Harrisonburg, Virginia

The immigrant rights group Mexicans Without Borders began meeting in Harrisonburg over a year ago to discuss issues impacting Hispanic communities in the United States and how those issues impact migrants and their families in the Shenandoah Valley. The Harrisonburg chapter is part of network of autonomous communities in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and DC, who are committed to, “promoting and defending the cultural identities, human rights and civil liberties of all migrants and their families.”
The group recently hosted an “Immigrant Solidarity Potluck,” where Latino’s, non- Latino’s and their families were invited to share in an afternoon of cross cultural celebration. The event was held at the Community Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg. Over 150 people turned out in support of the Latino community and their contributions to the Friendly City.
That afternoon the church meeting hall was alive with the aroma of pupusas from El Salvador, tomales from Guatemala, taco’s and mole from Mexico, steaming tortias, black beans, rice and the music of Groupo Dimension Musical. People filled in carrying hot casserole dishes of their favorite home cooked cuisines and looked for an empty space on the horseshoe buffet tables that lined the room to set their fare. In the background their was the clatter of pots and pans amongst Spanish and English conversation and a great deal of broken sign language as all made an effort to overcome language barriers and establish a communal space.
By 4:00 the buffet tables were at capacity. There was not room for many more dishes. Volunteers were scrambling in and out of storage closets to get more chairs for those in attendance. The food would have to wait though. Organizers called everyone into the sanctuary. A show of hands and a few shouts from the crowd indicated families from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Puerto Rico and Mexico were represented in the audience.
An organizer with Mexicans without Borders, who requested to remain anonymous, fearing repercussions in their workplace, took the stage and spoke in Spanish though a microphone. “Hola! Gracias, por venier.” (Hello! Thank you for coming.) We are here today to share our points of view as immigrant people and share information about the rights we have. As well as discuss information about laws passed that will be affecting the immigrant community.”
In preface to the sentiments of the afternoon the Speaker discussed the raid on Cargill Meat Solutions Plant in Dayton, VA., by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents (ICE) on March 11 and the presence of ICE agents at the National Coach trailer park in Rockingham County. The Daily News Record reported on March 12, “ICE agents arrested a former Cargill employee and four undocumented workers off-site. The arrests were part of an alleged multi-state conspiracy to obtain and sell identification cards to illegal immigrants.” The former Cargill employee Edwin Roberto Mendez a legal resident of the United States was charged with conspiracy, aggravated identification fraud, and identity fraud conspiracy. The four undocumented workers were not identified or charged in the false identification ring. The Daily News record reported that, “the government [said] it [planed] to deport them.”
The barrage or ICE agents into a largely immigrant workplace and an immigrant neighborhood in March left many Latino’s in Rockingham County with a sense of uneasiness. The Speaker wanted to make known that Latino’s should not be living in the shadows. “As immigrants we should not be hiding. The one who should be hiding is someone who has done something wrong, a criminal. Not somebody who is a hard worker. They can’t just enter whatever house or whatever plant to take us out of here. We aren’t delinquents we are hard workers. They must have confused their laws,” They said.
Jeff Winder a community organizer with The People United Virginia, traveled two hours from Richmond to Dayton, the day of the ICE Raids on the Cargill Plant. He spoke at the gathering about this experience. Winder met with a handful of community activists and concerned citizens outside of the plant that afternoon with the intent to speak to Cargill employees about the presence of ICE Agents inside of the plant. Winder explained that himself and the group he was with were met with a hostile reaction from plant security and local law enforcement. “We were unable speak with anybody on-site and were told to leave immediately or they would be arrested,” he said. Winder explained he and the group agreed to leave company property but not before photographing the license plates of the federal vehicles on- site and taking down the names and badge numbers of the officers who asked them to leave.
The threat of arrest did not stop concerned members of the community from meeting to discuss what they could do to clam the anxieties of the Latino community. Shortly after leaving Cargill property Winder and other allies to the immigrant community met at a house in Harrisonburg to sort out details and discuss and adequate response strategy to the ICE Raids.
Speaking on behalf of the community’s quick response that day Winder said, “This is the kind of activity that can grow. The authorities know we are going to follow up on this and we are going to come together to stop it. We’ve got a long struggle and it is going to take each and everyone of us coming together to make it happen.
Though media coverage made it appear as if the ICE raid only affected four people. ICE obtained all personal documents on Cargill employees from the plant. Winder indicated this is common during immigration raids. This leaves many wondering if ICE will return to Dayton and attempt to execute a larger raid. A spokesperson from Cargill Meat Packing Solutions could not be reached for on comment on the March 11 raids before the time this article was posted.
Ricardo Juarez an organizer with Mexican’s Without Borders, from Fredericksburg VA was also in attendance at the potluck. He spoke about what appeared to be an anti-immigrant campaign by Virginia law makers. “What I think is happening here is people of color are being blamed for the problems America has. In 2006 there were 35 anti-immigrant bills passed, in 2007 there were over 50. We need to realize that our situation is getting worse daily. Immigrants feel they cannot confront the problem on their own. Meetings like this give us more of an opportunity to defend ourselves,” he said.
Law makers seemed to follow suit this year. On January 18, the Richmond Times Dispatch reported, “In the 2008 general assembly Virginia legislature proposed more than 80 bills denying services and punishing immigrants in dozens upon dozens of new ways.”
Amongst those bills was House Bill 55, which would, “designate English as the official language of the commonwealth.” And House Bill 419, which would requires, “the General Assembly to reduce a locality’s school funding for every 500 students with limited English proficiency.” The House continued H.B. 55 till 2009 on February 5. H.B. 419 was left for review in the House Committee of Appropriations on February 12.
Patrick Lincoln is also an organizer with The People United Virginia and works closely with Mexicans Without Borders in Harrisonburg. Commenting on VA’s 2008 General Assembly a few days after the Immigrant Solidarity Potluck he said, “We can’t get stuck on depending on elected officials to make change. Politicians view immigrants as illegals. Because of this elected officials don’t see them as constituency and therefore are unlikely to pass laws on their behalves.”
Lincoln also stated that from conversations with Mexicans Without Borders Organizers in the days following the Immigrant Solidarity he believed they saw the event as a success. “Based on the desire they saw from white allies to offer support. They felt like it showed a new wave of support for their struggle and offered momentum to build on,” he said.