March for a Cause: Houston Youth Activists

It seems like only a few months ago I was a student trying to unwind from spring finals. My summer allows for unlimited vacation time to decompress mentally. I used my time productively to attend a mariachi summer camp at the University of Texas at Austin. Music camp enabled me to work on my craft while meeting new friends from bands across the Texas area.  As an American with Mexican descent, I have won the birthplace lottery allowing me the comforts that a lot of us takes for granted. As pleasurable as all my experiences were this summer, I felt guilt and sorrow for some children not given any opportunities - the migrant children at the border. The local news shows them detained as animals, ripped apart from their families when they did nothing to deserve such inhumane treatment. The path to citizenship is a broken system, with many hoops to jump through, reform can feel hopeless. Families that are seeking asylum need help and humane living conditions. How can they contribute to our society if we put every obstacle in front of them?

This coming weekend Houston Youth Activists is holding a rally that will march to the Southwest Key Detention Center, Casa Sunzal, at 419 Emancipation Avenue. We are fighting for transparency, accountability, and migrant justice. They are asking for you to join them on Saturday, with a collaborative effort with local community leaders to support RAICES, an organization that provides legal aid for the undocumented. Houston Youth Activists is a great organization made up of local students committed to affecting change in our city and nation. 

Students participated in the walkout at City Hall. (Photo: Houston Youth Activists)

The organization put on a walkout in April 2018 protesting gun reformation in the aftermath of Santa Fe High School. This mass shooting took place 36 miles south of the Houston downtown area. With the full support of our principal at Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, students were allowed to walk out and voice their concerns at City Hall. Just because Americans have historically, traditionally, and culturally stockpiled guns for personal and private use does not mean that such practices are inherently valid. Kids should have the right to feel safe while they are at school.  

The rally this weekend will be a success and will allow our youth to be vocal. Jacob Tate, the press head for Houston Youth Activist, says, "We want kids to know they can make a difference. We did last year with the walkouts, and we will start again with this rally. The immigration policies of this nation are actively hurting our peers, our neighbors, our friends, and we cannot stand idly by. Please join us Saturday, September 14 to make a difference." If you would like to volunteer or donate, please click here for details.

 

HSPVA is doing its part to raise money with a bake sale that is up and running during lunch hours. Hanna-Chong, parliamentarian of Student Council, said, "This bake sale is to raise money for migrant justice. The funds will improve the situation of migrants and their children who have been detained by ICE in life-threatening conditions."

With your time or financial resources, we can help these children reunited with their parents. We are all a part of the human race; please give our neighbors to the south a fighting chance. As a personal note, I shouldn't be the only one allowed to live the American dream because of my birth location, which is 200 miles north of the border.