Community protest stops CBP recruitment event at Logan Heights Library
Customs and Border Protection had planned to host a workshop Monday to help people submit job applications to the agency.
Written by Marco Guajardo, Edited by Kate Morrissey
A Customs and Border Protection recruitment team canceled an application and resume workshop it planned to host at the Logan Heights Library Monday after community members objected.
Roughly 30 minutes before the event was scheduled to begin, about 20 demonstrators, organized by the Logan-based Community Self-Defense Coalition, had already gathered on the sidewalk along 28th Street outside the library, with more on the way. Then, Vic Slater, security operations program manager for the city library department, arrived and announced the cancellation.
“We did get off the phone with CBP and, kudos to you guys, they went ahead and canceled the event,” Slater said to the crowd.
CBP did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
At around 1:30 p.m., coalition members noticed a social media post for the CBP workshop, according to Adriana Jasso, program coordinator with American Friends Service Committee, a member of the coalition.
Coalition members called the Logan Heights Library offices three times to verify the event registration with the administration before sending out a call to mobilize the community via Instagram and message threads, Jasso said. She said that they didn’t notify the library staff about the protest.
“We just said (to the administration) that this is probably going to have an effect in the community, and it's potentially going to be a negative effect,” Jasso said.
Any organization can book a meeting room at the Logan Heights Library, which doesn’t endorse or publicize any of the events, Branch Manager Kathryn Johnson said.
A spokesperson for the city of San Diego did not respond to follow up questions from Daylight San Diego in time for publication.
Protesters at the event expressed frustration at the agency’s presence during a time of immigration raids in immigrant communities like Logan Heights. The community flyer that rallied the demonstrators also conveyed disbelief at the prospect of a CBP recruitment event at the library.
“¿En serio? ¡Chale!” read the flyer. Seriously? Dang!
The community group worried in particular that CBP officers would bring their vehicles to the event, which could scare nearby residents into thinking another raid was coming, Jasso said.
“Having CBP vehicles in this community, knowing what families have gone through in the last three months, it’s — it was unbelievable,” Jasso said.
When Slater announced the cancellation, at least one attendee was already waiting inside the library. That person declined an interview.
Jasso said the community should feel empowered to defend itself.
“I think it's great to be able to work with a network that is able to mobilize on two hours notice,” Jasso said, “that people are able to come out and raise the issue and show the rest of the community that we understand that people are experiencing fear.”
Through the afternoon, about 45 protesters carrying flags, signs and megaphones waved at cars driving down 28th Street and marched around the courtyard in front of the library.
“La migra no se fue. El pueblo la sacó,” the protesters chanted. Immigration officials didn't leave. The people kicked them out.
