Press Release: 15 Undocumented Youth and Allies Arrested In Texas Capitol Calling For Permanent Protection Dignity and Respect for all 11 Million
Media Contact: Lucia Allain, 646-488-5919, cosechamedia@gmail.com
Profiles of those arrested and video available upon request.
This action comes in response to the recent threats facing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program. This is the first time undocumented youth participate in a civil disobedience action since Trump took office in January.
Austin, TX- Immigrant youth from across the country converged in Texas on Wednesday to participate in a civil disobedience action and pledge their renewed commitment to winning permanent protection, dignity and respect for all eleven million undocumented immigrants. Four DACA recipients, and eleven allies were arrested, blocking traffic in front of the State Capitol.
For the DACAmented young people participating in this action, the threat of facing ICE retaliation is real- just as it was seven years ago when the first undocumented youth began risking arrest. Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez have said that the police department does not transfer immigrants over to ICE and we expect them to honor that commitment. Allies participating in the action are refusing to leave the jail until all four DACA recipients are released.
Texas has become the battleground state in the struggle for immigrant rights in the Trump era. It leads the country in mass deportations and recently passed SB4, the most anti-immigrant statewide law. It was Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who spearheaded the call for the repeal of DACA. The immigrant community in Texas and across the country are confronting these attacks head on.
“With DACA under threat, we know that some will put their hope in DC politicians. But we also know that we won DACA not because of any politician, but because our community took fearless action. We marched, we walked-out, we stopped deportations and shut down detention centers. We took risks and put our bodies on the line to tell the people of this country that we were ‘Undocumented, Unafraid, and Unapologetic,’” said Maria Fernanda Cabello, a DACA recipient and spokesperson for Cosecha. “For the last 20 years, Republicans and Democrats have failed to deliver on promise after promise to the immigrant community. We will not put our trust in them. We are putting our faith in our people. Taking brave action has been the only thing that has never failed us.”
“I want my community to know that politicians do not get to decide who is deserving of dignity and who is not,” said Catalina Santiago, a DACA recipient arrested in today’s action. “DACA is under attack while my parents, who are farmworkers, were never even given the temporary protection DACA provides. I am getting arrested today to tell my parents, my community, and the rest of the 11 million that no matter what politicians say, you are worthy and we will not settle for the crumbs they offer us in exchange for being the economic and labor force that sustains this country day in and day out.”
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Profiles of those arrested and video available upon request. cosechamedia@gmail.com
For live footage: bit.ly/726live
Click here for a PDF of this release.
Cosecha is a new national movement fighting for permanent protection, dignity and respect for all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States through mass economic noncooperation. Since our public launch in September, Cosecha has shut down Trump Tower, stopped the deportations of immigrant workers who were taken in the largest workplace raid under the Obama Administration, and launched the national #SanctuaryCampus Movement with mass student walkouts. Cosecha spearheaded the #DayWithoutImmigrants Strike on May 1st.