Reflection by Diana Salgado Huicochea:
We heard a story today from the woman who, throughout this week has been preparing the most delicious Mexican food for us, from lunch until dinner. We always see her in the kitchen cutting vegetables when we come back from our trips. Today, we met with Mariposas Sin Fronteras (Butterflies Without Borders), this organization provides support and aid to the LGBT people held in immigration centers. She told us about her experience of leaving El Salvador, her home country, because of the discrimination, rape, and abuse. She crossed through Mexico by climbing up a train to reach the Mexico-U.S Border where she got lost in the desert for 3 days and 2 nights. When she got detained by ICE she was physically abused and was kept in “the freezer” until her bruises were gone so she could be transported into a detention center. At the end of this month she will have her final court date where she will find out if she will be deported or granted a withholding of removal.
Listening to her story, I could not help my eyes getting watery and a feeling of a tight sensation in my throat. Her story reflected the many immigrants that have to do this every day, every night, walking in the dessert with a feeling of unknown-ness. Being an immigrant, you live with constant fear, discrimination and racism, that closes the door to opportunities and raises oppressors. Being an immigrant makes you aware that you are less than everybody else because of documentation. The safety of people should be placed above laws, not laws placed above people’s safety. Her experience is one of the many injustices that we do not realize is happening to people surrounding us every day.
Itinerary:
Wednesday, March 15th:
9:00am: Sierra Club Presentations
11:00am: Meeting with representative of Southside Worker Center
12:00pm: Pupusa Lunch
1:30pm: Mariposas Presentation
2:30pm: Detention Letter Writing
4:00pm: Solidarity v. Charity + Raining Rocks activities
6:00pm: Dinner
7:00pm: Reflection
Dan Millis is from Sierra Club Borderlands. He discusses the environmental impact of border militarization. “More than 600 miles of border walls and barriers have been constructed in all four southern border states. The authority given to the Secretary of Homeland Security by the Real ID Act has been used to waive federal laws along the border so that walls, roads, and other harmful infrastructure are built without regard to environmental protection or public health and safety.” – http://vault.sierraclub.org/borderlands/overview.aspx
Southside Worker Center is a day-labor center, member of the National Day Labor Organizing Network, a protection network and member of the Coalition of Protection Networks here in Tucson. Eleazar is the parking lot coordinator and advocate for immigrant rights.
Mariposas Sin Fronteras (MSF) is a Tucson, AZ based group that seeks to end the systemic violence and abuse of LGBTQ people held in prison and immigration detention. MSF envisions a society that no longer finds solutions in the system of immigration detention or the prison industrial complex. MSF works toward that goal, supporting LGBTQ people currently detained in Eloy and Florence, AZ through visits, letters, bond support, advocacy, and housing upon freedom from detention. Due to the high rate of systemic abuse and discrimination towards LGBTQ detainees, support and solidarity are critical to ending the plight LGBTQ prisoners face in immigration detention. MSF leadership consists largely of LGBTQ immigrants, many of whom have been detained. MSF actively organizes towards a society based on the principles of equality, justice, respect, and liberation for all.