McAllen, July 28 (RHC)-- In the U.S., political observers say that there is a new Indigenous movement that is organizing around migrant detentions on the border with Mexico -- called "Taking a Stand on Our Stolen Land.”
The new coalition of native groups includes the Native Voice Network, the Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network and the nonprofit: La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE). Leaders of the Indigenous group say: "As the original caretakers of these lands and territories, we have inherent authority over migration and demand an end to these barbaric acts,” referring to the arrest and abuse of migrants trying to reach the United States.
Specifically, the groups denounced the Donald Trump administration's indefinate incarcaration of migrants and asylum seekers in the detention centers in southern Texas. "We demand the administration immediately dismantle detention facilities and family separations and stop border wall construction."
On Saturday, more than 100 people took part in a peaceful protest outside the Los Encinos Park, near the McAllen detention center. Although their communities may stand 1,609 km apart from those being held in the U.S., migrating from Central America, the Indigenous activists said, their lineage in the Americas “predates this country” by over 10,000 years.
“We were forcibly removed from our families; stripped of our culture and language; displaced from our traditional territories due to economic forces; and detained at military bases. We know all too well the ramifications of such policies and practices,” a Facebook post regarding the event read.
“We will not sit idly by and watch the replication of these injustices on our stolen lands and territories … We will be gathering in a peaceful manner for ceremony, performances, and a rally; in the spirit of resistance and protection of our relatives,” the statement read.
This particular detention center has been reported on by the media and visited by legislators on several occasions for its inhuman conditions with families being moved to sleep outside without shelter in makeshift encampments due to overcrowding.???????
