Tampa, FL – The U.S. prides itself in having a day to ‘give thanks.’ They call this, ‘Thanksgiving’ and it's supposed to be a time when the family unites and shares a home-cooked meal. This tradition, however, is not always shared by immigrant communities.

For Alicia, a member and founder of Raices en Tampa, this year she will not be celebrating Thanksgiving with her family. Alicia's family is split apart between two countries.

In the fall of 1998, Hurricane Mitch swept through the Atlantic Ocean. The rainfall that fell during Mitch's travel through Honduras flooded over 2 million homes and killed about 11,000 people. The U.S. permitted the entry of some Hondurans during this time. Among them were Alicia and her other four family members: her father, mother and one older and younger brother. They arrived in Naples, Florida that year and attempted to rebuild their lives.

Many Hondurans arriving at this time were extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS is much like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which was given to young undocumented immigrants in June of 2012. TPS is only available for two years and those who have it must reapply, while paying hundreds of dollars for new applications while losing all of their documentation in the meantime. They can face harassment, stalking, arrests and even deportations while they wait for their renewal request for TPS to be approved.

“Sometimes when I go to renew, if the person in Naples does not know what they are doing or if they want to be nasty, they will take my license and cut it in half,” says Alicia.

Alicia's family has each had their fair share of bad experiences while in the U.S. Alicia's mother Irene was pulled over for driving without a license and the police officer threatened to jail her and have her deported. Knowing her responsibility as a mother to two minor children, Irene decided to never drive after that arrest. This quickly became a setback because, even to do a simple task like shopping for groceries, Irene had to ask someone to provide her with transportation.

“As an immigrant and one with such a temporary status, you grow up quickly and learn that the law is used to terrorize us,” says Alicia.

Irene was so afraid to drive that, in October this year, she decided to self-deport back to her native Honduras along with her youngest daughter. Irene put everything she had accumulated in 15 years up for sale. That which she did not sell she gave away to Alicia or friends and neighbors. In a week, everything this family had built with their own work, tears and struggles was only a distant memory.

“I want President Obama to know there are over 2 million deportations, now. All of this is happening without him really caring or even trying to stop them from happening. During his Thanksgiving, I hope Obama thinks about all of us undocumented immigrants who are torn apart from our families and can't share anymore meals with our families,” says Irene.

Raices en Tampa, which is group in Tampa, Florida that Alicia help found, has decided to push for a way to stop these attacks on the approximately 1.5 million undocumented immigrants in the state of Florida. So far, DREAMers Moms Orlando and United Families in Miami have endorsed the action and many others are beginning to express support.

Alicia is positive her work with Raices en Tampa will succeed. “No one deserves to be torn from their home or family for simply driving to work or going to school. We all need jobs, but how are we supposed to drive without a driver’s license? Florida should not deport anymore immigrants for driving without a license. Licenses for all now in the state of Florida!”

Raices en Tampa is collecting public support for their campaign, “Driver's Licenses for All Undocumented – Florida”. They ask that you take a picture of yourself with a sign that reads, “I support driver's licenses for all in Florida! #DL4ALLFL!” and that you email it to raicesentampa@gmail.com.

Marisol Márquez is a member of Raíces en Tampa

#TampaFL #Honduras #deportations #thanksgiving #legalizationForAll #borderRepression #DriversLicenses #ImmigrantsRights #RaicesEnTampa

Tampa, FL – On April 18, immigrant rights activists, community members and students demanded that the city of Tampa allow drivers licenses for undocumented people. In the morning, activists with Dream Defenders marched into city hall demanding that the city council pass a resolution in favor of the state of Florida passing a law granting licenses for the undocumented. The Tampa City Council attempted to shut down speakers for demanding licenses for all. After the council meeting, the activists left with council members inviting them to meet again on a personal basis.

Alekos Zambrano of Dream Defenders said, “No matter what happens, we will keep building and organizing, going to other cities in Florida and garnering support until the state can no longer ignore the undocumented immigrants in this state and the 11 million in the whole country.”

Later that night, people from around the Tampa Bay area gathered in a downtown park to demand licenses for all undocumented people. A crowd of people came together in a huge circle and listened to speakers. Dream Defenders, along with United We Dream, the ACLU, Students for a Democratic Society, Mexican American Student Association at the University of South Florida, Members Empowering True Awareness and Hondurenos Unidos En Tampa spoke at the rally. They all cited examples as to why it is important that all undocumented people in Florida have drivers licenses.

Currently, there are an estimated 1.5 million undocumented people in the state of Florida. Without papers and legal status, these undocumented people do not have the same rights as others. They live a life of fear of deportation, incarceration and separation from their families. On top of that, the undocumented are exploited by employers and others who take advantage of their status and make them work for extremely low wages and in horrible conditions. Within the past ten years, several cases of modern-day slavery have been discovered, where the enslaved have been undocumented people from Mexico and Central America. If Florida granted licenses for all undocumented, many of these abuses would not happen. Currently, most of the deportation and incarceration cases happen because of traffic violations like driving without a license. With a license, undocumented people could drive to work, school and other places without the threat of getting thrown into jail or even deported.

Paola Everett of the ACLU said, “We shouldn't push for licenses just for DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] recipients, but licenses for all!” Many of the proposed bills from politicians have only called for licenses for those who are eligible for Deferred Action. However, those eligible only represent a small minority of the 1.5 million undocumented in Florida and the 11 million across the country. If left up to the politicians' bills, most undocumented people would be left behind, without licenses and without equal rights. Carlos Zapata of United We Dream said, “Having a drivers license will greatly improve my everyday life. Not simply in me but my family also. Every day I fear that my mom and dad won’t return home.”

Between speakers, at the rally, people chanted, “No mas deportacion! Legalizacion!” People were fired up. As the rally came to an end, Marisol Marquez of Dream Defenders said, “I’m a Xicana activist daughter of two once undocumented, Mexican immigrants. I grew up understanding why I was terrified of the police and their routine blockades that would make my parents fearful of driving. Today, we are gathered here to propose a solution: Give all 1.5 million undocumented immigrants in Florida licenses to drive. Now. This is not a privilege. Licenses for all undocumented immigrants...is a necessity.”

People left that night ready to return to city hall. As activists pointed out, this was the first step to getting licenses for all undocumented in Florida. They plan to go back to city hall, and get their resolution passed. After that, they plan to go the state capitol with the same demands. The rally showed that different groups united for one demand: Licenses for All. People across the country and across Florida understand the benefit of licenses and how denying the undocumented licenses is a denial of equal rights.

The activists are planning another action soon.

#TampaFL #legalizationForAll #DriversLicenses #TampaDreamDefenders