Local rally protests family separation at the border
CALEXICO — Having been a transitional kindergarten teacher for the past couple of years, Brawley resident Leslie Lara has become quite familiar with the dependency young children have on their parents and the negative effects that come when they’re separated.
The recent “zero tolerance” policy towards undocumented immigrants, which has promptly separated thousands of children from their parents at the United States and Mexico border, has tugged at the heartstrings of Lara so much so that she felt compelled to take part in the Families Belong Together peaceful rally held here Saturday morning.
“I imagine my students being taken away from their moms,” Lara said. “I’m the first person who keeps their kids, and it’s the first time that they’ve been away from their parents. They cry, but they know that they’re going so see them. So could you imagine these children; they have no idea of what’s happening. They don’t even speak the language.
And that’s why were our here, because of the kids.”
Lara was one of approximately 50 people to participate in the rally, which was coordinated by the Imperial Valley Social Justice Committee and held outside the Imperial Regional Detention Facility on Gateway Road.
It was one of numerous similar rallies held throughout the nation Saturday, which all aimed to promote the idea that families belong together.
In Saturday’s local rally, many attendees carried signs that demanded the reunification of children with their families.
Although President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order to keep more families together at the border, government statistics released over the weekend showed more than 2,000 children were still in federal custody and just over 500 had been reunited with their parents.
According to media reports,
a federal judge in California ordered a halt to most family separations at the U.S. border. The court ordered federal officials to reunite all parents with children ages 5 or older within 30 days, while parents with children who are under 5 years old should be reunited within 14 days.
Currently, no minors or children are housed at the Imperial County detention facility where the local rally was held.
Management & Training Corp. operates three detention centers, one of which is the Calexico facility, for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and has no involvement in the administration’s immigration policies.
At times, certain adult family members will be housed together while at one of MTC’s facilities.
“If they can prove they are related and there is no security risk, we do house fathers and sons and mothers and daughters together,” an MTC public statement said. “Married couples cannot be housed together, but they are provided with opportunities to visit with each other. We do all that we can to foster family relationships.”
The rally was held in a dirt lot across from the Calexico facility. Three guards were posted at the outer limits of the facility to ensure the perimeter was not breached.
Speeches from Hilton Smith, Black Lives Matter Imperial Valley coordinator; Marlene Thomas, Imperial Valley Social Justice Committee chairperson, and other speakers during the rally all shared a similar message when it comes to separating families.
“When there is no justice, there is no peace for everyone,” guest speaker Lupe Quintero said to those in attendance. “We must continue to stay together and keep this nation great with our humanity, regardless of what this administration says.”
The rally culminated with a moment of silence while the sound of crying children being taken away from their parents
was played through a loudspeaker.
Brawley resident Jennifer Lopez felt the sounds of children crying being played was the most powerful part of the event.
“We can look and see families are being torn apart and separated, but to hear that, it really resonates in your heart and soul,” Lopez said. “It could’ve been our neighbors, our brothers, our sisters or cousins. We need to realize that as a human race, we’re all one. I think that was really powerful for them to do that.”
Lopez felt it was important not only to attend the rally herself, but to also bring along her toddler son, Noel Alexander Ortiz.
“I think it’s good to show the public that these kids could’ve been our kids being taken from us,” Lopez said. “Imagine if my child was taken away from me. He’s only 2 years old, and they’d be trying to prosecute him in court without me. That’s insane. You can see it in the media and think it’s whatever, but when you see it firsthand, it’s sad.