daily tasks can feel like a...
https://www.christiancentury.org/voices/cooking-when-world-fire
0
5
1
new newsletter on the 100th anniversary of mrs. dalloway and reading it from a less-than-generous lens born of my own frustrations
open.substack.com/pub/ojosdesa...
loading . . .
Getting the Flowers Yourself
On a Wednesday in Mid-June
https://open.substack.com/pub/ojosdesantalucia/p/getting-the-flowers-yourself?r=6ge&utm_medium=ios
9 months ago
0
3
0
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
History is What's Happening
11 months ago
Appropriate, because one of the worker survivors of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire was then deported as part of the first Red Scare.
add a skeleton here at some point
2
18
6
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Commonweal
11 months ago
"It has become clear to me in the past few months that the immigration legal system has dropped even the slightest pretense of its orientation toward justice."
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
: 'A Way in the Wilderness'
www.commonwealmagazine.org/lent-reflect...
loading . . .
A Way in the Wilderness
Lent is a season of reflection—but also a season to prepare for the work ahead, to sweep aside everything that has not worked and find new ways through the desert.
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/lent-reflection-fifth-sunday-oliva-ice-organizing-immigration
1
6
6
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Terrence Peterson
11 months ago
This is an endemic problem, by the way. Geo Group and CoreCivic regularly deny folks in detention their meds. I witnessed this practiced systematically at Krome for the 5 years I used to visit and communicate with guys there
add a skeleton here at some point
0
116
41
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Jessica Goudeau
12 months ago
For the Injustice Report today, my colleague
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
wrote a jaw-dropping, must-read post: "Yes, the El Salvador 'Deportations' Are Really Bad'
open.substack.com/pub/injustic...
loading . . .
Yes, the El Salvador “Deportations” are Really Bad
and not just for the innocent people who got deported
https://open.substack.com/pub/injusticereport/p/yes-the-el-salvador-deportations?r=h677&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
0
4
3
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Juan Martinez
12 months ago
This post has gotten so much traction & I’d just urge everyone to check out Pitzer’s history of concentration camps: we want these things to shout out their evil, to glow red w malign intent, but they begin as seemingly pragmatic, almost ordinary answers to mass containment & transport/transfer.
add a skeleton here at some point
2
192
65
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
William B. Fuckley
12 months ago
if you find yourself reluctant to support the guy at Columbia because you find some of the politics he espoused distasteful or even abhorrent, you should know that this is exactly the reaction that they hoped for in choosing him as a target for unlawful detention based on political speech.
214
18211
5039
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
David Forbes
12 months ago
Since Obama administration, at least, leftists/radicals repeatedly warned that Dems pouring cash into ICE and militarized police was not just evil in its own right, but laying the groundwork for open fascism. We were dismissed, with various degrees of vitriol, for pointing this obvious fact out.
40
4247
996
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Melissa Gira Grant
12 months ago
I think the more horrifying thing to sit with is this: the every-day operations of the jail, prison, and immigration detention systems are and have been dehumanizing, and we built them, and they lend themselves seamlessly to the fascist business of stealing and caging even more people
9
949
303
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Silky Shah
about 1 year ago
This is why we must fight for everyone. Whether they’ve been incarcerated or have had contact with the criminal legal system or are merely undocumented. When you accept that some people are deserving of detention and deportation the scope of who is eligible is always under threat of expanding.
add a skeleton here at some point
13
1787
610
every time i sit down to write a letter to a new pen pal in ICE detention, im struck mute. what could i possibly say to someone in such a place? here’s a reminder to myself, and an invitation to you.
open.substack.com/pub/ojosdesa...
loading . . .
Nature writing for ICE Detainees
Figuring out what to say to a pen pal
https://open.substack.com/pub/ojosdesantalucia/p/nature-writing-for-ice-detainees?r=6ge&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
about 1 year ago
1
7
2
i wrote about the remnant prairie behind the artist residency where i work
www.christiancentury.org/article/call...
loading . . .
The call of a remnant prairie
I’ve seen artists enchanted and haunted by the prairie, their work changed by spending time in the...
https://www.christiancentury.org/article/call-remnant-prairie
about 1 year ago
0
6
0
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Christian Century
about 1 year ago
“The biodiversity of the prairie, its changing face across the seasons: this ecosystem is a community, living and breathing and renewing itself, older than the houses and the trees around it.” –
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/article/call...
loading . . .
The call of a remnant prairie
I’ve seen artists enchanted and haunted by the prairie, their work changed by spending time in the...
https://www.christiancentury.org/article/call-remnant-prairie
0
2
1
I wrote about the ways that the Trump admin has been purposely fucking with the visibility of ICE enforcement/the increased invisibility of undocumented people in daily life/feeling called into visibility as a neighbor
www.commonwealmagazine.org/ICE-immigrat...
loading . . .
Visibly Invisible
The Trump administration hopes not only to deport migrants, but also to make them feel so unsafe they no longer participate actively in our communities.
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/ICE-immigration-trump-chicago-oliva
about 1 year ago
1
10
5
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Felipe De La Hoz
about 1 year ago
I think most people are intuitively aware of this but something like the official White House account posting an “ASMR” video of shackled immigrants is not just cruel for its own sake, it’s intentional envelope-pushing to ramp up to desensitization over inhumane detention, camps, and deaths
363
17225
5370
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
H.E.D. Houseman
about 1 year ago
I spent most of the past three years not writing and doing a lot of sewing and somehow becoming a public mender and sewing teacher—I wrote about how it changed my sense of community today in my newsletter.
hedhouseman.substack.com/p/taking-you...
loading . . .
Taking Your Time is the Point
And it turns out, so are other people.
https://hedhouseman.substack.com/p/taking-your-time-is-the-point?utm_source=substack&utm_content=feed%3Arecommended%3Acopy_link
1
15
6
well, fuck ICE i guess
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 year ago
1
3
0
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
rachel ida
about 1 year ago
“We have a choice, these days, to be reborn into these times, to consent to change with them not in resignation to the fascist values …but in resignation to our truer, wilder selves, to shake off the mores of our time and to walk into the prairie.” wow,
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
1
1
1
i wrote about dying and being reborn ungovernable also perfume and prairies and jackson pollock
open.substack.com/pub/ojosdesa...
loading . . .
Something Rich and Strange
A sea change, a perfume, and Virginia Woolf's Orlando
https://open.substack.com/pub/ojosdesantalucia/p/something-rich-and-strange?selection=b3a17bf8-ce50-42df-9267-922067e15963
about 1 year ago
0
2
1
every single time jason sits down to read the dog will drag his toy over and stare at him unceasingly until he puts the book away and gets on the floor to wrassle
about 1 year ago
1
10
0
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Kat Howard
about 1 year ago
Alejandra's writing is so gorgeous and smart.
add a skeleton here at some point
1
5
1
i am literally out here making collages for my newsletter about Orlando (novel), Jackson Pollock, perfume, gender, Shakespeare and decay, pls subscribe
ojosdesantalucia.substack.com
about 1 year ago
0
11
2
fully and absolutely bizarre to realize that Wabansia Ave, to Simone de Beauvoir, was one of the most romantic places on earth
about 1 year ago
0
2
0
re reading Orlando for newsletter research, and i think i love it so much in part because it just…works beautifully as a novel but it’s also packed full of what feel like inside jokes and asides that you sort of grasp but u know are meant for Vita Sackville-West’s eyes only
about 1 year ago
0
6
0
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Jessica Goudeau
about 1 year ago
This piece is SO GOOD
add a skeleton here at some point
0
2
1
I’m really excited to get to work with
@jessicagoudeau.bsky.social
on Injustice Report—my first post went up today, on Chicago, ICE enforcement actions, the sensitive locations memo and knowing your rights
open.substack.com/pub/injustic...
loading . . .
The ICE Raid that Wasn't
Or: why the Sensitive Locations Memo Mattered
https://open.substack.com/pub/injusticereport/p/the-ice-raid-that-wasnt?utm_source=app-post-stats-page&r=6ge&utm_medium=ios
about 1 year ago
2
6
1
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Jessica Goudeau
about 1 year ago
I’m relaunching my newsletter as a shared space with
@olivalejandra.bsky.social
and Lauren Pinkston called The Injustice Report: Reporting that bends the arc of justice.
injusticereport.substack.com/p/the-injust...
We’ll report on community stories of how unjust policies affect real people.
loading . . .
The Injustice Report
Reporting that bends the arc of justice.
https://injusticereport.substack.com/p/the-injustice-report
1
3
3
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Greg Pak
about 1 year ago
I don't trust any leader who isn't standing up for immigrants and trans people right now.
12
1258
296
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Lynda Lopez
about 1 year ago
This is probably the most helpful resource I’ve seen so far in terms of keeping up with verifiable news on what’s happening around immigration raids in Chicago. No paywall too.
loading . . .
Feds start making immigration arrests across Chicago area: Live updates
Trump border czar Tom Homan and TV personality Dr. Phil are in the city to observe the operations, according to reports.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/live/ice-raids-immigration-chicago-sunday
3
60
38
talking to
@johndownesangus.bsky.social
’s class was one of the highlights of last year—incredibly jealous of this reading list
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 year ago
0
1
0
wrote like 2,000 words of newsletter today, coming soon to an email inbox near you.
ojosdesantalucia.substack.com
loading . . .
Ojos de Santa Lucia | Alejandra Oliva | Substack
An erratically published missive on writing, justice, and my own personal canon of lady-saints. | olivalejandra.com. Click to read Ojos de Santa Lucia, by Alejandra Oliva, a Substack publication with ...
https://ojosdesantalucia.substack.com
about 1 year ago
0
1
0
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
pseudonym jones
almost 2 years ago
even a worm will turn
34
2239
599
reposted by
Alejandra Oliva
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
about 1 year ago
I reskeeted this earlier but there is now an extremely important correction: Secret Service says it was their agents that went to the school in Chicago, not ICE.
add a skeleton here at some point
13
97
39
unspeakably furious after seeing this. grateful for local news, prepared educators, and a city with policies that stand by its people
blockclubchicago.org/2025/01/24/i...
loading . . .
ICE Agents Denied Entry At Chicago Elementary School, CPS Officials Say
Immigration agents arrived at Hamline Elementary School in Back of the Yards Friday, officials said. CPS administrators followed protocols and didn't let immigration agents in.
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/01/24/ice-agents-denied-entry-at-cps-school-in-back-of-the-yards/
about 1 year ago
0
4
0
Load more
feeds!
log in