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One of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movementurged black immigrants and African-Americans to rise up and defend each other against the pretty dire situation President Donald Trump has presented with his executive order.

Trump has signed executive orders expandingformer President Barack Obamas deportation priorities, calling for for federal authorities to expel undocumented immigrants not just when they are convicted of a violent crime, but when they have been charged with any offense. He also signed threeexecutive orders earlier this month that he says support law enforcement and instructhis new Attorney General Jeff Sessions to form task forces that examine how crime can be reduced andlook at how to destabilize transnational criminal organizations and drug cartelsseen by some as an affront to advocates fighting police brutality against people of color.

Opal Tometi, who founded Black Lives Matter in 2012 with two other activists after the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, saidthatblack immigrants and African-Americans are dealing with the same issues.

Black immigrants and African-Americans share diverse, rich cultures and a lot of beautiful things, but we also share the global fight against a system that operates on racism, Tometi said during BAJIsPresidents Day telephone town hallMonday night on the impact of the executive orders on the two groups. And so right now, this moment, its very, very critical that we rise up and we defend each other. We have to fight to ensure that all black lives matter and there are some practical ways we can engage in this work.

Tometi, who now serves as executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, asserted that black immigrants and African-Americans both experience unjust outcomes in areas such as access to quality public schools, being over-policed, working long hours and struggling to retire. But she noted some additional challenges black immigrants face.

You add that family separation component, the unique language barriers and challenges to just employment, and the fact that black immigrants are far more likely than any other immigrant group to face detention and deportation in our immigration system as a result of criminal contact, the situation is pretty dire, Tometi continued. Its been pretty dire and we can see that things are becoming a little bit more acute.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently launched targeted enforcement operations throughout the country it says arrestedmore than 680 of what it described as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as people who had re-entered the country after getting deported. Immigrant advocates also announcedthat federal agents arrested five male Mexican nationals in raids on Staten Island.

BAJI, an education and advocacy group made up of African-Americans and black immigrants from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, was established in April 2006 in response to immigration bills Congress was considering at the time. It has offices in New York City, California and Georgia.

What were learning, what we are witnessing and what we are experiencing is truly unprecedented and its brutal, Tometi said. However, we have the duty to know our rights, we have the duty to assert our rights and to fight for justice, and thats what tonights call is all about.

Tometi, a Nigerian-American, said that people can take action by taking advantage of resources on the groups official website that helps families prepare to defend themselves in the event that they are profiled or raided, and that the site also includes tools to help people organize their local neighborhood and get involved with the group locally.

She added that people can also become members of the Black Immigration Network, which trains community members, coordinates campaigns and supports the leadership of black immigrants and African-Americans simultaneously. And she told participants toemail tips of any ICE arrests or raids in their communities to the group, but urged them to document raids they witness safely.

Trump is also expected to issue a new executive order barring entry to people from seven Muslim-majority countries this week, after the West Coasts Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a temporary restraining order earlier this month preventing its implementation. Carl Lipscombe, BAJIs programs manager, said the groups sources informed him that the new order could be introduced as early as Wednesday.

Lipscombe saidthat the administrationscalls for detention of non-citizens suspected of violating any federal or state law could impact green card holders, under 1996 laws that increased the number of deportable offenses. He also said the order reestablishes the Secure Communities Program,a DHS program that establishes partnerships with state and local law enforcement tofacilitate deportation

Oftentimes the rhetoric around the border tends to focus on immigration from Mexico and Central Americabut over the last year, weve actually seen a dramatic surge in migration to the border by Haitians as well as African immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S., he said. So those migrants will also be impacted by this executive order.

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Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Urges Black Communities to ...

The Memphis Police Department has been collecting surveillance footage of protestors linked to Black Lives Matter, a local FOX News affiliate has learned.

Law enforcement officials told FOX13 that the police department gathers intelligence containing vital information of BLM protesters -- including date of birth, weight and height -- to help create a "watch list" that bars those listed from entering the Memphis City Hall without an escort.

In one reported instance, a cell phone video captured footage of the Memphis Police standing outside the union headquarters of Keedran "TNT" Franklin, a local organizer and activist for the BLM movement.

RELATED: Most iconic photos of Black Lives Matter movement since Ferguson

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Most iconic photos of Black Lives Matter movement since Ferguson

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FERGUSON, MO - AUGUST 17: Tear gas rains down on a woman kneeling in the street with her hands in the air after a demonstration over the killing of teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer on August 17, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Despite the Brown family's continued call for peaceful demonstrations, violent protests have erupted nearly every night in Ferguson since his August 9, death. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A demonstrator protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling is detained by law enforcement near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. July 9, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

FERGUSON, MO - AUGUST 11: Police force protestors from the business district into nearby neighborhoods on August 11, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets as residents and their supporters protested the shooting by police of an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown who was killed Saturday in this suburban St. Louis community. Yesterday 32 arrests were made after protests turned into rioting and looting in Ferguson. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

ST LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 12: A demonstrator protesting the killings of 18-year-olds Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri Police officer and Vonderrit Myers Jr. by an off duty St. Louis police officer gets help after being maced by police on October 12, 2014 in St Louis, Missouri. The St. Louis area has been struggling to heal since riots erupted in suburban Ferguson following Brown's death. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 3: A demonstrator cries while gathering in Philadelphia to protest the Eric Garner grand jury decision during a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at City Hall December 3, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Organizers called for the demonstration after a grand jury in the Staten Island borough of New York City declined to indict the police officer who used a chokehold on Garner, resulting in his death. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)

FERGUSON, MO - NOVEMBER 25: Police confront demonstrators during a protest on November 25, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Yesterday protesting turned into rioting following the grand jury announcement to not indict officer Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown case. Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was killed by Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer, on August 9. At least 12 buildings were torched and more than 50 people were arrested during the night-long rioting. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

BLOOMINGTON, MN - DECEMBER 20: Thousands of protesters from the group 'Black Lives Matter' disrupt holiday shoppers on December 20, 2014 at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)

A police officer stands over activists, demanding justice for the death of Eric Garner, as they stage a 'die-in' during rush hour at Grand Central Terminal in the Manhattan borough of New York on December 3, 2014. A New York City grand jury on Wednesday returned no indictment against a white police officer who used a chokehold on an unarmed black man who died as police tried to arrest him for illegally selling cigarettes, local media reported. The grand jury in the city's borough of Staten Island decided against criminal charges for New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner. The deadly encounter on July 17 was captured on a video that quickly spread over the Internet and helped fuel debates about how U.S. police use force, particularly against minorities. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (UNITED STATES - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY TRANSPORT)

A man protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling is detained by law enforcement near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. July 9, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

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The video was posted to Franklin's Facebook page on Feb. 6th.

Antonio Cathey, a local union organizer confirmed to FOX13 that the Memphis Police has been conducting surveillance over BLM protesters.

"Sometimes they sit outside our offices, sometimes they sit outside our house." Cathey said, further clarifying the "they'" he was referring to as "the police" in his statement.

Local minister Elaine Blanchard was surprised to find her name noted on the watch list, claiming that her only connection to BLM protests was an instance in which she crossed a barricade during a protest in Graceland, Tennessee, in 2016.

"My weight was on this list," Blanchard said. "I am curious to know where did the mayor's office and the police department get my weight."

SEE ALSO: Secret surveillance of Black Lives Matter protester

Sources involved with Memphis law enforcement told FOX13 police began collecting both Blanchard's an Cathey's information following the Graceland protest.

FOX13 spoke to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland about allegations claiming that his police department had engaged in political surveillance.

"Now that's a separate issue from the list. I've asked the police director to review the procedure with respect to the list" Strickland said.

Strickland said the list was created in response to a protest that occurred outside his home in January that left him and his family shaken, which is why it contained language that forbids a certain number of people from entering his personal property.

However, Strickland claims that he was unaware of the notation on the list mandating that those noted were "to be escorted while in city hall."

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Memphis Police store secret surveillance of Black Lives Matter protesters for 'watch list' - AOL News

Guest Blogger: Brooke Anne Wellman

As a white person, it is difficult to write about racism claiming any sort of moral high ground, but not to talk about it is a deep moral error.

I have heard people of color say that in these kinds of conversations, they often find themselves doing most of the work to educate white people. Either that, or feeling like they have to lighten the mood and keep their real thoughts shut up inside so as not to bruise the egos of their white friends. This is evidence of the term, white fragility, which describes the way in which many white people are reluctant to engage in discussions about race for fear of getting corrected in their ignorance or even worse, appearing racist.

In younger years I found myself deep in the mud of these blunders, saying things like, I dont see color. Though my heart may have been loving, my method was perpetuating a cultural erasure of seeing the truth of black culture. And it is this kind of mentality that inflicts deep wounds into the psyche of black culture again and again. And when one is not seen, what does that do to what one believes about themselves and about what God desires for them? We as white people must look and see what we have done and what is still being done. We as white Christians must face the unveiling of any actions that are contrary to the heart of God and we must stand against them.

In reading Karen Baker-Fletchers Dancing with God,she quotes Mamie Till, whose son Emmett was brutally murdered for false accusations of flirting with a white girl. Mamie called for the world to face the facts of this unjust horror, crying, Look!See!Get delivered of your demons and look! As white people, what makes us not want to look, to look at the marred bodies and blood, to look at things weve perpetuated?

Multicultural scholar, Robin DiAngelo, focuses on racial bigotry among white progressives, whom she calls her most difficult audience. Difficult because of their self-perception that they are already aware and informed and engaged. When interviewed by the Seattle Times for an article entitled Lets Talk About Race, DiAngelo argues, Even if you marched in the 60s, you are not certified racism-free for the rest of your life. For many whites, she continues, being a good moral person and being complicit with racism are mutually exclusive.

White fragility remains because whites dont have to talk about racism; our jobs, our safety and our lives do not depend on it. White people are the ones who have allowed systemic racism to continue. As I have heard it said, racism is a white people issue. And because we have not been traumatized by it, we do not have to grieve it and because of this, it continues and people of color are victims because or our lack of awareness.

The history of racism against blacks casts a long shadow over their lives. During the days of slavery there were different types of preaching within the black church. Some focused on the liberation of the spirit and others prophesied for liberation from the systems of racism. The story of Nat Turner illustrates how a southern black slave and preacher moved from preaching salvation of the soul to the salvation from chains of slavery that crushed everyone around him in spirit and in body.

In Turners early days of preaching, he attempted to encourage his people with the hope of glory and the sweet by and by of heaven to come. But as he saw and experienced the horrors of slavery and how his brothers and sisters were tortured, both body and soul, he knew that salvation meant not only freedom in spirit but freedom from domination. For the oppressed to be free, they must not only hear mercy but must know justice. One without the other lacks the full power that the gospel demands.

In 1968, Martin Luther King Jr., knew his people may be free in spirit, but they still lacked economic opportunity. In his last days he prepared to lead The Poor Peoples March in a protest against Washington. As whites too often we only hear Kings cry for mercy but his final challenge was for justice, for economic opportunity for his people, for all people. To be free in spirit and in body.

The Poor Peoples March demanded economic human rights for poor Americans of all backgrounds. Three thousand people camped out on the Washington Mall for six weeks that spring to stand for the right that all people should have what they need in order to live. In his last years,King focused more and more on issues of poverty and human rights for everyone, in the U.S. and around the world. His non-violent resistance demanded equality for all people, and sought to overcome systemic elements of injustice wherever it was found. For King, and for us, it is not enough to have a theology that all are equal. The soul may be free but if unjust social and economic structures remain there is no true transformation.

To be sure, in the time of slavery, justice was a dream and paradise the only hope. And slaves, having been beat into a brainwashed slave-consciousness cowered in terrible submission. Nonetheless the deep sense of injustice would cause many to rise up. Nat Turner and his band of revolutionaries stood on the truth that the gospel promised liberation now. They could not just promise heaven, without also preaching deliverance from the chains of their hell.

So too, if whites today are merely preaching the hope of heaven and glory days to come, but failing to preach and stand for liberation for the oppressed here on earth, their gospel is empty and becomes an excuse not to do the hard work of justice.If the church today is not standing in the pulpit calling out that Black lives matter, and speaking out against racial oppression and injustice in the here and now, they are missing the heart of Jesus, who taught us to pray, May Your Kingdom come, your will be done, onearthas it is in heaven.

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Do Black Lives Matter to the Church? - Patheos (blog)

CEO Travis Kalanick sent a company-wide email on Monday, which addressed the allegations published the day before. He said Uber hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Tammy Albarran, both partners at law firm Covington & Burling, to probe the claims.

Uber sent a copy of the memo to CNNTech.

"[They] will conduct an independent review into the specific issues relating to the work place environment raised by Susan Fowler, as well as diversity and inclusion at Uber more broadly," Kalanick wrote. "Joining them will be Arianna Huffington, who sits on Uber's board, Liane Hornsey, our recently hired Chief Human Resources Officer, and Angela Padilla, our Associate General Counsel."

On Sunday, former engineer Susan Fowler published allegations of blatant and systemic sexism at the company. These include a supervisor propositioning her for sex, and the company's human resources department ignoring multiple complaints about inappropriate behavior.

Kalanick said he opened an "urgent" investigation into the matter after she posted her story.

The CEO also told employees he plans to publish a diversity report. Uber is one of the largest tech companies that has not released statistics about the diversity of its employees. Kalanick said women make up 15.1% of Uber's technology teams. (Google's (GOOGL, Tech30) tech workforce, for comparison, is 18% women.)

Fowler's story went viral in the last 24 hours, renewing calls to boycott the ride-hailing company. The allegations of sexism follow a wave of controversy surrounding Kalanick's association with President Donald Trump. Earlier this month, Kalanick resigned from Trump's business advisory council following a #deleteuber campaign.

Though Fowler's allegations shocked many people, they serve as a reminder that the culture at tech companies is often sexist. Just last week, a former Magic Leap vice president filed a sex discrimination lawsuit against the company. And according to a 2016 study, three out of five women who work in Silicon Valley say they have experienced unwanted sexual advances.

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Uber hires Eric Holder to investigate sexism allegations ...

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick sent a memo to his employees today, announcing a series of moves to quell the growing outrage over serious allegations of sexism and sexual harassment at the car-hailing company.

In it, he said he hired outside counsel, led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, to investigate the charges by a former female engineer and also the wider cultural problems across Uber. It was already announced that board member Arianna Huffington and HR head Liane Hornsey will also be part of the investigation. Also added to the team: Associate general counsel Angela Padilla.

Huffington and Hornsey will also be conducting one-on-one listening sessions with staff after an all-hands meeting tomorrow.

Said Kalanick: I believe in creating a workplace where a deep sense of justice underpins everything we do. Every Uber employee should be proud of the culture we have and what we will build together over time. What is driving me through all this is a determination that we take whats happened as an opportunity to heal wounds of the past and set a new standard for justice in the workplace. It is my number one priority that we come through this a better organization, where we live our values and fight for and support those who experience injustice.

That justice line might ring false to some and definitely too little too late for many, since the company has had a series of missteps a kind way of putting it related to women. That includes tasteless ads, rude remarks from Kalanick, bizarre threats aimed at a female reporter by a top exec and, perhaps most importantly, allegations that Uber has not taken the safety of women passengers seriously enough.

In addition, the company got in deep trouble recently around the immigration ban, from the way it reacted to a recent taxi strike to Kalanicks service on President Donald J. Trumps business advisory board, from which he recently resigned. The result was a massive online protest under the #deleteUber hashtag, which resulted in more than 200,000 account deletions.

Kalanick also said he would release diversity numbers, which he had declined to do in the past. He revealed that 15.1 percent of its technical staff were women, although he did not provide more specifics, compared to 17 percent of Facebook employees and 18 percent at Google. But lower numbers he cited for Twitter were inaccurate.

There will be more information to come, he promised.

Here is Kalanicks memo in full:

Team,

Its been a tough 24 hours. I know the company is hurting, and understand everyone has been waiting for more information on where things stand and what actions we are going to take.

First, Eric Holder, former US Attorney General under President Obama, and Tammy Albarran -- both partners at the leading law firm Covington & Burling-- will conduct an independent review into the specific issues relating to the work place environment raised by Susan Fowler, as well as diversity and inclusion at Uber more broadly. Joining them will be Arianna Huffington, who sits on Ubers board, Liane Hornsey, our recently hired Chief Human Resources Officer, and Angela Padilla, our Associate General Counsel. I expect them to conduct this review in short order.

Second, Arianna is flying out to join me and Liane at our all hands meeting tomorrow to discuss whats happened and next steps. Arianna and Liane will also be doing smaller group and one-on-one listening sessions to get your feedback directly.

Third, there have been many questions about the gender diversity of Ubers technology teams. If you look across our engineering, product management, and scientist roles, 15.1% of employees are women and this has not changed substantively in the last year. As points of reference, Facebook is at 17%, Google at 18% and Twitter is at 10%. Liane and I will be working to publish a broader diversity report for the company in the coming months.

I believe in creating a workplace where a deep sense of justice underpins everything we do. Every Uber employee should be proud of the culture we have and what we will build together over time. What is driving me through all this is a determination that we take whats happened as an opportunity to heal wounds of the past and set a new standard for justice in the workplace. It is my number one priority that we come through this a better organization, where we live our values and fight for and support those who experience injustice.

Thanks,

Travis

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has hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder