November 17 and 18, YAYA members Yaretzi Perez and Ofelia Sanchez and staff Dominique Aulisio participated in the 2018 Florida Immigrant Coalition Congress. This is our yearly gathering in which we strategize with our colleagues from all over Florida around immigrant, refugee, and civil rights. YAYA participated in the Farmworker Caucus and the Young People’s caucus to plan for 2019. We also participated in workshops including an anti-blackness workshop to discuss how racism against black people in the U.S. and in the home countries of many immigrants impacts our work, and what we can do to dismantle it and support Black leadership.
After getting news earlier that week that anti-immigrant candidate Ron DeSantis had secured the governor race for Florida, it was uplifting to have a special visit from Mayor Andrew Gillum to confirm his support for our work and to thank FLIC’s 501c4 for endorsing and campaigning for him. YAYA is ready for another year of fighting alongside our extraordinary coalition partners to defend farm worker rights in Florida.