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“We will not sit idly by and watch the replication of these injustices on our stolen lands and territories," Indigenous activists said.
A new Indigneous-powered movement is shaking the foundations of migrant detentions in McAllen, Texas and it’s called “Taking a Stand on Our Stolen Land.”
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“As the original caretakers of these lands and territories, we have inherent authority over migration and demand an end to these barbaric acts,” said organizers from the Native Voice Network, the Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network and the nonprofit: La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE.) The groups are denouncing the Donald Trump administration's indefinate incarcaration of migrants and asylum seekers in the detention centers in southern Texas.
“We demand the administration immediately dismantle detention facilities and family separations and stop border wall construction,” they said.
As many as 113 people say they will take part in peaceful protests Saturday outside the Los Encinos Park, near the McAllen detention center.
Although their communities may stand 1,609km apart from those being held in the U.S., migrating from Central America, the Indigenous activists said, their lineage in the Americas “predates this country” by over 10,000 years.
“We were forcibly removed from our families; stripped of our culture and language; displaced from our traditional territories due to economic forces; and detained at military bases. We know all too well the ramifications of such policies and practices,” a Facebook post regarding the event read.
“We will not sit idly by and watch the replication of these injustices on our stolen lands and territories … We will be gathering in a peaceful manner for ceremony, performances, and a rally; in the spirit of resistance and protection of our relatives,” the statement read.
This particular detention center has been reported on by the media and visited by legislators on several occasions for its inhuman conditions with families being moved to sleep outside without shelter in makeshift encampments due to overcrowding.
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