by Betzabel Estudillo and Barbara Hensleigh

Everything is interconnected. The ICE raids in Los Angeles have affected our community and our work. The Central Group has worked tirelessly on the expansion of parks and green spaces in Los Angeles. During Covid, use of green spaces in Los Angeles went up significantly. We all know that exposure to nature reduces stress and violence.

But since the ICE raids, the parks have been effectively shut down for people of color. At least eight county parks have been targeted. Griffith Park is devoid of fiestas. Summer park activities have been cancelled. Only about 1/3 of the typical number of families came to the annual campout at the Santa Fe dam. And we all know what happened at MacArthur Park, where ICE’s performative intimidation tactics terrified children, resulting in a disbandment of the summer camp there.

Ridership on mass transportation, critical to lessening the impacts of global warming, is significantly down. Our community is hurting. We are unable to address climate issues when Angelinos are afraid. We too are stressed. What’s next? Will they come for the environmentalists? Will more citizens be disappeared? 

Author Rebecca Solnit said this:
“They want you to feel powerless and to surrender and to let them trample everything and you are not going to let them. You are not giving up, and neither am I. The fact that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything and everything we can save is worth saving. You may need to grieve or scream or take time off, but you have a role no matter what, and right now good friends and good principles are worth gathering in. Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember in this tide of hate what love is.”

US Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino told us that ICE is here to stay in LA and that their presence is the new normal. We will never capitulate to his “normal.” We want our city back. We want our culture back. We want him to go away.

But not all of us can be out on the streets protesting, or be part of the quick-response folks called when ICE invades a park, or picks up day laborers at Home Depot, or conducts raids at carwashes.  

Every single action we do in the Age of ICE counts. Here are a few ideas:

• Support carwash workers by donating money and time to the Carwash Worker Center here;
• Support garment workers by donating money to the Garment Worker Center here;
• Support day laborers by donating money and time to IDEPSCA here;
• Provide Short Term Relief to undocumented residents by donating to 805 Undocufund here;
• Learn from an oldie but goodie: Lessons in courage, care and collective action from the international anti-fascist movement here;
• Volunteer with Indivisible here;
• Join the 1,000,000 Rising Training to fight authoritarianism. Sign up here

We would love to hear from you about other ideas you have, as we leave you with another quote, this one from James Baldwin:
“I never have been in despair about the world./ I’ve been enraged by it. I don’t think I’m in despair/ I can’t afford despair./ I can’t tell my nephew, my niece./ You can’t tell the children there’s no hope.

Betzabel Estadillo is a long time volunteer with the Central Group and is a member of the Executive Committee.  She has long been a human rights advocate 

Barbara Hensleigh is a long time volunteer with the Central Group and is the co-chair of its Executive Committee