I knew that wherever I ended up on May 1st I would walk in solidarity with the undocumented people in this land. I was hoping we'd be in a big city marching with lots of people but we ended up in the quant town of Canton, OK. Jun-San initiated a four directions walk and it was a sunrise walk also so I rolled out of my tent around 4:00 am and started walking. I carried the United Farm Workers (UFW) flag that day-the flag was gigantic and the branch it was on was heavy and I had to fight the wind. I thought about the people who have to cross the desert at night to come into this country to make a living wage. I knew that they couldn't stop or put down the things they carried when they were tired and it kept me going. I prayed for them. It's something I do a lot now. I never really prayed that much before.
I have marched the last two years on Dia Sin Immigrante--Day without an Immigrant May 1st, in San Jose, California. The march two years ago was so large we could hardly walk. It was packed from sidewalk to sidewalk for miles! Last year was a little smaller in part because Homeland Security had been cracking down. I saw ICE (what used to be known as Immigration Naturalization Services) vehicles in San Francisco-a place I had never seen them before. I was happy when Mayor Gavin Newson spoke against them by saying San Francisco was a sanctuary city. Another thing ICE is doing is tearing up families. It sometimes happens that the children will be United States Citizens and the parents citizens of other countries. Immigration will come in and send the parents back but kept the children. The march last year started after school so that the government would not know who was undocumented.
A lot of people assume that undocumented people come from Mexico and it is true that many of them do. However they also come from Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Asia and Europe. I am not sure about Africa, Australia and the Middle East but I know it's bigger than just Mexico. I have always thought that the only people on Turtle Island who have a right to complain about immigration are the people who are Native to Ixachilankah. The border is unnatural and constricting. The indigenous people did not put a border there, in fact, parts of what is now La Frontera (the border) was formerly a trade route. The O'dham have a reservation on the border and the ones who live on the United States side are constantly harassed by the border patrol. (I imagine it's bad for the ones who live South of the border too). They are invaded by SUVs, Helicopters, cars, guns, vigilantes, pollution and more. Recently a young O'dham man was killed by the Border Patrol. They found his body flattened like a pancake. The border patrol tried to sweep the issue under the rug and the tribe asked them to keep quiet about it but they were hurting, they had lost their son by people that are supposed to protect them. They decided to sue the Border Patrol and they lost. They were already poor now they are worse off and for what? Where is the justice?
The more I learn, the more I lose faith in my country. I used to think we had justice in this country--I though things were fair. I was naive.
I could rant about the USA's relationship with Mexico for a long long time but I want this to be posted so I will finish up soon. I think it's important to say it's not right the way undocumented people are treated in this land. Yes, there are undocumented Irish but they are the exception, mostly they are Indigenous people from Mexico and Central America. Many of them are forced here economically as a result of US foreign policy and big businesses. They don't come here to take advantage of "the system" as many people are mislead to think-it's the other way we make money off of them. If we were to provide legal documentation for them we would lose money. But it shouldn't be about money. It should be about life. About human rights. About native people being able to practice traditional ways in their country of origin. Making their own policies. I'm sick of the elite. I walked in solidarity with them but I don't know that anyone saw me or knew what the UFW flag stands for if they did (besides my fellow walkers). I wish I could do more.
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