Calculations of an Immigrant Activist

What to do — and not do — when you are a target

By Amalia Mendoza

I’m tired of waking up every morning to a new barrage of horrors. It’s exhausting. For immigrants like myself, it opens an entire set of issues. This week, I had to make a calculation I never thought I’d have to make. Not in this country, anyway. 

Since 2016, I’ve been marching, writing postcards, providing updated information on various topics, attending town halls, volunteering everywhere, and pestering my elected representatives (an acceptable sport, in my opinion), among other things. Yet, in 2025, while I have continued my activism, I also must face the fact that I’m an immigrant and this administration is coming after people like me. Because of that, protests may be off the table for me. At least for now.

Last week, I called a friend to share my concerns about participating in protests, given my situation as an immigrant activist and the heightened risks involved. I felt like a coward for even contemplating not attending them.

The current regime has been disappearing people to literal Gulags under any excuse they can find. This includes permanent residents being detained and deported while tourists are being turned away. No due process necessary, they say. All of them are the bad guys – whatever that means. And if they picked you up by mistake, such as the story grabbing the headlines of Kilmar Abrego Garcia sent to an El Savador prison in error, all you get is the equivalent of “Ooopsie. Our bad. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we can’t get you back. Good luck in that for-profit prison! Don’t die too soon, or you’ll make us look bad! And smile! We’re using you for a photo op!”

Then there are foreign academics disappearing from their universities and masked goons kidnapping foreign students in broad daylight without anyone knowing where they are. The picture is not reassuring.

Meanwhile, protests have erupted everywhere, from Tesla dance parties to marches and rallies across the country. Not long ago, I would have eagerly joined as many as I could. However, I recently had to make a calculation I never thought I’d have to make. Not in this country, anyway.

Let’s face it. We all have different situations in our lives. We may be in the same boat, but not in the same category. I am an immigrant and activist with an accent and an unmistakable Hispanic last name. While I’m an American citizen, I know that I am at risk and that my citizenship will not protect me. 

This enrages me. The fact that I need to consider skipping protests, which is a constitutionally protected right, is incredibly disturbing. But I need to figure out how to live and fight another day. Getting myself imprisoned in a Gulag does not appeal to me.

“Do what is right for you,” said my friend. “You are already making a valuable contribution.”

I felt better, but I still agonized about it, especially since I don’t like to ask anyone to do anything I’m not willing to do myself – in this case, participating in protests.

A second friend pinged me over that same weekend protest. I shared my concerns as openly as I could. She was wonderfully understanding, just like my other friend. “Do what you are comfortable with,” she said. “If you feel in jeopardy going, you should pass this up.”

The reality is that we, immigrants, are the canary in the coal mine. Once a regime deems people expendable, no one is safe. First, they come for the immigrants. Who’s next?

Heck, I don’t even want to leave the country to visit family because who knows what fun surprises await me on the way back? I’m not looking forward to becoming a statistic, a meme, or a feature in the ten o’clock news, thank you very much.

Martin Niemoller’s quote about the Holocaust came to mind: 

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

I refuse to stay silent. If I shut up, they have already won. So, even if I don’t make the protests, there’s a lot of work I’m doing, and I will continue to do.

You probably expect me to provide a list of ways you can help. I could talk about red cards (cards that list how immigrants can exercise their Constitutional rights) or provide a list of organizations working on this, but that is not my message today. Instead, I will ask you to remember that each person experiences this moment through their own situation. Don’t judge or discount those not joining you on the street right now. 

Senator Booker, in his record-breaking speech mentioned the calls from his constituents demanding he do something.  In referencing John Lewis, Booker stated “I don't know what John Lewis would say, but John Lewis would do something. He would say something. What we will have to repent for is not the words and violent actions for bad people, but the appalling silence and inaction of good people. This is our moral moment.”

Protest comes in many forms. I am writing this article under a pen name. I don’t mind getting arrested. However, getting disappeared and shipped to a Gulag is an entirely different matter. I need to be present to continue my advocacy.

I’ll be out there with you as soon as I can.

In solidarity.

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