We Will Not Be Scared Into Silence by ICE or the Trump Administration

Jennifer Garcia - SV De-Bug - March 30, 2018 - 3 minute read

Editor's Note:

Just ahead of a march for immigrant rights, one of the organizers of San Jose Immigrant Justice March shares what motivated her to respond to the call of "someone needs to do something."

Jennifer at the International Womyn's Day Celebration at SOMOS Mayfair earlier this month.

I’m a student at De Anza College and my parents came to this country at 18 years old. I helped organized today’s march and protest because I can no longer sit in silence and watch my community being targeted. I believe that it is not right that ICE is using deceitful tactics, which leads to families and friendships being torn apart. California is our beloved home and we are not and should bot be going down without a fight. The people in power in the United States need to realize this is much more our home than it is theirs. We are not just working machines for them to exploit us.

I remember being young and my mom taking me to the May Day march, that was probably one of the first demonstrations I have ever attended, I did not understand at the time but my mom always said that I enjoyed them. I have been a part of the Women’s march in San Jose that happened a little after Trump was voted into office that was truly amazing to experience. I met a lot of amazing women and there was a ton of people fighting to be heard and demanding change.

I take Chicax classes at De Anza and it’s a truly enlightening experience, not only am I learning about a history that I did not learn before, but it is also awakening the activist in me even more. During the class, Professor Gamboa showed us how the Supreme Court voted recently that immigrants were not allowed a bail hearing, that made me angry and made me want to voice my opinion. Alley, who is one of the co-organizers, brought up the idea in my class that someone needs to do something. I went to her after class and she told me she was down. So, I got into contact with people who have planned and attended protests themselves. We both were invited to the Story and King Road Protest and that is where we made so many connections and it even motivated us even more to go through with our plans.

I just want to let people know that this affects everyone in one way or another. The United States has a long history of deporting people even if they were documented, so we need the people to stand together and not allow the Trump administration and ICE to scare us into being silent. We are resilient and stronger united. To my undocumented folks, I understand the fear and that is why I am taking action.

Follow facebook.com/sjimgrmarch and @sj.immigrantjustice to get involved.

Tags: ice , immigrant rights , protest , san jose youth