The Red Binder Project.

I've got this black hoodie that says ONE WAY OR ANOTHER in big block letters on the front. It's my Memphis mantra. To me the phrase means that when it feels like everyone and everything is against me, I won't let resistance stop me. If the goal is worthy, I have to block out the noise and use every tool in my toolbelt to make it happen.

Apply this mantra to what is happening right now to our noncitizen neighbors. Under the auspices of fighting crime, the federal government is here snatching up mothers, fathers, and even children — without due process, without moral justification. They are changing laws and procedures to make their "job" of deporting a million immigrants a year easier.

It's baffling to me, having worked alongside these families for over a decade in hospitality and construction. I've seen them build families, run businesses, buy houses, fix houses, spend money in local stores, pray in churches, and teach their children the value of working hard and overcoming obstacles. Almost by definition, these are people who make our city better. Losing even one family is a tragedy.

Vecindarios 901 is mobilizing fast — getting eyes and video on ICE stops and raids. Midsouth Immigration Advocates is doing everything it can inside the administrative and judicial labyrinth to keep families together. Latino Memphis is connecting people and organizations. Dozens of groups are out there every day doing heroic work, and they are all stretched thin and need more support.

I reactivated my law license after 15 years thinking I would go help the immigration lawyers. I quickly realized that my lack of experience would slow them down more than help them. But as I talked to friends and families I've worked alongside for years, I came to understand something terrifying: most are completely unprepared for what happens if one or both parents suddenly disappear.

If something happened to me and my wife, our siblings and parents would swoop in to protect our kids, manage our business, and navigate the banks, courts, and hospitals. The relationships and documents we'd rely on — power of attorney, wills, trusts — often don't exist for many noncitizen families. And many of these families own real assets, run businesses, employ people, and have complex family structures. When a parent vanishes, the fallout is immediate and wide.

So I made a big red binder.

I met with a family and gathered every piece of information, every name, every detail. We created the legal documents someone would need to care for their kids, manage their affairs, and keep the household from collapsing. It's really just basic estate planning — with a few crucial adaptations for the realities noncitizens face. We hope they never have to use it, but at least now they have a plan.

This is something every family needs — citizens and noncitizens alike. I just happened to have the training and the license to help, and I've built a tech stack that lets this be done at scale. With a QR code or link, families can securely upload their information, and software generates the legal documents. We print, sign, assemble, and leave them with one big red binder.

So one way or another, I'm going to blast the Red Binder Project until every family that needs one has one. I'm starting in Memphis. But why stop here? This country is tearing itself apart, and we risk losing the very people who make us strong. Let's each do whatever we can.

— Taylor