Deportados Unidos en la Lucha (Deportees United in the Struggle) is an organization based in Mexico City that works to connect Mexicans recently deported from the US. We had the opportunity to visit with Ana Laura Lopez, one of the main organizers in the collective, about DUL’s mission and what their work looks like.

Ana Laura Lopez had lived undocumented in the US for many years before her deportation. She spoke proudly of her life there both as a mother and as a leader of a union campaign with her undocumented women co-workers. However, Ana’s growing notoriety as an activist made her vulnerable to ICE, and ironically, as Ana attempted to return to Mexico in order to obtain legal US residence, she was detained in the airport and eventually deported. Now Ana cannot return to her life and children in the US for 20 or more years.

This traumatic experience encouraged Ana to start a collective to help recent deportees, and DUL was born. The collective of deportees started out selling candy, then quickly learned screenprinting to make bags and T-shirts for fundraising. Ana said that one of the missions of DUL is “to create people of change, and for people to understand their own power in activism.” New members of the collective are taught screenprinting skills, and also contribute their ideas for new designs.

The funds from DUL merchandise are used to support newly arrived deportees. Because of the harsh rhetoric of criminality around deportation used in the US, Ana explained that Mexicans can be somewhat wary of offering help to deportees. Therefore, many deportees are dropped in Mexico City without money, a place to stay, or a way to contact relatives. Deportados Unidos fills this gap by meeting deportees at the airport and providing solidarity as well as temporary shelter.

In the US, mainstream debates about immigration policy do not include the voices of those experiencing deportation and the pain of family separation. Deportados Unidos was a glimpse of the solutions that organizing can offer for people rejected by the system.

During our weeklong visit to Amatlan, we were lucky to have the opportunity to speak with Vica, the first openly trans woman in Amatlan, and her friend Lesley, another trans woman from a nearby town. Vica and Lesley had similar stories — both felt that they did not fit the gender roles they were prescribed as children, but faced criticism and hostility for their gender fluidity. But soon, each became involved in the queer community and found reassurance of their identities as trans women.

Lesley and Vica were both forced to become young heads of household in their families, and over time, this continued support of their communities brought trust and acceptance. “[My mother] accepted me because I always helped her with my brothers and sisters,” said Lesley. “I was both mother and father to them.”

Lesley and Vic

Both women expressed that despite past hostilities, they now felt safer in their respective towns than they might feel in cities, where machismo and transphobia run rampant. “In Amatlan, people know me,” Vica explained.

Despite the difficulties of gaining acceptance in their communities, Lesley and Vica continue to struggle for trans and queer rights. Their work involves fighting for healthcare, visibility, and an end to discrimination. Both hope to be mentors for queer youth in the area. “We’ve opened up the path for others,” said Vica. They participate in marches, put on events, operate community businesses, and Vica was crowned Miss Trans Tepoztlan in the regional competition.

Vic during a Trans parade in Tepoztlán

Vica and Lesley’s stories radiated with hope and struggle. While they spoke of discrimination, they spoke optimistically of their work and accomplishments. In the US especially, we must always remember that the modern movement for LGBTQ liberation would never be possible without the contributions of trans women of color like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and others struggling around the world. As Lesley said,”Our struggle continues, and we aren’t going to stop until people stop discriminating.”