Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people gathered November 5 at rush hour to protest on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge, a major artery that connects Minneapolis and Saint Paul, to protest President Trump’s relentless racist attacks on the caravan of refugees heading north. The refugees are seeking asylum from rampant violence, political instability and extreme poverty in Honduras.

The protesters carried signs opposing President Trump’s plan to send thousands of military troops to the border and his threats to fire on asylum seekers, as well as signs in solidarity with the thousands of Hondurans who will seek asylum in the U.S., as is their right under international and U.S. law. The protest was called just two days earlier by an ad hoc coalition of immigrant rights, anti-war and Latin American solidarity organizations. The ad hoc coalition has brought together Minnesota Hands Off Honduras Committee, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Minnesota Cuba Committee, Haiti Justice Committee of Minnesota, Puerto Ricans in Minnesota, Women Against Military Madness, and many others.

President Trump and Republican candidates from the national to the local levels have tried to demonize the people fleeing Honduras, one of the most violent countries in the world. The departure of thousands of people from Honduras is a direct result of U.S. military intervention in Honduras since the 1980s, the U.S.-backed coup against the Honduran government in 2009 and more recently, the highly irregular Honduran presidential election last year. These events have created an unstable environment in Honduras with extreme economic difficulties and rampant street violence.

As many people leave Honduras for their own safety, Trump and his followers are trying to trick people in the U.S. into thinking that everyday working people fleeing for their lives are somehow a threat. Trump’s rhetoric bashing the caravan got more shrill as the midterm election got closer, showing it was part of an electoral strategy. But it was also consistent with Trump’s vitriolic approach to immigrants since before he was a candidate and is part of an ongoing anti-immigrant approach, not just something aimed at the midterm elections. As part of Trump’s escalation, on October 29, he ordered over 5000 U.S. troops to further militarize the Mexico-U.S. border.

The ad hoc coalition will have more upcoming actions to oppose U.S. military troops being sent to the border and to support asylum seekers from Honduras and elsewhere in Central America and México.

#MinneapolisMN #Honduras #PeoplesStruggles #MIRAc #migrantCaravan

Attacking Mexicans, and by extension Chicanos, Trump has dispatched the U.S. military to the U.S.-Mexico border to block the caravan. We say down with Trump, down with him hiding like a coward behind the U.S. military, down with the continued militarization, killings and abuses at the border, down with the injustices to the undocumented in the U.S., and down with the U.S. destabilization of Central America.

We must demand legalization for all current 11 million undocumented people in the U.S., and asylum now for the caravan refugees when they arrive at the border. Aztlán welcomes them with open arms.

A brief history

Chicanos of Aztlán – or the Southwest United States, a land that was once northern Mexico – express solidarity with those who make up the caravan and the countries they’re from: Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Close to 7000 individuals have been walking on foot for close to a month now. The caravan began in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on October 12.

Fleeing the destabilization and misery that the U.S. caused in their countries, these refugees have set out for an unknown, long, exhausting and extremely dangerous journey.

For us Chicanos who live in places like Los Angeles, we don’t have to travel far to meet or interact with Central Americans. As early as the 1940s, Central Americans have been immigrating to and permanently staying in Aztlán. As of 2009, up to 560,000 Central Americans live in the greater part of Los Angeles. If you know MacArthur Park, you know that since 2008 over 350,000 Salvadorans call it home.

A cultural embrace

What has this beautiful mix of cultures, history, language, economic struggle, and land done for both Central Americans and Chicanos? It has made us unite and have much in common. Chicanos participate in festivals like Salvadoran Day. There are also shared closeness of independence days like September 16 for Mexico, and September 15 for El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Many Central Americans participate in celebrations of Chicano holidays like Cinco de Mayo or El Grito for Mexicans. A shared love of food and music has caused Chicanos and Central Americans to learn about each other’s cultures and languages as well as embrace them. Central Americans talk about the differences in their tamales and Mexican ones, ask Mexicans for salsa recipes; while Mexicans and Chicanos enjoy pupusas.

Aside from culture and language, Chicanos and Central Americans also share workplaces, neighborhoods and struggle. Accounting for a major part of the workforce and the creators of wealth in places like California and the rest of Southwest, Chicanos and Central Americans are uniting.

Sharing stories of heroic fighters like Father Romero in El Salvador, along with Mexican revolutionaries like Zapata and Pancho Villa, a common outlook of united struggle is coming into being. Stories about crossing the border and how seeking a better future caused us all to live in Aztlán are also commonplace.

Stand up, fight back!

White supremacist sympathizers are having a field day with the caravan and it is up to us to stop them. On October 29, Trump ordered over 5000 U.S. troops to militarize the Mexico-U.S. border. Live broadcasts of public displays of bigotry were shared all over social media. Meters upon meters of barbed wire were wrapped around already existing border fences.

White extremists like Anne Coulter have suggested that the U.S. military invade Mexico to stop the caravan, stating, “They could invade. They could go in ten yards into Mexico. We didn’t ask for Iraq’s approval to go in, we didn’t ask for Afghanistan’s approval to go in.” Secretary of the State Mike Pence says of the caravan, “You will not be successful in getting into the U.S. illegally, no matter what.”

Vigilantes are self-deploying to the border, as they have done in the past. Armed with hatred and weapons, these vigilantes are also responsible for unmarked migrant graves found yearly at the border.

We in the U.S. will fight back against these vile and racist attacks. Stop Trump and his white extremist sympathizers. No to border militarization and troops. Let the caravan in!

Sol Márquez is a Chicana member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Márquez organizes for Chicano liberation in Boyle Heights with the grassroots group Centro CSO.

#LosAngelesCA #International #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #US #Americas #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #legalizationForAll #Antiracism #DonaldTrump #migrantCaravan