New Haven’s Ana Maria Rivera Forastieri on changing laws and minds.
Shortly the Obama administration will reach 2 million people deported, more than any other president. This article begins a series of stories about how these deportation impact local families. –Kica
Almost a year ago, three buses left New Haven to attend the Rally for Citizenship in Washington, D.C. Arriving at the West Lawn was surreal. I could hear the chants–“Si Se Puede!”, “Immigration Reform Now!”, “We are Millions And The Time Is Now!”– from the stop where the buses dropped us off. There were hundreds of thousands of people dressed in white, waving flags and carrying signs. The energy was positive, our community was hopeful and we saw what we thought was the light at the end of the tunnel—immigration reform would finally pass! That day filled me with optimism because how could Congress ignore the plight of millions?
Not only were we in the streets – in D.C., in New Haven and around the state, but immigrant rights groups were also busy trying to stop the deportations of some of our city residents. In conversations with our Congressional delegation about these individual cases, we spoke about the fact that 1,100 people are deported every single day in this country. We argued that it was arbitrary, unfair and inhumane to detain and deport the people that would benefit from Senate Bill 744, which offers a path to citizenship for potentially millions of the undocumented. But their response was that we needed to work on passing immigration reform quickly, since that would halt deportations. But immigration reform has not passed and we are still waiting for the House of Representatives to act.
Since we rallied in D.C., almost half a million people were deported — not to mention the hundreds of thousands that are currently detained and on the way to being completely torn apart from their community and their families. Connecticut families have not been spared from this terrible fate. Groups like Unidad Latina en Acción have over ten deportations cases just from the Greater New Haven area. Some of these cases have made headlines and the pressure that community groups have put on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and our government officials has helped in certain occasions. But every week we learn of more people that are picked up in Connecticut and shipped to detention centers in Massachusetts—many abandoned or forgotten by our communities. It is absolutely devastating to hear the stories of the families and the dreams they left behind.
Can we really continue to wait for Congress to come up with a solution? Or must we also turn to President Obama, who now has the dubious distinction of being the President with the highest number of deportations (2 million) to his name?
On April 5th we will be out on the streets because we do not believe that we can wait. We will demand change by sending a message to the President that not one more person should be deported. Not one more life should be destroyed under his watch. Not one more of our community members should live in fear of becoming another number. The President has said that he would use his executive authority to act in those instances in which Congress fails to act. This is one of those instances, Mr. President.
On April 5th there will be a Not1More Caravan in Connecticut stopping at multiple cities and culminating with a demonstration in front of the Federal Court House Building in Hartford. Please visit the CT Immigrant Rights Alliance or Unidad Latina en Acción on Facebook for more information.
Ana Maria Rivera Forastieri moved to New Haven from Puerto Rico via New Orleans. Sometimes she wonders why she ended up in such a cold city but she continues to find ways to fall in love with New Haven.
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