[logo sonoro] [música dinámica] PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Hola, soy Patricia Gómez y les doy la bienvenida a este episodio de Adelante en el que nos acompaña la doctora Rachel Buff, profesora de Historia de UWM y activista por los inmigrantes.

Ella nos dará ideas sobre cómo aplicar las lecciones aprendidas en la historia de las políticas de inmigración en los Estados Unidos al mundo actual.

También con nosotros están Alan Chavoya, de la Organización Comunista Camino a la Libertad.

Desde su estudio en Madison, Wisconsin, la artista mexicana Angélica Contreras transforma el lienzo en un espacio de diálogo cultural y verdad personal.

[logo sonoro] PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Mientras la administración federal continúa cumpliendo su promesa de deportar inmigrantes indocumentados, sectores intelectuales y millones de defensores de los inmigrantes se unen en protestas masivas.

La doctora Rachel Ida Buff está con nosotros para hablarnos de la lecciones que en la historia pueden aprender las familias en riesgo de deportación para superar las condiciones hostiles que están enfrentando.

[music] YESSENIA RUANO: Mi hijo tiene cinco años.

Él no sabe lo que está pasando.

RACHEL IDA BUFF: What we're seeing now is unprecedented in scale and I would say brutality, but certainly there's been a build-up over the course of the 20th century.

So if we start with Bisbee, Arizona, in 1917 there was a mine and there were workers from Mexico, from United Kingdom, from Europe who went out on strike.

Kind of it's the first mass deportation in American history.

And what the mine owners did is they collaborated with the sheriff and they brought in trains with freight cars and they just forced people to get in.

And then they loaded them onto the trains and then the train drove out of town and unloaded them.

At different times throughout the 20th century we could think about Operation Wetback, so-called, which was an attempt to rid the southwestern California of the so-called Wetback Menace, which was really targeting Mexican Americans, of course.

It was a really racist campaign.

Similarly there, the immigration and naturalization service would round people up.

Citizens, legal residents, undocumented people, detain them and then deport them across the border.

It's really important to say that 99% of the people in immigrant detention have committed no crime.

They are just here.

And somehow, and this happened in the 1980s in the early Reagan years, as Haitians tried to migrate, the United States responded by trying to pluck them at sea and dump them back in Port-au-Prince, even if you were fleeing for your life, even if somebody was trying to kill you, dump them back in Port-au-Prince.

But some people, some Haitians, made it in leaky boats to Florida and the Reagan administration did not know what to do with these black folks seeking freedom.

So it decided, this is where we have the beginning of the idea that to seek asylum, an international right certified in 1951 in this country, and it's radiated to other countries in the global north, if you are an asylum seeker and you need to leave home because it's unsafe, you will be preemptively detained.

You will go to prison for the crime of having to flee your home.

And now we see the scale of that, right?

The problem with that, it's unconstitutional, it violates international law, it's cruel and despicable, and also it is very, very lucrative.

The people who run the for-profit immigration jails, they are bipartisan donors.

Sometimes people are like, well, why was Obama a liberal Democrat, the deporter in chief?

Like, those people are giving money to Democrats, they give money to Republicans.

You know, Biden ensured that there would be an expansion of beds, and those beds will be filled because Mr. G4S, Mr. CoreCivic, all those people, they need, they need, they need the money.

As a Jewish person and an immigrant rights activist, we often think about the concentration camps, and I think that that metaphor and that language is important here.

But when I think about CECOT, the big prison in El Salvador, that we pay millions of dollars to house innocent people.

I think we have to think about the founding of the United States in slavery, and the kind of conditions of having no rights and no regard for your physical comfort or being able to keep your family together.

The origins of that are in what founded and built this country, which is enslavement.

There's no other way to think about it.

I think that increasingly.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: What do you see on the other side that can be good for those who are at the highest risk of being deported with no due process and probably in a violent way?

RACHEL IDA BUFF: Yeah, we can talk about the brutality, which is real, and the cruelty, which is real, and it can feel just overwhelming and terrifying.

And that's the intent.

We're all supposed to be scared.

Immigrants are supposed to be too terrified to leave the house.

That's what they want.

Alligator Alcatraz is to scare people.

This is a campaign of terror.

And I will say about the immigrant rights movement in general, and Voces de la Frontera in particular, that we cannot underestimate the power and beauty of people getting together and deciding that we want our city, our state, our county to look different.

You know, when I said that the 287(g) program, which comes out of a terrible immigration law that passed in 1996 and mandates that police cooperate with immigration enforcement, we don't have that in Milwaukee because Voces fought it.

This was in 2019.

There was a family that was getting ready for school, and they were pulling out to take their kids to school, the mom and the dad and the two kids, and ICE and the MPD pulled up and blocked the car and took the dad, who was taken to detention without his medication, his daughters screaming and crying.

Sometimes people don't even know where their folks are taken.

But watching these folks turn into spokespeople, turn into people who are valued and embraced by their community, that is transformative.

That is why the cops do not collaborate with ICE in our city.

It's because the people of the city said no.

And mostly it was Latino and immigrant people, but also it was people like me who said, you know, I don't want to live in a city like that.

We saw it with Yessenia Ruano earlier this year, the El Salvadoran very beloved teacher in our community, was on a very cold morning when she went for her immigration check-in in January, and we thought she would be taken.

She said goodbye to her daughters, and she went in and she came out.

And I will never forget that moment of her coming out, because we didn't think she would.

Her daughters were crying.

We were all crying.

Eventually, though she fought a good fight and we fought with her, she was, took voluntary departure, she deported herself to El Salvador with her daughters, because she was afraid of being taken from them, and she...

They didn't give her enough time to make her visa.

Voces has an emergency hotline, so when there's reports of ICE on South 16th Street, people call and then we send people out to verify.

Anyone can train to be a verifier, you know, and we need people all over the state verifying rumors of raids so we know what to expect.

And then other people, usually people who are citizens and are less at risk, go out to do defense and protection.

And something that doesn't get covered enough in the news, when I was getting ready for this today, I was looking at footage from Tucson a couple of weeks ago when ICE showed up and hundreds of people from the community came out.

And those people, you know how sometimes you go in, not in my kitchen, but in some people's kitchen, you go in and you turn the lights and there are bugs that scurry away?

That's ICE.

They don't do well in the light.

They don't do well when the public is saying, "What are you doing?

Where are you taking them?

Stop it."

And there have been many, many examples of citizens turning out and trying to stop and sometimes succeeding in stopping a deportation or limiting how many people are taken.

Never, if there's an ICE agent at the door, never let them in.

They will say anything, including lying, only let them in if they have a signed judicial warrant.

And if they say, "Well, we're going to show it to you if you open the door," have them slide it under.

And when people know that, that is your right.

It doesn't matter if you're a citizen.

It doesn't matter if you're undocumented.

It doesn't matter if you've boosted a car in high school and are ashamed of it or whatever.

They cannot get into your house.

They cannot talk to you without a signed judicial warrant.

When people know that, it changes the game.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Is there something else that people need to uplift them?

Because the conditions that they are facing are real threats.

RACHEL IDA BUFF: I think that what I can say to uplift those folks is, this is a terrible time.

This government came in promising cruelty.

And I don't think even some of the people who voted for that were prepared for how terrible it is.

And I think most of us don't want to have a dictatorship.

If you look at the leadership of our country, the president is close to the worst leaders on the planet.

You know, in El Salvador, in Israel, in Turkey, in Hungary.

He likes the dictators because he's studying them because that's what he wants to do.

Most Americans across the board don't want that.

And many of us who aren't indigenous were immigrants ourselves, right?

So we have that part of our histories.

You know, when we've seen these No Kings Days and these big marches, the huge marches we've had in Milwaukee for immigrant rights, for free Palestine, I think we're seeing awakening.

And I think that's really good.

[música] PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Alan Chavoya es parte de la Organización Comunista Camino a la Libertad y profesor de filosofía en Milwaukee Area Technical College.

Él nos explicará la importancia de que por qué las familias inmigrantes que no tienen documentos se mantengan informados sobre los derechos legales y humanos que los protegen.

[música] ALAN CHAVOYA: La organización lo que ha hecho es crear diferentes distritos a nivel nacional en diferentes ciudades para llevar a cabo el trabajo que se necesita en diferentes luchas, en diferentes movimientos, pero todos los que están centralizados en la clase obrera de este país siempre es donde se tiene que ver a la gente la mayoría de nosotros pues trabajamos no somos dueños de nada.

Entonces eso es nuestro objetivo en realidad construir un partido que tenga esa capacidad política esa capacidad económica para beneficiar a la gente de este país.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: ¿Cómo proyectas tu pensamiento en estas marchas que se están llevando a cabo para proteger los derechos de los que están siendo más vulnerables incluyendo nuestras comunidades latinas, Alan?

ALAN CHAVOYA: Sí, pues, tenemos que empezar con los problemas sociales, verdad?.

En los que estamos interviniendo, ahorita el principal o el por lo menos el más público es el tema de la inmigración.

Tenemos que proteger a nuestra gente si como socialistas no podemos mejorar la vida de nuestra gente estamos fallando.

Yo cuando empecé a organizar otra vez después de un tiempo alejado porque estaba estudiando, me metí con una organización se llama La Alianza de Milwaukee en contra de la represión racista y política.

Al hacer ese trabajo empezamos a observar cómo es que esas tácticas que se han utilizado en contra de la población afroamericana en este país han sido también utilizadas en contra de la gente migrante, usualmente gente latina pero sabemos que los migrantes también son asiáticos también son africanos de todo el mundo verdad no solo somos mexicanos por decir.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Exacto.

ALAN CHAVOYA: Vimos hace cinco años cuando se, cuando hubo esta rebelión en contra del asesinato de George Floyd cuando millones y millones de gente estuvieron en las calles era para defender a la gente en contra del racismo y el racismo aquí te va a impactar sea lo que sea y entonces tenemos que dejar poco a poco esas diferencias que tenemos en contra de nosotros o esos estereotipos que creemos nosotros de otra gente.

Tenemos que dejar eso por el lado y ver que aquí estamos unidos.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: ¿Hay más jóvenes como tú en esos movimientos?

ALAN CHAVOYA: Acabamos de cumplir 50 años como organización y tenemos gente, miembros de esta organización que estuvieron ahí cuando se refundó esta organización así que tenemos gente de todas las generaciones.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: La persecución contra las familias inmigrantes que no tienen documentos es uno de los aspectos más serios, más vulnerables.

¿De qué manera podemos hablar con ellos?

¿De qué manera tú opinas se debe dirigir a ellos?

ALAN CHAVOYA: Es una pregunta muy difícil de contestar porque pues va a depender de cada familia, pero lo que hemos visto es que ahorita mucha gente está con pues bien desanimada y es algo entendible verdad es entendible saber que la gente ahorita se llena de miedo y de por sí nuestra vida no es una vida fácil.

Ahora tenemos que pensar siempre de que existe la posibilidad de que no regresemos a la casa, pero les tenemos que siempre dar un mensaje de inspiración y de optimismo, por más tenebrosas que sean las cosas tenemos que llevar ese optimismo nosotros y eso es nuestra labor como organizadores estar con ellos y dejarles saber que estamos aquí luchando con ellos.

No es nada fácil es algo que te desgarra al alma ver el terror que tienen de que no saben qué está pasando, no saben si van a regresar.

Entonces nuestro labor es estar con ellos siempre y pues dejarles saber que existe un amor al otro ser humano aunque yo sea un desconocido ahí existe un amor verdad en a favor de todos los humanos aquí y es lo que a veces se pierde, ¿no?

Ese sentido humano de la gente entonces contarle que sigamos pasando esa información de ver por qué tienen miedo y tratar de entender qué podemos hacer nosotros para educarlos, para informarlos de sus derechos, de qué es lo que sí se puede hacer y qué es lo que no se puede hacer.

Para que tengan esas armas tambien ellos para defenderse, el conocimiento de saber qué hacer si se acerca la migra y uno está dentro de su carro o si se acerca a su casa y qué hacer o en la escuela qué hacer porque dependiendo de dónde esté uno existen diferentes tácticas que se pueden hacer para pues protegerse un poquito más.

Ahorita sabemos que con esta administración están implementando tácticas que no hemos visto antes o son un poquito más agresivos que antes pero también nosotros tenemos que pues empezar con la educación de la gente y esos creo que es como vamos a empezar viendo que va cambiando un poquito más de que la gente se eduque más y se sienta más confiada de que pues pase lo que pase sé cómo actuar.

PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Ah ¿cuáles son las cosas que pueden ocurrir?

Ah ¿que pueden afectar una manifestación pacífica?

ALAN CHAVOYA: Lo que termina pasando cuando hay problemas no son, no vienen dentro de la marcha sino vienen de fuera eso lo vimos en Kenosha hace cinco años cuando vimos que gente como Kyle Rittenhouse llegó, la guardia nacional llegó, diferentes departamentos policiacos llegaron a manifestaciones pacíficas.

Terminó pasando lo que pasó con Kyle Rittenhouse que mató a dos personas, que ellos son los que terminan pasando los problemas en contra de la gente, entonces por eso es importante cuando va uno a las marchas siempre pues dejarles saber a seres queridos verdad que voy a una marcha.

Usualmente no pasa nada, esos son casos bastante extremos.

Nosotros no queremos quemar nuestra ciudad, nosotros, muchos de nosotros somos de esta ciudad o nuestras ciudades y las comunidades.

Que nos ganamos al destruir edificios de nuestras propias comunidades, entonces son mentiras que escuchamos en la tele de que dicen: "ohh son manifestantes violentos o problemáticos".

Cuando vamos a nuestras marchas, nos encargamos de tener un equipo de seguridad interno que esté protegiendo a la gente y ahorita lo que pues recomendamos es que pues los que quieran ir a las marchas vayan, ese es un riesgo que ellos deciden verdad, su decision.

Pero si van, si hablan con nosotros pues nosotros nos ponemos en frente de ellos por si hay arrestos que nos arreste a nosotros los que tenemos papeles o los que somos ciudadanos para proteger a la gente indocumentada pero siempre estamos ahí para proteger a nuestra gente y eso es lo que hacemos nosotros.

[música] PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Ahora veamos una historia producida por nuestro colega y productor, así como director de The Arts Page de Milwaukee PBS, Adam Lilley.

Desde su estudio en Madison, Wisconsin, la artista mexicana Angélica Contreras transforma el lienzo en un espacio de diálogo cultural y verdad personal, fusionando la estética tradicional mexicana con una voz audaz y contemporánea.

Su obra explora temas de identidad, pertenencia y memoria colectiva.

A través de impactantes narrativas visuales, Contreras examina las complejas experiencias de la migración, el género y la herencia, invitando a los espectadores a cuestionar y reflexionar sobre lo que significa ser mujer inmigrante y creadora en el mundo actual.

Mediante su arte, no solo preserva la memoria cultural, sino que también la reimagina, ofreciendo un poderoso testimonio de resiliencia y autodefinición.

[Calm street sounds, birds, light wind blowing] [tear paper] ANGELICA CONTRERAS: I am working on an alebrije and I'm currently giving some workshops for children and youth so they can learn this craft and I really like enjoy giving these workshops for kids.

I find it very liberating the way they create their own art.

It brings me back when I was a kid and I also like sharing the traditions of my country with them.

[music] I'm originally from Whittier, California, but I grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico.

I've been here living in Madison for the last eight years.

I grew up in a bicultural household.

I have a Mexican heritage from my mom's side, and my dad was Mexican American.

I kind of remember living in basically two cultures.

A lot of what I've been doing here in Madison talks about that experience of what it's like to live in two cultures and how our identity is shaped through that.

Identities made out of layers.

[music ends] [paper shuffling] I started collecting scraps of paper when I was very young.

My family used to collect just a lot of things, so the medium of collage, I started developing that when I was very young.

In fact, I have one that's really old that when I was about six or seven years old that I kept.

Not thinking that the medium that I was going to use was going to be collage, but somehow that happened because I started collecting scraps of paper and I guess I made a connection that I could use it in my artwork.

But now I kind of look for very specific things that might have a symbolic meaning to them.

I have a lot of, we call them Mexico Laminas that are used in schools that are about a specific topic and there's like thousands of them, so I really like those graphics and I like to incorporate those.

Also from traveling and just walking around the streets of these big cities, I found very interesting to see the walls and how these walls were layered with either graffiti, publicity, and just any other thing and they were kind of free for all that people would just add and add more things and sometimes with time they would come down.

So it was kind of these, in Spanish we say cadaver esquisito exquisite cadaver that was a work that was made out of just people layering things, but I found that very interesting.

And when I came to Madison and thinking about how identity is developed and how living in two cultures or three cultures, how that is shaped, I think that medium of collage and layering slowly incorporated into my work.

[music] The name of this piece is Duality.

This painting is inspired in one of Deanne Arbes' famous portraits of the twins.

Although they were twins, they were very different.

I've seen that when I talk with my students.

I think they're more open to share where they come from than instead of just assimilating and hiding it.

This piece is called La Carga.

La Carga talks about being a caretaker and what people go through and all the things that they're responsible for.

And sometimes people don't realize it.

The task of having to care for others and how sometimes it's not seen.

This piece is going to be called Todos Mis Muertos.

And this particular piece talks about the issues right now in Mexico in general of disappearance of people, whether there's women, men, children in very alarming rates.

Some of the figures are from the news.

And banners, posters of people that write, that don't forget me, I'm missing.

What motivates me to create art is we tend to just see people or things just from the outside, like the first impression.

We don't stop and see commonalities.

[music ends] PATRICIA GÓMEZ: Y con un hasta pronto nos despedimos, invitándolos a que nos dejen saber sus comentarios por el teléfono 414-297-7544 o a que visite nuestro sitio de internet en MilwaukeePBS.org y en nuestras redes sociales.

Soy Patricia Gómez, deseándole paz y bendiciones.

[música]