Securing Our Own Families

FACT: More people have been deported under President Obama than under any other president. 

image by Victoria Bouloubasis

Despite the hype about comprehensive immigration reform, we can smell the horse manure from miles away. We continue to get calls from people in our community who are getting deported. Mothers like Lorena and Maria Juana, fathers like Isaias, grandfathers like Miguel, and dreamers like Flavio, are the gangbangers President Obama has tried to deport.

This was taken at McLeansville Elementary School. It is a note Maria Juana Perez dropped off at the front desk explaining why her daughters, 9 year-old Nayely and 7 year-old Blanca, missed school the previous day. They were at Senator Hagan’s office asking her to help stop their mother’s deportation. Maria Juana was set to be deported 6 days from the day this note was written. 

You see, as undocumented youth who belong to undocumented families, we cannot afford to wait around for comprehensive immigration reform to happen. We at the North Carolina Dream Team have decided to take matters into our own hands. We are securing our own families and in doing so, we plan to secure our own community.

image by V. Bouloubasis

On Sunday, February 17th, NCDT members and our families gathered for an afternoon of information and preparation. We shared with our parents and aunts and uncles and cousins the work we have been doing in the past year. Our families had heard about our work but there’s nothing like bringing them all together. Everyone left with an emergency packet ready to go in case of an arrest by the police or ICE. You see, it is not only us – undocumented youth – who want to no longer remain in the shadows. Our entire families want to no longer remain in the shadows. And it’s our responsibility as undocumented youth to inform and prepare our families for whatever may come. We are our own voice. We are our own power!

image by Victoria B.

If you are interested in having a Secure Your Own Community training, get in touch with Cinthia Marroquin. That’s her in the picture above. You can email her at cinthia@thencdreamteam.org.