STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Alliance of Idaho has received a matching donation to help immigrants in the Wood River Valley try to process their applications before the new administration takes over.

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to carry out the biggest deportation the United States has seen on the first day of his second term.

Jill Grossman has made a $60,000 matching donation—every dollar given will be matched up to $60,000. That means $120,000 for the effort.

The morning after the election, the phone at The Alliance of Idaho began ringing off the hook and Wood River Valley residents began arriving at the door by the dozens, holding applications they hoped could be processed quickly.

Immigrants in the valley are worried whether they will be able to keep their jobs, whether they will be rounded up, whether they will be separated from their children or even sent to detention camps. These are families who have been living in the valley, paying taxes and dreaming big, according to Luis Campo and others with the Hailey-based Alliance, which was formed at the start of Donald Trump’s first presidency:

“We don’t know what’s coming in the months ahead, but we do know that the immigrant community will have a lot of questions and very real needs for legal support. And just as we have in the past, the Alliance will be here to help them with legal assistance. We will have their back.”

Those wishing to support the legal assistance may make donations:

By credit card: https://www.allianceofidaho.org/donate

By Zelle: Our phone number is 208-309-5684, The Alliance of Idaho

By check: The Alliance of Idaho, P.O. Box 2816, Hailey, ID 83333