We who believe in freedom cannot rest
We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes
– Ella’s Song; Bernice Johnson Reagon
CEJA stands with our immigrant communities and for human rights – the right to live, to breathe, to dignity, and to self-determination. In Los Angeles and rapidly spreading across California and the country, we are witnessing our own federal government violating these rights and sending armed federal agents to bring violence and terror into our neighborhoods. In full military gear, they are kidnapping immigrant residents and attacking peaceful protestors with tear gas – ripping apart the very fabric that enriches and brings joy to our communities.
These attacks on our communities are part of the same system that treats Black, Brown, and immigrant lives as disposable. The Trump Administration is implementing a targeted assault on our right to breathe and live. Our people are being poisoned – by pollution, and now by the U.S. government itself.
This is environmental injustice and police violence intersecting in real time. From asthma to chokeholds, from oil refineries to tear gas, the violence is systemic, state-sanctioned, and is literally suffocating our communities. All of our struggles are connected.
Trump’s invasion is a dangerous abuse of power meant to divide and intimidate. But San Francisco, Central Valley, and Los Angeles are responding with unity, love, and powerful nonviolent resistance to keep each other safe. This is who we are.
We might not know what happens next, but we do know that community is how we keep each other safe. When SEIU President David Huerta was arrested in LA, calls for his release reverberated across the country until he was free. When ICE started making arrests in the Bay Area, so many demonstrators took to the streets that two immigration courts closed within hours. When congress launches a congressional investigation on 200 organizations to intimidate and silence institutions that protect working families and immigrants, we stand up. Together, we will stop this invasion, protect our neighbors, and build a just future for all.
We demand:
- The immediate removal of ICE, DHS, and federal troops from all of California
- The immediate and unconditional release of all detainees and the reunification of families
- An end to all immigration raids and attacks on protestors
- The end of unjustified federal oversight attacks on 200 nonprofit organizations that serve immigrant communities
Environmental justice means fighting for our communities’ right to exist – free from fossil fuel pollution and militarized policing. We refuse to let Trump turn our cities into battlegrounds. We will not be silent, and we will not back down.
CEJA stands in full solidarity with immigrant communities. This is our home. We won’t be moved.
In Solidarity,
The California Environmental Justice Alliance