{"id":39304,"date":"2025-02-06T14:08:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T22:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=39304"},"modified":"2025-02-06T14:08:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T22:08:38","slug":"a-day-without-immigrants-berkeley-immigrants-and-allies-stay-home-from-work-and-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/02\/06\/a-day-without-immigrants-berkeley-immigrants-and-allies-stay-home-from-work-and-school\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A Day Without Immigrants\u2019: Berkeley immigrants and allies stay home from work and school"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailycal.org\/users\/profile\/Chrissa%20Olson\">Chrissa Olson | Senior Staff<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Feb 4, 2025 (DailyCal.org)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/dailycal.org\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/5\/09\/5093339e-e2b2-11ef-b6a0-07059682f976\/67a19a7f8a7a4.image.jpg?resize=400%2C258\" alt=\"stoppage_Charlie Elison_Staff.jpg\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The effect of the event was felt across Berkeley, with campus students staying home from classes.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailycal.org\/users\/profile\/Charlie%20Elison\">Charlie Elison | Staff<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Across Berkeley, many took part in \u201cA Day Without Immigrants,\u201d a nationwide event encouraging people to stay away from shopping, work and school for a day to demonstrate solidarity with immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the exact number is unknown, the effect was felt across Berkeley from campus students staying home from classes to Mi Tierra Foods on San Pablo Avenue closing its doors for the day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA Day Without Immigrants,\u201d which started in 2006, is particularly salient this year in the face of the rhetorical and material attacks of President Donald Trump\u2019s second term and fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, raids.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kimberly Lopez, a campus student, said she feels that within Berkeley, the campus&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailycal.org\/news\/campus\/student-life\/hundreds-gather-on-sproul-in-support-of-undocumented-students\/article_6b52cac2-debc-11ef-afda-3377a580bfb5.html\">protest<\/a>&nbsp;in support of undocumented students Jan. 29 helped create momentum for continued support of immigrant communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI want (people) to share what\u2019s going on with the mass deportations, and criminalization of immigrant communities, the dehumanization going on,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cI want the government and the people that are against immigrants to feel the absence of what it means to not have immigrants for a day. I want the impact to be that they realize that immigrants contribute to our society in many ways, not just economically.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lopez noted that many friends of hers stayed home, as well as her family back in Southern California. She noted that at least one professor sent an email that excused student absences.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Lopez, immigration is personal; she immigrated to the United States from Mexicali, Mexico, with her family when she was four years old. They were undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When she was in first grade, her grandma was deported \u2014 only after recently obtaining her citizenship was she able to visit her grandma after 10 years. Members of her family who are still undocumented live under the threat of deportation, and the threats of the Trump administration have taken a mental and physical toll on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s made her want to fight. However, she\u2019s not doing it alone.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While people did stay home Monday, Lopez and other advocates did not stop work \u2014 continuing to call and organize in order to plan further resources for undocumented students.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe biggest thing for me right now is community,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s keeping me grounded right now: community, relying on my friends around me and all the support.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The city has also mobilized as well to show support for immigrants, with the City Council reaffirming Berkeley as a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailycal.org\/news\/city\/city-government\/city-council-reaffirms-berkeley-a-sanctuary-city-provides-homeownership-opportunities\/article_efbce76e-d955-11ef-8ae5-83dd6974519b.html\">sanctuary city<\/a>&nbsp;Jan. 23, which prevents the usage of city funds and resources for enforcing federal immigration laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, La Pe\u00f1a Cultural Center works with Berkeley-based legal nonprofit East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, or EBSC, to form the Friends of La Pe\u00f1a Immigrant Rights Committee, which seeks to make immigrants aware of their rights.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to co-executive director of EBSC Lisa Hoffman, they have received \u201cdozens\u201d of calls and inquiries to their staff from concerned immigrants, as well as community organizations and individuals seeking to help.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hoffman said some of the best ways to support the immigrant communities are to be educated on their rights, record ICE interactions, know rapid response hotlines and refrain from circulating unverified information.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s not let this momentum die,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cLet\u2019s keep advocating for our undocumented community. To those that have the privilege or ability to speak out against these injustices and be on the front line of rallies. Organize events, don\u2019t stop and check in with undocumented friends and family \u2014 these are really trying times.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Across Berkeley, many took part in \u201cA Day Without Immigrants,\u201d a nationwide event encouraging people to stay away from shopping, work and school for a day to demonstrate solidarity with immigrants. While the exact number is unknown, the effect was felt across Berkeley from campus students staying home from classes&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/02\/06\/a-day-without-immigrants-berkeley-immigrants-and-allies-stay-home-from-work-and-school\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39304"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39305,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39304\/revisions\/39305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}