ICE Out of RVA Statement.
All the content warnings.
Please read survivor statements and support them financially: https://linktr.ee/survivorsunited
Before I tell this story, it is important for you to know that, every attempt has been made on my part to operate in good faith for the benefit of our undocumented community in Virginia. I have called out, called in and asked for all manners of reconciliation both public and private from individuals in the group as well as the whole group. I asked for mediation from other leaders in the community. All of these have been refused to me. All I have received from ICE out of RVA and their partner orgs (SONG and ICE out of Cville, Richmond Community Bail Fund, VICPP’s sanctuary network) is slander and lies spread through the state about me and the work that I do.
As a Leader of Immigrant Justice in a local, state and National level, as an impacted person, as an organizer on the ground with my community every single day, as a survivor of abuse and predatory tactics of gaslighting, gatekeeping, stealing and extricating labor and intellectual property and exploiting my trauma — I will do everything in my power to tell my story, not be silent while abusers and predators continue to harm our people and profit on top of it.
The undermining of SANTOS en Virginia and my associates throughout the state of VA by ICE out of RVA and its associates has caused harm to the point of incarceration of undocumented people and family separation. Their work to fundraise moneys said to go into the community when in reality is allocated to pay their own rent and partying habits is reprehensible. The former leadership of ICE out of rva especially Diego, Flor, KJ, Jenny and Maria must be kept away from any position of power, relevance and monetary gain in the community they have harmed. The demands of Diego’s survivors must be met, any organization that chooses to work and/or elevate these individuals is complicit in the continued harm caused in our lives and community and those organizations will be called out too. This is not the starting point of this conversation; this is the dead end after these parties have refused to engage any restorative process for accountability and reconciliation.
Como líder de la justicia de inmigrantes a nivel local, estatal y nacional, como persona impactada, como organizador en la calle con mi comunidad todos los días, como sobreviviente de abuso y tácticas depredadoras de gaslighting, control de entrada, robo y extracción de mi propiedad intelectual y mano de obra. y explotar mi trauma: haré todo lo que esté a mi alcance para contar mi historia, no guardaré silencio mientras los abusadorxs y depredadorxs continúan dañando a nuestra gente y obteniendo ganancias por encima.
La difamaciones en contra a SANTOS en Virginia y mis asociadxs en todo el estado de VA por parte de ICE de RVA y sus asociadxs ha causado daños hasta el punto de encarcelar a personas indocumentadas y separar familias. Su trabajo para recaudar fondos que dice van a la comunidad cuando en realidad se destina a pagar su propia renta y sus hábitos de fiesta es asqueroso. El antiguo liderazgo de ICE fuera de rva, especialmente Diego, Flor, KJ, Jenny y Maria, deben mantenerse alejado de cualquier posición de poder, relevancia y ganancia monetaria en la comunidad a la que han dañado. Se deben cumplir las demandas de lxs sobrevivientes de Diego, cualquier organización que opte por trabajar y / o elevar a estas personas es cómplice del daño continuo causado en nuestras vidas y comunidad y esas organizaciones también serán denunciadas.Este no es el punto de partida de esta conversación; este es el callejón sin salida después de que estas personas problematicxs se han negado a emprender cualquier proceso restaurativo para la rendición de cuentas y la reconciliación.
READ ON FOR FULL ACCOUNT.
FLOR
Beginning in the summer of 2017 after moving to Safe Harbor shelter with the help of Flor as my caseworker for VAVP, I organized as a member and later leader of ICE out of RVA.
A lot of my relationship dynamic with Flor was, in hindsight, harmfully imbalanced.
A week after moving into the shelter I was invited to an ICE Out of RVA meeting. There were discussions, political education and a sense of community. I began attending most weeks.
Flor, as my caseworker, should have been assisting me with finding work and services I needed to survive, but she was more interested in getting me to attend these meetings and give free labor to ‘the cause’. She always assured me that if I showed up, it would be likely that I could find a job lead amongst people.
In the fall, while in the shelter, the feds came looking for me to take me to Fredericksburg where there was a warrant out for my arrest for leaving my abuser. ICE out of RVA members contacted SONG and the RVA Bail Fund to help protect me from a possible ICE detainer and were refused help. A fundraiser to pay for lawyer fees was raised on my name and after securing a lawyer I safely returned to the shelter to heal. I felt so indebted to ICE out of RVA for what they did for me that even in the shelter I offered to give my skills to help. I took over the fb page and used my own platform as a professional artist to increase their following to 1,000. I made new graphics, art and design as well as a new website at cost to me — again — while living in a shelter.
Flor, as my caseworker, helped very little on my case, most of the time taking me to meetings instead of where I needed to go. In the winter of 2018 I was asked by Flor, while in the shelter to attend, speak and interpret at an action at the ICE field office. I asked if it would be safe for me to come with my child and I was assured that Diego and Dustin would be in charge of security.
Upon hearing this my case worker at the shelter prohibited me from going. At that event, an undocumented organizer from NOVA was arrested and taken by ICE. Later ICE out of RVA found from Maria that Dustin promised security to coerce undocumented people to participate in the action and ran off when things went wrong.
Flor and Diego assured us repeatedly that Dustin was being held accountable for his role in an activist being detained. But nobody ever mentioned accountability for Diego, who was equally tasked with security, and that should have been a major red flag.
ICE Out of RVA
When I was asked to become a leader of ICE out of RVA I asked for an implementation of an approach where there would be a core leader group of undocumented people. There was a clear imbalance in who held power and who were the visible leaders of the group. I heard concerns about Flor and KJ being transphobic and anti Black to co workers at VAVP and KJ constantly centering and privileging themselves. Flor and Diego were always at the forefront of things representing the group and I felt that more care needed to go into who represents us and our interactions with people. I also began reaching out to other organizations, local businesses and artists for support and began partnering with local non profit organizations to give us skill ups, training, fundraising and space to work and meet. As a member of SONG I asked other ICE out of RVA members to become members as well, as I thought we needed a structured liberation based organization that could help us with resources and training.
As we began working together on new skill ups, out of necessity and with little prior knowledge of the work itself, the Sanctuary in RVA was started in the spring. There were serious issues of accountability, transparency and insular behavior from the core group of ICE out of RVA members, as well as anti black, transphobia rhetoric always being present. The UU church leadership providing the sanctuary was complicit in these same behaviors and we should have been holding them accountable instead of replicating their oppressive framework. The environment became incredibly toxic and insular. Every day in that church was a chance to be micro aggressed by all parties and the UU’s refusal to stop letting cops into the church itself was a threat to my own security as an undocumented person. Despite that I showed up with my skills and passion and loyalty for that leader. Yet in the winter of 2018 (late december) I was told by Diego that the leader of the sanctuary here did not want me anywhere near the church due to me working with someone said leader dislikes.
Through a song grant proposal that I wrote, ICE out of RVA received $5K for a member initiated project. I have seen Flor, KJ and Diego literally use this money to go to taco Tuesdays, burlesque shows and salsa dancing using the excuse that they were doing community outreach and meeting other organizational leaders in RVA. Basically they were balling out for the movement.
RITA
This money was also used by me to kick start RITA with another member of SONG.
Diego asked me to lead this effort in November 2018 as they were leaving for vacation. Myself and another member leader of SONG spent close to a week with little sleep taking care of every bus that came through the station before people got in formation the way they did.
Diego gave me lists of things to purchase for and distribute for people coming off detention centers through the greyhound buses, one time I purchased over 50 outfits, shoes and coats, food and hygiene stuff for care packages, meds, water and snacks for adults and children at a cost of around $800 at a local Target with a card that was on Diego’s name (because somehow he was always the gatekeeper of relationships and monies) and was supposed to hold the money from SONG for ICE out of RVA. In front of my SONG comrade Diego berated me about spending so much. They were given receipts and backed off. After helping create threads, groups and mutual aide networks and a regular schedule of volunteers, Diego told me that things were taken care of and I could step into an admin role, which I was glad for. I was kicked out of the threads. Unbeknownst to me, Diego and Flor began spreading a rumor that I stole money from RITA and pushed me out of all of the solidarity tables in RVA.
ICE out of Cville
Around that time, I had a car accident while looking for Sanctuary for a Fredericksburg mom. Isaac Collins from Wesley Memorial in Cville refused to give sanctuary space because according to ICE out of Cville — informed by ICE out of RVA — they advised against it, citing scarcity of resources in VA for sanctuary. This person had to be taken to Maryland for Sanctuary because my efforts were undermined by ICE out of RVA members. ICE out of RVA members had a party the day after my car accident and never checked in with me again.
VACIR/VACOLAO/VICPP/CVSN
In the winter of 2019 I got a job at the GA as VACOLAO’s immigrant justice advocate. After a verbal altercation with Senator Dick Black, I was terminated from my contract for VACOLAO and kicked out of VACIR, a table for immigrant justice in VA. Diego was part of this table of engagement and when asked how they and other allies would support me if I was thrown under the bus, Diego said that it was my own fault and they weren’t going to get involved. I, the only undocumented person at the table, was kicked out of the table.
In a senate speech on the floor, Dick Black thanked the VICPP director personally for calling to denounce my behavior (of confronting his racist rhetoric). A couple of days later, while on a different facebook account, I found out that Diego and ICE out of RVA were hosting a workshop on how to be an ally 101, a workshop I developed with some tools from SONG. My main facebook account was blocked from seeing this event. When confronted with why they would work with an organization that threw me under the bus and cost me my job and place in a state wide table for immigrant justice, Diego, Flor and KJ cited that they were getting paid $600 for hosting the class, a ticketed event, and part of those proceeds would be split with them and that ICE out of RVA needed the money. I begged them to not sell my intellectual property and when they refused I told them I refused to allow them to use my work like that. Diego replied that they would go to SONG directly to use the materials and that I was being selfish.
DIEGO SECURITY
Around this time the Northam fiasco happened and both Diego and I were sharing some of the same organizing spaces. I stayed clear of actual demonstrations because they are not safe for undocumented people if Diego has anything to do with security. There was a demonstration put together by CASA that was supposed to be utterly peaceful bc undocumented people would be there. Diego agreed to provide security with antifa groups here, but broke rank during the march and began shooting flares at the governor’s mansion, creating panic and police presence to mobilize. They also terrorized a community elder by trying to snatch and burn an american flag out of her hands while taunting her. The next day I confronted Diego in front of SONG members and other activists, and after I walked out so as not to punch them in the fucking face, they lied to the community and said ICE out of RVA pays my rent and that I was constantly violent and aggressive toward them after they rejected my advances. I threatened to expose Diego and the group for lying and not standing behind me and other udocumented people. They deemed my aggression as a trauma response for being broke and losing my job and stepped into a savior space and collected funds to help me pay my rent before they shut me off. I was silent for months. I had to up my anxiety and depression meds three times because of their bullshit.
Rebecca Keel empathized with my problems with ICE out of RVA after being told of the security breaches and bad praxis but said that as SONG they refused to stop working with Diego and Flor. They reported this confrontation with SONG regional and ICE out of RVA folks were invited to a mediation at a Queer Revival that year. I was the only one that showed up to that mediation. SONG did not pursue any mediation and to this day continues elevating them as leaders and defending the bad praxis that has caused irreparable harm in our community.
I began working on my own agency with comrades in the movement quietly. I was disappointed by the disrespect that I experienced but determined that I could work to make a way for folks.
RVA Bail Fund
In the spring of 2019 my comrade and I were approached by the Richmond Community Bail Fund with the request to be educated in immigrant bails. They stated that they were a “useless bail fund” since RVA was not doing cash bail at the time and that the new ICE raids were an opportunity for them to become relevant again. My comrade offered to help them expand to also service ICE bonds; to start a new bail fund together with them to service ICE bonds; or to launch Santos (my proposal for a liberation organization) with them being fiscal sponsors. They were very excited to learn about SANTOS so I shared with them a blueprint for SANTOS en Virginia.
Luca, part of the RCBF leadership, stated that she wanted to talk with Flor and ICE out of RVA about my vision. I was transparent with them, raised concerns about ICE out of RVA praxis — especially the biased leadership of Flor — and asked Luca to not divulge information about our plans. ICE out of RVA had already been offered an olive branch in the form of a seat on the Santos board of directors, which they declined. RCBF agreed to become our fiscal sponsor and in the span of a month, we secured over $50K of promised seed money from 3 major donors. A day before our launch, the RCBF told us they could not sponsor us and had no capacity or knowledge of how to manage as much money as we raised. (Receipts available.)
We moved with Santos regardless and managed in our year as a bail fund to liberate four people. However, the loss of a fiscal sponsor lost us our $50,000 seed funds — for which Flor is directly responsible. Instead of having resources available to liberate community members we are hustling with gofundme’s every time. Three days after launching SANTOS we received over $50,000 in ICE bond requests and could not service a single one. They haunt all of us.
SONG
In early fall of 2019 Edwuan Whitehead of SONG leaked information that was supposed to be for only members of the leadership team of SONG RVA about an undocumented person held in Henrico jail. He passed this info to his client who was running for sheriff. The member leadership of SONG reached to ICE out of RVA in order to bypass accountability for this action and a few weeks later, ICE out of RVA began posting pictures and narratives of solidarity between the two groups, giving SONG member leaders power to continue gatekeeping and undermining the efforts to melt ice while simultaneously taking credit for any immigrant justice related work and perceived victories that is done in VA.
In the late fall of 2019 Santos allies got a confirmed tip from the AG and Mayors office about a possible ICE raid in the Southwood community. We mobilized to protect the community.
ICE out of RVA — supported by ICE out of CVIlle, RCBF, and SONG member leadership — participated in a campaign of online harassment to allies and volunteers trying to work on securing the neighborhood that night. A member of ICE out of Cville even went as far as going to the local radio and saying that we were terrorizing the community with false information. Everyone sharing the online action alert was DM’ed by this misguided coalition and a Native elder on the SANTOS board was even asked for her “papers” to prove her indigeneity by ICE out of Cville. That day, our comrades in RPS mobilized to get kids safely home after ICE vans sightings near the schools neighborhood.
Our few remaining volunteers became burnt out and after the last shift we managed in the community, ICE indeed came and snatched a father from his home. ICE OUT of Rva had the nerve to raise funds for the family of the man whose capture they caused and one of ICE out of CVILLE members is a contact for his case. ICE out of Cville invited by ICE out of RVA came to Southwood to teach the community about false information and were told to leave by community members that literally saw ICE in the community that week. After this, ICE out of RVA and the RCBF began posting about intentional relationships to create an ICE Out of RVA Bail Fund that would reach all of VA, explicitly borrowing language from SANTOS en VA.
The extent of their malice and campaign to discredit and undermine the work of SANTOS — my organization, my vision, my set of tools to liberate MY COMMUNITY — cannot be overstated. While I work with my comrades inside my community and allied with my community, the above listed organizations continue to militantly gatekeep resources, wealth, relationships and access to information.
DIEGO
At this point, I was not aware of Diego’s abuse and its extent. I witnessed division, strategic lies and mistrust sown in the community for months in order to create silos, power pyramids or power vacuums and inappropriate behavior toward me and other people that caused me to nickname Diego “a fuckboy for the movement”. They manipulated everyone and everything. But at the same time people must be accountable for their actions.
Flor and KJ, knowing all Diego did, not just to me but to the survivors of truly gross abuse and their inaction, opted for a fixation in undermining my work instead of focusing on self crit and transformative justice. That tells us that they are ultimately more interested in retaining power, clout and the monetary benefits they get from pretending to be leaders and allies in our community. There is much more to be said about the finances and transparency around those in ICE out of RVA but I expect that those who have seen and participated in enabling this will come forth, as should those that believed all the lies said about the survivors, myself and anyone else that tried in one way or another to hold these toxic people accountable.
We all talk about radical values and praxis in movement work. This includes centering the voices of the MOST IMPACTED people. In terms of liberation regarding people who are immigrants, the MOST IMPACTED voices are those who are undocumented. If your leadership and knowledge of this issue comes from someone who is not living as an undocumented person in the age of Trump, you are not listening to truly personally impacted leaders. I’m not just talking about me; I’m talking about all of the folks that SANTOS works alongside in community.
Likewise, when dealing with the extremely serious issues of SA, the only voices that should be heard are the survivors.
