Support Don't Deport: News and Storytelling

Recorded back in 2019 in Pasadena California And MARIO IS STILL IN DEPORTATION PROCEEDINGS!!! He has had NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE.

I sat down to hear Mario Perez's story, and one of the organizers, Janneya Dunlap, supporting him, and I learned so much! Mario has been defending his dignity not only infront of judges, but infront of community members who don't quite understand how immigration laws criminalize people. Mario knows about the good vs bad narrative too well.

We hear about the struggles in the Inland Empire and how communities there are facing deportation even as dreamers, how they are organizing and strategizing to win cases and building power by centering the leadership of formerly incarcerated people facing deportation. We talk about ICE's landscape and how law enforcement agencies and tactics work to make it extremely difficult for people to win their cases or get out of deportation proceedings. 

There is no “rehabilitation” available that can help him, it doesn't matter. The "double punishment weighs heavy" Mario shared with us. People w/ convictions who are not U.S citizens have to fight extra hard to move on in their lives. Mario speaks to us about the strategies they are focused on in order to keep him safe from deportation, even as the STATE has him under surveillance. Mario is one of thousands who check in constantly through a phone app with a case manager and he has a Deportation Officer. 

Mario and Janneya also shared about the joy they both get from pushing back at harmful narratives about what cages should be abolished and what “good immigrants” should be advocated for. Join me as we hear directly from activists and organizers sharing resources and trainings on how to talk about la migra, how to spot them and how to organize yourself.

visit keepalefree.org

Trauma is natural, animals can process it so well and we as humans, we were also built for that. But we have built such an unnatural world. Prisons, deportation, poverty, white supremacy...you name it.

What's NOT natural is man made cages and racist laws. It's also NOT natural that we cant process out of our bodies. GOOD NEWS, practices like this can help us feel more than just pain, they help us stay present, build resilience to manage trauma and traumatic events. It is possible to rewire our brain after severe trauma but it takes a lot of time, patience, and intentionality and access to resources and community care.

“Collective trauma is trauma that happens to large groups of individuals and can be transmitted trans-generationally and across communities.  War, genocide, slavery, terrorism, and natural disasters can cause collective trauma, which can  be further defined as historical, ancestral, or cultural.

Some of the symptoms of collective trauma include rage, depression, denial, survivor guilt and internalized oppression, as well as physiological changes in the brain and body which can bring on chronic disease. International relations are affected by collective and historical trauma as nations and peoples carry the weight of their own historical trauma with them as they wage war against each other.”

you can support Claudia's healing from deportation directly @claudiarising on VENMO

 Support, Don’t Deport is a deportation defense podcast where I sit with organizers and activists around the country facing and FIGHTINg deportation. Together, we deconstruct criminalization, the incarceration to deportation pipeline, and re-define justice and what thriving communities look like.

Thank you for listening to my story. TODAY I WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHY THIS PODCAST, WHY ME, why now?

Truth is, it's been a long process. Fighting an immigration case publicly is aaaa lot. But I'm also one of the lucky ones in a strange way. I didn't grow up with my immigration status on my mind. Even though I come from a mixed status family, most of us have legalization and some economic stability. This is important because all those things are important when you're trying to fight your case and overall survive in this country. The government makes it really tough, expensive and it takes a toll on our well being and mental health.

Before I went to jail for my immigration status, I had been criminalized for being who I am, for liking what I like, for looking like I do. I didn't know that who I was, would make me a  target to la poli-migra……….. I quickly learned a lot.It’s crucial that we think about immigration enforcement as part of the broader trend of criminalization—this allows us to get closer to the root cause of the harm that immigration authorities bring to immigrant communities, and to see the connections between struggles that are shared by criminalized citizens and non-citizens alike.

resources:

Elloy immigration prison

https://advancementproject.org/resources/the-carceral-state-of-arizona-the-human-cost-of-being-confined/

Alejandra's Tree link

https://linktr.ee/Alepablos713

Articles:

Fierce Mitu: https://fierce.wearemitu.com/things-that-matter/immigrant-rights-organizer-alejandra-pablos-detained-ice/

Cronkite News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA0bCtEKfss

Democracy Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42tLr6S0In4

Film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T2Dz2wZU_U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07iOnZgXDq8&t=62s