Seattle Tsuru for Solidarity joins La Resistencia Action to Block the Deportation of Victor Jiménez
by Nina Wallace
On Tuesday, August 19th, Seattle Tsuru members rushed to SeaTac Airport to join La Resistencia in an urgent action to block a deportation from the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center.
Sixty-two year old Víctor Jiménez — who is blind, diabetic, and has no family or support network in Mexico after living in the U.S. for over 40 years — had been told he would be deported the previous week. He was granted a stay of release late Tuesday night, but around 8am on Wednesday morning, La Resistencia organizers received a call from his wife saying that Víctor was being taken to the airport anyway. ICE lied.
Members of La Resistencia, Tsuru for Solidarity, and Never Again Action Seattle quickly mobilized a demonstration at SeaTac, where we were told we were “trespassing” and asked to move to an out-of-the-way “free speech area” by airport management and Port of Seattle Police.
photos by La Resistencia
While we achieved a small victory in stopping Víctor’s deportation that day, we know that ICE will try again — and in the meantime, Víctor and others being held inside NWDC continue to face cruel, unsafe conditions. ICE’s inhumanity was on full display here, and we will continue to show up and speak up until we #FreeThemAll and #ShutDownNWDC for good.
#FreeVictor #ChingaLaMigra #NeverAgainIsNow #TsuruForSolidarity #AbolishICE
For coverage of the action, watch the livestream here.
Further calls to action:
- Call the Mexican consulate and urge staff not to collaborate with ICE on Victor’s deportation. Seattle office: Farid Alejandro Soberanis Garcia, 206-448-3526 (dial 5, then ext. 101). San Diego office: Victor Esponda, 619-231-8414.
- Email: fsoberanis@sre.gob.mx, vesponda@sre.gob.mx
- Twitter: @ConsulmexSEA, @consulmexsdi
- Facebook: @ConsulMexSEA, @Consulmexsd
- Follow @LaResistenciaNW on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates
Sample script:
“’I’m calling/e-mailing you as a (fill in… WA/CA resident, teacher, parent, community member, etc.) to ask that you refuse to collaborate with ICE on the deportation of Víctor Jiménez Gutiérrez. Mr. Jiménez Gutiérrez is a 62 year-old blind man, having lost his sight due to diabetic complications. ICE terrorizes our communities and knowingly sends people to their deaths by deporting people like Mr Jiménez with serious illnesses and disabilities. The consulate must not collaborate with ICE in carrying out this violent agenda. Deportations and detention during this global pandemic put all of us at risk. The time to act on ending immigration detention is now, and the consulate has a central role to play.”