"Why aren't we gone?": On imprisoned migrant families in Texas.

Part 2 of our interview with Julia Valero at RAICES; and some reflections on anti-Asian violence, plus links for the week.

Dear all,

This was a tough week for us. With the rising COVID numbers in France and the recent killings in Atlanta, we’ve struggled to stay motivated to work. Rereading this interview with Julia Valero, though, was a reminder of how it’s possible to create solidarity even in the bleakest situations.

We all want to know how to live meaningfully. Julia’s is one path. She lives in San Antonio but drives frequently to an immigration prison an hour away in rural Texas. She’s an American citizen but thinks of her work as part of a global struggle; her father is Basque, and her clients come from all over the world, from Guatemala to Haiti to the Congo. Through her work and her imagination she tries to close the gap between the urban and the rural, the free and the imprisoned, the citizen and the deportable. Her politics—and her hope—arise from having worked alongside people who’ve been to hell and made it back. And through it all, she’s trying to learn how to value her own health, taking time…