'Voices of Resistencia': Stories of Detention and Desperation Mark La Resistencia's 10th Anniversary

by Agueda Pacheco Flores

On Sunday, March 3, students and friends of the University of Washington's Center for Human Rights gathered at the Seattle Rep's PONCHO Forum to hear their colleagues read the stories of former immigrant detainees and their families.

Voices of Resistencia: A Theatrical Tribute To Those Lost To Deportation marks the 10th anniversary of La Resistencia NW, a local organization that fights for the rights of immigrants detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma and whose ultimate goal is to end the detention and deportation of all immigrants. Maru Mora-Villapande, a longtime activist and founder of La Resistencia NW, gave opening remarks.

"We're turning 10, and 10 years ago we decided we're here today not to lament deportations but to fight for those still here and bring back those who have been deported," she said.

Three UW students and Juan Carlos Reyes read the four stories featured at the event. Two of the students are immigrants with mixed legal statuses such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a temporary permit that allows undocumented youth to work legally in the U.S. Reyes is a writer and an associate professor at Seattle University. His book, Three Alarm Fire, will be published by Hinton Publishing later this year.

Hinton Publishing, a new Pacific Northwest publishing house, which was also a sponsor for the event, will be publishing more immigrant narratives, in partnership with UW's Center for Human Rights, on Speak the Sojourner, its online literary magazine.

Editors' Note: South Seattle Emerald founder and publisher Marcus Harrison Green is also the publisher of Hinton Publishing.

"If we are able to get 20 new subscribers to Speak The Sojourner in the next two weeks, for every single story that we get from this partnership, we will also donate $25 to La Resistencia," said deputy publisher Maggie Block.

Written by detainees and the families of those now deported to their countries of birth, the stories blurred the lines between first-person accounts, diary, memoir, and poetry. Whether it was a grandmother longing to see her daughters and grandchildren or a man reflecting on his rural childhood before coming to the U.S. while turning 51 in detention, each account reflected a humanity that was relatable and deeply moving.

Reina Alaniz read Melisa Vargas Meda's piece in Spanish. English translations were projected behind her. Vargas Meda takes you back to when she first crossed the border with her daughters and walks you through her "new life" in Mount Vernon and finding passion in her fruit business until hard times and a cancer-diagnosed father forced her to sell drugs.

"I have always acted out of care for my family," Vargas Meda wrote.

She was then deported and decided to cross the border again to reunite with her family, only to end up in the Northwest Detention Center.

"I just want to be out," she wrote. "I am so tired."

Over the years, hundreds of detainees at the detention center have participated in hunger strikes to protest living conditions. Detainees have reported low-quality food, use of force, limited to no medical attention, and use of chemical agents.

Reyes read the story of two brothers, identified only as Juan and Isaias, separated by detention and then again by deportation. The story was written by Juan about his brother Isaias, who now lives in Mexico.

"Although he's in another country now, we're able to stay in much closer touch now than when he was detained in Tacoma," Reyes read.

Each piece reads like a final goodbye and some like a final confession, as each writer contemplates what awaits them after deportation.

"If they want to send me back to Honduras, let them send me. But what am I doing here? I will sit in detention for six months before my first court date. In this place we are lifeless. Here, I am a number. I am money. And they won't let me go," wrote Ruben Mejia Lara. Carlos Alberta, a DACA recipient, read Mejia Lara's story. "If I get sent back to Honduras," Mejia Lara wrote, "they're going to kill me."

In the final story, Felipe Olivarria Zegera lamented being unable to visit his sick wife, who is struggling with the loss of her father, while awaiting deportation. His story was read by Edgar Quiroz Sanchez, who is also undocumented. "Between her dad's passing and my detention, her mental health suffered immensely," Zegera wrote, adding "she had to suffer alone."

In the end, Zegera only wishes to be deported back to Mexico to work the land and accepts that he may never see the love of his life again.

"She's safe here."

Following the reading, La Resistencia founder Mora-Villalpando thanked attendees and explained how they could continue to support immigrants by signing a petition asking GEO Group, a for-profit prison corporation with operates the Northwest Detention Center on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to enforce House Bill 1470, which would allow unannounced inspections of the facility. She also invited attendees to La Resistencia's 10th Anniversary March, which will take place on Saturday, March 9, in Tacoma.

The theatrical reading came ahead of the Seattle Rep's production of Sanctuary City. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok, the play revolves around the lives of two undocumented teens shortly after 9/11, which saw the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. The play runs through the last day of March. Seattle Rep's artistic director Dmaso Rodrguez wrote of the play that it "invites conversation" through "its potent mix of the personal and the political."

A full recording of Voices of Resistencia is available on Seattle Rep's YouTube Channel.

📸 Featured Image: Maru Mora-Villalpando introduces audience to the readers and narrative project collaboration between La Resistencia and Hinton Publishing. (Photo courtesy of Seattle Rep.)