Latino and Human Rights activists are returning to Murrieta, California on July 1st to commemorate the anniversary of a historic confrontation that laid bare the racism in Southern California for the world to see.
It was one year ago self-styled patriots, acting on rumors and innuendo, blockaded busloads of refugee women and children from Central America on their way to a Border Patrol processing center. The angry anti-immigrant protesters, seen on TV news across the country chanting of "Go home!' and "We don't want you!," were tacitly encouraged by local authorities.
Dara Lind at Vox.com described the mood in Murrieta that day:
This is some extremely ugly behavior: protesters are yelling “Go home!” at a bus full of children, and physically preventing detainees from going to the place they’re supposed to go and forcing the government to send them somewhere else.
Frankly, it’s a kind of personal, in-your-face nativism that wasn’t actually seen during the most recent debate over immigration reform in Congress. And it’s not that these residents are misinformed about who was coming on those buses: at a town hall last night, the mayor told residents, “What we’ve been told is that most of these immigrants are families. These are mothers and young children, or fathers and young children.” That didn’t mollify residents last night, and it didn’t stop protesters from coming out today.
ABC7 reporter Greg Lee tweeted "Covered immigration issue in #Murrieta. 1 protestor said "go back to China." 1 supporter told me to "go eat sushi." Long way to go folks."
Today most Americans probably only know of Murrieta as a symbol of hate. The reality is that people from throughout the region came to oppose those screaming “go back to Mexico” were activist citizens who believed in the right of these migrant detainees to have due process.
On Wednesday, July 1 (1-4pm), prominent immigrant rights and humanitarian activists will speak at a rally in the Town Square Park. (More Information) Organizers say they want to commemorate the compassion and unity in support of the asylum seekers which blossomed as a result of what they viewed as cruel and hateful protests.
This event comes at a volatile, yet altogether appropriate moment in the immigration debate, as presidential candidate Donald Trump is under fire for his anti-Mexican rhetoric.
“What transpired last year, the fear and the hate witnessed in the world theater during that unfortunate moment when children, refugee children, were targeted has now been underscored by Donald Trump’s hate-speech,” co-organizer Mark Lane commented, “Once the shining beacon for those intent on bettering their lives and ‘yearning to breathe free’, it is the duty of each American to remind the world that we are still humanitarians, still that shining beacon and we are a nation intent on equity and equality for all.”
Referring to last year’s protests, Lane continued, “That blockade changed my life. I took in a family from Guatemala. I got involved in speaking out for due process and asylum rights. I received death threats and I was thrust into the national news, but I was mostly overwhelmed by the compassion of those who supported these victimized immigrants. I want to see that compassion continue. I want to see the USA as a compassionate nation.”
There will be solidarity rallies hosted around the country and at the border of Tijuana/San Diego at the same time by Dreamer’s Moms groups. Speakers in Murrieta will include:
Padre Alejandro Solalinde Guerra - Human rights champion
Christian Ramirez- Alliance San Diego, Southern Borders Community Coalition.
Marco E Lopez-Quezada - Former General Counsel to Cesar Chavez and the UFW
DeeDee Garcia Blase - Chicana Activist, Radio Host (Que Onda Show)
Ruben Salazar - Immigration Attorney
Mark Lane - Human Rights Activist, Radio Host (El Daily Justice)
Father Dermot Rodgers - St. Peter of Rome, human rights advocate, chaplain to the Deported Veterans and Deported Dreamer Moms shelter in Tijuana.
Ivan Ceja- Dreamer, Co-Founder of Undocumedia
Jaime Fernandez- Immigration Reform, Human Rights Activist
Not to be outdone, some of the same hate-mongers who worked the bus blockage last year have organized their own rally.
Lane told me he’s seen messages on Facebook and elsewhere urging “patriots” to show up, burn Mexican flags and “stand up for America against this invasion.”
As Janet Murguia, President of the National Council of La Raza wrote in The Huffington Post about last year’s blockade, "There is nothing more un-American than showing not even one shred of sympathy, compassion, or even decency towards a group of desperate young children who showed up on our doorstep after having spent weeks on a treacherous journey."
Portions excerpted from The Starting Line, my daily news roundup for the San Diego Free Press