Friday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m., the organization AIRE, the Alliance for Immigrant Respect and Education, will host a rally in downtown Springdale titled “Migration is Beautiful.” Ozarks at Large’s Sophia Nourani reports.
Since their founding in January, AIRE has become a critical source of information for the public regarding updates on federal, state and regional changes to immigration law and enforcement. Ozarks at Large spoke with the organization in February, and since then, Arkansas’ National Guard has agreed to assist in administrative and logistical operations with ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who has been deployed to Northwest Arkansas and surrounding areas.
In a statement released this month, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote that this action was meant to “hold these criminals accountable and slap enhanced penalties on illegal immigrants who commit additional crimes while in our state.”
On June 13, AIRE held a rally in downtown Springdale called “Solidarity Beyond Borders,” a call to end mass deportations here and nationwide. It rained that day, but many gathered despite the weather to have their voices heard.
“These issues are not abstract. They’re personal. So personal that when my kids come home from school and they didn’t see their friends at school because their friends are scared, that breaks my heart…”
“We are a stronger community. We’re better together. And Martin Luther King said, as a people, if we don’t stand together, we fall as fools. I ain’t no fool.”
“There’s a lot of people that would like to be here today. But out of fear, they’re not out here with us right now. And just keep them in your hearts and keep thinking about them. And keep building bridges and community around them…”
Alejandro Victorino is part of AIRE’s leadership committee and spoke at the rally in Springdale in June. He says the group has grown largely due to collaborating with different organizations and community groups in Northwest Arkansas.
“Our social media interaction has exploded recently, and that’s our main avenue of getting information out to the general public. So that’s amazing. You know, the rally and different partnerships and having a presence at different rallies and protests has really kind of given us a larger audience, which has helped quite a bit because it’s helped get the word out for the different issues that immigrants are dealing with here in Northwest Arkansas. But it’s also helped get the word out for different programs and different ways that we can help them out. So that’s been amazing.”
Victorino is also a part of a legislative committee within AIRE that monitors state and federal legislation regarding immigration.
“We saw many bills get passed, and some of them get deferred, thankfully. But the way that that’s changed how we are working is we’re now shifting and pivoting toward a more educational side of things. But what that’s going to look like is just, you know, these are all the bills that we saw pass into law. So we’re going to want to inform the general public and the immigrant community. You know, how can you best prepare and protect yourself against these bills that target you, you know, unfairly?”
Included in a flyer promoting AIRE’s Friday rally is a quote:
“Like the birds and the butterflies in September, we move with hope, purpose and love. A reminder that migration is natural. Immigrants belong here.”
Victorino says one of the hardest things has been trying to identify who exactly is conducting these immigration stops.
“One of the most confusing, frustrating and, quite frankly, scary things has been in this whole situation that most of the time we can’t really tell who is doing these stops. If you’ve seen the photos that we’ve shared on our socials and the photos that have been circulating in the area, you know, there’s masked individuals and vehicles that are not marked. And I think that’s just something that we’re seeing all over the country. You don’t know if you’re getting pulled over by someone impersonating a cop. You don’t know if you’re getting pulled over by a real cop. You don’t know who this person is. They’re just coming up to your window and asking you to get out of your car.”
Victorino encourages reporting any suspected ICE activity through the NWA ICE Watch Facebook group.
“One of the best ways to reach out and to give us information on ICE activity in the area is through the NWA ICE Watch Facebook group. They work in collaboration with us, amazing people. And they’ve been super, super helpful in doing this. And like I said, these are folks that are taking the time out of their day to go out, check out a spot, they’ll skip their lunch breaks, they’ll completely derail their plans. And they’ll spend their own money on their gas to go out and check these things out. So, you know, I can’t thank them enough and the organization can’t thank them enough. They’re amazing people.
“Another way is through our social media. There is a hotline on our social media that can be found through Ida Arkansas, on Instagram and Facebook. Essentially what that’ll be is it’s a phone number. You call in and you give a report: Hey, I believe I saw ICE activity in this area. Here’s the address. And this is what I saw happening. And then, like I said, we can make sure to have people that are willing to put up the work and willing to put themselves in that situation to go out and verify this activity. Because, like I said, it’s incredibly important. This is the most boots-on-the-ground, day-to-day volunteer work in our organization. Really, it’s people that are putting in the work to make sure everyone else in the community feels safe.”
Victorino says living with constant fear of immigration enforcement is a complex, multifaceted feeling.
“Yes, the fear is prevalent. It is constantly looming over you. And it’s something that really, until something massive changes within our administration and within our wider immigration system, that fear is going to be kind of there always in the background. But just because it’s there in the background doesn’t mean that we can’t live our lives. The best way to take care of yourself is to take care of your community. And when you take care of your community, that makes your circle stronger and that makes a huge difference.
“You know, talk to your neighbor, make sure that they have what they need, make sure that they’re aware of their rights. Really, for the undocumented population, they’re in need of allies. They’re in need of people that have the privilege of having documentation, of being citizens. They are in need of the community right now. They’ve given so much to this country. They are relying on us to step up for them.”
