In brief: Listener fav Tina Vasquez is back! Since her last visit, #EndICE activism has ramped up — in language and action. We chat about the use of the phrase “concentration camps” to describe borderland detention facilities for a bit and I hope that y’all will take our discussion to heart. She describes the tragic deaths of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria as they sought asylum at the doorstep to our country and why the gruesome pictures being shared widely are more than just triggering. They are dehumanizing — and to a people who are already dehumanized by our administration and its supporters.
Tina also does a fantastic (as always) job breaking down the intentionally jacked process by which US Marshals, Border Patrol, Children and Family Services, and ICE transfer, detain, and abuse migrants and refugees — a process that is currently persecuting and assaulting Rene Lopez, an indigenous gender nonconforming asylum seeker held in San Francisco.
We pack a whole lot into 40 minutes! And as always, there are action items (eg: follow/support: Annunciation House in El Paso).
Note: This show is available to stream and download for free so it can be accessible for everyone. If you’re able, consider becoming a supporter for as little as $1/month at PATREON or making a one-time donation at PAYPAL.me/KatieSpeak. Thank you!
Easy download/stream:
Enhanced audio: Borderlands: Centering Migrant Lives w/ @TheTinaVasquez of @Rewire_News — #KatieSpeakShow Ep176 07/13/2019
Links to on-air references:
My take…
Mainly, I fly through the super important pieces of Tina’s that we couldn’t get to in the show. These are those links:
“In Search of Justice: How DHS PREA Standards Don’t Necessarily Protect Immigrants From Assault” by Tina Vasquez, Rewire.News
“In Search of Safety: An Investigation of Abuse at an Immigration Facility” by Tina Vasquez, Rewire.News
“The Details of Johana Medina Leon’s Detainment and Death Matter (Updated)” by Tina Vasquez, Rewire.News
“What Is ‘Sanctuary’ for a Black Immigrant Family in the US?: The Thompsons may be the only Black family in sanctuary, but they want you to know they are a family first and asylum seekers second.” by Tina Vasquez Rewire.News
Audre Lorde self-care quote via Know Your IX: “Dealing with Activist Burn-Out and Self-Care”
Interviews…
“A Crime by Any Name: The Trump administration’s commitment to deterring immigration through cruelty has made horrifying conditions in detention facilities inevitable.” via Adam Serwer, The Atlantic
“The Image America Shouldn’t Need: My perspective, as an immigration reporter, is that if you haven’t been moved by now by the many reports of abuses, injustices, in-custody deaths, and bodies that have turned up in the borderlands, then you cannot be moved.” by Tina Vasquez, Rewire.News
Shareable thread on Rene Lopez: via Tina Vasquez’s Twitter
An update: Customs and Border Patrol has announced it is launching an investigation. via ProPublica
Trump Administration Separates Some Migrant Mothers From Their Newborns Before Returning Them to Detention: “I don’t know if they lose their babies for good,” one doctor said. “But I do know the process is torturous for them.” by Tina Vasquez, Rewire.News
Annunciation House (El Paso, TX): Twitter; website/donate
Follow my guests…
Tina Vasquez: Twitter; Rewire.News
The Katie Speak Show airs on Netroots Radio Saturdays at 7pmEST and Mondays at 6pmEST.
Subscribe to the podcast for FREE at iTUNES.
Subscribe and stream FREE on STITCHER
Subscribe and stream FREE on SPOTIFY
Keep up with the show between episodes and suggest guests/topics by following me on Facebook and twitter.
All original music by “sparkling, glittery 60’s piano diva” Normandie Wilson
You can also get my guest appearances automatically through iTunes at Katie Speak Live Archives.
Categories: The Katie Speak Show
Leave a Reply