"The steady drizzle tested the limits of the string of tarps stretched across the backyard of a Maywood home. Beneath them, dozens of boxes, overflowing with clothes, shoes and toys, lay scattered across the pavement. Each gift was destined for one of more than 50 Southern California homes whose families have been caught in the growing immigration enforcement crackdown. This was not charity bestowed from afar, but mutual aid."
"One of the leaders, Cruz, grew up working in the fields with her family in Oaxaca, Mexico, and spoke only their indigenous language, Chinanteco, as a child. Determined to learn Spanish, she would sneak out to the local school and eventually began teaching others in her town. When she got to the U.S. decades later, she would tape dollar bills to the wall to memorize the country's currency, which landed her a cashier job."
A steady drizzle tested tarps stretched across a Maywood backyard as dozens of boxes overflowing with clothes, shoes and toys lay beneath. Each gift was destined for one of more than 50 Southern California homes whose families have been caught in the growing immigration enforcement crackdown. The effort came from immigrant women who face similar risks; five asked to use only their second last names for fear of ICE targeting. One leader, Cruz, recounted an Indigenous childhood in Oaxaca, secret learning of Spanish, and practical steps taken after arriving in the U.S. The organizers raced to distribute donations before rain and the holiday.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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