Commentary: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -Today,immigrant youth, together with hundreds of community members, people of faith and labor advocates, rallied through downtown Albuquerque to Civic Plaza to create an opposition force to deportations and to stand with immigrants and refugees. Advocates and people of conscience raised their voice on this national day of action to join hands and declare in no uncertain terms that they will fight to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) and build sanctuaries of safety for immigrants and refugees in our city. With one voice, those assembled declared that they are #HereToStay and will not be moved.
Today’s participation in the march was part of The NM Dream Team’s convocation of all 7 chapters from across the state, including members from Roswell, Farmington, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Las Vegas for a 3 day “Organizing Bootcamp” where members from all chapters received intensive training on Know Your Rights, Deportation Defense, Organizing through intersectionality, gender, and race lens, and much more.
The Trump regime has already announced that some of their first acts of brutality will be to lash out against immigrants and Muslims. Trump has said he would end the protections immigrants have today, like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) which protects three quarters of a million young immigrants and provides a level of economic stability and peace of mind to their families and communities. At Civic Plaza, community members voiced their demand for sanctuary policies to be presented by Albuquerque’s mayor early this year that outlines protections for the immigrant community ahead of a Trump administration.
Felipe Rodriguez, Undocumented Albuquerque Resident & Lead Coordinator for The NM Dream Team said, “Immigrant young people like yourselves made DACA happen when everyone thought it was impossible. The reason we succeeded is because we dared to dream together and we had each other. We need you to join us and tap into our community’s resilience to continue with our #HereToStay campaign to protect DACA!
“We are also here to demand Mayor Richard Berry to publicly come out and outline clear policies in our city to create sanctuary spaces that will ensure the safety and protection of the immigrant and refugee community in our city during Trump’s administration.
Lilia Roman, LGBTQ Organizer for The NM Dream team says,“We know that this is a moment of uncertainty, but we want to remind the community that — they are NOT alone! We are here for each other and will protect each other. Here in NM we have fought against an anti-immigrant governor for the past 6 years. We have defended our drivers licenses for years and it was because of the community. During Trump’s presidency our resilience and unity will not change!”
Josue De Luna, DACA Beneficiary and Member of The NM Dream Team also expressed, “We came together today to call on all communities to continue mobilizing. Now more than ever we must continue protecting our victories such as DACA, which has been proven to be a successful program. We will continue building bridges between community organizations and the immigrant community in Albuquerque to continue pushing for a welcoming environment in our city for all immigrants and refugees. Our immigrant community is ready and is #HereToStay!”
NM Dream Team and United We Dream are calling on all members of our community to organize in their hometowns and learn how to protect each other from deportation. The easiest way to plug in is to text HereToStay to 877877 and to report activity of ICE agents to United We Dream’s Deportation Defense Hotline to 844-363-1423, or by visiting NM Dream Team’s website: nmdreamteam.org
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The New Mexico Dream Team is a statewide network committed to create power for multigenerational, undocumented, and mixed status families towards liberation. Through trainings and leadership development, we work to engage our community and allies, in becoming leaders using an intersectional, gender, and racial justice lens—to develop and implement an organizing and advocacy infrastructure for policy change fighting to dismantle systemic oppression.
United We Dream is the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the nation, a powerful nonpartisan network made up of 55 affiliate organizations in 26 states. UWD organizes and advocates for the dignity and fair treatment of immigrant youth and families, regardless of immigration status. We seek to address the inequities and obstacles faced by immigrant youth and believe that by empowering immigrant youth, we can advance the cause of the entire community—justice for all immigrants.