BEACON – Over 100 supporters of the first ever Hudson Valley Hate Free Zone stood together in solidarity Saturday to support the rights of all peoples in the region.
The event in Beacon, put on by Hate Free Zone leaders from Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson and Community Voices Heard, was held as a response to what they see as an increasingly oppressive atmosphere for black, LGBTQ, Muslim, undocumented and Jewish residents they believe has been perpetuated by the incoming presidential administration.
Due to President-elect Trump’s comments regarding deportation of undocumented persons, a main facet of the Hate Free Zone is to eliminate the fears of deportation for the undocumented and to remove the stigma against them.
Umberto Romero Gonzales of New Windsor, a law student and elected member of his student government when he attended SUNY Orange, said having to pay out-of-state fees due to his undocumented status made him feel like a second-class citizen when all he, and other undocumented residents, want to do is be a productive member of society.
“We only want to be part of the greater purpose,” said Gonzales. “We want to contribute to the economy; we want to contribute to our communities and be a part of them. We are not there to divide, or to be isolated from others. We just want to contribute to the bigger purpose.”
Alfredo Parcheko, a leader of the Hudson Valley Hate Free Zone and member of Community Voices Heard, said he believes there has currently been a precedent set, by the new administration, deeming oppression okay. He wants to make sure his children can live in a United States where they are free from the fear of having their lives upended by deportation.
“That fear, it exists inside you,” said Parcheko. “You have a family here; you have everything that you’ve been working for here. I’ve been in this country for 27 years; actually, half of my life I’ve been living here. I don’t know another way of living, and by him [Trump] saying that he’s going to deport two million people – I don’t know if I’m one of them. I’m afraid of that.”
One hundred people pledged to make the Hudson Valley a Hate Free Zone.
Even though deportation of undocumented residents is a main concern of the Hate Free Zone, it’s only one of many. The supporters of the Hudson Valley Hate Free Zone also hope to address healthcare issues, mass incarceration of minority groups and the affordable availability of higher education for all.
Dominique Suddith, the Hudson Valley Safe Zone leader from Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson, said they are planning to create tangible resolutions to these issues.
“We’re going to collect our ideas and brainstorm on some solutions to the problems that we’re all facing today and we’re going to put it into action,” said Suddith. “Whether that is fundraising for people that are going through incarceration, people who are facing deportation; we want to be able to have some type of support for them. Whether it is legal services, or just information, we want to be able to have that for them.”
The Hudson Valley Hate Free Zone proponents maintain they are intent on not only making the region a designated hate free zone, encompassing the stipulations of sanctuary status, but also are hopeful in the effort to have other communities throughout the nation follow suit.
