Latine Minnesotans Organize Around Collective Health

 

 

 

I have been a member of COPAL (Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Acción Latina) since its founding in 2018. I am from Zacatecas, Mexico, and came to Minnesota for an education in communications and women’s studies. At COPAL, I lead the team focused on environmental advocacy and legislative policy.

When COPAL started, there were two employees. Now we have more than 35, with offices in Minneapolis, Rochester, and Mankato. Our nonprofit work is focused on health and wellness, environmental justice, workers’ rights, civic engagement, and organizing. We have a lot of Minnesotans engaged with COPAL now — more than 45,000 people, who have come to us through door knocking, phone banking, one-on-one conversations, tabling, or walk-ins at our Worker Center.

I am also part of the Health Care for All Minnesota coalition. We discussed a false sense of security that HIPAA protects us when we provide information to health care organizations. Many people don’t know that medical deportations have been happening around the country — when an uninsured immigrant patient can be removed from the U.S. without the consent of the patient or their family. U.S. Immigrant and Customs Enforcement are not supposed to enter churches, hospitals, and schools. [This story was edited in early January. See a story from The Guardian about how this policy has changed under the new Republican White House.]

We have started to talk about how we prepare when that happens in Minnesota. I would like to see more people aware of the possibility, where it is happening, and what people can do.

We also would like to see more awareness of the reasons for migration. Many members do not see their movements as due to climate-induced natural disasters. They consider themselves to be “seeking better opportunities,” such as moving from California to Minnesota — not considering the fact that increasing issues with wildfires and water have climate-related roots.

Legislative Action

COPAL has been part of several new legislative policies:

• The Driver’s License for All policy passed in 2023. We organized a 45-day campaign to mobilize COPAL members in partnership with other community leaders, faith congregations, and elected lawmakers to make it easier for immigrants to get a driver’s license. This was an historic achievement in transforming a long-entrenched system.
• We championed the Democracy for People Act to improve language services, make voter registration more accessible, and create more transparency around campaign finance systems.
• We were part of supporting the Paid Family and Medical Leave law, which enables workers to take time off for health and family reasons without retaliation from employers, which will start in 2026.

We also have led policy work around environmental justice that will lead to the identification of neighborhoods where residents are most vulnerable to pollution, in order to enact additional protections for those communities. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will analyze pollution rates starting in 2026.

High-energy bills impact our economic security, toxic chemicals are applied to farms,  lands are mined, water is polluted, and refineries contaminate neighborhoods. All lives are affected.

Toxic industries also tend to rely on low-income community members and communities of color for labor, which leads to health crises.

COPAL is advocating for green economy jobs and worker health protections to reduce harmful practices. We intend to spotlight narratives that indicate why this is necessary.

Climate Narratives

On our website we link to the 2020 senior thesis of Alejandra Gallardo, of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University Environmental Studies Department. She interviewed environmental migrants from El Salvador and Honduras, pointing out that between 2008 and 2013, an average of 27 million people were displaced each year by natural disasters. She also notes that slower and gradual changes in climate — land degradation, chronic droughts, and repeated crop failures — impact agricultural careers and production.

Central America is a hotspot for climate change. Gallardo explains that the tropical dry forest ecosystems along the Pacific side of Central America produce cyclical droughts and hurricane seasons. This is why Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua are highly susceptible to climate change, characterized by irregular rainfall and an extended four-to-six-month dry season. The area has some of the highest proportions of degraded land and deforestation per year in Latin America.

If more people understood the reasons for immigration from environmental issues like this, they might understand why a more compassionate approach to newcomers is needed.

The narrative that Central American migrants are lazy, or violent criminals, ignores why these human beings are moving to seek safety and support.

Gallardo interviewed the founder of Nuevo Gualcho, who established a committee of 25 influential women from neighboring communities. She writes that the group used “collaborative models to exchange knowledge and advocate for household concerns in spaces where women are traditionally left out.”

Rapid Growth

It isn’t easy to connect and organize 45,000 Minnesotans. Our offices in Mankato and Rochester are extensions of the work happening in the Twin Cities, where people can request resources or support. People can take the driver’s license test in those spaces.

As a new organization with rapid growth, we have learned from mistakes and failures. Talented, smart, skilled people have helped guide us through the process.

We have a committee for each focus area. In one committee, teachers in the group expressed concern about what 2025 might bring for students who have undocumented family members and are not in the right mindset to focus on school. We’re talking with a local theater to create safe spaces so that teachers can create a curriculum for classrooms.

The key to any healthy organization is to listen and prioritize the needs of its members.

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Gender and Climate

Georgetown University’s report on “The Climate Gender Conflict Nexus” explores the linkages between climate change and conflict and the intertwined nature of gender. It explores the role women play globally in managing local natural resources, and the barriers to meaningful participation.

It shares the stories of climate change and conflict unfolding in Colombia, Sudan, and Nepal, and how women are contributing to enhanced peace and sustainability in their communities despite gendered obstacles. In Nepal, for example, women from marginalized castes are engaged in forest management.

The report leads to five priority areas of action and recommendations for gender equity and climate resilience. The report concludes: “Addressing barriers to women’s meaningful participation and local leadership will further accelerate gains across gender equality, peace and security, sustainability, and climate resilience.”

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