Tucson community walks aim to protect immigrants

The Barrio Walks Committee is a collective of community volunteers and members of the Party of Socialism and Liberation who visit different neighborhoods every month to help inform immigrants of their rights. The walks began in mid-February.

Aurora Ramirez is a member of the committee. She said they have focused on visiting communities on Tucson’s south side, near South 12th Avenue and West Valencia Road.

“We found that it was really important for us to pass out know your rights information,” Ramirez said. “But it wasn’t just so much about passing out the information. It was also about organizing our community.”

Once a month, the Barrio Walks Committee invites about 50 community volunteers to assist with the walk.

The organization leads with a 15-minute political discussion, then divides walkers into groups. Each includes one person with prior experience and one person who speaks Spanish.

The volunteers disperse into the neighborhood, knocking door-to-door to ask neighbors if they know their rights.

The committee passes out a red card with a list of legal rights information and an orange card that has a rapid response number. The number connects to a network that dispatches community volunteers to observe and witness people facing arrest by local law enforcement or federal immigration agents.

“We really do like to communicate with these community members that we’re knocking on their doors,” said Brinley Carrillo, a committee member who participated in the August Barrio Walk. “We don’t just want to be a face that they see once and never see again.”

Protecting immigrant rights has always been a part of Carrillo’s story. When she was just 8 weeks old, her dad was deported to Mexico.

“It really did push my wanting to get involved and speak out,” she said.

The Barrio Walks Committee is associated with the Coalición de Derechos Humanos, a collective of more than 15 local organizations that help their neighbors through rapid response, political advocacy, business outreach and more.

The coalition has been defending immigrant rights and resisting mass deportations in Tucson for more than 30 years.

Members in the Party of Socialism and Liberation started the Barrio Walks Committee after President Donald Trump and the new administration took power earlier this year.

“I guess it began with really needing to go into the communities that are more at risk and educating people to give themselves their own agency,” Carrillo said.

Marina Jimenez is a folklórico dancer who has lived in Tucson for 20 years. After the change in administration, she has felt an emotional shift in her neighborhood.

“They are worried for their families, because they go out and didn’t know if they can come back,” she said.

But Jimenez said she also feels the impact of the Coalición de Derechos Humanos.

“When we keep together, we feel secure,” she said.

Ramirez said at a time when many in her community are afraid to speak up, she feels a responsibility as a citizen to use her voice.

“It’s time for us to unite together,” Carrillo added. “I think that it’s a very special place here in Tucson — the organizing, the community.”

She believes Tucsonans working together will play a key role in fighting government policies she says harm the community.

The Coalición de Derechos Humanos meets every Thursday from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Derechos Humanos office at 225 E. 26th St. The meetings are free and open to the public.