More stats and social media images at afsc.org/dententionreport
Standing up to xenophobia on the campaign trail
(originally published here)
At an event for a presidential candidate last summer, I had the opportunity to talk with Iowa U.S. Rep. Steve King. Even if you’re not an Iowan like me, you may have heard some of the comments he’s made about undocumented immigrants—comparing them to dogs, calling one person “a deportable,” and insisting that many were drug smugglers with “calves the size of cantaloupes.”
When I met Rep. King, I told him about my family here in Des Moines. I told him we had emigrated from Mexico when I was 2 years old for a better life. And that my parents had worked hard to support us while contributing to the community.
None of that seemed to faze him. We were here “illegally,” as far as Rep. King was concerned, and had no right to be in the United States, even though, as a child, I had had no choice in the matter.
I’ve had several encounters like these during my time as grassroots engagement coordinator with AFSC’s Governing Under the Influence project. In the year leading up to the earliest presidential primary contests, I worked with young people, particularly Latinos and other people of color, and encouraged them to question candidates about excessive corporate influence on public policy, including immigration.
When I started, I knew I would meet those who didn’t see eye to eye with me. But I wasn’t prepared for the xenophobia and fear that candidates would stir up through rhetoric aimed at immigrants like me.
People ask me how I keep my composure in such hostile situations. Why I don’t get upset or cause a scene that would draw more public attention to such hateful speech.
In these situations, I stay calm. I remind myself how important it is to engage with all people, including those who strongly disagree with me. I remind myself of the power of education to change hearts and minds. And I remind myself that I can’t begin to educate people if I walk away. Or act in a manner that makes them push me away.
These people aren’t my enemies. They’re people who, through their own life experiences, have developed stereotypes and misconceptions that haven’t been corrected. I think about what might have happened in this person’s life that made them afraid of people like me. I recognize that they’re probably generations removed from the immigrant process, that they don’t understand the difficulties we face just living our lives.
I think of these things because I want to understand where people are coming from. If I don’t, I’m guilty of dehumanizing them as much as they’ve dehumanized me.
Sharing my personal narrative is the most powerful tool I have against statements like, “You shouldn’t be here.” My mother came to the U.S. with a law degree not knowing she’d have to work as a housekeeper. Being undocumented meant I couldn’t get a driver’s license, vote in elections, or qualify for financial aid for school. But I graduated from college, with honors, and am now making a life for myself the way my parents hoped I would.
Even those who yell at me at rallies or town hall meetings can relate to my story. I know some people will never change their minds, but I also see signs that some people can. And I’m putting in the work—and withstanding some difficult situations—to move us all toward a place where we respect the humanity and dignity of all people.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hector Salamanca Arroyo served as grassroots engagement coordinator with AFSC’s Governing Under the Influence project in Iowa. Originally from Puebla, Mexico, Hector has lived in Iowa for the past 20 years and is a graduate of Drake University, where he created a campus organization to improve access to higher education for undocumented immigrants. Hector has also interned for Organizing for America and AFSC’s Immigrant Voice Program.
By way of a harsh (and previously rare) new deportation tactic, the government is putting people in real danger
(Source: salon.com)
(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ20tIYirKg)
(Source: youtube.com)
A few picks from AFSC staff this week:
Laquan McDonald Protests Shut Down Chicago’s ‘Magnificent Mile’ via Huffington Post
Hundreds of protesters in Chicago shut down Michigan Avenue on Friday as part of a march along the city’s “Magnificent Mile.”The demonstrators took to the streets to bring attention to the 2014 police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, whose death occurred under dramatically different circumstances than those described in official police accounts, video released last week shows.
Security Culture and Xenophobia in the Wake of Terror: What We Have to Lose via Truthout
The most potent threats to human rights are often birthed out of moments of fear.
How the Syrian refugee crisis shows the hypocrisy of ‘All Lives Matter’ via Fusion
“All Lives Matter” may be the most disingenuous phrase to fall out of the mouths of politicians, pundits, and media critics in recent times.
Unsurprisingly, many of the same politicians riding the “All Lives Matter” wave are often the same people who now, in response to last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris, seek to block Syrian refugees from settling in the United States. It appears that the definition of “All” in “All Lives Matter” is subject to interpretation and convenience.
TAKE ACTION! Tell the Senate: embrace Syrian Refugees and vote NO on anti-refugee bill: http://bit.ly/1Nh9brc
Quaker commitment to working for immigrant justice.
(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMsYC_Lf6Jo)
(Source: youtube.com)
(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8R_SBBLRpw)
“In terms of how much the government spends on detention, it’s astronomical. Every year the US spends about $2 billion to detain around 440,000 immigrants. That translates into approximately $164 per day per immigrant detainee. When we look at the detention facilities and where this money goes, I think it’s helpful to know that the detention facilities are sometimes privately operated, sometimes they’re operated by the federal government, sometimes they’re operated by state and local governments. And when we look to private entities that are profiteering off of this, in 2013 Corrections Corporation of America collected around $206 million from ICE contracts, which is approximately 12% of their revenue. Under the same parameters under ICE contracts, GEO collected about $255 million, or 17% of its 2012 revenue. These are very big numbers.”
(Source: youtube.com)
