Plight of immigrants explained by Claudia Amaro, at the Peace and Social Justice Center’s Annual Dinner

By SJ Otto

US meddling in foreign countries, whose people now flock to the US, was discussed by Claudia Amaro, a leading activist and organizer in the Latino community of Wichita, who spoke to the Peace and Social Justice Center, for their Annual Dinner, last Friday.

Each year devoted supporters and members of the Peace and Social Justice Center gather for a dinner and speaker.

“It is too bad we have such a president” (as Donald Trump), said Amaro. “Immigration has always existed. It is as broken system that comes from years ago.”

Amaro discussed many of the bad laws that have been passed over the years that have contributed to the immigration problems of today.

She gave the example of NAFT (North American Free Trade Agreement).

“It created great hardships,” Amaro said.

She added that US Corporations went to Mexico to avoid taxes and to dodge paying workers minimum wage. The agreement undermined labor laws.

Amaro reminded people that it was Ronald Reagan who attacked the countries of El Salvador and Guatemala, as well as Honduras.

Honduras had a coup in 2009[1] to remove a progressive president, Manuel Zelaya. Amaro pointed out that the US has a history of using military coups to remove progressive leaders and replace them with military dictators.  Continuous, interference in Central America has helped to create the situation we have today. Violent gangs dominate day to day culture in much of Central America.

“People are determined to get a better life for their kids,” Amaro added. “There was a coup in Honduras and every country in the world has condemned it, accept the US.”

Amaro is a US citizen today, but she said that not all of her relatives are citizens.

“I moved to the US when I was 12 years old,” Amaro said. “I was born in Mexico, but my home is the US.”

While she has been a citizen most of her life, her husband was not and she had to help him gain his US citizenship. She now helps other non-citizens to get their citizenship. She often deals with people who are in detention centers, where she said the conditions are terrible.

“People go through hell,” she said.

Amaro explained that people need to share the stories of these immigrants so that the common citizens of this country understand what life is like for these people.

She also said that voting is important.

“Some politicians just want my vote,” Amaro added.

She suggested people check out a politician’s history is on immigration. If their record is bad voters need to expose them for that.

Amaro explained that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) plays a destructive role in immigrant’s lives and this country has developed a culture of hate that needs to be countered.

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[1] The 2009 Honduran coup d'état, part of the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis, occurred when the Honduran Army on June 28, 2009 followed orders from the Honduran Supreme Court to oust President Manuel Zelaya and send him into exile. Zelaya had attempted to schedule a non-binding poll on holding a referendum on convening a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution. Zelaya refused to comply with court orders to cease, and the Honduran Supreme Court issued a secret warrant for his arrest dated 26 June. Two days later, Honduran soldiers stormed the president's house in the middle of the night and detained him, forestalling the poll. Instead of bringing him to trial, the army put him on a military aeroplane and flew him to Costa Rica. Later that day, after the reading of a resignation letter of disputed authenticity, the Honduran Congress voted to remove Zelaya from office, and appointed Speaker of Congress Roberto Micheletti, his constitutional successor, to replace him. -From Wikipedia.