*In addition to stories, people honored the fallen migrants with flowers, songs, candles and an explanation of the migrant's belongings
With flowers, songs, stories and recalling some of the acts that took the lives of migrants seeking the "American dream" who fell on their way to the US, organization leaders held a protest act in the who defended the right to asylum.
Thus, on the afternoon of this Tuesday, May 23, the memory of the migrants who fell on their route was honored, this during the event "The border is here, stop the militarization of the border"? which took place at the Medicine for Nightmares bookstore in San Francisco, California.
The meeting began with the voice of Francisco Herrera, a member of the Caminante Cultural Foundation, who sang part of the song "Caminando" by the American folk music group Rising Apppalachia.
«Walking, walking, we are walking towards the sun. Walking, walking, are we walking towards freedom?», he sang and then invited people to name the one who paved the way for them in this country.
"We are honoring our fallen brothers and these men from Guatemala and, with this, we are honoring all migrants in the world," said María Cristina Herrera of the same organization, who also invited them to open "hearts and stomachs" to feel The ritual.
"You have to talk about it. May we never be afraid to talk about our migrants and even less about the fallen," added the activist.
Through a ritual where they presented significant elements that these migrants carry on their way in search of a better life, Cristina explained that the shoes are the people who cross the border: "we are all migrants, travelers around the world, we need freedom, we seek love and we love our loved ones very much.
The backpack? Which carries family photos, medals or other jewels, emotions, hopes and dreams? it means “I am going to work and change the world of my family, I am going to send them to eat. With this backpack they are carrying the life of an entire town”.
The jackets mean the love of moms and wife, take care of your health, a "come back for us" from families. While the never-ending gallons of water represent life expectancy, "they always hold the last drop of water."
The ritual ended with the lighting of candles to send "light" to all the migrants who are leaving their home, for their dreams, as well as for the "fallen brothers."
"Nobody leaves their country just because they say they don't like it," Cristina said. This idea was supported by Terry Valen from the International Migrants Alliance -IMA, for its acronym in English, who added that people are forced to leave their homes because of the economy of their countries, as well as situations of violence that they live in their community.
The event was organized by the National Guild of Lawyers in the Bay Area, Witnesses on the Border, Global Exchange, Peninsula 360 Press, Haiti Action Committee, as well as the Caminante Cultural Foundation.
Among the participants were representatives of the organizations Acción Latina, Instituto Familiar de la Raza and the IMA.
At the time, Camilo Antonio Pérez Bustillo, director of the National Guild of Lawyers in the Bay Area, named Luis Ángel and Anadith Tanay, two minors who died in the custody of the authorities in the United States.
The first of them was 17 years old, was originally from Honduras and his life ended on May 10 in a shelter in Florida. Luis Ángel was alone and in the custody of federal authorities.
Anadith Tanay was 8 years old and spent more than a week in an immigration detention center in Harlingen, Texas, lost consciousness and died on May 17. She suffered from heart problems and her parents assure that their daughter spent days complaining of not being able to breathe and that the agents only called the ambulance when it was too late.
They also recalled the case of March 27 in Ciudad Juárez, when a fire in a migrant detention center claimed the lives of 39 people. Six people were arrested for the incident: three officials from the National Migration Institute, two private security guards, and the person who allegedly started the fire.
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