humanizing hope

The Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition's quest for human rights

AIRC goes to Washington.
Austin Immigrant Rights Coaltion.
No to SB9

This holiday season — and the other 11 months of the year — an organization is educating community members to become human rights promoters.

The Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition does not provide a direct service, nor does it donate goods. It does, however, provide an important intangible by bringing hope to the immigrant community. It mobilizes people, connects them to resources and powerfully trains them to protect human rights.

The AIRC started as a network of organizations in 2006. During that time, the federal government introduced a controversial bill (HR 3437) that criminalized immigrants and anyone who helped them. Noticing a large gap in institutionalized support for immigrants, a number of local Austin organizations formed the coalition.

This year alone the coalition has collaboratively led a successful statewide campaign to defeat over 80 anti-immigrant bills in the legislative session.

Since 2006, the coalition has transitioned into a groundbreaking singular organization: one that is actually immigrant-led.

Esther Reyes, Executive Director of the AIRC since 2010, says that many immigrant rights organizations stop at the “know your rights level.” In other words, they educate immigrants to prevent abuse, but they do not go any further. So the AIRC’s work, according to Reyes, is to “really engage them in issue campaigns to make the city, the state and ultimately this country a better place for everybody.”

In this sense, the AIRC does not just protect the immigrant rights of some; it fights for the human rights of everyone.

The AIRC does this by doing much more than just educating. It networks with immigrant communities all across Austin and trains individuals with leadership potential from different parts of the city to become AIRC community organizers.

During the intensive training, they “talk about everything — from what the Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are, to the history of immigrants in this country and what unites all of our struggles,” Reyes says. She continues to explain that by using a human rights framework, the AIRC gives these fledgling leaders the tools to form 10-member committees in their communities.

Once the committees are formed, they usually meet once a week. The leaders, called human rights promoters, conduct the same leadership training with their committees, so that they can together, as a committee, prioritize the needs of their community. Once each committee has a list of needs, all the committees vote to decide what campaign the AIRC adopt.

This is an innovative organizational strategy. Unlike other advocacy organizations, the AIRC staff does not just ask immigrants to blindly follow initiatives. Rather, as Reyes says, the AIRC “really transforms lives.” These committees take charge of their own advocacy — not just for a one-time bill, but for the rest of their lives.

So far there are nine committees throughout the Austin area. Collectively, these committees decided that a 2012 goal for the AIRC will be to build an institutional relationship between the immigrant community and law enforcement.

A new federal initiative that seeks to criminalize immigrants may have unintended adverse affects; if immigrants are worried about being charged with a criminal action, they are likely going to avoid contact with local law enforcement, out of fear of discovery. And if citizens are afraid to reach out to authorities, it could have a serious impact on the reporting of crimes. As a result, as Reyes puts it, “we have an entire community of people who don’t trust the police.”

In 2012, the AIRC — nine committees comprised of 90 immigrants — will work to change that. Together, they are going to try building more trust between community members and law enforcement.

Reyes is proud that the AIRC, with its successful campaigning at the state level, has already directly kept Texas from becoming an Arizona or an Alabama. It has prevented Texas from becoming a state that has turned its back on human rights and criminalized immigrants to the point of dehumanization.

And Reyes continues that while it is hard to “imagine an organization that doesn’t provide a service, what we really offer is hope.” Hope for all working families, all students, all labor unions — to be treated fairly and equally, with dignity and respect, without racial, class or citizenship distinction.

unspecified series568664015

Red Light

San Antonio leads Texas on ending horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

Getty Images

Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

San Antonio has pulled off something that the rest of Texas has yet to do, but it didn't come without some contentious conversations. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

animals downtown civic issues