RIP Tim Chavez: Honoring A Pro-Migrant Blogger

By kyledeb on June 27, 2009 3:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm a little late to this, but I wanted to write a short tribute to the former Tennessean columnist, Tim Chavez. I'm sad to say that I never met Tim Chavez in person, 'but I followed his blogging closely over at Political Salsa. Hearing of his death truly saddened me. I didn't know his struggle with cancer was that serious.

What saddened me the most about Tim's death is that the world lost one of the few truly pro-migrant bloggers that I know of. Pro-migrant blogging is more of a struggle than people realize. You're constantly hammered by both nativists with their hate, and allies that want you to get in line. Tim Chavez was one of the few bloggers I knew that wasn't afraid to do what was unpopular to advocate for migrants, the mark of a true pro-migrant blogger.

Some of Tim's most excellent work was done breaking the news of a pregnant mother in Tennessee who was shackled in handcuffs while she was giving birth, drawing attention to the inhumanity of ICE's 287g program, which Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security still has yet to do anything about. I'll let Tim explain how outrageous this was in his own words:

Of all the inhumanity and devastation heaped upon immigrant families by Metro Nashville's 287g deportation program, the very worst has been leveled this week against a pregnant woman pulled over, handcuffed and forced to have her baby under custody.

Then, to add insult to this grevious injury, the infant was taken from its mother's arms as she was taken back to jail.

If this is not enough of an outrage for Nashvillians to finally speak up and demand the end to this punitive program, then let the heavens fall on each of us. ... for we have deserted the God we believe in and a nation of fairness and family values we cherish.
Tim Chavez - Political Salsa (10 July 2008)

Thanks to Tim's work, that story was able to travel far and wide and bring further attention to the inhumanity of the 287g program, the same program Sheriff Joe Arpaio uses to terrorize communities in Arizona.

For those that wish to honor Tim Chavez's memory, his obituary in the Tennessean provides a way to do so:

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Smithson Craighead Academy, 3307 Brick Church Pike, Nashville, TN 37207.
The Tennessean (20 June 2009)

I wish Tim the best in the next life, and I hope we'll all do our best to honor him in this one as we continue the struggle for migrant rights.

Sombrero Tip To Latina Lista.