“I’ve never given up. Neither does my commitment to the community. Now we’re going to discuss the best way to help people. That’s what we’ll be focusing on,” she shared.
There’s not much you could teach Marisol Camelo. She has lived through the hardest, most desperate conditions and has fought her whole life to rise from the underground world she found herself in.
“I lived and slept on the streets. I ate scraps of food left behind by others. But nothing defeated me—I knew I had to move forward,” says the owner of Camelo’s Mexi-Italian Cocina restaurant, a real estate agency, and an employee at a logistics company in Los Angeles.
“I’m a very hyperactive person. I’m involved in everything,” she says. And she fights for everything. Fifteen years ago, she founded the South East Women’s Organization, which supports victims of domestic violence and organizes various events to benefit the community.
“What’s happening with the ICE raids hurts me, and it hurts to see what’s happening in our community. People need a lot of support, and there isn’t enough help. Where are the lawyers? The help hotlines they announce are all overwhelmed. Where’s the aid for families left alone after the father was arrested? I think a lot of organizations are more interested in being in the spotlight than actually helping. This is not the time for self-promotion. It’s time to stay quiet and act,” says Camelo, who was born in Mexico City.
Camelo is also concerned about the rise in domestic violence victims.
“Some shelters have already started reporting more calls for help, more women looking for support. Many leaders and organizations are focused on other things. The other day, I went to a meeting where everyone was discussing sending letters to Congress members. I told them, ‘That’s fine, but we need to focus on how to help the affected families now. One person can write the letters,’” she adds.
Marisol lived in Mexico until her mother, divorced from her Italian father, came for her and her siblings to bring them to California.
“My mom did all kinds of jobs. She has a powerful character and is a real fighter. But in Mexico, she couldn’t keep going, so some relatives told her to come here. She left us for a while and then came back. When I arrived in Los Angeles, I started working in sewing at 16. We’d get up at 5 in the morning and go at it—they treated us like slaves. It was hard for a teenager like me,” she said.
Where’s the aid for families left alone after the father was arrested? I think a lot of organizations are more interested in being in the spotlight than actually helping. This is not the time for self-promotion.
Her life experiences undoubtedly pushed her to make certain decisions and take the path of activism to which she’s so committed.
During the raids, her restaurant has also suffered consequences. Recently, it was vandalized, something that shocked her.
“Everything that’s happened has surprised me. I think a lot of people have infiltrated and provoked these violent scenes. I firmly believe in the need to protest, but peacefully. We must come together and get the resources we need. “The consulates don’t have resources, and the organizations that do often use them for other things and not to directly help families,” she says.
The flood of information on social media—especially Instagram—is overwhelming. Campaigns here and there, fundraisers on TikTok, but for Camelo, these efforts often miss the point.
“There’s too much information, and it often has the wrong effect. It scares people, keeps them terrified. Sometimes they announce raids on certain streets, and I go there—nothing happens. They don’t exist. I’ve been there,” she says. “A lot of people who were never involved in community work now post something online or show up at press conferences, but they’ve never actually been with the families, with the people affected. This isn’t a show. It’s like they’re saying, ‘Here come the lifeguards,’” she says sarcastically.
Camelo has no intention of stopping the fight. “Anything I set my mind to, I finish,” she says. She’s now focused on her organization and her businesses. Her restaurant, a kind of tribute to her Italian father, has been affected by ICE operations.
“We’re closed now, but we’ll reopen and offer delivery service. Mexi-Italian combines my two roots, my two culinary origins. My dad, although I barely knew him, passed on to me his love for Italian cooking. He shared recipes with me. I’ve never given up. I’ve had several businesses. I’m here, I’m there—I don’t stop. Neither does my commitment to the community. Now we’re going to discuss the best way to help people. That’s what we’ll be focusing on,” she shared.
