At right, Christian Ramirez, head of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, speaks at a meeting of immigration groups in El Paso, Texas, Nov. 16, 2016.
Immigration groups along the U.S.-Mexican border met in El Paso, Texas, this week to strategize about how to deal with the predicted tough-on-immigration stance of Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.
Campaign promises such as a new border wall, mass deportations and tearing up NAFTA have some in border communities worried. But worry does not mean submission, said Christian Ramirez, head of the Southern Border Communities Coalition.
“He is not the king, and we are not his subjects,” Ramirez said.
A sense of urgency pervaded the room where groups representing 60 organizations from Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas came together. Their mission over three days was to realign and reassess potential responses if promises from Trump’s campaign turn into reality.
Immigration groups along the border meet in El Paso, Texas, Nov. 16 to discuss strategies for a changing immigration landscape under President-elect Donald Trump.“We remain hopeful that our movement is strong enough to ensure that no matter who is in the White House – Republican or Democrat – that they will hear the roar of the people,” Ramirez said. "And the roar of the people has said, ‘Enough! You have taken this too far.’”
Joanna Williams, director of programs at the Kino Border Initiative in Nogales, Ariz., said she and others recognize that “the border is likely the first priority of this new administration."
“We want to be able to respond in a way that promotes the dignity and rights of border residents and the migrants that we work with," Williams said.
Christian Ramirez said tears were shed after the election of Trump, but now, “We’re done with crying. We are going to fight. We are going to fight with everything we have.”
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