Mission: UCLA SALSA is dedicated to providing a forum for South Asian law students to exchange thoughts and ideas, develop a community support and referral network, and address the needs of the larger South Asian community—particularly its most marginalized members.

SALSA presents

#Free the El Paso 9: South Asian Immigrants Resist Detention

Over 40 days ago, nine Punjabi Sikh asylum seekers detained in an El Paso ICE facility began a hunger strike to protest the conditions and length of their incarceration. Shortly after their strike began, ICE began to force feed them with nasal tubes, authorized by a federal judge. Their current hunger strike can be situated within a long historical tradition of hunger strikes as a form of anti-colonial resistance against the British Empire in South Asia.

Sikhs, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and other South Asians have been hunger striking in ICE facilities since at least 2014. In 2013, a DOJ document revealed that 83% of immigrants from India facing deportation were incarcerated in immigrant detention facilities — a larger percentage than any other immigrant community. Yet, the South Asian community is often invisible, silenced, and erased in discussions about immigrant detention in the U.S.

The UCLA South Asian Law Students Association invites you to join us for dinner and a panel discussion on the experience of South Asians in immigrant detention. We will speak with practicing attorneys, immigration scholars, and community organizers about how and why South Asians are detained in the immigration system, and contemplate strategies for resistance and solidarity. See the attached flier for more information.

Where: UCLA School of Law, Room 1430
When: Tuesday March 19, 6 PM - 8 PM

This event will also be a fundraiser for the healthcare costs and attorney fees for the El Paso 9. Dinner will be provided.

More information - RSVP - Donate

2018-2019 SALSA Board

Co-Chairs: Kanwalroop Kaur Singh and Sairah Budhwani
Secretary: Meha Raja
Treasurer/Community Outreach Chair: Janki Kaneria
3L Representative: Asheeka Desai