LACC Immigration Spotlight

By Rosa Lizarde CoL

The Latin America/Caribbean Committee (LACC) hosted our first Immigration Spotlight of 2025 on Jan. 24, four days after Inauguration Day. For us it was vital to provide a space for sharing, to build solidarity and to hear from our partners about the situation at the border.

Back in 2020 we began Immigration Spotlight as a bimonthly online gathering to fill the need for a sharing space and to bring us together in unity and support. We are feeling that same sense of urgency to come together, to provide a space to listen to our partners and see how we can support their efforts during this time of uncertainty and turmoil for our migrant community.

We invited our border partners, Dora Rodriguez, Paulina Olvera Cáñez and our National Farm Worker Ministry Liaison, Rox Monterastelli, to brief us about the new executive orders issued by the president calling for deportations, a state of emergency and closure of the border for asylum seekers. The executive orders also cancelled the Customs and Border Protection One app (CBP One), a system through which asylum seekers could schedule appointments with border agents. This cancellation left asylum seekers, who had scheduled appointments weeks before, stranded at the border with all further appointments cancelled.

The threats of deportation became a reality for some farmworkers. Rox Monterastelli reported on how ICE had appeared at gas stations and restaurants where farmworkers gather before heading to the fields. She reported on raids in Kern County, Calif., days after the new administration took office.

Ximena Rojas, coordinator and founder of Partería y Medicinas Ancestrales, a midwifery service for migrant women at the Tijuana border, was unable to join us but sent a message about the situation on the ground in Tijuana, “Sad updates from the shelters in Tijuana: After Trump signed today (Jan. 20) he cancelled the admission process from CBP One, 1 pm and 8 pm were rejected and the rest of the appointments from the week/month were cancelled.”

Another of our LACC partners, Nicolas Cordova, interim director of Casa Arcoíris, a guest house in Tijuana, Mexico, for LGBTIQ+ migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., sent a message expressing “deep rejection of the recent executive orders by the U.S. president that seriously affect our LGBTIQ+ community,” referring to the executive order that recognizes only two genders, male and female, by the U.S. government.

“Since coming to power, policies have been implemented that have not only weakened protections for migrants, but have also promoted a context of discrimination and violence against sexual diversity. This represents a direct attack on gender diversity, but also represents a significant and alarming setback in the progress made in the fight for equality and inclusion of the LGBTIQ+ community that experiences a loss of rights through legal actions that strip people of their identity and dignity.” – Nicolas Cordova, Casa Arcoíris

Dora and Paulina gave moving accounts of the realities on the ground and the fear and despair experienced by the many migrants and asylum seekers left stranded at the border. We encourage you to learn about their intervention on the Immigration Spotlight recording below. It is difficult to convey their full sentiments in writing. Suggestions were made as to how to support our partners and the migrants they serve. Of course, sending financial support is key, although other support can be provided. One suggestion was to write letters of encouragement to migrants in Spanish so they feel supported and know they are not alone (see info below). Another suggestion by Dora was to create a quilt (like the AIDS quilt) to take to Washington, D.C. expressing solidarity with the migrants. We encourage you to view the Immigration Spotlight recording and to support our partners by using the links below. 

To view recordings of past Immigration Spotlights featuring those working for immigration justice, search our list of videos on our YouTube playlist here.

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