On Thursday evening, April 3, SAJE hosted “The State of Immigration: A Community Discussion,” the latest installment in our long-running Escuelita series. Our Escuelitas are public pop-ed sessions that focus on current events. They are intended to give attendees more information and context about difficult or divisive issues as well as a place to process and discuss them together. Our past Escuelitas have focused on public safety on LA Metro, the abandoned luxury high-rise project known as the Graffiti Towers in downtown L.A., and the potential impacts of the 2028 Olympics on Los Angeles.
SAJE co-presented “The State of Immigration” with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), a local nonprofit advocating for immigrant rights here and across the nation. The Escuelita began with a SAJE presentation on the history of federal immigration policy in the U.S., making the case that the Trump Administration’s efforts to limit immigration and deport immigrants have precedent in past policies rooted in racism, xenophobia, economic unease. For example, during the 1880s, Southern Pacific Railroad employed 20,000 Chinese immigrants to construct the western section of the transcontinental railroad. Many native-born Americans resented economic competition from Chinese workers, leading to widespread racial hostility and anti-immigrant sentiment. In response, the U.S. government instituted the Chinese Exclusion Art, the first major federal legislation to prohibit immigration for a specific nationality. The Chinese Exclusion Act suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers for almost 60 years, until it was repealed in 1943.
After some context setting, CHIRLA presented an overview of the Trump Administration’s recent immigration policies, and how communities around L.A. have been organizing to respond. Their presentation also included important information about what to do if ICE or other immigration agents show up at your home, your workplace, or your neighborhood. Attendees were encouraged to form hyperlocal networks to share real-time information and advocate for each other when possible. The presentation ended with a question-and-answer session with CHIRLA and a wider reflection and discussion about the impact of immigration policies on communities across L.A.
SAJE Escuelitas are open to the public, and Spanish and English translation is provided. Our next Escuelita is June 5. You can follow our Instagram page for updates and registration information.
