International Migrants Day
Jakelin Ameí Rosmery Caal Maquin's mother Claudia displays a photograph of the child. "Every time they ask me what happened to the girl, it hurts me again." (via AP)
After this past week, as an American, when it comes to the right to migrate, the right to seek asylum and refuge, I have no words. I mostly just have a broken heart.
But today is International Migrants Day, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2000. Today marks that, on December 18, 1990, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. American observance of today started in 1997, when Filipino and other Asian migrant organizations began celebrating and promoting today as the International Day of Solidarity with Migrants.
Just yesterday though, the United States deported a group of Cambodians in U.S. history (now the largest deportation flight, with the last record set just eight months ago). 46 Cambodian refugees were put on a plane and sent back to Cambodia. These are people whose lives and families are in America. These are people who escaped a genocide that wiped out 2M Cambodians, about 25% of the population. The American government isn’t done though, it's still threatening to deport even more refugees from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. If you or someone you know feels these deporations are justified because of criminal records, I implore you to watch this episode of America By the Numbers. Cayden and I actually worked with Maria Hinjosa and PBS on this entire series. This episode covers life in Cambodia Town in Souther California. It describes what these folks, mostly as children, had to go through just to survive.
This is after a summer that saw the Supreme Court of the United States uphold Trump’s Muslim ban, affecting refugees from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Children from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Families from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. This is atrocious in and of itself, even saying nothing of the role the U. S. has played in undermining the democracy and sovereignty of these countries, and flat out destabilizing, in some cases.
This country is failing to recognize the humanity in, and basic dignity of, others. This country (at least part of it) is willing to prioritize fear, feelings of insecurity, feelings of being entitled to job and other things above the physical safety of other humans. Above the lives of children, even. It is amoral. It is flat out wrong.
Jakelin Ameí Rosmery Caal Maquin should be alive but she isn’t. Jakelin, only 7-years-old, died while in the custody of Border Patrol. There are currently 15,000 migrant children in shelters across the United States right now. These are kids that traveled alone across borders because that very danger option was still a better option than staying home where poverty and violence abound. And then, how are they are greeted in the United States? With agents armed to the teeth forcing them into encampments. May history judge this moment in American history with extreme prejudice.
I come from far away
Looking for the blue of the sky
Following predicaments
I come from far away
Memories from my childhood
That sometimes leave the soul
My Guate I never forget it
I always carry it with me
Tired of running
In times of hunting
I fly higher
Like a bird that migrates
I come from far away
Looking for the blue of the sky
Following predicaments
I come from far away
And like someone that clings
To a piece of land
Sooner or later they arrive
The air burns without respite
Tired of running
In times of hunting
I fly higher
Like a bird that migrates
Vengo desde muy lejos
Buscando el azul del cielo
Siguiendo predicamentos
Vengo desde muy lejos
Recuerdos desde mi infancia
Que a veces parten el alma
Mi guate nunca la olvido
La llevo siempre conmigo
Cansados de estar corriendo
En tiempos de cacería
Alzo en alto mi vuelo
Como el ave que emigra
Vengo desde muy lejos
Buscando el azul del cielo
Siguiendo predicamentos
Vengo desde muy lejos
Y como uno se aferra
A un pedazo de tierra
Tarde o temprano llega
Arde el aire sin tregua
Cansados de estar corriendo
En tiempos de cacería
Alzo en alto mi vuelo
Como el ave que emigra
