By Ana Milena Varón
Los Angeles, US (EFE).- “Here we are and we are not leaving” is the message of resistance that community, labour, and religious organizations in Los Angeles sent on Tuesday to the government of United States President Donald Trump, who has continued with migration raids in the area despite a judge’s order prohibiting indiscriminate arrests.
Migrant advocates held a community strike day with over half a dozen events throughout the day to tell the White House that they have failed to “intimidate” the community after more than two months of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
“They failed in their mission to terrorise us,” said Martha Arévalo, director of the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), at a press conference.
“We will continue to stand firm in the struggle,” added the activist, who witnessed immigration agents hidden in a rented moving truck arresting 16 workers from Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala on Aug. 6 in front of a day labourer center administered by the organization.
The operation went ahead despite a judge issuing a temporary order prohibiting immigration agents from detaining people based on their race or ethnicity, whether they speak Spanish, their accent, or the work they do. The order applies to at least seven counties in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
Angélica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), stated that if the Trump government continues to violate the Constitution and disobey the court’s order, they will peacefully take to the streets and defend migrants’ rights.
Trump appeals to the Supreme Court
The resistance movement in Los Angeles forced the White House to make this request, asking the Supreme Court to lift the restrictions imposed on them and allow them to continue with the detentions.
In its request, the Trump administration alleges that the court order hinders the application of immigration law and claims that the operations target individuals for their illegal presence in the country, rather than for their skin colour, race, or ethnicity.
In their more than 80-page brief, government lawyers argued that immigration agents may have “reasonable suspicion” to detain an individual speaking exclusively Spanish, wearing the uniform of an employer known to hire undocumented migrants, or shopping at a business frequented by migrants without legal status.
Beaten and mistreated
However, the Trump Government’s legal arguments do not convince Reyna, a US citizen, who has had to watch her 40-year-old son being detained by immigration authorities while he was at work.
“It’s all been very unfair. They twisted his arm, which had recently been operated on, dragged him, and hit him on the head. He’s still in pain,” said Reyna, who did not give her surname, in an interview with EFE.
Her son, a migrant from El Salvador, has been in ICE custody at the Adelanto Detention Center in California for several months.
Reyna, who suffers from cancer, joined the “day of protest” on Tuesday. Although she says she feels weak, she wants to attend and show up for families like hers, asking for public solidarity.
She hopes that an immigration judge will grant her son bail to be released.
“He is a good man with no criminal record. He has worked all his life and is the breadwinner for our family. This government is sentencing me to death. It’s not cancer; it’s the anguish of being alone,” Reyna lamented.
Immigrant boycott
Reyna and the activists have urged the public to boycott corporations that have remained silent about migration operations, including Home Depot, Walmart, Target, and certain fast-food chains.
They have also urged people to support local businesses and street vendors that have been affected by the raids. EFE
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