34. Why are Migrants Being Dropped off in Buses? An Interview with ED of CHIRLA Angelica Salas

Buses transporting asylum seekers have been arriving to Los Angeles for months. Non-profit organizations such as CHIRLA, ImmDef, CARECEN, Haitian Bridge Alliance among many others have quickly reacted and are attending to this emergency.

On episode 34 of Immigration Today! Angeline Chen interviews Angelica Salas, the ED of The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) who gives us more details on this subject.

Angelica Salas joined us on Immigration Today! in early 2021 where she spoke about her work with CHIRLA, which continues to react to the needs of migrants across our nation including the asylum seekers being dropped off to cities across America. Angelica explains that in order for us to understand this issue, we must look at the context of asylum law in general. Asylum has always been a legal right to pursue but it has been facing attacks since the Trump administration in 2016. Policies such as Title 42 and Remain in Mexico have made it extremely difficult for asylum seekers to practice their right to seek asylum in the U.S. After Biden was elected, not much changed and asylum seekers remained unable to present their case in front of a judge.

Now that Title 42 has been lifted, there is an opportunity for people to seek asylum but a reasonable and humane process has not been created to help with the process.  States like Texas and Florida have been busing migrants to Los Angeles and other areas.  CHIRLA and other organizations have partnered with the city of Los Angeles and picked up the task of receiving these migrants with the level of humanity that they need. They provide basic care such as food, shelter, medical exams, clothes, transportation, legal representation and much more. You can stay connected with the work CHIRLA does via their website. Please consider making a donation here.

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DISCLAIMER – This podcast is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or a solicitation to provide legal services. The information in this podcast is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, a lawyer-client relationship. Listeners should not act upon this information without seeking professional legal counsel. The views and opinions expressed in the podcast represent those of the individual speaker only and are not necessarily the views of Clark Hill PLC.

Transcript

Today we have Angelica Salas. Angelica Salas is the Executive Director of the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights, also known as CHIRLA. From 1999 to now, she has transformed CHIRLA into one of the nation's largest and most effective immigrant rights organizations. CHIRLA is a mass membership, immigrant led organization that empowers immigrants and their families to win local, state, and national policies that advance their human, civil, and labor rights. Among her achievements include winning in state financial aid and grant programs for California's undocumented students, winning driver's licenses for undocumented drivers, decoupling local police departments from immigration enforcement, and winning Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA. It's amazing.  Angelica Salas is an immigrant from Durango, Mexico. She graduated from Occidental College with a B. A. in History and a B. A. in Sociology in 1993. In 2007, Occidental College awarded her an honorary doctorate for her many contributions, making her one of the youngest persons to earn such an honor in the college's history. Angelica, welcome back to the podcast. It's wonderful to be here again with you. Thank you so much for the invitation. Thank you. I know you're super busy. Um, so I really appreciate the time. Is it okay that if we just get into some questions? So what I wanted to do was, um, we had you. In, uh, back in early 2021, which was an amazing podcast. Thank you so much. And then today I wanted to talk a little bit more about the migrants that are dropped off in buses in LA. Is that okay? We can go. Absolutely. Absolutely. Oh, awesome. Thank you. Thank you. So yeah, you know, watching the news and I know there's so much going on, but in terms of immigration, we do hear. That there are buses of, of migrants and asylum seekers, um, being dropped off all over in Los Angeles. And, and I hear they're coming from Florida. Can you elaborate a little bit more about what's happening there? Sure. Um, so the first thing is, um, just to note, um, in order to really understand the context of these buses, we have to understand the attacks on asylum, uh, law and, and, and really the international and the U.S. law that's, that, um, create an obligation, uh, to protect individuals who are seeking, um, protection for their lives. Um, so I think that the first thing that is important for me to note is that. Um, a lot of the attacks on the asylum system began in 2016. Right. And then right into, um, the first year of the Trump administration, um, denying individuals who were seeking refuge in this country, um, the opportunity, um, to make their case before, um, an immigration officer at ports of entry and, um, And instead sending them back to the to Mexico or back to their country, deporting them and completely denying them that opportunity. And so what what happened is that policies were put in place, whether it was title 42, um, that use the pandemic as an excuse to deny asylum, or whether it was, um. Uh, the remain in Mexico policy, which said, you know, you have to remain in Mexico in order for you. And from there, um, uh, make the petition for asylum from, from that location, many times putting people in, in, in horrible danger and, and instead of protecting their lives, um, uh, further, uh, endangering their lives. Um, and so these policies were put in place, um, and denied, and I would say hundreds of thousands of individuals the opportunity for asylum. So. Uh, we fought against Trump in the courts, uh, in the streets and just said, this is wrong. Um, there was family separation, uh, during this time, um, just the worst, um, uh, policies, but most importantly, the worst consequences for human beings. So then after that, um, uh, President Biden. Was elected after four years of a Trump administration. President Biden was, um, was elected. Um, and so with promises that title 42 is going to end, um, that are that we were going to reclaim our place in this in this world globally as a global leader around asylum and in the issuance of asylum to for individuals who are fleeing from violence for persecution, whether it's on their Thanks very much. Um, uh, gender identity, sexual orientation, um, and certainly sort of maybe just, um, uh, who they were, their identity as a person or any level of, of their political affiliations. Um, and so, you know, we, we had gone to court, we had one, and then we started seeing that the, um, Biden administration was really slow walking a lot of the expectations around in immediate, um. Reversal of the Trump administration policies, especially title 42. And so what is important for everybody to understand is that you have, like, a major backlog and a major, um, you know, situation, a very difficult situation for individuals who are who are in Mexico waiting to come in. And so even as we're fighting for ti for the end of Title 42 and um, and the OMI lifting of Title 42, what we were also, um, seeing as organizations working with immigrants is when we win the lifting of Title 42 mm-Hmm, , we're gonna have hundreds of thousands of people who for years, for all of these four years, were not able to come in, will suddenly be able to finally make their case before, um, an immigration officer and then immigration judge and they're going to be, um, and they're just going to be a lot of people. So it is in that context, um, that we, we now see large numbers of people coming to our borders, not because. Um, you know, uh, what I would say everybody because, um, President Biden won. Therefore, people are coming north. No, they're coming north because they had been denied during the Trump administration the opportunity to come forward. And that context is really important as we talk about the buses. And I know I went a little long on that, but it's really important for me to just really explain how then. The busing of individuals to, um, uh, democratically led, um, cities around the country, um, is now being, why it's, it's now happening. Um, and, um, as the numbers of people now were able to apply for asylum, um, states like Texas and especially, uh, Republican held, um, states in terms of, um, here we have Governor Abbott or Governor DeSantis. Even though the Republican Party was responsible for this, now, as people were finally coming through our ports of entry at large numbers, they were then vilifying the individuals who are coming north, um, coming to our ports of entry, vilifying anybody who's actually seeking to assist them, and worst of that, worst of that, vilifying anybody who's actually seeking to assist them. Um, using individuals, um, to score political points and to try to tell a political narrative of chaos at the border, um, and try to create an optics that was, uh, politically motivated, which basically was disregarding people's, um, lives. And most importantly. Um, trying to show that, um, the border was in crisis as opposed to demonstrating that our policies were wrong and the policies were what was actually creating, um, this sudden, you know, this large number of people now, um, at our borders. Yeah, yeah, it's so important to put that context together. People are even when I talk to people, they say, Oh, my gosh, why are they coming all right now? Like, what's going on? They're afraid of all these people coming in and they're going to be homeless. And there is just and and it you're totally right. It's because of the policies that held them back before for years. Um, and now they're finally being allowed in. It's yeah. All about optics, like you said, the media that, oh my goodness, it's just making it look like people just. Instilling fear in people and you know, the, the racism that discrimination. Mm-Hmm. . It's, it's, it's insane. Um, that's why we have to change the narrative. We try our best. So tell us a little bit, and I know this is happening, uh, across other different parts. If you, you know, the experience that you have of some of the buses coming into Los Angeles, like, where are they coming from? Um, and what happens to them. So, so, um, what we started doing here in Los Angeles is after we were, um, seeing, um, what was happening, um, in other cities, whether it was New York or whether it was Washington, D. C. Um, or whether it was also, you know, um, other parts of the East Coast, Illinois, um, what we started seeing was, uh, Governor DeSantis and Governor, um, Abbott, uh, from Florida and Texas, respectively, um, basically sending people, uh, uh, on buses, uh, getting them on buses, sort of saying it's free transportation. To a destination, um, not telling them the context in which they were being sent and then just randomly dropping them off. Um, so I actually witnessed, um, 1 bus arrival in Washington, D. C. I was happened to be walking in front of Union Station 1 day and, um. And then I saw this bus arrive, and I saw all of these individuals, um, get dropped off, just get dropped off at, um, uh, at the station, at the train station, and then they got off the bus, and they didn't know where to go, they didn't know where they were, they didn't know, um, like, okay, we've arrived, but where do I go from here? These are newly arrived asylum seekers. And at that point, I said to myself, I said, you know, um, if, if, If they are going to send buses to Los Angeles, we have to be better prepared to receive people with some level of humanity and, and most importantly, with some level of organization so that individuals who arrive here can quickly get off their, um, you know, get off their, their, uh, on their feet, you know, get, get on their feet, um, and be able to kind of, um, uh, Pursue the plan for their lives that they had. Right. Empower them to, to really be able to, to, uh, find the protection that they needed, but most importantly, the better lives that they wanted. And so what ended up happening was that, um, we started planning here in Los Angeles, number one for the lifting of Title 42 mm-Hmm. . Um, we started partnering with our state government because the, the state of California. People don't know, but since to 2019, the state of California has received over 434, 000 individuals in our southern border. Um, not everybody has stayed in California. A lot of people have gone out to different states because that was their points of destination. Their final. destinations were elsewhere other than California. It's estimated about 12 to 15 percent of the people who have come through the U. S. Mexico border in California have actually stayed in California. So we started seeing numbers, you know, certainly a continuous number of people who were making California their home, and some were coming to Los Angeles. And again, we had helped the Afghan community training community and certainly large numbers. So we started having these conversations with our state number one about what how we're going to be responding in LA around the lifting of Title 42 and increased numbers of migrants. And then we started collaborating and working with all our different community based organizations. So goddess and immigrant defenders, the archdiocese of Los Angeles, all the faith. Organizations organized around the Clarity and Laity United for Economic Justice, Esperanza Legal Services. And we sat down and we said, okay, how are we going to respond to individuals coming? And so we, we said to ourselves, we want to have a humanitarian response and we want to assist you. Um, these migrants in order for them, um, to have, um, the most dignified welcome and the most organized welcome. And so that's what we did. And at first, what we started seeing, um, uh, and something that continues to this day, uh, where individuals that were not necessarily coming on buses. Um, but they were coming, um, on foot, um, walking to inside, you know, directly to our offices, whether it was cut is in or cheerleader, any of our partner organizations, um, they would then be referred to us as they had just arrived, but the clothes on their back and maybe a couple of belongings, but they had no place to stay and they had no hadn't eaten. They were just in need of basic care. Um, so we started supporting these families and that started around October of 2022. And this is what we had all along, just a steady flow, a daily flow of individuals coming through all of us working, identifying, um, situations, uh, emergency situations and responding by giving, uh, individuals, um, emergency shelter, emergency food, and most importantly, connecting them to the resources again, that would help them, you know, um, upstart their lives in the United States, here in the United States. And then, um, Of course, we kept hearing rumors, um, that Governor Abbott was going to be sending buses to LA and, um, immediately, as soon as, um, uh, uh, Mayor, um, Bass, uh, was elected. That's when we started hearing even more rumors that that buses were going to be sent to Los Angeles, right? Given her with the immigrant community. And then, um, there was a couple of resolutions and some ordinances that were passed in the city of L. A, um, solidifying us as a century city. And sure enough, as soon as that happened, um, governor Abbott began to send buses to Los Angeles and basically as punishment for being. What he considered a sanctuary city, and if and and as a, and basically sending people here, we were ready. And so we have received now 28 buses from Texas. So, all of the Texas 28 buses from Texas, they usually happen, maybe 2 buses a week. But certainly at least the bus a week we've been receiving. Our last bus was on November the 2nd. Those buses are filled with recent arrivals coming from various countries. So we received people from from Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, we've received individuals from China, Russia, and Um, Cuba, um, have also seen, uh, folks from Haiti and then the African diaspora countries. So we've received individuals, I would say about 45 percent of the individuals who are arriving are children, um, with their parents. So lots of family units. Um, and most of the time, um, when we have a chance. Not we don't get that chance all the time, but when we get a chance to know who's coming on the bus when, um, and if, especially if the migrants provide us any contact information of friends, family sponsors, what we do is we, we use those 24 hours as they are in route to L.A. to connect with those family members so that when they arrive. Um, they have somebody, um, waiting for them at a welcome center. Um, they usually arrive at Union Station, um, instead of them being dropped off and not knowing where they're at. Immediately. We greet the bus. Um, that bus is then, um, uh, uh, individuals come up. Um, come off the bus onto L. A. City buses. We then go to welcome center, provided a meal, provide them the clothing. They might need to do medical exams. Many of them have, um, very, you know, I would say they all need, um. medical, they have medical needs that need to be met. They've been walking for months. And then the other thing that we also figure out is, is L.A. their final destination? A lot of people don't understand how big California is. So they think that coming to L.A. and that they are going to be able to get to San Francisco, you know, easily. But so what we also do is we help them on onward travel. Um, and that means that, um, that means if they're going to. Um, uh, to another city in, in California, we will help them get there through, you know, support on, on, on with bus tickets or plane tickets. But then many of the people who come to L.A., actually L.A. was not their final destination. California wasn't even their final destination. And so we're trying to get them, um, to support them to get to what their final destination, even if it's another state. Organized to be ready for that is it's amazing. Um, how are, how is this funded? Well, um, first and foremost, we want to say, you know, and this is really a result of years and years of advocacy. It's the state of California has is supporting us, um, with, um, the staffing. Um, so they are supporting with a grant. It's a reimbursable grant that allows us to basically, um, get reimbursed for the staffing that, um, uh, it takes for, for this, which matters a lot. Um, but that's all that they will support just the staffing, uh, Thank you. Of the program. Um, so what we've been able to do is, uh, get into individual donations, private donations from from foundations and individuals to support us and also just an incredible level of kindness. Um, so we have individuals who have donated clothing, tennis shoes, um, backpacks, things that we can then give to the newly arrived individuals to have, you know, for the kids. Um, Many times they're they're coming to us only with flip flops. Um, their shoes were taken away or their shoes were stolen. Um, and so therefore they have no, so they need shoes. They need socks. They need clean underwear, basic hygiene kits. Um, and so we've received so many. donations. Um, to be able to put these welcome kits together. Um, we've also, um, partnered, um, uh, with different, uh, agencies, uh, especially L.A. County and L.A. City, but certainly L.A. County through the medical team has been at every single arrival. Um, L.A. U.S.D., um, so, and, uh, L.A. County, um, Unified school districts all together, working to make sure that children quickly are enrolled, um, trying to, you know, just it's a real partnership. And what I think is because it's been a partnership, then the burden has been lightened. You know, it's, it's everybody working together. Um, most of the individuals, um. do not need, uh, immediate shelter. They're actually going with friends and family and sponsors, which is really the history and the, what usually happens when immigrants arrive to this country. They connect with people they know, um, to start off their new life. It's, it's what the history of this country is, you know, immigrants arriving connected to friends, family. Sponsor somebody who will give a hand and here in this case, um, those who don't have anybody, um, then we provide them with emergency shelter and try to help them, um, uh, get on their way. But about 80 percent of the people have had somebody who is ready to help. Yeah, no, that that that's great. I mean, 1 thing this work that you're doing is is so hard, but the, you know, and I, I do volunteer work as well. Don't do it full time like you, but, you know, volunteer to help migrants at the border. But the 1 part. That kind of keeps me going is just seeing all the help, seeing all the people that are willing to help and coming out and, and, and, and just contributing a little bit and that part really keeps me going and makes it. Oh, my gosh. Like, I'm so grateful for all these, all these people. And like you said, like, kindness and there are really good people out there. Um, just yesterday actually went to, uh, San Diego to the, um, The elementary school there, where they have the asylum seekers being dropped off, um, in in the buses, but I mean, they're purposely, you know, their bust the nonprofit is picking up from CBP and then bringing them to the elementary school and and we were helping with, like. The intake and then there was a travel area and then there's a donation area. Then there's a, if you need to find your family member area and how do you need to get to it, get to them. And yeah, and, um, our team actually who worked on putting together the logistics and immigrant defenders and, and we have a staff at, uh, in San Diego, um, actually we're very much part of putting together this basically modeled on what we did here in L.A. Um, when there started to be street releases because the state of California just made a decision that only vulnerable, uh, immigrants, um, defined by whether their family units, um, you know, uh, vulnerable, uh, single, um, single women, um, LGBTQ plus, there's a set of like criteria. So who's a vulnerable immigrant that meant that there were more street releases, um, into note, not to shelter for 1 or 2 days, but immediately to the streets. And so that just happened a couple of, um, you know, a couple of weeks ago. And so the same team that actually was part of putting together our, uh, organized response here in LA modeled a response back to San Diego. And of course, San Diego, uh, have to just really say San Diego, the kind of numbers that they've been seeing, the kind of work, and maybe the way that I would say it is we modeled our response from, um, some of the work in, in San Diego on the shelters. Um, um, through Jewish Family Services. Hmm. Uh, Catholic Charities, they were instrumental in helping us set up our own, um, logistics and, and reception and, and of course we're sort of adding the LA twist. But then, um, that was, um, our thought was that we were gonna be able more, have to do more sheltering. We haven't had to do as much sheltering when they were doing the street releases. Then we said, okay, what have we learned in la. And, um, our team then partnered with, um, folks, um, their immigrant defenders being one of the organizations that's working both in LA and, and in San Diego, Haitian Bridge Alliance and others. Uh, and then, um, really started, um, uh, responding and incredible San Diego organizations that are just taking the lead. And, and really, I think the response from Californians was no, we're not going to have people sleeping in the streets. Yeah, we're going to have a response. We can be organized. We can manage. Um, the flow of individuals coming in, um, we can receive people in a humane and organized way. And I think that's what we're really trying to demonstrate here in California, whether it's in L.A. or San Diego or any other part of the, um, of the state that we just. Have that we're going to uphold our values, but that we're also, uh, if we partner community based organizations and government that we can actually respond in a, in a much more effective way, we can be effective in making sure that people have the, again, have the protection that they need, but also have the resources available to them so that they quickly. And I say this, they most most individuals. Only need the support for a little short amount of time. And then after that, you know, they, they are like everybody else who's arrived to this country. Many of them have, you know, our business, there were business owners in their home country. They can start a business. Others where, you know, I, I've met teachers, I've met human rights activists. I mean, just an amazing group of people whose talents will now be. at the service of our country. So I just think that that's what we have to say. We're only supporting people a very short time. Um, and when I mean short time, it could be months, but, but that in, in, in the context of people who then years and years, decades forward are going to be doing great things for our country. I think it's absolutely worth our investment. Absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, a lot of the people that I meet when I'm volunteering, they all do have the ones who I meet are the ones they have family here, family or friends. They just need to get to them. They need a little bit of help, you know, and, um, and then, like you said, people of all different walks of life. Some, you know, some few have nothing and some do like they can buy a flight ticket to New York, you know, so I think the 1 thing that I was. I Um, informed about yesterday was the, the worrying about people being trafficked, I guess, being picked up from CBP and, and somebody telling them, I'm going to take you to the airport and things like that, but they're taking them somewhere else. And that was a worry and kind of, um. So I had to encounter some of that yesterday. That's pretty sad. And, like, you just again, you can't hold them there. So you can't, you know, you can't hold the migrants there. You have to tell them and warn them. And if we do think that it's somebody who may be, you know, not really, uh, a friend or, um, or somebody to help, uh, you just have to advise them and that's the best you can do and whether or not they stay or leave, it's totally up to them. But so I think that part is, is hard. Um, yeah, the, the sheer number. Is making it challenging, but I could tell, like, when you were talking about what's happening in L.A., I could see that the same organization was happening in San Diego, you know, like the, it's very organized for what it could be with getting 400 people at a time, like, you know, um, so how can people help people who are listening now and help with this cause? Well, I think first of all, um, California has a very, um, rich history of receiving, uh, immigrants. We are an immigrant state. 30 percent of our population is foreign born. Um, and so we have a immigrant rights infrastructure. Um, so what I always say is, if you care about this work, please support us financially, um, by providing us donations. You can go to the CHIRLA website, www.chirla.org and support our work. Um, and these are flexible dollars. We get to spend them in a way if we need more, you know, when, when, if we need more travel support, if we need more, um, emergency housing or food or whatever clothing, it, it supports us in that way, um, in the likewise, I would just um, mention my colleagues who are working with us, CARECEN, um, the Central American Resource Center, also in Los Angeles, immigrant defenders, providing, um, legal services for vulnerable, um, immigrants, Esperanza Legal Services, um, they also do the same and CLU, Clerty, Laity, uh, United for Economic Justice, and also we work very closely with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. I really want to say thank you to a lot of the faith organizations, a lot of the churches that have opened their doors to be welcoming centers, impromptu welcoming centers. So Saint Anthony's Croatian Church, Saint Peter's Church in downtown L.A. I want a special shout out to the cathedral high school. Elysian High School, just a lot of, um, folks who, who, um, Silesian High School, I'm so sorry, Silesian High School, um, that have actually opened up their doors to support us. Um, and so to me, it's, um, St. Agatha's. There's just so many churches that I, I just want to say thank you. And, and this is in a matter of 24 hours, we say, hey, um, you know, we have a bus coming, who can open their doors to be a welcome center today. We'll set up everything within that center. Um, but, um, if they can open the door and, um, obviously sometimes, um, when buses arrive on on Sundays or Saturdays, there's obviously activities happen in our faith institutions. Usually that's when we have to scramble a little bit more, but I just want to say thank you to that. But yeah, support us financially right now. Um, if you can put together, um, hygiene kits, you know, what is, what's a hygiene kit? Um, it means, you know, it has a comb, you know, it's a welcome packet. It has a comb. It has, um, a deodorant. It has toothpaste, toothbrush. Um, it just has what you think about what you would need. Um, if, if you had just arrived, I mean, some of the very basic things of toiletries, um, if you could put those together in a backpack, a backpack is, you know, sort of just the most important tool for a migrant, which is, you know, they can put a small amounts of clothing and things in that we always need and, um, and we try to provide that immediately to individuals. And sometimes, you know, we, we have, um. Thank you. For our kids, we make sure that when they arrive, they're also playing. So we give them a toy. So as their parents are going through the intake process, they at least can, can be kids during that time. So, uh, especially during the holidays, as the holidays are coming up, I just want to say, um, your support will, it will be very welcomed. Yeah, no, that's really good. Good to know. I think, um, That's what we handed out hygiene kits yesterday to and somebody was asking me, Oh, where are the suitcases? And I said, you know, I've never seen suitcases. I feel like they, they, they, they travel very light. And, you know, and I've seen some people with one backpack holding their baby. That's right. Coming from Guatemala. And I just have to explain to people that they really don't have very much. And, um, You know, it's great that we, we can provide or people can donate certain things for them. And then once they get to their destination, hopefully, you know, things will change and they're filing for asylum and then they can get work permits, things like that. But in terms of the legal part, are you also helping them with the, like, with representation or so many? Okay. Yeah, so, um, there are pro se clinics that we do both immigrant offenders, um, as well as CHIRLA, um, provide, um, uh, once a week, um, and not just for the folks who are arriving on buses, but those who are walking in as well information about their cases, um, helping them understand, um, how it was that they entered the United States. And I think, you know, this very well that there's a variety of. Thank you. How people were allowed to come in, did they come in through the CBP one app? There's certain things that mean that once here, they have a different level of what I'm going to say opportunity, even though they're all asylum seekers, trying to figure out whether they have a notice to appear, just really helping them understand the context of their entry into the United States. When they need to go to court, we do a lot of, um, change in court filing so that, um, individuals who may be, you know, they're, they were supposed to be going to another state for their court date Mm-Hmm. Um, that then that gets rescheduled here, um, locally. Um, but if they can't, um, that we are able to get them to where their court date is so that they don't miss a very important appointment, um, that could make a determination as to whether they can, um, whether they can stay in the United States. Yeah, no, that's great. And I also wanted to ask you is what, what would you want the US government to do in terms of accepting and admitting these asylum seekers? Oh, well, number one, I think, uh, number one is that asylum is legal. It's international seeking asylum is legal. It's, it's, um, uh, Covenant, you know, we say have signed up as the United States to enter. We're part of international law and, and, and agreements globally to accept individuals who are fleeing for their lives at our, at our border to give them, um, due process in that, in the determination of their claim. Um, so to me is to respect asylum. That's the first thing, not to pretend that it doesn't exist or somehow. Um, to say that when somebody is, um, seeking asylum, they've done something wrong. No, they are in their full human right and legal right to do so. So that's the first thing, this idea of protecting, respecting asylum and protecting, um, asylum as a core global agreement to protect vulnerable individuals who are fleeing violence and who are fleeing for their lives. So I think that's the first thing. Um, number two. I think that it also asylum has to be, um, given obviously not based on the color of your skin, the country of your birth, but whether or not you are a vulnerable human being or a vulnerable family, but if you are returned back to your home country that you will suffer. Um, injury and even death, a level of violence. That's what we should be focusing. And what I'm seeing is that, um, there is sort of a, uh, who gets to come in is, is determined by politics. It's determined, obviously, by our foreign relations. It's determined by what countries of origin, certain countries being given more preference than others. Um, racially, certain countries being accepted more than others. And so for me, it's just Equity in the asylum system. Um, uh, eliminate racism from the asylum system, um, because I think that that is something that is, um, um, uh, prejudicing a lot of, uh, um, individuals. So you see a lot of, especially black migrants who, um, feel that they won't be given a fair chance if they come north and sometimes choosing, um, to stay put in, in Mexico, where maybe. Um, they think that they might have a better chance than the U. S. based on just, um, some of the discrimination that they that they have seen happen to, uh, individuals from their from their home country, especially Haitians, I would just say, um, is 1, um, the other, um. Is Israel support like so, um, number one is support for local communities so that we can have the capacity in the organization as we have described to be able to receive individuals and once here, making sure that recent arrivals and immigrants in general. Immigrants of all different statuses have access to, um, emergency housing, um, transitional housing, permanent housing support, um, so the people can can move forward with their lives. So not prejudicing, um, uh, the ability to access, uh, housing supports based on. Um, on whether or not you're an immigrant. So I think that to me matters a lot. Um, and then at the state level continuing, I just want to ask to continue to invest our very own tax dollars. Most of them, you know, basically, um, uh, one through the hard work of immigrants themselves. We are an immigrant, uh, community. Um, where are, and so making sure that that keeps being invested in building out the infrastructure Immigrant rights organizations and providing legal services to our communities. Um, so I want us to keep doing that and and I'm very proud of California. I'm proud of the work that we're doing. So far, locally, we can be better. We can be even much more, I would say much more organized and better invested, but ultimately, I think, in comparison to how other states are acting when it comes to our community, I think. Um, this is a moment where our values are showing up, um, um, in a way that makes that should make us proud. Yeah. Yeah. No, that was that was really great. I wrote it down, feel like it needs to be in a statement and sent down press release. Um. Thank you so much for your dedication and commitment. Honestly, I, I don't know how you do it. Um, and this organization is just CHIRLA is just so I always feel like that's the best organization out here. Yes, there are other really good ones too that I work with, but you were just amazing and such a great leader and so inspirational. Um. Yes. Thank you so much for your time. And definitely you're going to have to come back. Well, always thank you for having me. Thank you for giving me a space for which, you know, to share what we're doing. And most importantly, um, just for really always being supportive of our organization, but most importantly of the people, um, that we serve and that we fight with. Awesome. Thank you. Take care. Bye bye.