Abiba Biao Photos.
Despite the forecast of rain in the late afternoon, nothing could dampen the celebration unfolding just beyond the Mill River. The smell of pupusas floated in the air as members from La Cocina de Sandra cooked up a storm on the grill. Strains of mariachi would soon float through the air. And in discussions around immigrant justice, friends laughed, caught up, and exchanged stories of their families and their lives.
Community members, neighbors, and activists gathered at Criscuolo Park last Saturday afternoon for a “Fiesta Popular” held in the heart of the city’s Fair Haven neighborhood. Hosted by the New Haven Immigrants Coalition (NHIC), the event was a way for community members to gather in solidarity with the immigrant community and celebrate what volunteer and longtime organizer Fatima called “one victory at a time.”
She highlighted the Faxon Law New Haven Road Race’s decision to drop Avelo Airlines as a sponsor due to its running of deportation flights out of Tweed-New Haven Airport. She also referenced the case of Esdrás Zabaleta-Ramirez, a junior at Wilbur Cross High School who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in July. Thanks to a ruling by a federal immigration judge, he was recently released from a detention facility and allowed to return home.
“The fight just begins, but we celebrate that he is going to be fighting his case outside with his community, where he belongs, and at high school, where he belongs,” Fatima said.
Stationed at the resource table was Julia, who asked to use only her first name. A recent member of NHIC that joined the group in January, she called NHIC an outlet for civic literacy and engagement.
“I’ve lived around a lot of immigrants, and I have people that I know and care about and I want everyone to be able to have equal access to the life that they want to live and well-being,” she said. “And so, when Trump was elected, I wanted to be able to do something about it.”
On the table, NHIC offered copies of its own zine, an ICE Patrol Observer Pocket Guide. This year, Julia explained, she and other members of an NHIC “rapid response” team decided to create zines to more easily disseminate lifesaving information about how to identify and speak to ICE.
Julia added that zines are sometimes more accessible than in-person interventions such as workshops (NHIC has also held several “Know Your Rights” trainings and has video and visual content that it shares via social media).
The guide provides an overview of ICE’s role within the federal government, phrases to use when questioning ICE agents, and tips for how to document ICE activity as a bystander (interfering with ICE activity is a felony offense). The team plans to make copies of the guide available in different languages, like Spanish.
During uncertain times, Julia reminds herself of a lesson she learned from a friend in Ukraine as motivation: “If we don’t have hope, there’s no way that we’ll win.”
Similar to other attendees, Kiana Cintron is no stranger to organizing work. A UConn junior majoring in biology and on the pre-med track, Cintron first got her start organizing by working with Junta for Progressive Action. While she joined NIHC last November, it wasn't until the beginning of this year that she started getting more involved in the group.
“We’re building off of the roots that were already embedded in the community, right? The work that’s already been done here and we’re just celebrating that.”
Her activism efforts aren’t just limited to New Haven but also extend to her studies. She has led online “Know Your Rights” workshops for UConn students and faculty members and is currently planning some additional sessions this semester.
She suggested that social connectedness is a necessary component to preserve emotional well-being and retain morale on a personal and group level, even during dark times.
“This fiesta, being here for each other and knowing that you’re not alone and that you don’t have to go through this scary stuff by yourself is super important and that gives me hope,” she said. “When I’m like ‘Oh, I wish I could do more,’ I’m with people that also believe in the same thing, [and say], ‘Ok, so then how can we do more?’”
Like Fatima, volunteer Ana Juarez also felt a higher calling to social justice work. While her introduction to advocacy was the Black Lives Matter movement, she could feel the news hit closer to home when mass deportations and immigration raids began earlier this year. As a Mexican American, she grew more compelled and steadfast in her activism efforts, wanting to support her community.
“I just want people to know that regardless of your status here you still have rights,” she said. “You’re still a human being. Even if they make you feel like you’re not, you still are.”
“I know what that anxiety feels like of looking over your shoulder and not knowing who’s friend or foe nowadays,” she continued. “That fear of possibly losing a family member, having someone get detained that you know and love.”
Another recent NHIC member was Sarah, who declined to give her last name. Sarah, who has only been in the group for less than two months, lauded on the open, welcoming nature of the collective. No one goes by a leadership title; instead everyone is on the equal playing field as volunteers. They contribute where they can to efforts or subgroups including social media, community engagement, food solidarity and demanding accountability of Avelo.
“I worked in the non-profit world and I see the limitations of working within the systems that exist,” Sarah said. That led her to embrace grassroots activism as a way to rectify systems, saying that the ethos that sustains her passion is the belief of benevolence within people and focusing on the goal of liberation.
“It’s been an incredible community to organize with,” she said. “Very welcoming, very enthusiastic about people’s ideas and it’s been a real joy honestly.”
It’s this fortitude that Fatima hopes to continue inspiring among other volunteers and the New Haven community at large.
“We defeat fear with community building, we defeat fear with organizing, and we defeat fear with our diversity,” she said.