OneRouge Community Check-In: Week 223

Join the Conversation on Immigration Relief for Hispanic Countries

We invite you to join us for a special conversation centered on the ongoing fight for temporary immigration relief for several Hispanic countries. With many nations facing political instability, natural disasters, and humanitarian crises, Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) have become essential lifelines. These programs provide temporary safety for immigrants in the U.S. who cannot return to their home countries due to unsafe conditions. This conversation will explore the vital role these programs play in ensuring that affected individuals receive the protections they need.

Our event will highlight the efforts of Hispanic communities and advocacy groups fighting for an extension and expansion of DED and TPS. From countries like Venezuela and Nicaragua to Honduras and El Salvador, millions have sought refuge in the U.S. as conditions in their homelands deteriorate. The discussion will cover the complexities of these immigration policies, focusing on how they affect not just the individuals seeking relief but also their families and communities, both here and abroad.

This conversation is an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the ongoing immigration struggles and the campaigns working to secure protections for vulnerable populations. Whether you are directly impacted, involved in advocacy, or simply want to learn more about the importance of DED and TPS, this event will offer valuable insights. We hope you'll join us to support the continued fight for immigration relief and justice.

Read on to learn from our guests Sara Louis-Ayo, Leticia Casildo, Blanca Romero, Cristina Casas, Sharon Njie, and Marcela Hernandez.

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Notes

Tia Fields: Good morning, OneRouge.

Casey Phillips: Good morning to you, Tia. Happy Friday. 

Tia: I'm feeling a lot better than I did yesterday. This morning, you guys, we're kicking off the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. We have some great amazing speakers here to share a little bit about that way of the land and without further ado, we're just going to go ahead and let them introduce themselves. So I'm going to start with Leticia. You have five minutes to tell the people who you are and what it is that you do. 

Leticia Casildo: Hello, everyone. My name is Leticia. I'm here in New Orleans. I'm from Honduras. I've been here for almost 20 years now. I'm called Founder and Director to Familias Unidas en Acción.

Tia: And Cristina, you can go next.

Casey: You're on mute, my friend. Take two. 

Cristina Casas: All right. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for having me here today. My name is Cristina Casas. I am the civic and community organizer at this Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants known as LORI, and I am very happy to be here today to represent the DACA recipients here and also make sure that we all know the importance of voting during these elections. Thank you. 

Tia: Sharon, my good friend.  

Sharon Njie: Yes, sister. Good morning. Good morning again, everyone. My name is Sharon Njie. I'm with LORI and I'm the communication associate partnership director. I'll be looking at TPS and our national effort in that dimension. Thank you. I'll pass it on to Sara. 

Sara Louis-Ayo: Morning, everyone. My name is Sara Louis-Ayo. I am the policy and advocacy organizer as well as the DOJ partially accredited rep for Lori and today I would like to dive deep into local policies. What we have done during this legislative session and how we all work together on a national and local level as well. And good to be here.

Tia: Marcela?

Marcela Hernandez: Good morning, everyone. My name is Marcela Hernandez. I'm the program and organizing manager from Lori, and I'm originally from Colombia, South America. And I have been in the country for 18 years since I was 18 years old. So you figure how old I am. And I am going to be talking today about DED for Colombians. I will pass it to Blanca. 

Blanca Romero: Good morning everyone. My name is Blanca. I'm from Venezuela. I currently work with Catholic Charities Mental Care Advocate. I am with my daughter Jennifer. 

Jennifer: Hi, I'm Jennifer, and I'm a junior at LSU, majoring in political science concentration of international relations and we're going to be talking about Venezuela.  

Tia: Thank you. Thank you. All right. So we're going to go ahead and allow Sharon just to share some background information. Sharon, you have the floor. 

Sharon: Thank you again so much. We actually are going to look at TPS, but first of all I believe not everybody knows what TPS is. What is TPS? It's basically a form of humanitarian protection that is provided to nationals of all designated countries who are physically present in the United States and who cannot safely return to that country due to natural disaster, conflict, or other extraordinary conditions. Now in that light, you will be hearing of things like there is a war, there's a displacement, like the country I come from, Cameroon, TPS is Temporary Protective Status, so you have to be physically present in the United States for you to be granted TPS. If your country is in harm's way, and on a national level, some of the work we've been doing nationally advocating for nations, and I believe this is Hispanic Heritage Month, so I'll focus on Hispanic nations that we've successfully been able to, work alongside national partners to ensure that we can have an extension for TPS for this nation. We have El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal is on the list, but it's not Hispanic. Sorry about that. Nicaragua rather. And of course Venezuela. And I believe we have somebody represented to talk more detailedly about that. So I want people to understand that this work we do effortlessly, you notice between the time of May from April all the way to June we're probably not in Louisiana. We are working tirelessly nationally to meet with our elected officials knocking on doors of senators across different states so that they will be able to sign bills and try to support the efforts to give extension to this nation and we have been lucky to have extended some of the Hispanic nations that have been greatly affected. Now, Marcela is on here, I believe she will talk in detail about DED, which has also been a national campaign. Our efforts have not only led with TPS, but our efforts have also led us to do work with other national organizations like UNHCR, Welcoming America, we have Refugee Congress, NPNA, We Are All America, and many other national powerful organizations that has led some of this work, and in recently we were able to have a grant that was it's supportive from some of this national organization to continue some of the work we do locally. And Sara, of course, we bought on that and just to touch a little highlight in that effort we have the sports cup, which was awarded, were able to see what was one of the things we pushed forward this year, bringing communities together and in the sport reign, we're able to have 75 percent of the players out of 400 plus players who registered for the Baton Rouge Unification Cup were Hispanics. And the winning team, which was Team France, was actually a makeup of Hispanics. So that tells you a lot about the engagement in the community. And of course, we also have the youth sector, which we have programs and collaboration with Google bringing youth into doing specialized trainings and having those Google certifications and even future to work for Google and Google getting them jobs after they finish that program is extended to communities. So it's giving advantage to not just the immigrants from Africa, but also we have an extension of immigrants from across the globe with also Hispanic immigrants benefiting from that program. We have two different cohorts of our youth program, which is the YEP program, the Youth Empowered Empowerment Program. And we have the Learn to Lead program. Those are two engagement program to build our youth, the community. And of course, so many, over 50 percent of that population are Hispanic.  

Tia: I have a question. So with TPS is it something that a person would have to file for? Can you just walk me through a little bit on how a person would retain that status? 

Sharon: Yes, absolutely. Once your country has been designated or you've had an expansion, you call it expansion or an extension as a result that your country has been identified. For example, I come from Cameroon and my country was granted TPS extension because of the political war we've been having for the last eight years. Now, in that effect anybody who is living in the United States and is from my country is eligible to apply for that particular program and they'll be given status to stay legally in the U. S. So it helps them to stay status, to have a legal status to live in the United States and also work and pay taxes in the United States.

Tia: When it comes to strategizing, this may be a question for Sara as we talk about advocacy and campaign strategies, what are the key strategies being employed for TPS in DED?

Sara: It's definitely our national effort that we're pushing for all this, but the strategies that we do we're using is writing letters. Sending out letters to elected officials that this is something that we need, and people really are in need of TPS and DED we were doing what is a sign on petitions that we send out local government can also participate on that but, on a national level, yes. TPS DED. But there's also a different process that, as Sharon mentioned, right? The es, once she is re once it's like ES designated it. And then it's the idea that it depends on when you came to the country. That determines if you get it or not. And again, that could change any moment. They could just wake up one day, depending which office they could wake up one day and say, okay, no more TPS for such country. And that's how it also affects what we're doing locally with all the entire immigrant policies that have been passed, such as S.B. 208. Which is anti century city policy. It prohibits local government from impending collaboration with local enforcement and agencies. And it has been signed into law. May 2024 until you were with us championing and trying to fight for this as well as SB. 388, which is a copycat. As before in Texas, create the state crime for entry reentry. And so imagine someone coming through the border knowing that they have their refugees, they escape in prosecution and they're qualified for TPS, but as soon as they come from Texas and trying to go back to Louisiana or from Louisiana to Texas, you're captured and taken into a detention center. And then you lose the idea of TPS or even a DED for Columbia. And because of this anti immigrant bill being passed this past legislation. We see a sense of fear in our community and we see how it's targeting places such as New Orleans, where just outside of it, Kenner have the highest Hispanic and Latino population with 25.51 percent Hispanics. And as Sharon mentioned, majority of our programs especially with the women's wing, 75 percent of them are a woman showing up, Hispanic woman advocating and championing, but we're starting to see the decrease in that because it left such fear, and it dismantled the very things that we have created or fought for, such as the 287G, we, BR was the last parish to have 287G eradicated, now SB208 comes and just dismantled the work and the trust that we built with the community and law enforcement, now that's broken and people are living in fear. And brown and black people are targeted, knowing that Hispanic are the majority of immigrants here, they're very much targeted in their neighborhoods and the work that they do. But also, we need to remember the importance of advocating for one another, the importance of showing up at the Capitol, if anything, the importance of building trust because or even creating a welcoming environment for our refugees and immigrant because we do, they do give back and we see that with the Hispanic community with their businesses. We see how those bills are going to affect our economy. I'll leave it up for more questions. 

Tia: So when we talk about dismantling the trust that we've built with the community, how is it that we are addressing these challenges to again, build what has been lost? 

Sara: We do educational seminars. We do know your rights. They come to Lori, we try to create a space where you have rights, right? A majority of our immigrant community do not speak English, but it's that fear if I see a police, and I myself have this sense of fear as a black refugee woman. And even though being a citizen I was once handcuffed because I forgot how to speak English but not knowing my rights right then. So I could only imagine my mom's friend, my Venezuelan friends, and so having educational sessions teaching them about knowing your rights and informing our immigrant community to just work together and advocate for one another.  

Tia: Thank you for that, Sara. I'm going to want to speak a little bit about El Salvador. Leticia, this is this is the country that you represent, correct?  

Leticia: Yes, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua at this moment, because let me tell you something, guys. The best we can do in Latino heritage months is protect the family. The other thing I can say, the TPS is Temporary Protection Status. There's no people who can go both when they have temporary protection status. In this moment, we have a lot of community members come from El Salvador, from Honduras, from Nicaragua. We are struggling to stay together, we only have the family because we have status mix in the family, and the TPS help the people have better life, help the people have business, help the people  support the economy in this country. And the people only. It's protecting for no deportation. That for me in Honduras happened in Honduras, in Nicaragua. El Salvador happened to the other two. Hurricane in 2020, in 22. It's a hurricane. It happened almost four years ago. We are struggling for a new designation for these countries, and at this moment, we don't have that. We continue fighting, we continue working, and locally to educate the legislative people to advocate the community for supporting and protecting the families. 

Tia: As we talk about advocacy, what are some of the challenges, like specific challenges that the Honduran and Salvadoran immigrants face with seeking TPS? 

Leticia: Because sometimes the people I don't know what happened in the legislation. I know Sara can talk about it a little more like this because she understands the legislation about this kind. But for me, it's people, sometimes it's scary and the government is confused. And think of the people who need this to go to the city. It's no, it's not right. It's only for protection, the people only struggling for stay together, and doing best in this country. Because we are here, the country we have there does not have a real good infrastructure. There's a lot of corruption over there and specifically in Honduras. What happened at this moment? The ex-president is in jail in New York.  Because this man has the cartel in Honduras, it's happening in Guatemala and in Nicaragua, it's horrible too. And we feel, only for perhaps a better life. 

Tia: And it makes me really curious about how, and anybody can, jump in or comment on this. The political instability in our Hispanic, in Latin countries what does it mean for why individuals want to leave their country. And I'm like, how destabilizing is having that political realm rule in a way that is destroying the lives of their citizens to where you guys have to seek asylum here or look for better ways of opportunities. What do you, what would you say it affects like the way that the mind works when they get here in the States having to leave their country because of the political climate. 

Marcela: I'm just gonna say no one would like to leave their families, their friends, their culture, just for fun. And that is a fact. You're being pushed out of your country because something significant enough is happening for you to make that decision. And unfortunately a lot of Latin and countries around the globe because this is not only a Hispanic and Latin issue. We have a lot of corruption in our homes, and we have history, years of internal conflict that have forced our community members to leave the country, but this is definitely something that needs to be addressed. Not only at a local level here in the United States, but also looking for initiatives to helping us restoring our government, because at the end of the day, if you talk to community members who have migrated and are in especially vulnerable situations here, those individuals want to go back, it's just the situation that the way of living there, it's impossible for individuals to go back. So this is a restoration process in both fronts. here in the United States, offering protection and dignity to families and individuals, but then also working with our government. So we can also restore the governmental issues that we're having. So our individuals can also go back home and reunite with our families and friends.

Tia: I was going to ask. Okay, go ahead, Leticia. 

Leticia: This is better, it's highlight this kind, guys. The TPS is for the people, it's ready here in U. S. It's not for the people come, no? It's very important that, Marcela, I wanted to add that one of the elements is climate change, corruption, and drug trafficking. It hasn't allowed our people to establish themselves.  

Marcela: So she's saying that one of the reasons why people have not been able to fully get established is corruption and what is it? And climate change that is affecting our communities and narco traffic. 

Tia: Wow. I guess I've never really put too much thought on someone outside of seeking asylum that there's natural disasters that also would drive families out of their countries. And that's a real life issue across the globe. And thank you for speaking on that. Leticia. Marcela, I want to know, what is the rationale behind DED's designation for Columbia? And can you tell the people exactly what DED is as well?  

Marcela: For sure. So today is a very important day for me because I'm not only talking about, the Hispanic Heritage Month and the kickoff of this month, but it's also to be able to educate and promote awareness about the different efforts that all of us as organizations, institutions and individuals are doing to really ensure that our families are safe and protected. And this topic, the DED topic is very close to my heart because I had to leave a childhood that was surrounded by the consequences of the Colombian internal arm conflict. I, as any other Colombian, learned from a very early age how my country was being killed by massive bomb attacks, kidnappings, explosive devices around people's necks and we are all being raped and children being recruited for this war to kill their own family members. Friends woman's being raped a femicide and extreme poverty. We all as Colombians had to leave this, and I grew up in a suffering country that begged our government to put an end to that nonsense war. However, that war never ended. It never happened. And Colombia has endured. We have suffered more than sixty years of this armed conflict, and today my family, my friends, and my country continue suffering the results of this war. The statistics said in 2022, the Truth Commission in Colombia presented the final report on our internal armed conflict, and it estimated 800,000 deaths. And it is not known where the other hundreds of thousands of individuals that disappeared that they cannot find them. In 2016, a peace accord was signed between the government and the different armed groups that we had. And this peace accord was intended to curb that violence. However, that peace accord has been a failure. And unfortunately, the killings, the massacres and that massive force internal displacement has increased. So the DED that Sharon was mentioning is a deferred enforced departure, and this is established to provide the president of the United States a vital tool for foreign policy to protect those individuals that are flying from persecution from war from climate change. The DED for Columbia is basically because of three reasons. The 60 years of armed conflict, the extreme poverty that we're facing, especially after COVID and because of climate change. So basically that failure between the guerrillas and the armed groups, it brings all of this issue that we're creating. So under the benefits of the DED basically it comes into four. So first of all, it's an executive order. So the president can sign this. It will protect individuals from being deported, and then we'll also give them the opportunity to work to apply for a work permit. There are Colombian individuals coming to this country with a huge education standard, master degrees, PhD, and they're all trying to find employment with individuals that are really taking advantage of this pandemic. The lack of protection that they have, and then they might also be able to apply for a humanitarian parole so they can travel and go back and reunite with their families. However, just like Leticia said, the DED, as same as the TPS, will not create a pathway to citizenship or residence. It's just a temporary protection so our families are safe. 

Tia: And so there is no way that it can become permanent. It's just.  What is the time frame? How long is the protection? 

Marcela: So you have to renew them depending on the way that each time I write in, but it's usually 18 months. And every 18 months you have to reapply, you have to pay again, and the country has to be re-designated. Which in many cases doesn't happen. And that's what Sharon was mentioning in the beginning. They might sign TPS, they might sign DED, but it's only for the first 18 months. After 18 months, they can decide they're not going to redesignate this protection.  

Tia: Okay. Thank you for that, Marcela. Blanca, when I hear about all of the things that goes on in the other countries, how how does Venezuela fall into this way of challenges? Talk a little bit. Yeah. Talk a little bit about the things that are happening in Venezuela and how it is that you came here to be.  

Jennifer: Okay I'm going to be speaking for her. That's such an interesting question. We are survivors of Nicolás Maduro's communist dictatorship. We sought asylum in 2018 and we've been living here for six years. Currently, Venezuela is experiencing a political and economic crisis, which they, the government has violated multiple human rights and has provoked food and medicine for storage, also political repression, and it has forced millions of I think the last time I saw the statistics, it's millions of Venezuelans to escape the situation to, in search of a better life. So it's really I remember that Marcela said, ever since I was young, I knew the situation in my country. And I, we knew that we had to escape in order to see life like it is like that in right now what we're experiencing and like we're experiencing. An electoral fraud that was held on July 28th, which the government did not recognize Edmundo Gonzalez as the elected president for the upcoming year. And since that, he has raised protests around the world and they have kidnapped kids and people who pose anything about the situation and they torture them in this concentration camp, supported like that. And we are constantly working about that. And we were also going to talk about the Manitoba, which has been an alternative for Venezuelans facing these situations. And it's basically a resource that represents a rental home for us, and it offers a possibility of temporary refugee in the United States and provides a relief from political turmoil and economic instability. One of the benefits of this besides allowing Venezuelans for temporary status is it is a temporary status in the United States  and also provides security for applicants who face threats and violence in Venezuela. So like the applicant has to be believing in Venezuela to qualify for this temporary protection. And in the meantime that they are here,  I think it's two years they can, they're like legally protective under the humanitarian parole. They can look for other explore asylum options. Or other like we were talking about TPS or other type or because after the two years you had to reapply for it. 

Tia: In your opinion, how has the support been from other international countries or international communities? How have they responded to the Venezuelan migration crisis? 

Jennifer: Yeah, that's such an interesting question. So this word is been every day, more people are being aware of this situation, which is fine. Finally, we're talking about it in the first place. The conversation is being had. We see multiple countries like accepting, for example, let's talk about this election because it's recent. And for example, like countries like Spain, Costa Rica have accepted this person as the president, which gives us hope that communities and international system is working with us to help us get through this situation. The support has been really amazing. Laws are constantly changing in the United States, but I'm really thankful that tools like the Mind, Sound, and Parole happened because we see because of this, we see a lot of fear in Venezuelans, also a lot of immigrants with dislocation. Venezuelans that don't have knowledge of their possibilities in this country on what they can do in order to succeed. So it's, of course, been amazing.  

Tia: Thank you so much for sharing and all the work that you do, especially being a voice for your mom to make sure that her experience is being heard and shared so that you guys can help. The community abroad. Cristina, it was listening to your story saying that you guys been here for six years. I know a little background about Cristina her time here in the States and travel abroad. I do want to open up space for you to share your experience and how you came about advocating for rights and liberation. 

Cristina Casas: Thank you, Tia. My name is Cristina Casas, and I am at LORI as a civic and community organizer. I came to the United States when I was 11 with my father, and we faced the struggles of language barriers, fear of deportation, and the constant fight of, to be seen and be heard living as a DACA recipient means for me, it meant navigating a world where the future always feels uncertain and it continues to feel uncertain. I know what it feels like to be, to live in a constant limbo, to contribute to this and to contribute to this country while you are in this uncertain world. But still worry about being removed from the people that you love the most and from a place that you know as home. And that's why I'm here today. To remind us all that our voices do matter. Especially when it comes to shaping the policies and leaders who directly impact our lives. We have a critical opportunity this November and I'd like to bring this. I just wanted to highlight in this meeting to just remind ourselves that our voices do matter. Our voices have the power and through the power of voting, we can make a difference. For those of you who can vote, I really urge you to think about how important this election is for immigrants and for families. and communities for programs like TPS, DED, and DACA that so many of us rely on. Voting is not just a right. It's a way for all of us to influence the future of our communities. The policies we fight for the protections we need all depend on who we elect into office. Even if you cann’t vote. You can still encourage your friends. You can still encourage your family. Educate your community about the importance of voting. And here at Lori, we are doing a lot to promote voting, to educate our communities. We are doing door to door knocking next week with people. We also have four part time open positions for door knocking canvassers and phone bankers. So make sure that if you know anyone who is interested, make sure that they can reach out to us. We want to make sure that every eligible voter can get out to vote. We know that our community lacks of information, especially when it comes to refugees and immigrants that are eligible to vote because of the political climate that they come from in their countries. They sometimes don't have the trust or that their vote is going to count. So we want to make sure that they get educated and that we also provide all the assistance that it's needed for them to get to the polls, whether it's transportation, interpretation or even know where their polling location is. We can assist with all of that. And, yeah, that's as a DACA recipient, I have been a great example, for many of the importance of I have a 12 year old who was born here in the U.S. And DACA has allowed me to stop crying while I'm driving, to stop sweating while I'm holding the steering wheel. To go to work to bring my daughter to school, to take her to the activities that she has and to stay with her to not be torn apart from my daughter. And DACA, it's very much like TPS, and like DED, it provides a temporary protection, and you have to have a clean background, you cannot even have a I don't know a D.W.I. You cannot have any criminal background. I drive with the most care every day because if I as a DACA recipient, if you get anything in your back in your criminal background or if you don't pay your ticket, you forget to pay your traffic ticket or anything like that, you will get your temporary protection status taken away from you and be deported. And you also cannot just get out the country go and visit someone in any other country outside of the U.S. and come back. Once you leave the country, you cannot come back unless you apply for an advanced parole, which costs a lot of money. which is very difficult to obtain and you can only obtain it for very few reasons, which is  humanitarian reasons, work, education, and I think health, medical, like if you need to get anything, any medical procedure done that you cannot afford here in the U.S. You have to get a quote in your country or in whichever other country that you can afford to pay for that medical procedure, show proof of that, and follow with all of the requirements, which can take up to  sometimes up to eight months to get this approval. In the case of my situation with my husband, who is an Australian citizen and works in Australia. He had a stroke while he was working on Australia and I was still here, but fortunately we were already married and I was able to get a advanced parole to go and take care of him in Australia. And that is how I ended up with him. Living a year and a half in Australia, but I'll leave it up for questions.

Tia: Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It really pulls out my heart to hear you say that you are no longer having to be in fear of being separated from your daughter. I couldn't imagine as a mother of three not being able to be with my children. So with that, I asked all of you. How is it that we as organizations and individuals outside of voting? Can we support these campaigns to make sure that there are more individuals that are not living in fear that are able to make their lives meaningful and better their family? How is it that we can support you?

Cristina: I'll just say something really quick. I think educating yourself, allowing a safe space for other immigrant and refugees to talk to you, and learning about their story because it is not what you're seeing in TV in the news.  It is very different, very different from what we are actually going through. So have a safe space for those who. Are going through things like this and learn, educate yourself. Do your own research as well.  

Leticia: You see now, can I add something? Next month the DACA has a hearing in the court here in New Orleans. Guys, we love you to come and support this and you hear and learn a little bit about this. Because it's DACA and the ban for all isn't hearing in the morning and next month on October 10th, we can give you more information about this.

Marcela: And I'm also going to jump. There's a lot of things that we can have your local support. One thing that you can do sometimes you get emails from me saying we need letters of support not only from organizations, but also individuals. We understand that sometimes as organizations, you cannot write letters. But maybe as individuals as concerning citizens you can help us with that. You can help us with embracing welcoming cities. And I'm allowed Sara to talk about that. And really having conversations, everything starts in your dining room table. What are the conversations that you're having with your children, with your family? What are the conversations that you're having with your neighbors? Are you actually realizing the humanitarian crisis that we're facing in the world? And what are the conversations that you're having that either strides towards solidarity and unity or strides towards hate and a stereotype in our immigrant communities. And I'm just going to say this, if your house is on fire, and I heard Reverend Anderson saying this before, if your house is on fire. What would you do? You take your stuff and you leave the house. You will not leave your family, your children in a place that is burning. That is exactly the same thing that a lot of our community members had to do to migrate. They had to literally leave their homes because their homes were on fire due to poverty, due to armed conflict, due to climate justice. So imagine you wake up one day and you no longer feel safe. See what's happening here in the city. See what's happening in Baton Rouge, in New Orleans with the high crimes. What would you do if you really wake up one day and you could no longer stay here? You're yourself going to have to pack up your stuff and relocate to another state. So we have to be very knowledgeable that we're very privileged to be alive and to be in this country that is not at war. That you have food, that you have shelter, that you have water. But let's just remember that everything can change in one second. And that is the reason why we have to stand up in solidarity. Not only during the Hispanic Heritage Month, this is not only one month that we're celebrating and embracing a culture, this is something that we have to embrace all the time because we are individuals that are an essential piece of this country. And we have to come together so we can all heal those wounds that we have in our heart created by the conflict. If you ask again, Tia, what can you do? Be empathetic, promote solidarity, educate yourself, and not only celebrate when it's time to have fun and enjoy the food and the culture, those are things are good, but also, if we called you, if we ask you letters of support, if you know somewhat that might be an important piece into this If you want to join us into this different campaigns, please allow us to go and talk to them. And if you want to join our forces, we've got different efforts, and I'm going to pass this to Sara. So she explains a little bit about the welcoming city campaign really quick.  

Sara: Thank you, Marcela. And just to add to everything they have mentioned, I just also want to say this just from an advocate perspective and just experiencing the, just the recent legislative session. It literally, and I truly believe all of us here are advocates. You cannot advocate for people you do not share spaces with, right? And this is where education comes in. This is where understanding one each other being empathetic. But also we must share spaces. We must learn. So what does that even mean when we say let's create a welcoming city? This is and it's just not for refugees and immigrants, it's improving the healthcare, it's improving the cultural aspect of it. Yes, we have our World Refugee Day once a year and each year people come and they're like, Oh, we don't know we're having that, and it shouldn't be just like a one year thing that we're celebrating certain cultures and the people, our neighbors, people we share spaces with. And I truly believe in the Welcoming City Initiative. Yes, New Orleans has become one and this is something that we work so hard for.  Baton Rouge which could be that despite being a red state, Louisiana being a red state, despite the political climate. And I truly believe that people want that in the welcoming city initiative. It's a welcoming it's by welcoming America and it's a national organization that provide guidance and resources and standard. For creating more inclusive communities, promoting that, we share spaces, we might as well get to learn about one another and see our immigrant communities, even in leadership role, and I think you mentioned something earlier, Tia, that  it dawned on me about the process of even coming to this country and not even being like, you don't know if you will get TPS or not, but we're also not considering the mental health aspect of it, the cultural competence, right? And some, I, and even in my own community and the community that I'm in, that is a mixture of a lot of immigrants and refugees, a lot of people do not talk about mental health. Unless they come to a woman's wing that we hold, unless they want to come to a safe space that we have created for people to come and talk. And it's so hard that  people do not understand that the pre migration, post migration, and adjusting to a country that is so different from yours. Language is so different from yours. And then you have to go through, through the process of I am here and this is I can. Maybe I'm speaking so much of my experiences, but also the voices that I heard the stories that I heard from people. And I truly believe that having this welcoming city initiative for Baton Rouge is what makes it all easy. What makes it okay for all of us to come and talk. Thank you. I hope that answered.  

Tia: Thank you. I just want to say publicly through works and efforts, I stand in solidarity with my community, all parts of it. And I thank you guys all for being a voice for the voiceless and just doing the work, man, like boots on the ground reaching out and say on, in every level, even with Sharon, I'm always like, super impressed and super proud. And that as well to watch the things that are going on behind the scenes on the international level. There is a question in the chat on how can someone stay in communication and receive information from all the organizations. If you guys would drop your information in the chat so that  our listeners and partners can stay in community with you all. I do want to open up space for any other comments or questions at this time. If anyone has any, we have roughly about 10 minutes before the end of the call.

Cristina: I'd just like to make a quick announcement for this Sunday, the 22nd, we're gonna be celebrating the Hispanic Heritage Month in Gonzales at the Jambalaya Park from 12 p. m. to 8 p. m., we're gonna be celebrating it with food, music, surprises, And education about the Hispanic Heritage Month, and we're also going to have some special guests that are going to be coming in to talk a little bit more about their country, even though it's not in it's not a Hispanic culture, but they are being invited to this event so that we can all unite in solidarity because the climate that we are facing at the moment, this is the best that we can do. Thank you so much for having me. We can create a place that it feels safe for everybody and be united and make this place feel more welcome for people. So I just wanted to extend that invitation to everyone. And I will be sharing the flyer with you so that you can help us out and share this with everybody. But it is also on our social media. 

Tia: Go ahead, Marcela.

Marcela: I just want to add one more thing to the question that you had before about what can partners and other organizations support the work that we do. Being very intentional and I always talk about this, the importance of intentionality, actually wanting us to be present and in your organization being present in your events being present in every single platform that your organization developed. We have a lot of community partners who called us and reach out to me saying, Hey, Marcela, we're trying to be more cultural competent. We do that. We do culturally competency trainings. We also I'm a social worker, so sometimes we go and talk about ethics and ethical standards considering the immigrant community. We also have our one community dialogue, which is a monthly dialogue where we invite community partners and we talk about important topics that matter and we close the gaps between the immigrant community and then also our partners. So it's just getting in touch and sending an email, having a coffee with us, and we'll be very happy to talk to you and really brainstorm about the ways that your organization can be intentional in the work to actually embrace it and welcoming. All of our immigrant community members from this state. 

Tia: Thank you so much with a lot of gratitude Marcela. Dauda, your hand is up?

Dauda Sesay: Good morning, everyone again. And I just wanted to add to what the other say is. And another way that you can help immigrant community as well and the refugee community in addition to be intentional is create a space within your organization, within your community, and invite  a refugee and get to know the community and invite them into your functions. And be there if you are designing an initiative and in a program, make sure that voice is included in developing that. And I'll just take a clear example, like the mayor's neighborhood convention that happens. And where we can revitalize neighborhood and bring us together.  You want to be intentional of creating a successful neighborhood convention, check the voice that are not on that table and how you can bring them in the refugees and immigrant community. And one last thing as well. Be aware of local laws that are being enacted that are really going to be impacting the integration of not just the refugees and the immigrant community, but local residents and low income families as well. Pay close attention to those laws and take the next step to call your representative, call them to see, let them know that.  This community is welcome and let them reverse those law. We currently, as I put in the chat, we currently have two active legislatures that just passed that tends to disrupt our normal  family lives that we are building. Because if you are a Louisianian and you have a strong connection with the refugees or an immigrant and this law is impacting them, it's impacting you as well. Because one in five households in Louisiana is connected to an immigrant and to a refugee. So whenever you're making a decision like Cristina mentioned, you go to vote, think about those leaders that you're voting for.  That is for diversity, inclusions, and belonging. And think about that when you cast your vote. So that's what I just wanted to add. My name is Dauda Sesay, Executive Director of Lori.  And Tia, I just want to say a big thank you to the OneRouge family. What you're doing exactly, others can do as well in New Orleans, in Lafayette, in Shreveport, in LA. How we can get not just OneRouge, but we can get OneLouisiana. How we can transform OneRouge to OneLouisiana, where we connect all city. And it's part of our welcoming city initiative, Connected Communities. So how we bring all those communities together. So thank you.  

Tia: Thank you guys all again. I appreciate everyone taking the time to be on this call and just sharing space with us to hear this conversation on how we can be a better community to our neighbors, to our friends, to our business colleagues. At this moment, if anyone else has any other community events, you can drop your flyer or information in the chat, or feel free to come off of mute while we get ready to wrap up this One Rouge Friday.  

Casey: Tia, if you don't mind, I'm going to take the point of privilege to jump in first on the community announcements. First on the positive side. The Walls Project is hosting our fall reactivate are Sow Good reactivate program on Saturday, October 12th. It's going to stretch all the way down wind burden from BRCC North Acadian all the way down to our community farm and Baton Roots on that Saturday. In addition to our normal reactivate community cleanups and and tree plantings and everything that we're doing, we're actually holding a resource summit where people will be able to come to BRCC and register for tech workshops and receive a free laptop on the spot from Cox communications. If they, we're also eventually with these reactivates, we're going to start putting pushing out thousands of gallons of paint into the community so that elders in our community can update their houses. Smaller developers can use it for their properties. And then just in general, giving away trees and giving away food shares. That is going to be now the bigger model as we go into MLK. So I'll put that link in the chat. On a heavier note, and as many of you do know, because y'all have been reaching out, the Walls family suffered a tremendous loss this week with the murder of our Dean of Coding from the Futures Fund, Ms. Teressa Calligan. We're bringing up senseless gun violence. It hit really close to home in our organization this week. I know many of you have had family members and friends that have been affected by gun violence. And as I said, and it is almost impossible to put into words the whole that it really is. The leaves of your life. DT was an incredible light. She was one of the kindest people in our organization, and there are a lot of kind people in our organization. Her services will be held next Thursday morning at Oasis Church on Brookstown. If you would like to attend and show solidarity with the One Rouge community and the walls, we please, I welcome you to be into the space but it'll be next Thursday at 11 the viewing will be from 9 a.m. to 11 a. m. with a service at 11 a. m. That's my two announcements. And I love all of you for all the kind messages and all of the love that you all have surrounded the Walls family with this week. So on behalf of everyone, thank y'all so much. 

Tia: Thank you, Casey. Reverend Anderson. 

Reverend Anderson: Good morning. And my heart goes out to you, Casey, and to the entire Walls family.  I did want to just promote several things very quickly. There's been a huge purging  on the voter rolls. And so I'm encouraging everybody to check their voting status. Regardless of if you've never missed an election, it's just incredibly important that many people have been put into the inactive status and there are timeframes and it's really super important. That's the first thing. The second thing is there's a lot of candidates. forms candidate debates going on right now. We did one last night virtual on the Baton Rouge City Court and also the Public Service Commissioner for District Two, which is going to cover Baton Rouge. I encourage everybody, if you get a chance, a lot of them are online and you are able to be able to go and look at them. These are some important elections as Marcela and the guests brought up, and I think it's huge that we literally start educating ourselves on what these jobs are and stop following the other thing. And the last thing, and this is just a personal point. On Sunday, if you're not going to Gonzales, then at the Goodwood library, we are having our all paws on deck walk for pet cancer awareness. And it's from three to 6 PM. We started it in 2015. We had to suspend it because of COVID. So this is our first one coming back. And as many of you may or may not know, I lost my beloved Callie was 16. to cancer and also lost an earlier dog. So I invite everybody to come out. It's a good time but for a very important event. And because so many of us are pet lovers there's just a lot of good stuff there, but also just some really good information. Thank you.  

Tia: Thank you all for the community announcements. And thank you for joining this call in love, light, and solidarity. I'll see you guys next Friday. 

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