Remembering Anastasio Hernandez Rojas

Today we remember two lives lost at the hands of immigration detention and apprehension.
We remember the life of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, who was murdered 10 years ago. Anastasio was brutally beaten, tased, and ultimately murdered at the hands of Border Patrol, none of which were held accountable. Despite having video footage and witnesses, justice was not served for his family and community.
We also remember the life of Santiago Baten-Oxaj, the 34-year old Guatemalan man who lost his life in a Georgia detention center due to Covid-19. Santiago is the fourth known death at the hands of detention during this pandemic. He perished after being held at a private for-profit facility, another death that was entirely preventable.
It is important we remember and continue to demand justice for those who have been marginalized, criminalized, and prosecuted due to racist policies and ideologies. We urge everyone to pay attention how all of these lives are connected. We cannot turn a blind eye to the people being put directly at risk to COVID-19 in detention, and we cannot look away when individuals lose their lives at the hands of law enforcement. We saw it 10 years ago with Anastasio, and we saw it again days ago with George Floyd and Santiago. We refuse to let any of these individuals become a statistic, we will continue to speak out against hate and brutality.