San Diego forum to protest ICE
By
SAN DIEGO--At a forum sponsored by San Diego City College's Sí Se Puede Coalition on November 25, some 70 attendees expressed a new spirit of confidence and militancy for the immigrant rights movement.
Jorge Narvaez, a University of California at San Diego (UCSD) student, permanent resident and victim of an armed raid on his home by ICE, spoke of the humiliation and fear he experienced. "They try to find any little thing they can get you on," he said. Narvaez pointed out that ICE uses their home searches as fishing expeditions for any sort of illegality, which can lead to deportation even for those with papers.
Teacher and author Justin Akers Chacón talked about the hopes raised by Obama's election victory, the checkered record of Obama on immigrants' rights, and the need to rely on the independent strength of the movement to realize our hopes.
UCSD professor Jesse Mills, a veteran of struggles in San Diego's Somali community against harassment and deportation, argued that the different civil rights causes must support one another, with particular attention to the new struggles around gay marriage.
Spoken word artist Jasmine concluded with powerful verse that summed up the evening's defiant mood. After her presentation, the entire audience voted in favor of demonstrating for an end to raids before the end of the semester.
