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Thousands of migrants, many of whom are seeking asylum as they escape violence, extreme poverty, and oppression, are stopped at the U.S. border. The lack of resources available to them is a serious life-and-death concern. Adding to the many other hurdles is a language disconnect for Indigenous migrants. Today on Native America Calling, we get an update on the crisis at the US-Mexican border and how it affects Indigenous people from Mexico and Central and South America with Odilia Romero (Zapotec), co-founder and executive director of Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO); Javier Garcia (San Martín Peras from Juxtlahuaca in Oaxaca), interpreters program coordinator for the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project; and attorney Allegra Love.
Break 1 music: Quiero Que Me Salves (feat. Sexteto Tabala) (song) Lido Pimienta (artist) Miss Colombia (album)
Break 2 music: Four Two-Step Songs (song) Pyawasits, Silas & Webster (artist) Wild Rice: Songs from The Menominee Nation (album)
Hi, I’m Papa Ruark.
As an Indigenous queer person myself, I crossed the border in 1999. Many many years later when I was reading an ethnographic book in my undergrad “Fresh Fruit Broken Bodies.” From ase. Holmes, it triggered me the traumatic memories of my almost two months journey. PTSD and mental health in undocumented immigrants, specially the one who made the long walk, is a topic that we need to bring to the table.
Thank you for making this issues visible: