Why the Founder of Jewelers Helping Jewelers Is Now Helping Immigrants

By Rob Bates | February 06, 2026

Even in an industry that has its share of characters, Aleah Arundale has always stood out. Not only did the Olympian Diamonds salesperson start the Jewelers Helping Jewelers (JHJ) Facebook page—which has 35,000 members and averages about 350 posts a day—but she regularly parades around trade shows in flashy outfits and asks pointed questions during meetings.

Lately, however, Arundale has shown a more serious side—which involves helping refugees at a time when immigrant enforcement is dominating the news. Her efforts have been covered by The Washington Post and The Free Press (which also produced a short documentary) as well as Chicago’s local NBC station.

The first two stories largely focused on the political aspect of what she’s doing, though Arundale says she’s simply helping people in need. She traces her efforts to her founding of JHJ, which “made me realize how great it is when you help others and can build a community.”

Arundale first became involved with immigrants in 2022 when Texas governor Greg Abbott began busing new arrivals to Chicago, the “sanctuary city” where she lives.

“They were dropping these people off in front of my daughter’s dance class,” she says. “So there are hundreds of people—they have no shoes, no coats, and they are just being left on the sidewalk to wander around in front of the Dollar Tree. And I can’t figure out what’s happening.

“So I pass out notes, in Spanish, saying, ‘Hi, I’m a local mom. What the hell’s going on? I don’t trust the news. I want to hear it from you.’”

She learned that most of them were here under a Biden administration program that gave temporary asylum to people fleeing political prosecution. Most were from Venezuela, where they lived in fear of its then ruler, Nicolás Maduro.

“I started hearing these horrific stories about people being murdered,” Arundale says. “I know one woman, she had three sons, and the government killed one of them and said they’d kill the other two. She ran for her life, just like any of us would.

“These people didn’t come here for convenience. They came here for safety. Every one of them filled out an asylum form. A lot of them are doctors, police, architects. They didn’t come here to pick apples.”

Arundale asked the recent arrivals what they needed. Their answers were mostly mundane: coats, gloves, and other items one would need when suddenly plunked down in a cold climate. She gathered donations from local residents and turned her house into a “refugee center,” where she handed out free clothing and other necessities. The more people came, the more involved she got.

“I helped people with their work permits,” she says. “I helped get their kids registered for school. We did a wedding, a couple of funerals. I helped five families get permanent housing. We offered everything that a new American might need to start their journey here. You name it—we did it.”

She also started another Facebook group, Immigrants Helping Immigrants, which has since turned into an active community like her Jewelers page.

Despite the heated rhetoric about immigrants one hears from some politicians and media personalities, Arundale says she never had a problem with all those people coming to her house.

“In two and a half years of them in my living room—we’re talking hundreds and hundreds of people—I didn’t even have an apple taken,” she says. “So the fact that they’re being called ‘dangerous’ is so insulting to the nicest people I have ever met in my life. These people are some of my best friends now. They are so sweet and lovely. They could be freezing, and they give coats to their neighbors. They always share everything.”

*Some of the clothing and other items Aleah Arundale has collected to distribute to immigrants*

Her new friends’ lives got much darker in March 2025, when the Trump administration repealed the temporary protection status of some 500,000 refugees. Overnight, the people Arundale had befriended became classified as illegal immigrants.

“America changed the game,” she says now. “We told these people, ‘Come on in.’ Whether you agree with the last administration or not, we made a promise to them, and we broke it.

“I was watching the American Dream happen before my eyes. I watched these people come here with nothing. In nine months, they went to school, got work permits, got jobs. They were giving back. They were learning English. And then America decided to f— it up.”

Since then, many people Arundale knows have become targets of the newly emboldened Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“I went from delivering strollers and diapers to ‘My husband’s been deported, and I need one month’s rent to get by until we figure out what to do,’” she says. “Or ‘They took me, and I’m in a detention center, and my kids are by themselves.’”

Arundale is now the temporary guardian for nine different children.

*One of the texts Arundale has received*

All of which brings up the fraught issue of politics. Arundale calls herself a conservative who voted for Trump, though she prefers to steer clear of discussing politics. Still, like many people these days, once you get her going on current events, she can’t stop.

“This whole immigration issue has become politicized, and it shouldn’t be,” she says. “I believe in securing the border. Trump said he would be deporting criminals. I never dreamed they would drag people out of their homes.

“The way we’re doing this is so violent and wrong,” she says. “They took 20 of my friends in one day. They took the woman who sells me tamales. She was 80 years old and has been here for 20 years. My brother was at a park with his nanny, and they took one of the other nannies and just left the kids she was watching standing there, by themselves.

“I don’t see how anyone can support tearing apart families,” Arundale continues. “Imagine your wife or kids were taken and you didn’t know where they were. This community is terrified. The number one fear they have is being separated from their kids.”

She hopes her fellow conservatives will start to see these new arrivals not as criminals but as human beings who are part of a long tradition that built this country.

“How can any American hate immigrants?” she asks. “Their grandmother would be so disappointed in them. You’re Italian American, you’re Irish American. That makes you an immigrant. It’s like building a bridge, and then burning it down.”

In October, Arundale wrote about her views and experiences on Facebook. Her post unexpectedly went viral, garnering 1.7 million views. That was followed by the articles in the Post and Free Press. Surprisingly, she hasn’t received a huge reaction from those stories—“maybe a few messages,” she says.

Even so, being outspoken on this issue has its costs. Arundale believes she’s lost customers because of it. She could also be targeted, by either ICE or the administration.

“I have been told by a DA that I’m putting myself in danger,” she says. “I am not afraid. I don’t want to live that way. I don’t want to not deliver a heater because something might happen. We have too many cowards today.”

*Arundale helping to distribute supplies*

Arundale would rather focus on the positive side of what she’s doing. While speaking with JCK in late January, she was in her car, delivering heaters to two different families.

She advises jewelers who want to get involved to reach out to their local Hispanic centers or churches and see what they need.

“Call and say: ‘Do you have families that can use some food?’ I promise you there will be somebody. Jewelers can even gather supplies. Just like I made my house into a drop-off center, they can do that with their store. That’ll be good for your neighborhood, and good for their business.”

Arundale finds that last point particularly important. She believes that when people lend a hand, they reap benefits.

“Helping people is the greatest,” she says. “It’s a blast. It’s such a f—ing rush. Delivering heaters and getting a hug—what is better than that? I’m going home, and the rest of the day I’m going to feel like a hero.

“Helping people is what my entire brand is built on. Every day I hear from people who tell me what Jewelers Helping Jewelers has done for their business.

“Everyone has people in their own backyard who need help. Everyone can do things to help their local communities. Because that’s the only way the world is going to get better.”