Undocumented Youth Occupy Wells Fargo In Oakland

Undocumented youth leaders of the group 67 Sueños helped to shut down a Wells Fargo branch in Oakland as part of the Occupy Oakland movement over the weekend. We spoke to organizer Pablo Paredes who told us that 67 Sueños, a group advocating and organizing for a legalization program for undocumented young people, took their proposal about Wells Fargo to Occupy Oakland where it was just about unanimously approved.

“We wanted this to be a way for communities of color, the migrant community, to find an onramp into this movement. There’s been criticism that it’s overwhelmingly white, that concerns of communities of color were not included. So we decided [since] Wells Fargo is the biggest profiteer from immigrant detention centers out of all the big banks, we would occupy them,” Paredes told NewsTaco.

67 Sueños is led by about 10 youth, six of whom are undocumented, and five of whom were on hand Saturday to lead the protest.

Wells Fargo invested more than $6 billion in three corporations that have the biggest hand in running the country’s 200 detention centers, including CCA and Geo Group, he said. Thus, Wells Fargo has an economic interest in anti-immigrant laws that keep these facilities full, he said, noting Arizona, Alabama and Georgia as examples of the types of legislation that enable Wells Fargo to profit from these investments.

The 67 Sueños contingent occupied Wells Fargo from 10:30 a.m. Saturday until the bank closed down about two hours later, Paredes told NewsTaco. About 200 people appeared during that time and a coalition of groups from all over Oakland lent their support.

In the future, Paredes told us he plans to continue putting pressure on Wells Fargo as part of the Occupy Oakland movement. “This is a way we can keep the 99% framework and messaging but show specifically how it affects undocumented youth,” he said. “The anti-immigrant wave that has happened, it has become very clear that somebody is funding it. [Wells Fargo] is making a lot of money off this anti-immigrant rhetoric.”