ICE Shooting of Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez: The Question We Should Be Asking
Immigration enforcement actions continue to tear families apart, and most recently this hit very close to home here in the northern Central Valley when Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez was shot multiple times by ICE agents in an event shockingly similar to the murder of Renee Goode.
My ten-year-old daughter broke down in tears when she heard about this shooting happening so close to her school, worried for her classmates’ safety.
I was heartbroken as I comforted my daughter; I cannot imagine the heartbreak that Carlos’s family feels as they navigate not only the shooting, but now his arrest, moving to various locations, and alleged issues with medical care.
I refuse to accept that this is the world we are creating for our children.
Public resources should be used to strengthen family and community bonds, not isolate us in fear.
At CRLA we say "Justice Starts with Community" because we know that strengthening community bonds and community care is what can keep people safe and what can create a just and equitable world.
Our advocacy seeks to ensure public resources build community and mutually supportive relationships, including goals like housing policy, pesticide regulation, language access, public health, water and air quality.
In our 60 years of advocacy, we’ve learned that building community requires trust, transparency, and accountability.
As we grapple with the impacts of this shooting on our community, community members have questions. Often, questions and conversations center around whether someone deserves certain treatment. Drawing on our advocacy at CRLA, I encourage us all to ask: are these systems keeping us safe?
- How do we hold leaders accountable?
- How do we hold decision makers accountable?
- How do we bring transparency to the use of public resources?
- Why is it taking so long to get an answer?
- Why does a family not know where their loved one is when they get disappeared into a system?
These are all questions that can and should be asked to strengthen our community. ¿Si no, donde vamos a parar?
