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Friday, February 1, 2019

Immigrants in Action :: Short Stories Immigration Equality Papers

Immigrants in Action Members of the Comit de Inmigrantes en Accin Santa Teresa (the St. Theresa Committee of Immigrants in Action) look solemn this evening. It is Friday, 500 PM, in the root cellar of St. Theresas Church. The basement boasts a distinctly cafeteria-like atmosphere fluorescent lights, linoleum floors, flexure chairs, bare walls, and long institutional tables. Appropriate, a church volunteer after informs me, as the room also functions as a soup kitchen for unsettled and low-income families. Outside, red late afternoon sunlight diffuses through the air and low-bellied cars journey the streets, bursting with hip-hop beats. But neither the music nor the sun can punch the brick church walls. Inside it is quiet, except for the buzzing of blue-white lights. The sparseness of the large shoes makes the Comit look small. There are ten members present this evening, huddled approximately one table near the entrance. They straggle in during the first half hour of the me eting, nodding hellos, hanging jackets, pulling up chairs. Juan Garca, the Comit leader, has positioned himself at the guide on of the table. Beside his chair rests a bulging black briefcase and spread out sooner him are folders, binders, pamphlets, papers, all in neat stacks. The words Puerto Rico mall merrily across his T-shirt, the e and the r interrupted by the ever-present gold locket that hangs around his neck. It is splayed open, as usual, la Virgen Maria holily presiding over the Comit. Garca started the Comit in 1999, with the support of St. Theresas, a Catholic church on the western hemisphere side of economy, Rhode Island. The church secured him a paid position as an organizador comunitario - a community organizer. The Comits most immediate mission is simply stated to tick off permanent residency for the 6-9 million some-odd undocumented immigrants in the United States. Garca, himself a documented Guatemalan immigrant, collaborates with the Latin American community i n Providence and the surrounding areas to raise awareness about the most recent immigration policies and proposals and to encourage the people to organizarse. Organize themselves. As the Comit is part of the National bond for Dignity and Amnesty, a nation-wide network of similar groups, Garca also keeps tabs on events and advancements in other parts of the country.The size of the Comit is forever fluctuating at the moment, it includes about ten members, documented and undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America.

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