Re-envisioning our Goals

Re-envisioning our Goals

This delegation was born out of a call both personal and as organizational members of Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition (CNSC). In our work as CNSC we recognize the connection that many immigrants in Chicago have made the journey across the vast and treacherous desert of the Arizona border region. Many know family or friends or they themselves have made this journey, coming from Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and other Latin American countries.

This trip is one of accompaniment, shared learning, education, awareness, service and solidarity. During this trip we hope to learn more about anti-immigrant movements and their impact on local communities, Arizona and the reverberation out to the rest of the country and to Chicago.

We feel there is great significance to the timing of this delegation. Over the past few months we have seen escalation of anti-immigrant sentiment throughout the country. We have seen two of the largest raids in both Postville, Iowa in May of this year and the most recent raid in Laurel, Mississippi. This has brought to light, at least for immigrant rights activists, that the policies of the United States government are still very anti-immigrant and continue to racially target certain populations.

The second reason is that it is still summer in the desert. In the area of the desert that we will be there are thousands of people crossing weekly. This portion of the border is one of the deadliest areas for migrants to cross. We feel it is important to lift this up this human rights crisis, with over 300 people dieing yearly.

We also are conscious of the climate in Arizona. There is much repression, violation of civil liberties, and human rights violations which is cause for understanding and action. These are happening at the border and through local and state municipalities. One of the worst cases is in Maricopa County with Sheriff Arpaio.

If it can happen in Arizona it can happen anywhere and can move throughout the country if people do not take a stand against it. When one segment of the population is being targeted this is an infringement on all of our civil liberties and rights. It is a place where repressive immigration policies, racist sentiment and the most traveled migrant trail converge.

These harsh realities call us to the border and we come to Arizona because of this.