Quesadilla Diplomacy
There's more than one way to support immigrants
Two new tragedies, two fathers murdered in the streets by ICE, have broken our hearts over the past week. We can’t let the deaths of Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas slide out of our collective memory; their deaths should outrage us just as much as Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
But it can be hard to know how to channel that outrage. There are a lot of ways to stand up against ICE, from protesting at detention centers to calling our representatives. Some of those actions have already had an effect, as the administration has (temporarily) suspended immigration traffic stops.
But in the midst of fighting against ICE, we can’t forget to directly support the immigrants in our own communities. That’s where our guest on the podcast this week comes in.
When Julie Pospishil (also known as Maestra Julia) joined our recent event with Heather Cox Richardson, she shared how she’s supporting immigrants by taking groups of friends to Spanish-speaking restaurants in her town. Heather was so excited about the idea, and Julie was such a ray of sunshine, we knew we needed to bring her on the podcast.
Julie’s a Spanish teacher in Omaha, Nebraska, but she doesn’t stop at teaching the language. She shares cultural information about the many Spanish-speaking immigrants in their community and, of course, their delicious food. After all, what brings people together better than food? The more we can understand our immigrant neighbors, the better we can protect them from ICE.
Going out to dinner may feel like a small way to oppose ICE, but for immigrant restaurant owners, it makes a huge difference. We can’t only fight against injustice; we also have to fight for the better world we want to see. By patronizing immigrant-owned restaurants in our own towns, we contribute not just our dollars but our emotional support.
Turns out, justice tastes pretty good.