Immigrant Families Gather with Allies to Unite Against the ICE Raids
Tuesday November 25, 2008 | SF Bay Area
POWER's Women Workers Project held an event called "In Honor of Our Children" (Homenaje a Nuestros Niños) on November 22, and it proved to be a huge success. More than 150 women showed up to enjoy the event, bringing well over 100 children with them. Children played, painted murals, got their faces painted and enjoyed performances while their mothers attended a workshop to learn about alarming changes in the way San Francisco is treating immigrant communities, including:
- the increase in raids and deportations (1,100 total throughout California in September alone),
- police checkpoints of drivers as well as bicyclists (particularly in the Tenderloin and Bayview), and
- changes made within the Juvenile Probation Department where undocumented youth can be deported before being proven guilty of a crime (announced in July in the SF Chronicle)
We kicked the event off with a press conference and several interviews with media to help us get the word out. The event was covered by Univision Channel 14 Spanish Television, Mission Local (an online community publication) and El Tecolote newspaper. Preparing for the event sharpened leaders' organizing skills: member leaders did outreach for weeks in advance, prepared materials for the day’s activities, spoke during the press conference, and made the event a big success! Members will be following up with new contacts to invite them to stay involved with POWER as the new year unfolds.
Si hablas español, puedes ver un artículo sobre el evento en el sitio de Univision / If you are a Spanish speaker, view Univision's coverage of the event here: http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?cid=1753675#p.