A demonstration last Thursday calling on the Trump Administration to end family separations at the border was held downtown. Photos by Stephanie Rivera.
While the Trump Administration’s weeks-long policy to separate families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has caused an uproar nationwide—resulting in an executive order announced Wednesday amending that decision—Long Beach leaders and activists are continuing their fight for immigrant rights.
For the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition, the executive order won’t address the core of the issue, which is the continued detainment of undocumented immigrants—whether as a family or otherwise—as well as their criminalization, according to Jonathan Solorzano, a community organizer with the coalition.
“What we’re seeing at the border is actually a direct result of criminalizing our immigrant communities, so what happens when you say that certain people are deserving of remaining in a country when others are not, this is what you get, you get incarceration, punishment, and it becomes normalized,” said Solorzano.
If it weren’t for the children, Solorzano said, the issue would not have gotten the amount of media attention it did (and the ensuing action by Trump), but the families are still going to be detained indefinitely.
“We see it as another distraction by the Trump Administration to really just take the focus away from the criminalization [of undocumented immigrants], which is the root of this all in the first place,” Solorzano said. “It’s not because children are unaccompanied, or any other reason, it’s because of this narrative that Trump started his campaign with.”
As a result of recent policies, the coalition has seen undocumented immigrant communities disenrolling from public services they qualify for because of the misinformation that they do not qualify and because of fear of having their names in databases—or even in some cases, returning to the same place they once fled out of safety.
“We’ve heard stories from many immigrants, not only from Mexico, but Central and South America, going back to their home countries only to wind up murdered three days later and it’s unfortunate but it’s the result of this administration and their policy,” said Solorzano.
Last week, community members, along with local organizers and leaders, gathered in Downtown Long Beach to protest the administration’s latest tactics to separate children from their parents at the nation’s southern border (a move meant to crack down on illegal immigration). Joining a nationwide movement and using the hashtag #FamiliesBelongTogether, clergy members, immigrant advocates and undocumented residents voiced their disapproval and called on national leaders to act with compassion.
“I just want to make sure that we keep reminding folks that there are human beings behind policies and that it’s bigger than just one or two or three people, that there are hundreds of thousands of families that are being impacted,” said Long Beach Unified School Board member-elect Juan Benitez, who participated in the march and rally with his young daughter.
Local elected leaders have also criticized the administration’s zero-tolerance policy on immigration.
Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, called the separation of families traumatic and brutal, while Mayor Robert Garcia said “this is not the America that welcomed me and my family.”
Family separation is wrong, and the American people know it. It’s inhumane. It’s brutal. And in spite of the President’s efforts to stoke fears of mass immigrant crime, it’s unnecessary. The practice must end and it must end now. 5/6
— Rep. Alan Lowenthal (@RepLowenthal) June 18, 2018
I’m disgusted and saddened by what’s happening with these children and the conditions of these detention centers. This is not the America that welcomed me and my family. Good people of all political beliefs should speak out against these injustices.
— Robert Garcia (@RobertGarcia) June 19, 2018
Wednesday, as Trump announced his executive order, the immigrant rights coalition was in Sacramento in response to a hearing on U.S. v. California, et al, a lawsuit brought by Attorney General Jeff Sessions against California’s sanctuary state laws.
“We are sending a clear message to Trump and Jeff that we here in California protect immigrants,” said Solorzano.