NPR reports that many immigrants in Los Angeles are “relying on mosques, community groups and their own families to navigate the complicated new immigration climate.” Recently, worshippers gathered at the Masjid Omar ibn Al-Khattab mosque in downtown Los Angeles to receive advice on how to respond if immigration officers come knocking on their doors – the audience were mainly comprised of Latino Muslims.
NPR states that “President Trump’s immigration policies have inspired a Latino-Muslim collaboration in Southern California. Community organizer Shakheel Sayed recently brought together six local groups that specialize in everything from Muslim rights to Latino labor issues. Sayed says the two communities are being singled out unfairly.”
Imam César Dominguez says that “in every mosque around here, there are Hispanics.” Many, like Guadalupe Fernandez, grew up Catholic but converted to Islam due to their partners being of the faith.
Ms. Fernandez is here on an expired visa. She and her husband, Abdulah, run a salvage yard and say that they try to talk to their customers about Trump’s immigration policies. “The one help him? Muslim people,” says Abdallah. “And the mechanic, the one help him to put the engine? Latino people. The two people, the one he doesn’t like to keep here? The two people who help him.”
“People are being demonized and dehumanized, which leaves near permanent scars on their mental state,” says Community organizer Shakheel Sayed.
