Dahlberg speaks at CHIP hispanic conference

Marcus Atkinson

HispanicOhio.com editor

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Amongst the three speakers Saturday, April 21 during the Coalition for Hispanic/Latino Issues and Progress conference at Lorain Count y Community College was Veronica Dahlberg, c0-founder and executive director of HOLA – an immigrant’s rights advocacy organization based in Painesville.

Dahlberg said she has dedicated her career to the estimated 12 million undocumnanted people in the United States and specifically those in her local area whom she says is unfairly targeted the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.  She believe “one of the reasons we do not have immigration reform is because we have 12 million undocumented people living in the shadows” and she wants to bring those people out of the shadows to have their voice heard.

“We have millions of people in this currently who are shunned and scorned mistreated,” Dahlberg said.

According to Dahlberg, since she has been advocating, the number of ICE officials has jumped from 9 to 60 between Erie Penn and Cleveland.

“They started going after dishwashers, housekeeper’s nursery workers, anybody and everybody they could grab,” she continued.

Dahlberg has spent time with elected officials, holding community meetings, and staging rallies in front of Cleveland’s federal building in an attempt to get immigration reform as well as fight the deportation of Cleveland area undocumented residents.

“Many people were too afraid to help us, Dahlberg said, “The people who have the vote, who have the power, were to scared or were trying to pretend like this community doesn’t exist”