The Human Rights Alliance unequivocally condemns the reported actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement connected to an arrest at La Familia Health in Santa Fe.
La Familia exists to provide healthcare to our community, including people regardless of income, insurance, or legal status. It serves more than 15,000 people annually and has spent more than half a century building trust with families across Santa Fe.
Healthcare must never become a hunting ground.
When immigration enforcement occurs at or around places where people seek medical care, the harm extends far beyond the individual being detained. It sends a message to immigrant families that seeking a doctor, taking a child for care, filling a prescription, or asking for help may put them at risk. Fear becomes a barrier to healthcare, and ultimately that makes our entire community less safe.
The HRA stands firmly with our immigrant neighbors and with the healthcare workers and community organizations who serve them. We reject tactics that rely upon fear, intimidation, secrecy, or the disruption of spaces people depend upon for their basic human needs.
So what can we do?
Know your rights and help others know theirs. Do not spread unverified reports of ICE activity, because misinformation creates additional fear. Support trusted immigrant-rights and rapid-response organizations. Document federal enforcement activity from a lawful distance when it is safe to do so. Contact our congressional delegation and local and state officials and demand accountability and transparency regarding federal immigration enforcement in our communities.
And perhaps most importantly: do not allow fear to isolate our neighbors.
Check on one another. Accompany people when they are afraid. Support organizations serving immigrant families. Speak up when you witness injustice.
Santa Fe has repeatedly declared what kind of community we aspire to be. Those declarations mean very little unless we live them when they are tested.
Our immigrant neighbors are our neighbors. They are our coworkers, patients, caregivers, friends, families, and community members.
HRA will continue to stand with them.