Online activism credited to TikTok personality Carlos Eduardo Espina.
By Soudi Jimenez | LATimes | FEB 12, 2022 | Photo credit: Drew Angerer
Los Angeles -
The community will go out to march and protest within the framework of "A day without immigrants" in 13 US cities, demanding that President Joe Biden and Congress approve immigration reform that favors 11 million undocumented people.
"We will have a peaceful demonstration in front of the White House, where people talk, share their stories and the government sees that we are unsatisfied with the current immigration policy," said Carlos Eduardo Espina, promoter of this mobilization.
The mobilizations will take place in Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco, Atlanta and Philadelphia, among other cities detailed on the undiasininmigrantes.com portal, created to boost these marches.
According to Espina, 23, this initiative arose from a live broadcast on TikTok, where it has 2.5 million followers. Hearing people's clamor, he went to Facebook to create the group "A day without immigrants", which to date has 88,400 members.
"There are many businesses, there are so many writing to us, wanting to contribute," said the activist.
This young man, resident of College Station (Texas), was born in Montevideo (Uruguay). In 2003, at the age of 5, he emigrated to the United States. He is the son of a Mexican mother and Uruguayan father. He is currently studying the first year of his doctorate in Law at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
Before launching this movement, Espina used her TikTok account to talk about migration, immigration reform and share news. He recognizes that although he is now naturalized American he has friends protected by DACA and others who do not have documents.
"I'm fighting for them and for the whole community," said the young activist.
The message he is sending to the immigrant community is that on February 14 they will not go to work, do not attend school and do not buy. At the same time, the call is to take to the streets peacefully and raise your voice for immigration reform.
"They are deceiving us quite ugly, it has been 36 years since the last immigration reform, it is neither fair nor correct. We want promises to be kept and given respect," said the young activist about Biden's debt to the undocumented community.
Before becoming president, Barack Obama promised immigration reform and it was not approved. The same speech was used by Biden and 12 months after occupying the Oval Office is a bill that has not achieved consensus in the Senate.
In the opinion of Salvador "Chamba" Sánchez, professor of Political Science at the Los Angeles Community College, President Biden has shown little leadership to negotiate and lobby with Senate members.
"Biden did not provide the leadership needed to move that proposal, he did not spend political capital. He did not speak to the Democratic senators or Republicans, none of that," Sánchez lamented about what happened in the current presidential term.
On the morning of Monday, February 14, Espina hopes that the voice of the community will be heard in the White House and that in the rest of the country the mobilizations will echo in the media, so that congressmen and the president realize the clamor of the people.
"I will be in Washington D.C." said the activist, indicating that some congressmen, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have expressed their support for this mobilization. "If a politician supports us, it's okay, but they support with actions, not just words," he said.
In the 2020 presidential election, Espina voted for Biden. Now he reminds him of campaign promises when he said he would fight for immigrants and defend their rights by passing immigration reform in the first 100 days.
"We want him to keep his promises and for [the Democrats] to realize that people are not satisfied," he said.
According to the activist, this national mobilization is an opportunity to show solidarity with the undocumented immigrant community.
"All those who want to unite should support the community, do so, support us," Espina urged. "In union is strength, that is the message I always carry. The more we are, the stronger we are," the activist stressed.
List of cities and schedules of actions for "A day without immigrants"
Washington D.C.
Time: 10 a.m.
Place: White House Front
Los Angeles
Time: 9 a.m.
Place: 211 W. Temple St.
Time: 10:30 am.
Place: 300 N. Los Angeles St.
Time: 1 p.m.
Place: 200 N. Spring St.
Lynwood, CA
Time: 10 a.m.
Place: Imperial Hwy and Wright Rd
Houston, TX
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Buffalo Bayou Park
Time: 1 p.m.
Place: Guadalupe Plaza Park
Miami, FL
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: 362 SW 4th St.
Boston, MA
Time: 11 a.m.
Location: 24 Beacon St.
New York, NY
Time: 5 p.m.
Place: Times Square
Dallas, TX
Time: 11:30 am
Place: City Hall
Chicago, IL
Time: 10 a.m.
Place: Union Park
San Francisco, CA
Time: 10 a.m.
Place: Golden Gate Bridge
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Federal Building, 90 7th St.
Atlanta, GA
Time: 10 a.m.
Place: Centennial Olympic Park
Philadelphia, PA
Time: 10 a.m.
Place: Love Park, Arch St.
Vancouver, WA
Time: 11 am
Location: 4209 NE Leverich Park Way
