Following the marches on June 30th, the YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley along with PACTL (Pasadena/Altadena Coalition of Transformative Leaders), ACLU of Southern California, CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles), and the National Immigration Law Center hosted Rise to Reunite, an event centered around informing concerned citizens about the history behind the humanitarian crisis at the border, the current conditions that families are facing in detention center, and concrete actions that they could take.
The even began with Congresswoman Judy Chu’s remarks regarding family separation and her experiences speaking with parents that have been separated from their children and caretakers, as well as what she saw when she visited the detention centers. (See 14:03 in the video below)
This was followed by a panel moderated by Ernst Fenelon Jr, Senior Program Coordinator of Prison Education Project at Cal Poly Pomona, including ACLU Attorney Mohammad Tajsar, Adela De La Torre of the National Immigration Law Center and Yoland Trevino from PACTL. These 3 leaders in the immigration field addressed the myths surrounding the situation at the border and answered questions from the audience before the breakout sessions that would constitute the core of the event. (See 24:13)
After the panel, over 200 community members participated in breakout sessions centered around organizing to take action. These groups came together to strategize about fundraising, educate themselves about the he companies that are profiting from the centers that are holding children, write letters and make calls to Congress, set up a quick response team to volunteer for organizations related to the issues, and finding ways to take care of themselves and explain the President’s immigration policies to their children.
Rise to Reunite will be holding future events and continuing to organize. Follow https://www.facebook.com/RiseToReunite/ for more information.