Raising Our Voices - Eva Castillo - Under the Same Stars

Under the Same Stars: Raising Our Voices - Eva Castillo
Monadnock Ledger Transcript, Oct. 17, page 8

Eva Castillo

Although I have lived through several waves of anti-immigrant sentiment over the years I have been in this country, nothing I have seen prepared me for the present climate of xenophobia and nationalism. We are bombarded with messages that portray immigrants as criminals, referring to their flight for their lives as an invasion. We have children in cages, their parents jailed away from them without a court hearing, and new restrictive measures put in place every week.

The white supremacist agenda keeps stretching its paws under the guise of protecting our country. Immigrants have been stripped of their humanity by calling them “illegal.” It is much easier to dismiss those that are not like us after all. People are demonized for speaking their language or worshipping a different God. Communities are divided. Immigrants are afraid and feel vulnerable.

Not all is bad though. More people are paying attention to this issue and are willing to speak up now. The moral outrage over the treatment of immigrants has galvanized people of faith and other supporters and has given the impetus to react against so much injustice and cruelty. 

In late August [500 activists] people from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont, walked or biked to Dover to express our solidarity with immigrants. We carried a message of love and asked legislators to commit to ending detentions and deportations and change the present immigration laws. We converged at the Strafford County House of Corrections where people  detained by ICE are held while they await their fate, usually deportation.

In a powerful display of unity we showed the detainees that we feel their pain and let them know that we  will keep on fighting for their freedom and dignity. During the vigil we could see them crammed against the windows of their cells as they banged on the glass to call our attention. We felt connected to them and they felt our love and support. 

I spent most of the four days of the walk with an 11 year old girl from Central America. I will call her Margarita. She and her parents fled their county to save the girl’s life that was threatened by the gangs. She came with her father, hiding for hours in the luggage compartment of buses, unable to move or speak and later walking in the desert, scorching hot during the day and freezing cold at night. 

The trip took 19 terrifying days. I can sense the scars that the whole ordeal left in her young soul, she cries when she hears her mother recount the crossing. Margarita was only nine years old when she came but she has already faced more fear and violence than most of us will ever face in our lives. Her parents did what they had to do to save her life; what parent would not do the same for their child?

Margarita’s story is only one of the many stories we hear. People come from every corner of the world looking for a chance to give their children a better life. Just like your ancestors did. Some fleeing violence and persecution, some fleeing hunger, all looking for safety and a chance to succeed. 

By coming together and speaking up, religious and civic leaders have sent a loud message that hatred has no home in our land. We will continue to speak up until our nation’s values of liberty and justice become a reality for all. 

Eva Castillo, born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, is Director of NH Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees. She has been advocating for immigrants for 30 years. Eva lives in Manchester with her husband and sons.