Undocumented women rally at Imperial Beach border wall
A group of undocumented women traveled from across California to the border wall in Imperial Beach Tuesday to stand in solidarity with immigrant communities feeling fear ahead of the second administration of President Donald Trump, who promised mass deportations on the campaign trail.
"Coming to the border is a big risk that we're willing to take to make that statement and show our communities that we're unafraid and we're ready for this fight," said Flor Martinez Zaragoza, of San Jose. She's a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, brought to the U.S. from Mexico at three years old.
She and three others traveled from the Bay Area to Los Angeles then San Diego to hold demonstrations in each city over the incoming administration's policies, gathering on the beach at Friendship Park, just steps from the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday.
"How unjust and how dehumanizing is this society to our communities, when all we do is give to this country?" Martinez Zaragoza asked. "We give our labor, we give our mind, we give everything we have, just to be — just to be accepted. Just to feel like we are welcomed in this country."
"We feed this country. We keep this country beautiful," she continued. "It's undocumented people that pick the fruit, pick the vegetables that people are eating every single day. It's undocumented people that take care of people's homes and people's children. It's undocumented people that keep the streets clean, keep the buildings clean. We keep this country clean."
"We're the ones making life so much easier for you. And this is how you treat us. This is how you treat our families," Martinez Zaragoza said. "This has to stop. When is enough, enough?"
Their rally came as Trump has begun to fill key positions on his team to address immigration and border security, including South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director of Tom Homan as his " border czar. "
"We are here to stay," Martinez Zaragoza said, as border agents watched from a hill above the beach. "So you bet we will be there when buses show up to people's homes. You bet we will be crossed and locked arms in front of these buses, not letting them take anybody. And we will do whatever we need to. We will march from California to Washington, D.C. if we need to, because we are not afraid anymore."
