Activists rally against Georgia bill on immigration

please welcome him hello everyone thank you for coming out because this is really important uh my name is Gabriel Sanchez I'm a community organizer I live up in Smyrna in Cobb County I'm a son of Colombian immigrants 26y old and you know I had the privilege of being able to be born in this country and have the poer documentation there are so so many in my family so many in my community who do not have that privilege and of what is happening in this legislature with the checkpoints with the threa

t of deportation or even just having more contact with the police because we know what they've done to our community in the past I have a friend of mine I won't say his name for privacy but I work with him at the restaurant I'm a waiter at he came from Mexico as a kid and he has worked hard his whole life he's 25 years old right now but he's worked hard his whole life to give it a living for himself have a better opportunity here in the United States he's built a community he has so many friends

here so many connections because again he's lived here most of his life but just because he doesn't have the proper documentation because when he was eligible for DACA Trump got rid of it just for that one reason he's now terrified he told me the other day that he's saving up money in case the worst happens why are we doing this to our community a community that gives so much to this state the food they eat the houses they these people live in it's in it's just so tragic to me to see so much ha

te coming out from people who are supposed to represent [Music] us just so tired of having to come all the time to prove to these people of our Humanity we shouldn't have to do that we should all be Society especially for people who give so much just like it was mentioned earlier immigrants are the backbone of this economy the backbone of the state they wouldn't be anything without us I it's so hard to you know you know think about my parents as well who have done so much for me and my family an

d you know remember as a kid they had Tennesseee driver's licenses because you know they don't allow driver licenses for basic on immigration status here and I never knew I never knew why they had that until I got older my mom you know does a lot of charity work they are people who invest back into the community and yet these people see them as illegals as people lesser lesser than human and that we cannot stand for but they're about to be in for a roote Awakening because we have people here and

we are here together to fight for ourselves and for our communities because if they're not going to do it then we're going to do it for ourselves in there and instead of having them try to get instill fear in our community what we should be doing is pushing for driver's licenses for all making sure imigration status making sure that we stop exploiting the labor of our people because many corporations are doing that $20 minimum wage guaranteed paid Le for all that to allow the Zen this xenophobi

a and racism that existed the entire history of our country to come back because we are past that it is time for a new so let's fight for that future together thank you so much for being here thank you let's keep the en going everyone up next we have the exec director for Community esta lean please give her a welcome [Music] am I am leader of an organization that is in charge of organiz and mobilizing with indigenous and trans rights in [Applause] [Music] Georgia so I will tell you a little bit

about my story for representing indigenous trans and monolingual communities I was personally imp [Music] by8 it has been a program that has targeted criminalized and even killed some of our community members here in Georgia and it's time to say [Applause] stop and a reminder that you're in the position you're in because of the people who moved and mobilized to put you in those places and we are [Applause] watching thank you final speaker for today so let's give it all we got we have presenting

as an executive directorio Amil Valencia yes thank you for being here um my name is am Valencia I'm the executive director ofio and just proud to be here with our conrades from glar PR South and all the organizations that are present today here at the capital to denounce This Racist policies Al Refugio has been working to support people who are incarcerated were detained at Stewart Detention Center the steart Detention Center is one of the largest Detention Center in the United States and it's c

urrently attaining more than 1500 people over the years programs like 287g secure communities have impacted our communities greatly as you can see many people in our community if you ask people where is to where detention is uh Center is here standing with you all and I think it's clear to and important to know that our community is strong and we will not let this legislation pass we will not let our community to be under attack and I appreciate everyone who is being here today to support us to

stand with our community to say no to HB 1105 and to all those uh Pol policies and proposals that are being placed in this Capital to denounce these hatred policies and to St with our community who are directly impacted by immigration and deportations and this is important for us to be here and to continue our fight thank you so much right there under attack what do we do up my back when immigrants rights are under attack what do we do stand up my back what do we do stand up my back show me what

community looks like this is what community looks like show me what community looks like this is what community looks this is what community looks like can we get one more round of applause for all our key speakers thank you so much from the bottom of gl's heart we want to thank each and every one of you for supporting us today just a reminder that alongside project South we have a letter campaign being sent to tell our Senators and our representatives to vote no on HB 1105 if you have not sign

ed that please make sure you do share it with everyone that you know there's still time the Fight Continues thank you everyone please make it home safe