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with a breath, Balam mentions the anguish that has become living in Minneapolis; He is originally from the Mayan town of the municipality of Yajalón, in Chiapas, but has lived in that city for more than two years. From a very young age he knew what it was like to live against all adversity; he had to leave his home in the community to be able to finish his studies. Life took him to the border city of Tijuana, where he saw firsthand the two faces of migration: the pain, the longing, but above all the hope and faith that thousands had in achieving the american dream. She worked for more than five years supporting people seeking asylum and families seeking reunification. Thanks to him, girls and boys from the Guerrero Mountain were able to flee violence, recruitment or forced marriages and are now safe in the United States with their families. Despite his noble work, life had another twist in store for him, because in the summer of 2024 Balam also had to migrate to the neighboring country to the north and experience firsthand, what for years he had only heard in the stories he accompanied.
His stay began in a difficult way, as he faced the harsh reality that many of us experienced when we were not able to pursue our studies in that country. In a place where the phrase “he who doesn’t work, doesn’t eat” makes sense, he started working as a cleaner, although months later he found a teaching position. He adjusted his immigration status and is now a resident; Time passed and with the arrival to power of Donald Trump a new stage began in its history of struggle and resistance. At the beginning of the current government, the raids were only seen in the news, but little by little they began to become closer to reality. It was not until the beginning of 2026 that Balam’s life was directly affected, since with the arrival of the operations in Minneapolis, fear reigned within the migrant community. The current administration used as a pretext for its incursion into that state an alleged daycare fraud by the Somali community towards the United States government; This was enough to fill the streets with ICE agents.
January 4 began with strong operations in shopping centers, parking lots, schools and homes. The fear was increasing; However, the situation took a different turn with the death of activist Renée Nicole Good on January 7, when in a brutal scene an ICE agent is seen shooting, for no apparent reason, at the windshield of her truck. The images went around the world. The Trump administration insisted that this attack was in self-defense, despite the fact that videos were released where even a doctor offered to provide emergency care to Renée and ICE agents denied it. After that, the protests took on a different meaning, great indignation filled the streets and even historical movements like that of the Black Panthers resurfaced.
When asking Balam about this, he says that he is afraid, but it is a different fear, because it is not only for himself, but for the family he has formed. “This is no longer american dreamit’s a nightmare. We are afraid of going out into the streets and being arrested.” These are Balam’s words. “My wife and I have offered to bring food to people who are locked in their homes. After Renée’s murder, classes were canceled and we didn’t go to work.” Balam mentions that the Lake Street area – with the greatest presence of Mexicans – is empty. “A few days ago they removed a teacher from a school that is a subsidiary of mine. We are all at risk.” When asking Balam what’s next, he says that only resisting this new reality. The migrant community knows that although this persecution occurs at a time when the history of the United States is marked by terror, as the only response to the lack of proposals from its rulers, migrants continue to be cannon fodder.
Meanwhile, Balam and hundreds of others live in a state of total siege where it seems that we have to show again what we are made of. This attack, unfortunately, will not be the only nor the last of this government. Resistance is what has forged us as a people, adapting to a place where customs and language are different; That is why the only alternative is the community alliance, the same one that Balam learned in his town, will be the key to survival.
*Member of the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center
