Last Saturday I attended the Solidarity Gathering held outside the Immigration Detention Center in Tacoma.   I was asked to speak on behalf of JUUstice Washington, our Unitarian Universalist state social action network.   La Resistencia, a group supporting immigrants hosts a Solidarity Day outside the detention center at least once a month and they have been doing so for over 12 years. On this particular Saturday La Resistencia, the Quakers and JUUstice Washington partnered in this work.

The two-hour program contained updates about immigration issues, stories of success where immigrants were protected or released, speakers from community groups, and much music.  We are told that the detainees inside the detention center can hear the music and singing.  The program ends with participants taking a flower over to the chain link fence and gently threading it through so that it can be seen by detainees inside. La Resistencia also provides an ofrenda (altar) for those killed by ICE and those who have died while in detention.  Thousands of peace cranes hang from the ceiling shading the altar.  

For my part in it all, I told a story about a grandfather and four-year-old grandson whom I often see during my walks at a park.  The grandfather is an immigrant but I’m not sure about the grandson.  They are a wonderful sight to behold as the grandfather teaches the grandson about plants and flowers and birds.  How is it that some of the people in this country could look at the same scene and think that they are a danger to our country and need to be separated and then deported? I represented all UUs standing for solidarity with those imprisoned and for their families who so bravely carry on in spite of incredible grief and heavy burdens.  There was also a demand for justice for Lorenzo Solgado and Johan Sebastian Guerrero, who were gunned down by ICE in the past few weeks.  Lastly, I thanked immigrant groups like La Resistencia for the education they had given us on how we can be better allies.

If we want to do more, we can.   Talk with the members of our Cedars Social Action Committee or with me about what support and actions you would like to see Cedars engaged in on behalf of immigrants. Naomi Gary is the lead on the committee for immigration concerns.