Santa Ana, CA – On the chilly evening of December 11, 100 community members came together to pray and pay homage to the patron saint la Virgen de Guadalupe. They prayed under hundreds of flowers and bright lights installed by Luis Cantabrana. He is a local Santanero, who has been turning his entire home into a beautiful altar for la Virgen de Guadalupe for 27 years. This year, despite the almost weekly raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Santa Ana, the tradition was celebrated widely.

“This tradition has been going on for many years, and ICE will not stop me! Even more people are here than in previous years; I will continue to do this,” said Luis Cantabrana.

Santa Ana has been hit extremely hard, with ICE kidnapping people at bus stops, car washes, Home Depots, the Santa Ana immigration court, the ICE field office, and off the streets in broad daylight.

Members of Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) tabled at this event, passing out Know Your Rights information, and a list of free or low-cost resources to the community. They were responding to a call to action by the Legalization for All Network, which called for people to mobilize on the Dia de La Virgen de Guadalupe, “a protector and source of strength for many immigrants whether they are making the journey across the border or facing discrimination and exploitation in their new homes in the U.S.”

The worshipers embraced these resources, despite this being the first year they had any sort of political organization present. CSO OC passed out hundreds of flyers along with petition flyers for their ongoing campaign to stop ICE arrests at the Santa Ana Immigration Court.

“It was important so people who aren’t informed can become informed! People need to know where they can turn to for help regarding the immigration raids,” answered Cantabrana when asked how he felt having a political organization talking to people about ICE attacks at this sacred event.

The event continued well into the night – until 2 a.m. – with prayer, mariachi music, danza, and a procession. The attendance of people only continued to grow as the night went on.

“Doing this under Trump did not matter to me! We forget about all that when we are together in celebration. I have faith. I hope that all the people who are affected by the ICE attacks, their suffering will end soon,” said Cantabrana.

#SantaAnaCA #CA #ImmigrantRights #ICE #CSOOC

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