Community members bring Christmas dinner to families impacted my immigration crackdown
By Alyssa Gomez
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NEW ORLEANS (WDSU) — As federal agents continue carrying out Operation Catahoula Crunch, many Hispanic community members are sheltering in homes to avoid any potential encounters with agents.
“They don’t want to leave even to go eat or get groceries,” said immigration attorney John Sharby Guevara.
Guevara, along with attorney Casey Cowley, teamed up with a local Hispanic restaurant to bring Christmas meals to the Hispanic community.
“We wanted to deliver quality meals and show a sense of support for these families,” said Cowley.
Volunteers brought bags full of pasta salad, croissants, cookies, ham, and more right to the doorsteps of about one hundred families in need today.
Organizers say it’s a small gesture of kindness and support for families experiencing anxiety, fear and separation during the holidays.
“Right now, there are people in the detention centers throughout Louisiana, and there are several, separated from their families, that don’t really have a chance to leave for the holidays. There have been some recent changes in the law that prevent nearly everyone from getting a bond from an immigration judge, so there aren’t many options if any to get them released,” said Guevara, adding, ” We’ve got a man whose son was just born two weeks ago prematurely and is in the NICU and so he’s going to spend Christmas center in the detention center away from his wife and newborn son.”
While organizers recognize the hardships the Hispanic community continues to face, they say they are maintaining hope for better days in the new year.
“I do believe, and I do hope that perhaps here, as we get into the new year, there will start to be movement in the community again,” said Cowley.
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