Protesting discrimination and intimidation in this week’s fire relief efforts, San Diego’s Border Angels sponsored a rally and press conference Sunday, October 28th, in front of the Federal Building in San Diego, calling attention to the inequities.
The Border Angels, along with other organizations such as MAPA (Mexican American Political Association), and volunteers — some from the Peace & Justice Coalition — have spearheaded fire relief efforts for migrants, whom they call the “forgotten and invisible community” — the migrants out in the fields, on the farmlands, on the streets and reservations.
Border Angels spokesman, Enrique Morones, told the OB RAG that there there have been several incidents of discrimination against migrants this past week. He witnessed one such incident, he stated, on Tuesday, October 23rd — one of the worst days — he was in Penasquitos in North County checking on farmworkers, when he came upon people still out in the fields on property owned by Leslie Farms. Told by their supervisor that the evacuation was “voluntary”, they kept working. Meanwhile, Morones recalls, he saw luxury cars — BMWs and Jaguars — whipping out of the area under orders of evacuation. The field hands don’t have reverse 9-1-1 as they live out in the canyons, out in the open.
For more info on the Border Angels, call 619-269-7865.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Somebody in Border Angels needs to officially contact Leslie Farms and ask them what plans they had in place, if any, to protect their workers. The contact and response then needs to be publicized.
A rally and press conference is fine, but it is better to put specific companies and individuals on the hook, so to speak, and hold them accountable.