“Solidarity for Sanctuary”—a Benefit Concert for Undocumented Families is This SUNDAY

Cal State Fullerton alumni and founder of the music management company “mija mgmt” Doris Muñoz became inspired to organize a benefit concert for undocumented immigrants because of her personal struggle as the only American-born citizen in her family, her heartbreaking experience dealing with her brother’s deportation in 2015 and the Trump administration’s new harsher immigration policies.

According to Muñoz, her brother had already paid his legal fees to become a DACA recipient and was checking in for a routine visit to his immigration office when he was detained and deported. “Two ICE officers just rammed him face first into the wall of the cell and handcuffed him and they put him on the first warmed up bus to Tijuana,” Muñoz says, “The ICE officer told the other officer, ‘You owe me lunch,’ because they bet on whether my brother would have a break down over getting deported and he did.”

The deportation tore Muñoz’s family apart and has motivated her to support families going through similar ordeals. With initial immigration filing fees starting at nearly $500, Muñoz says fundraising for undocumented families to pursue a path to legal status is where she wants to focus her efforts first. “When you’re living paycheck to paycheck and working jobs that pay terribly just to put food on the table, you don’t really get the chance to save as much as you possibly need to get all that stuff sorted,” she says, “I just want to help other families to not go through this hell.”

After her involvement in organizing last month’s sold-out Love Trumps Hate benefit concert for the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, Muñoz began the process of organizing her own independent benefit show. “I love all this activism that’s happening with music,” she says the support she’s received so far for Solidarity for Sanctuary has been overwhelming, “Now, this show will be the first of many in a series of more shows, guest nights, art showings and all that good stuff [using] the creative community to raise funds for our undocumented families.”

With up and coming indie acts performing such as Cuco, Dr. Doctor, Royaljag, The Shingles and Disco Shrine, the first Solidarity for Sanctuary show is not only an act of resistance, it’s an introduction to some of SoCal’s best burgeoning musical acts. “Every single artist that’s playing are all first generation [Americans],” Muñoz says as she lists all the countries the parents of Sunday’s musical acts originally hail from such as Mexico, the Philippines, Nigeria, Indonesia and Iran.

“What I really want to do with this series is to start breaking down the criminalization of undocumented immigrants,” Muñoz adds that along with live music an information table with pamphlets and an immigration lawyer will be present to answer questions. “We’re not only raising funds, we’re raising more awareness.”

Solidarity For Sanctuary featuring Cuco, Royaljag, The Shingles, Dr. Doctor and Disco Shrine at The Hi Hat. 5043 York Blvd., Los Angeles. Sunday, March 26th, 8p.m. $10. Tickets are available here.

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