Among many immigrant communities in the Bay Area, Filipinx are deeply impacted by inhumane immigration and criminal legal policies and practices. Many Filipinx migrate and settle in under-resourced and over-policed neighborhoods, lacking culturally-relevant services, and funneling youth into the prison system. In addition, inhumane immigration policies create extensive wait-lists, separating families for decades, forcing many to migrate without documentation. The Filipinx community is impacted by the twin systems of immigration and incarceration.
In an effort to deepen the engagement of the Filipinx community and visibilize the impact among our kasama, IM4HI has been creating spaces for the Filipinx faith community, those directly impacted, and allies to collectively work together. Learn more about how we are engaging below, and read our blog post about Filipinx American History Month by Gala King, IM4HI Northern California Regional Director.
Kasama ng Kalayaan Collective
In 2020, with the leadership of directly impacted kasamas, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, launched the collective, Kasama ng Kalayaan translates to “together for freedom.” Kalayaan collective was formed to provide a space to organize for the liberation and healing of Filipinx impacted by systems of immigration detention, deportation, and incarceration. Members include reps from: IM4HI, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Asian Prisoner Support Committee, along with faith leaders, students, and directly impacted leaders and family members.
Filipinx Faith Organizing
Filipinx faith leaders are integral to this effort, providing accompaniment to kasama who are seeking asylum in the Bay Area, or resettling after immigrant detention and incarceration. Together we are creating space to deepen cultural and faith traditions for the liberation of kasama.
Ways to get involved
Join our panel during the USF Critical Migration Studies Conference. “Kalayaan: Liberating and healing the Filipinx community from immigration detention and mass incarceration” – November 2, 2021, 1:50pm
Join a virtual vigil for International Human Rights Day. Kalayaan at Kapayapaan: Stories of Resistance and Prayers of Resilience. December 9, 2021. RSVP: bit.ly/FilipinxVigilDec9-RSVP
Join our Kasama ng Kalayaan collective. Join our space to organize for the liberation, healing, and of our kasama impacted by immigration detention, deportation, and incarceration! Sign up here: bit.ly/kasama-ng-kalayaan
Stop the deportation of kasama Estelito Adiova! See the toolkit for what actions to take
Hinabing mga kasaysayan tungkol sa pananampalataya at katarungan Weaving the stories of faith and justice
Weaving our banig (woven mat)
Filipino American History Month (FAHM) is a time the Filipinx community in the U.S. diaspora lifts up and celebrates our legacy within the U.S., our stories of migration, our stories of contribution to this land. In my role with the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, I am blessed to be a weaver of sorts. Inspired by the banigs (woven mats) I often sit on at community picnics, or on the floor of the home of a family in Pampanga, Philippines. We weave together people of faith with those impacted by immigration and incarceration. We weave together movements of immigration justice and ending mass incarceration. We weave together our identities, for me as a Filipinx in diaspora with deep-rooted cultural, faith, and healing traditions, and a legacy of resistance and justice.
This Filipino American History Month, I want to reflect on the stories we don’t often tell, the stories of resistance and resilience within our Filipinx community, stories of our bayan who are impacted by the twin systems of immigration and incarceration, and how our Filipinx cultural and faith traditions guide us to respond.
Filipinx youth sitting on a banig (woven mat) learning about Estelito Adiova, a Filipinx community member detained in Imperial Regional Detention Facility. The youth are holding origami cranes folded by community members inside San Quentin, as a symbol of pagkakaisa (solidarity), July 2021.
Ating mga bayan (our people)
Our bayan are among the 1,140 people detained in immigrant detention centers across the state. Estelito Adiova, an immigrant from the Philippines, endured years of separation from his family, and battled a drug addiction. After serving a 32-month prison sentence related to his addiction, he was granted parole, but Estelito was directly transferred into ICE custody where he is currently fighting his deportation to the Philippines and hoping to be reunited with Bay Area family and community. If deported, Estelito would be at grave risk of being targeted given his drug-related conviction. In the Philippines, the epidemic of human rights abuses topping 30,000 people are targeting the poor, activists, people of LGBTQ identity, and anyone who criticizes the authoritarian President Duterte.
Our bayan are also incarcerated at high rates. In California, Filipinos are one of the largest subgroups of Asian American incarcerated adult males. In a ground-breaking survey conducted by the Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC), they interviewed 513 Asian Pacific Islanders currently and formerly incarcerated in California prisons. Among Southeast Asians (including Filipinx), they found that 82.9% experienced economic hardship, 80% experienced childhood violence , and 65% joined a gang. Many faced the following difficulties in school: language barriers (48%), bullying (56%), lack of counseling (51%), and extreme poverty (35%).
The report also found that 36% of Southeast Asian respondents had an ICE hold, meaning that when they are found eligible for release from state prison, instead of being reunited with family/community like U.S. citizens would be, they will be directly transferred into ICE custody and face deportation. In California, it is estimated that 80% of interior ICE arrests (not including border arrests) are direct transfers from jails and prisons after being found eligible for release.
Maria Legarda, a community and faith leader, is one of those impacted by both systems. As a young adult, Maria immigrated from the Philippines, and faced many hardships that led to addiction and contributed to her serving 14 years in one of California’s largest women’s prisons. When Maria was found eligible for release, instead of being welcomed home by her community, she was transferred into ICE custody and detained for 11 months. Maria often shares that her faith is what gave her strength to survive these harsh systems. Today Maria is living in the Bay Area, fighting her immigration case so that she can remain with loved ones, and is active in the anti-deportation movement.
Building Beloved Bayanihan (Community)
This Filipino American History Month, let us also celebrate the ways we are replacing these punitive systems with beloved bayanihan, with our community-led organizing, strategies, and collectives of care. With the leadership of directly impacted Filipinx community members and allies, we created a space for us to center these stories, named Kasama ng Kalayaan collective (Together for Freedom).
As one of the founding leaders, Shelly Clements, says, “Mga kaibigan siguro parang wala tayong makaya sa situation na ito pero kong marami tayo siguro mas tayong may maaaring maggawa.” “Friends and family, it may seem that we can’t do anything about this situation, but if we come together, we will find a way to resolve this problem.”
Beloved bayanihan is demonstrated in the story of kasama (friend) “P”, who was detained by ICE in Yuba County Jail for over 4 years after being found eligible for release from prison. With the support of community advocates and lawyers, he was granted release from ICE after demonstrating that the mental health services in Yuba were inadequate. “P” was released into a community of care, where he was housed, provided an opportunity to volunteer, connected to culturally-relevant mental health services, and is now working in a Filipino supermarket immersed in his community.
Filipinx faith leaders are essential to building beloved bayanihan, like Pastor Henry Pablo, currently serving as a United Methodist Church pastor for two congregations in the Central Valley. Pastor Pablo reminds us: “It’s important to explore the intersections of Filipinx identity, of faith identity, because we can truly empower and inform our social work and the way we engage in community with each other… our faith can be a source of resilience and hope, it can also be a source of struggle and solidarity.”
This Filipino American History Month I hope you join me in weaving Filipinx identity and faith, weaving together these stories of resistance, faith, and hope, so that we can all be a part of building beloved bayanihan.
Filipinx community and faith leaders gathering for a meal: Maria Legarda, Shelly Clements and family, and Gala King (author of this article).
Gala King is a 2nd generation pinay, raised in the midwest by a fierce Bisaya nanay, and Caucasian activist tatay. Currently, Gala resides in Huichin also known as Oakland, California, with her partner and two sons, and works as the Northern California Regional Director for Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity.
Donate to the IM4HI Migrant & Prisoner Emergency Support Fund
Over the past five years, individuals like you have donated over $30,000 through our Migrant & Prisoner Emergency Support Fund. This fund covers emergencies when immigrants we accompany have no safety net. In this time of Shelter-in-Place, Jorge*, his wife Celeste*, and their niece Suni* are all out of work. They all already worked paycheck to paycheck– Jorge in construction, Celeste with a restaurant night shift, and Suni cleaning houses. This immigrant family, like others, now have no way to earn an income, and no safety net to support their daily expenses and bills. Even before the crisis, they and other families we accompany could not qualify most government resources, and they likely won’t qualify for any relief package that is to come.
We care about them–they are valuable and worthy of relief. Our human connection and real provision through the Migrant & Prisoner Emergency Support Fund could be the lifeline they are looking for. You can be in solidarity with them by donating to theMigrant & Prisoner Emergency Support Fund.
Our Nueva Esperanza Accompaniment Teams are part of the safety net for families like Jorge, Celeste, and Suni. The accompaniment teams empower families to be self-sufficient in looking for resources in the local community, and can also fundraise through own congregation for emergencies. Still, it is hard to cover so many expenses. Thankfully, our Migrant & Prisoner Emergency Support Fund can supplement these efforts to provide a safety net. Thank you for all the ways you are supporting our most vulnerable in our communities and take care of them during this difficult time!
Questions? Please contact Kelly Younger, Nueva Esperanza Accompaniment Program Coordinator at kyounger@im4humanintegrity.org
