Philadelphia
Rally to “Free Xóchitl” at City Hall in Philadelphia, August 20, 2025. WW Photo: Joe Piette
Community organizer Cata “Xóchitl” Santiago was kidnapped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as she was about to board a domestic flight for work at an El Paso, Texas, airport on Aug. 3. Despite being a legal DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipient, officials grabbed Santiago even though she presented a valid DACA work authorization card. She was detained without warrant or cause.
Santiago’s arrest is a gross violation of DACA, which serves as a lifeline for over half a million undocumented migrant workers, called “Dreamers,” who arrived in the U.S. as children. Enacted in 2012, this federal policy allows them to avoid deportation and secure a work permit, a Social Security number and driver’s license, enabling them to live and work in the U.S. openly and legally without the fear of being removed to a country they might not remember or consider home.
Santiago, a long-time volunteer organizer with Movimiento Cosecha, has gained the respect of community members from Florida to Pennsylvania, Texas and beyond. “Free Xóchitl” protests have been organized in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Boston; Burlington, Vermont; Chicago; Dallas; Philadelphia; Phoenix and other cities.
The rally at Philadelphia City Hall on Aug. 20 featured several area activists who worked alongside Xóchitl when she was an organizer in the Philly area. Speakers called for concerned activists to stand with all Dreamers and everyone else targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CBP’s fear campaign. They spoke alongside a crowd of 30 supporters “who refuse to look away, who refuse to be silent” and demanded Xóchitl’s immediate release.
The systemic incarceration and deportation of migrant workers is part of a growing pattern of cruelty against migrant worker communities. Whether the kidnapping of immigrants takes place at their homes or workplaces, or in courthouses, airports or on the streets, rally participants called for an end to the dehumanizing detention practices against their neighbors and friends. Free Xóchitl!