BY MONICA CARRILLO
OUR VOICE COUNTS
After a full year of housing concerns, a continuous surge of people in the Valley has made community organizations and members complain about “why they are coming.”
Herbert Romero, community organizer in the Wood River Valley and founder of both the Hispanic LatinUS Leadership Task Force and Neighbors Helping Neighbors, believes this is a one-sided story to a scenario with multiple situations at hand.
“We are paying attention more about the border and getting here to the Valley, but they aren’t just leaving ‘just because,’” said Romero, who is helping seven families directly. “This place has a deep history for the Peruvian community — shepherding as one of the reasons.”
He also mentioned that they are coming from Peru, from Central America, “already traumatized and victimized.”
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was an ongoing issue for the Wood River Valley and there was “talk” about bringing workers from other places.
“There was a lack of workers, but now that’s not true,” Romero said. “There was a lack of systems with employers that couldn’t work with undocumented people; now there are places that are making exceptions.”
The reality is that people were and are still not prepared for the amount of people that have come to this Valley. Regardless of if they come here legally or not, community members, including Latinos, are complaining.
“It’s been happening in Seattle, in Chicago, in so many places,” Romero said. “They’ll come here seeking asylum or with a visa, and still, people aren’t happy.”
People like Margie Gonzalez, executive director of Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs, and Alejandra Hernandez, executive director of UNITY Alliances Idaho, have come to Romero to assist in magnifying the problem going on in the Wood River Valley and bring light to this humanitarian crisis.
A meeting will be held within the next week with Hernandez to present ways to help these families to come from the Valley.
“We are in emergency mode,” Romero said. “We need to understand this from the Latino perspective and from Latino leaders here in Idaho.”
In addition, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, St. Thomas Episcopal Church and the Protestant church are coming together to help assist families through hard times, providing use to the bathrooms, kitchens and shelter.
NUESTRA VOZ CUENTA
Después de un año lleno de preocupaciones en materia de vivienda, un aumento continuo de personas en el valle ha hecho que las organizaciones y miembros de la comunidad se quejan de “porque vienen.”
Herbert Romero, organizador de la comunidad y fundador del Grupo de Trabajo de Liderazgo Hispano LatinUS y de Neighbors Helping Neighbors, cree que esta es una historia unilateral de un escenario con múltiples situaciones a la mano.
“Prestamos más atención a la frontera y a llegar hasta el valle, pero no sólo se van “sólo porque,” dijo Romero, quien está ayudando a siete familias directamente. “Este lugar tiene una profunda historia para la comunidad peruana, el pastoreo como una de las razones.”
También mencionó que vienen de Perú, de Centroamérica, “ya traumatizados y victimizados.”
Personas como Margie González, directora ejecutiva de la Comisión de Asuntos Hispanos de Idaho, y Alejandra Hernández, directora ejecutiva de UNITY Alliances Idaho han conectado para ayudar a magnificar el problema que está ocurriendo y traer luz a esta crisis humanitaria.
Una reunión se llevará a cabo dentro de la próxima semana con Hernández para presentar maneras de ayudar a estas familias a venir del valle.