A couple days ago, I was sitting with the reality that a Dominican man from the Bronx was reportedly shot by ICE, and I could not stop thinking about what that means. I keep coming back to the same truth: people are being hunted as immigrants in places that are already their homes, in communities that have long histories of displacement, survival, and belonging. I talk and write about migration, place, imperialism, and indigeneity, and this is exactly why these conversations cannot stay abstract.

What happened in the Bronx is not separate from the bigger story so many of us are living inside. I have spoken with young people, especially Dominican, Puerto Rican, Haitian, and Colombian kids, who have been taught that indigenous people are gone, that they disappeared, that they only existed in the past. But indigenous people are not dead. We are here. And so many people in our communities carry Black, indigenous, and mixed lineages while being treated as if they do not belong anywhere. That violence does not start with one incident, and it does not end with one incident.

That is why I am calling on Bronx agencies and local leaders to limit cooperation with harmful ICE operations and put real protections in place for our communities. Local institutions should not be making it easier for federal enforcement to terrorize families, target neighbors, and turn our borough into a hunting ground. If leaders say they care about the Bronx, then they need to act like it by refusing policies and practices that help this harm continue.

I am asking you to sign because our communities deserve safety, dignity, and the right to exist without fear. We should not have to prove our humanity after every act of violence. If you believe the Bronx should protect the people who live here, sign this petition and help demand real change.