we all know hypothetically about the horrors
of living in trumps america. we’ve all seen the same stories, we know how
dangerous it is to be brown, that your whole life can fall down in an instant. we
know this. I thought I knew this more than most, with my boyfriend being mexican.
in the back of my mind I’ve had this anxiety for months, knowing what could
happen - and today it did.
we were stopped by what looked to be a
cop car in what I thought was an ordinary police stop (scary enough already)
but it turned out to be anything but. behind the car were three black vehicles with tinted windows, literally
like you see in the movies. me and my boyfriend are both fresh out of teenager years,
and there was just two of us against several armed government officers.
this was literally the single most terrifying experience of my life. they told
us to put our hands up and all I could think was that they’re gonna tell him to
step out of the car, they’re gonna kill him in front of me, and I’m gonna have
to call his family and tell them that I saw their son die and that he’s never
coming home.
they laughed in my boyfriend’s face, asking several times for his name and
jiggling the door handle and held us for what felt, to me, like a small and
hellish eternity. I’m sure most people can understand what a traffic stop can
be like as a brown person in america - i feel like i don’t need to say much
more here and honestly just trying to describe everything that happens makes me
want to throw up so I’m not going to.
eventually they let us go and somehow it only gets worse from there.
we found out that my boyfriend’s father had been picked up by ICE. we believe
at present that the point of the stop was to stop me and my boyfriend from
driving past the daycare down the road (where his father was dropping off his 3
yr old son at) so that we wouldn’t be able to see what they were doing to his
dad. the fact that they know our schedules so well means they must have been
following us and watching us for a while. i would say that i’m paranoid except
that honestly, this is entirely justified.
currently, his dad is being held by ICE. because it’s immigration court, not
criminal court, he is not entitled to free legal representation. we need at
least $5000 for lawyer, not even including the bond. my boyfriend and I both
work but there is no way for us to be able to raise this kind of money on such
short notice. my boyfriend is basically in shock right now, as I think is very
reasonable, and this entire situation feels beyond hopeless. the only chance we
have of keeping his family together is through this lawyer, and through asking
for help from others.
i know you are all tired from everything you see on the news. i know that there
are many stories like ours. but please, this is ours. this is the man I love. this
is his father. this is our future together. I never thought this would actually
happen and it honestly still feels like a surreal nightmare but it has
happened, and we cannot get out of it ourselves.
you can donate to our paypal here. every penny helps and if you can’t donate i completely understand, just please please share this post.
for anyone in NYC (credit to @evandahm on twitter)
[id: a flyer. “We are blockading I.C.E.
I.C.E. is an out-of-control paramilitary police force with an $8 million budget.
I.C.E. imprisons 30,000 people a day in over 200 internment camps around the country.
I.C.E. vans leave the processing center at 201 Varick Street and prowl the streets of New York City. They grab people from their homes, churches, and jobs. Starting now, we will halt the operation of I.C.E. at their Varick Street location.
Join us at 201 Varick Street, NYC.
Please share widely.
NYCstopICE@gmail.com
Twitter.com/NYCstopICE”
/end id]
Today is day 3 of #OccupyICENYC. Protesters have been gathering every day at 10 am.
700 children are being detained in the state of New York, 200 of which are in NYC.
The protests started in Portland on Sunday and activists are following suit across the United States:
Join or start an occupation at your nearest ICE office.
[ image is screenshot of facebook post by Mia Frances Yamamoto that says, “If you get arrested trying to free innocent children from unjust separation and imprisonment, i will represent you for free.” ]
I try not to do this too often - I know it’s not what anyone’s following this blog for, but this poor baby’s story keeps punching me in the heart. The sensation moved up to my brain and I started thinking maybe I could do something to help.
Babs’ beloved person passed away. Instead of taking her in, surviving family absolved themselves of her and left her with animal control. By then, her coat was so matted, she needed to be shaved. The displacement and stress of being in a shelter has been very tough on her and she’s starting to shut down. She’s lost her appetite and is spending more and more time huddled with her face hidden in the corner of her cage. She’s also come down with a fever recently and is being treated with fluids and antibiotics. The vets think she’ll be okay, but this is no way for a sweetheart to live.
—————————–
Babs is fixed, vaccinated, FIV/FeLV negative and about 8-10 years old. She didn’t much enjoy being shaved (who would?) but never motioned to swat or bite anyone, and I’m pretty sure her whiskers set some kind of record for length. Also, don’t tell the shelter workers I told you, but her adoption fee has already been taken care of.
She’s with Shelter Friends of St. Charles, Missouri. 314-750-7979
So…is there anyone in the Missouri-Illinois area in need of a pretty lap cat?
Can you help me spread this around a bit to give her a chance at the kind of happy home she belongs in?
“Listen to me– all of you out there! You were told by this man– your hero– that America is the greatest country in the world! He told you that Americans were the greatest people– that America could be refined like silver, could have the impurities hammered out of it, and shine more brightly! He went on about how precious America was – how you needed to make sure it remained great! And he told you anything was justified to preserve that great treasure, that pearl of great price that is America!
“Well, I say America is nothing! Without its ideals– its commitment to the freedom of all men, America is a piece of trash! A nation is nothing! A flag is a piece of cloth! I fought Adolf Hitler not because America was great, but because it was fragile! I knew that liberty could be snuffed out here as in Nazi Germany! As a people, we were no different than them! When I returned, I saw that you nearly did turn American into nothing! And the only reason you’re not less then nothing– is that it’s still possible for you to bring freedom back to America!”
