Latest / National Immigration Law Center Freedom to Thrive Podcast / Ep. #113 Our Community is Strong and Resilient

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Ep. #113 Our Community is Strong and Resilient · National Immigration Law Center Freedom to Thrive Podcast

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  Our podcast took a month off from production, and we're returning in the midst
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  of a nation in full-blown crisis.
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  And not just for immigrants' rights, but for all of our rights.
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  For those of us in LA, the year started out with horrific fires that decimated
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  entire communities, including a historically Black neighborhood in Altadena.
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  It was devastating to experience this climate catastrophe for all of us in Los Angeles County.
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  We had power outages, water shortages, toxic air,
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  blaring emergency alerts that rattled our nerves, and our normally blue California
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  skies were painted brown with dark, heavy clouds that rained ash for days.
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  And in all this destruction, when things felt so helpless to so many of us,
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  I witnessed the beauty of solidarity and collective action.
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  From the raging flames emerged the power of community.
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  Hundreds, maybe thousands of people showed up in support, bringing water,
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  food, clothes, money, masks, music, you name it.
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  There were spreadsheets organizing everything, even tracking landlords and businesses
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  that were trying to price gouge and profit off of people's pain and loss.
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  The community looked out for the community.
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  And of course, because it's Los Angeles, or El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina
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  de Los Angeles, to be precise,
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  The most beautiful thing of all was seeing that so many of these efforts were
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  being spearheaded by immigrants and women, people of color.
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  Nobody was waiting around for FEMA. El pueblo came together. We were our own FEMA.
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  It was truly the best of humanity at work. And now we're here as a nation witnessing
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  perhaps the worst of humanity.
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  Hard at work dismantling our freedoms and eroding our shared rights and values as Americans.
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  Immigrants' rights, women's rights, LGBTQ rights, abortion rights,
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  our human, civil, and constitutional rights that have been hard fought and won
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  over decades by historically marginalized communities.
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  Our very liberty and democracy are under attack.
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  And our country is now in the hands of destructive extremists who have little
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  regard for the Constitution or the rule of law.
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  And they're doing harm at an astonishing pace. I've struggled with what to say about this.
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  Many of us saw this coming, but that doesn't really help, does it?
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  And I'm sure there's a lot of people looking around wondering,
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  is this really happening? This can't be happening.
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  But it is. And the road to this new American fascism was constructed and continues
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  to be built on the backs of immigrants.
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  If you'll recall, the 2024 presidential election that brought us here was all
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  about immigrants and immigration.
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  For eight years, immigrants were relentlessly scapegoated and dehumanized and
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  unjustly accused of horrible things.
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  That pattern continues now with implications for all of us.
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  The Lake and Riley legislation, for example, recently signed into law,
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  strips away due process for immigrants.
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  So an immigrant can now be accused of a crime or suspected of a crime,
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  like shoplifting, for example, and that alone is enough to detain them indefinitely
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  and without due process. I want to say that again.
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  Immigrants can now just be accused of
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  a crime and that alone is enough
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  to lock them up and throw away the key anyone cheering
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  for this doesn't seem to understand or maybe doesn't
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  care that this doesn't make us safer as the country on the contrary it weakens
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  the very foundation upon which our entire justice system was built the right
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  to due process this makes all of us vulnerable and places us on a really dangerous
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  slippery slope. Here's another example.
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  Guantanamo Bay will now be used as a detention camp for 30,000 immigrants.
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  And now we're talking about shipping not only immigrants, but U.S.
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  Citizens to El Salvador to be held in Salvadoran prisons that are known for
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  their human rights abuses.
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  This, of course, is on top of the executive orders issued on day one of the
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  new administration, targeting immigrants.
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  These orders seek to do a number of things, so many that I can't name them all,
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  but they include things like stripping away birthright citizenship,
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  expanding mass detention.
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  Declaring a national emergency at the border, and hence at invoking the Alien
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  Enemies Act and the Insurrection Act, which would give sweeping wartime powers to the president.
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  Expand expedited removals of immigrants—,
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  delegate immigration authority to local law enforcement, punish sanctuary cities,
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  threaten to penalize individuals and organizations that help immigrant communities.
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  They order the Department of Homeland Security to expand the list of banned
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  countries so that individuals traveling from these countries will not be allowed entry to the U.S.
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  They end humanitarian protections for people fleeing violence and seeking safety
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  in the U.S. They closed the door to asylum seekers, people fleeing dangerous conditions.
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  This is a lot, and that's not even the half of it. And of course,
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  I can't leave out ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
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  which has been terrorizing communities across the country for the last two weeks.
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  This is a moment in our history when we're all being called to mobilize.
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  And this fight isn't only for immigrants. We all have a role to play.
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  So this is what we're going to do on the NILC Freedom to Thrive podcast.
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  In addition to having amazing guests who are culture makers,
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  moving forward, we're going to do the following.
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  We're going to share resources and information that you can use and share and act on.
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  My brilliant National Immigration Law Center colleagues will be joining us to
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  share legal analysis, insight, and information.
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  We're going to break down what's happening in this country and be more timely
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  with our discussions. and we'll be highlighting the voices of those in the community
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  who are coming together to fight for our rights.
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  More than that, we're going to hold on to our shared humanity because as I've
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  said before, when we allow for the dehumanization of a people, atrocities follow.
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  And we're seeing this play out in real time, will amplify the voices that have
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  been historically marginalized and silenced and showcase our resilience,
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  our power, and our resistance.
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  And I want to say something about resistance.
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  Resistance comes in many forms, not the least of which is joy.
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  As the poet J. Drew Lanham said, joy is the justice we give ourselves.
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  In times of oppression, love is a revolutionary act of resistance too.
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  And creativity is resistance.
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  Music, dance, poetry, art, writing.
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  These have all always played a role in resistance movements and we need those things too.
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  This is a moment for artists and culture makers.
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  So we're going to continue to have those guests and those conversations as well.
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  And I'll close with this.
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  Democracy is not a spectator sport. That is a quote attributed to Lottie Scharfman,
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  a refugee who escaped with her family from Austria during World War II.
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  This moment in this historical timeline that we're living under is a moment
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  that's calling on all of us to get involved in protecting and preserving our democracy.
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  It's a moment that's calling on us to be in community and stand up for our rights.
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  Observing from the sidelines won't be an option if we want to save our country.
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  Those in power seeking to dismantle our democracy won't concede our freedom
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  and our rights and our liberty unless we demand it.
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  I hope you'll stay with us and continue listening to this podcast.
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  I hope you'll stand with us as we fight for and demand our rights.
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  And I hope that you'll be inspired and find moments of joy and love and community for yourself as well.
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  Thank you for listening and for standing in power with us as we enter the fight of our lives.
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  I want to thank our listeners for spending time with us. For more immigration
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  truths, visit us at nilk.org and freedomtothrive.com.
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  And make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes.
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  I look forward to continuing this conversation.