Statement from Carmen Perez-Jordan, President & CEO of The Gathering for Justice
On Recent ICE Activity and Community Resistance in California
At The Gathering for Justice, we are deeply alarmed by the recent escalation of ICE activity across California, particularly in Oxnard, my hometown and the place where several of our field organizers reside. This is home to many of the young people and families we support through our Youth Organizers United (YOU) Program. What we are witnessing is not simply a spike in enforcement, it is part of a long and painful legacy of state-sanctioned violence against our communities.
From the mass deportations under the 1930s Mexican Repatriation Program, where over one million people of Mexican descent, many of them U.S. citizens, were forcibly removed, to the raids and family separations that have marked past and present administrations, the targeting of immigrant communities is not new. It is historical. It is systemic. And it is rooted in anti-Blackness, xenophobia, and white supremacy.
We name it for what it is: racialized terror that seeks to destabilize our families, silence our resistance, and criminalize our survival.
But California is also home to powerful traditions of resistance, and we move in that legacy. In Oxnard, we uplift the fierce leadership of our youth who continue to rise with dignity, even in the face of fear and intimidation. In Stockton, our Healing Circles offer space for justice-impacted families to grieve, rebuild, and reclaim their voice. In Los Angeles, our Justice League CA team is in deep collaboration with community partners demanding an end to the criminalization of immigrants, youth, and communities of color.
At The Gathering for Justice, we were founded to disrupt cycles of trauma and to reimagine justice, not as punishment, but as care, dignity, and restoration. Our work is rooted in Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence and my mentor Harry Belafonte’s legacy of radical love. We carry forward their vision through direct organizing, healing justice, and intergenerational leadership.
We reject the militarization of our neighborhoods.
We reject the dehumanization of our people.
And we reaffirm our commitment to protecting our communities and building systems where all of us can thrive.
To those on the frontlines, organizers, educators, parents, spiritual leaders, and especially our young people: we see you. We are alongside you. And we remain committed to walking this path with you.
We call on all who believe in justice to take action:
Stay informed and uplift the work of local leaders
Demand accountability from public officials and agencies
Show up with and for your neighbors and communities under threat
Hope is not passive, it is active.
And in this moment, hope looks like organizing.
Hope looks like resistance.
Hope looks like us, rising together in collective power.
In solidarity and with fierce love
Carmen Perez-Jordan
President & CEO
The Gathering for Justice