Reports: Migrants Mistreated During Wildfires

[AlphaCentauri]

Five weeks after the devastating Southern California firestorms, several reports have been released citing serious concerns over how the migrant population was treated by local, state, and federal authorities. For thousands of undocumented migrant workers in the region’s lucrative agriculture industry, the process of coming home was burdened with the threat of harassment and deportation. Many live and work deep in the canyons of San Diego County.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Immigrant Rights Consortium, and Justice Overcoming Boundaries, the reverse 911 calling system — provided during the wildfires to notify people of evacuation orders — delivered messages only in English, despite available technology that could have easily accommodated other languages. As result of this, San Diego County’s 30 percent Latino population was not adequately notified of the evacuation.

The report, Firestorm: Treatment of Vulnerable Populations During the San Diego Fires documents racial profiling and intimidation of the undocumented, migrant population during the firestorm. “It is sad that — amidst all the good — some of the insensitivities, biases, and politics that negatively affect marginalized people also came out,” said Mother Patricia Andrews-Callori in a press release issued by the ACLU. Andrews-Callori is president of Justice Overcoming Boundaries, a regional, county-wide, faith-based organization that addresses disparities in San Diego County.

Among the many findings, the ACLU also documented that: “The police conducted a sweep of the Qualcomm evacuation center late Tuesday night (Oct. 23), checking for IDs and ejecting everyone without IDs showing they were from an affected area. On Wednesday morning, the police instituted problematic ID checks at the gate.”

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