Protesters in Murrieta Spent Fourth of July Terrorizing Immigrants

Video courtesy of CBS Los Angeles

While the rest of America celebrated the independence of the “land of the free” on July 4th, a small town in Southern California spent their day terrorizing busloads of immigrants.

The first three buses arrived in Murrieta, California, on Tuesday, carrying around 140 immigrants who came from Central America and entered the US via Texas. Most were women and children. To ease congestion at that border crossing, they were transferred to the seemingly quieter Border Patrol facility in Murrieta for processing, where they were met with fierce protest. Over 100 of Murrieta’s residents paraded around signs that read "RETURN TO SENDER" and "AMERICA HAS BEEN INVADED," ultimately forcing the buses to turn back by way of a human blockade. “Illegals today, Jihadists with Nukes tomorrow!” roared another sign, and as the buses approached, locals yelled, “Send them back to their countries! You don’t belong here! We don’t want you! Get back to El Salvador!”

More buses were expected to arrive on July 4th, but due to an even bigger protest, buses never arrived. There were five reported arrests.

Photos by Julian Lucas

It’s worth noting that Murrieta is nothing more than a processing location for the immigrants, and a necessary step in the process of determining their status as refugees or otherwise. However, town officials like Mayor Alan Long have expressed support for the protests, citing residents’ concerns about their small-town economy. “We're a very small town here in Murietta, and all of the sudden we have a national problem at our doorstep,” he told CNN.

City council candidate Diana Serafin, who helped organize the protests, said she was concerned about new deadly diseases spreading once immigrants are allowed to roam free in their town. She stressed that Murrieta is “a very compassionate community,” but that the immigrants have “got scabies. Two of them had the swine flu recently. They’ve got head lice so bad that it’s not funny.”

Serafin and others involved in the protests are also claiming to be worried about the poor conditions that women and children are being kept in at the Murrieta facility. Serafin expressed her disgust at the federal government for failing to provide healthy temporary living quarters for the immigrants. “These mothers, fathers, and children are going to be sitting on a floor, eating and sleeping next to the toilet,” she told me. A legitimate concern, of course, but her regard for the immigrants’ wellbeing appears to be a thinly veiled attempt to mask an entirely uncompassionate and arguably racist sentiment with faux empathy.

Would she be content if immigrants were allowed to come to Murrieta after being confirmed as disease-free? “No. If we have to take care of them, our city will be bankrupt.” Also, immigrants are a threat to education. “Our education department is going to go bust,” Diana told me, and bilingualism would be to blame. “Our kids aren’t coming out educated now. It’s going to be worse when it’s 50/50 in the classrooms speaking different languages. If you have to spend the first three years of your life learning [different languages] instead of your ABC’s and counting numbers, we’ve set you back.”

So, is the blending of different cultures a concern? “No. No, no, no,” Diana assured me, before listing all the different races and nationalities she’s friends with. Her next-door neighbors are even of Mexican decent.

As protesters pounded on the buses on July 4th, shouting obscenities at the women and children inside, a counterprotest arose: soon, human rights activists outnumbered the objectors. Countering the protesters’ “USA!” chants with “Shame on you!” it was a welcome manifestation of humanity to counter the bitter hate of so many Americans that day. Importantly, many human rights activists displayed the phrase, “NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL,” a reminder of the universal right to seek asylum (and America’s corresponding international obligations to anyone processed and classed as a refugee) to those who believe they’re within their rights to push these buses back.

The American Civil Liberties Union summed it up well in a recent press release referencing the behavior displayed in Murrieta this week:

"Our nation’s refugee laws were created in the aftermath of World War II to ensure that we would never again turn away refugees fleeing death in their home countries. They require that everyone who legitimately fears persecution must receive a fair opportunity to make their case before an immigration judge, who can decide each case on the facts presented. We also wish, though no law requires it, that refugees fleeing truly terrible conditions in their home countries would be greeted with sympathy rather than fear and xenophobia."

The situation is still unfolding, with more buses scheduled to arrive at the Murrieta and surrounding Border Patrol facilities in the coming weeks. Organizations such as the Border Angels are on site providing support to detained children. Director Enrique Morones told me they’ve had “500 people come by to drop off clothing, food and toys for the kids” on Saturday alone. In addition, the ACLU and other human rights bodies are monitoring the developments.

Follow Shanrah Wakefield on Twitter.