On Sept. 23, Los Angeles activists and progressive organizations held a protest to join the week of actions held around the country in solidarity with Haitian refugees at the Texas border.
The protest was held at the LA County Courthouse, where U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla’s office is located, in order to send a message to the Biden administration demanding the immediate end of deportations and the inhuman, racist and genocidal treatment of Haitian refugees by the Border Patrol.
Endorsers and participants at the rally included the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice, Unión del Barrio, Comités de Resistencia, Black Alliance for Peace, BAYAN-SoCal, Occupy LA, American Indian Movement SoCal, Puerto Rican Alliance, National Young Lords Organization, Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition and the Socialist Unity Party.
All of the organizations spoke at the rally, which was livestreamed. They made the following demands:
Temporary Protected Status should be extended and those facing deportation should be granted immediate asylum;
Title 42, the law that both Trump and Biden have used as an excuse to deny refugees the international right to asylum, should be revoked;
Haitians should be given reparations in acknowledgment of the historical and present U.S. destruction of political and economic institutions in Haiti – resulting in the refugee crisis today;
No tolerance for white supremacy, as witnessed by the world with the Border Patrol’s use of whippings and abusive and racist treatment of the refugees;
Solidarity with immigrants must increase, especially for Haitian peoples who, like any African immigrants in general, face the most racist treatment by the U.S. government — from both the Democratic and Republican parties.
The organizations are now discussing a followup action, including a car caravan to the San Diego border, to expand this fightback.
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