Immigration: Injustice still common, 135 years later
Approximately 350 terrified Chinese immigrants were expelled from Tacoma nearly 135 years ago, on Nov. 3, 1885.
Tragic events in relation to immigrant populations are happening right up to this moment in history.
The for-profit immigration prison is only one mile from 11th and Pacific in Tacoma. I went to there recently to stand outside in quiet protest.
I saw a boy, maybe 6 years old, writing with chalk on the sidewalk: “I love you daddy”. His mother, holding a baby, stood next to him. I talked with her and found that she and her husband have been married for 11 years.
She, an American citizen, has never left this country. They live in Olympia. The father, from Mexico, has no papers. The wife and children had come to see Daddy.
When they approached the prison, the woman was told that her husband was deported the night before.
How can we continue to let this happen in our city?
Bill G. Evans, Tacoma
This story was originally published October 25, 2020 at 1:32 PM with the headline "Immigration: Injustice still common, 135 years later."