The next meeting of the Immigration & Deportation Committee is Thursday, November 11 at 9am on Zoom (access through the LWVSD website). We are very fortunate to have two speakers from Migrant Services for the Municipality of Tijuana speak: Enrique Lucero, Director, and Yasmine Enriquez, Sub Secretary. I have asked them to give us the Mexican or Tijuana perspective of the Remain in Mexico/MPP program that the U.S. has imposed on them because the U.S. does not want so many asylum seekers entering our country. MPP has not gone back into effect yet since the court said it could not be cancelled because Mexico and the U.S. are still negotiating its terms. This meeting will be recorded and put on the LWVSD website.
As Thanksgiving approaches, Maria Galleta is planning to prepare a dinner for deportees who live in Tijuana. Committee members have supported this important event in the past and will do so again this year. She will also be giving the Committee more details at the November meeting.
Speakers from Rep. Sara Jacobs’ office spoke briefly to us in October. Prior to her election, she was down in Tijuana helping the effort to bring deported veterans back home, but apparently she is spending time now getting to know her fellow Congress members and supporting bills that have been introduced. Rep. Jacobs wrote a letter to stop deportations at the border and complained about the terrible treatment the Border Patrol gave the Haitians - that resulted in fairly good results for a while. She did visit the San Diego Convention Center when it was housing unaccompanied minors and is helping Afghans who have connections with her district leave their country and come to the U.S.
KPBS-TV will air Voces: American Exile on November 16 at 10pm. This documentary film follows two brothers who volunteered and fought in Vietnam. Now, 50 years later, they are being deported--and they are not the only ones. The film asks the question, “Should the people who risked their lives to defend this country be forced to leave it?” KPBS members can watch it live or stream it anytime using the PBS Video app.
We are very excited to hear the speakers at the November 17th meeting on Immigration--see the related article above.