THE SAME CIVICS LESSON, BUT A DIFFERENT TONE

Young children of immigrants, farmworkers visit Riverside City Hall against backdrop of U.S. raids

- BY KATE SEQUEIRA

Photographs by ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times

The scene at the dais in Riverside’s City Council chambers looked a bit different on a recent Monday morning: Instead of men and women in business attire, children wearing navy blue T-shirts emblazoned with vibrant orange and yellow butterfly wings occupied the swivel chairs.

The children were participating in a mock council meeting as part of a summer leadership program run by TODEC, a legal center serving immigrants and farmworkers in the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley. The organization brought kids from across Coachella Valley and nearby cities to the Riverside City Council to give them hands-on learning experience on civic engagement and culture.

The annual field trip had a different tone this year, however, as immigration enforcement raids have swept their communities. Since June, the children have witnessed friends self-deport with their families, learned a local youth soccer coach was detained and have seen their own undocumented family members change daily routines in fear.

Against this backdrop, choosing an issue to tackle as they sat at the wooden City Council desk was easy.

For the group of 22 children, ages 4 to 17, curbing fear over the ongoing raids and family separations was front and center.

"When people are going through stuff like that they get emotional and they get sad," explained incoming fifth-grader Montserrat Garcia, leaning in to the microphone as she assumed the role of mayor.