The Forgotten Route 91 are Finally Being Heard

Many survivors, undocumented workers from the October 1 Massacre in Las Vegas and Make the Road Nevada members gathered outside the police headquarters on June 12 to meet with the sheriff of Clark County, Joe Lombardo.

 

For the past eight months, shortly after the Route 91 country music festival shooting occur, Make the Road Nevada together with other partners in the city have helped over 70 undocumented immigrants that were working in the event that night. The help has varied from emotional support to legal assistance. Many of the Make the Road Nevada’s members but also survivors of the shooting have started the U-Visa immigration process with the hopes that something good can result from a tragedy that has marked their lives forever.  

 

The day of the meeting, four of the members shared their stories exactly as they lived them last October. In the meeting was also North Las Vegas City Councilman, Isaac Barron, who has also advocated for the victims of the shooting. The survivors were in different places of the venue, some were working cleaning the restrooms, others at the food stands and many behind the stage, helping the music bands move their equipment. Sheriff Lombardo actively listened to the horrifying stories and announced to the group his department’s move to add more people to review the U-Visa applications from the victims of the shooting, in order to clear up the backlog.

 

The certification from the police department indicating they were victims is necessary, so this group could continue with their U-Visa applications. The massacre of October 1 has been one of the deadliest mass shooting committed in the United States. The shooting left 58 people dead and more than 800 injured. Make the Road Nevada has made sure to provide Spanish resources to the those who need them alongside others like; Bilingual Behavioral Services (BBS) Counseling Center, Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, the UNLV Thomas & Mack Legal Clinic, La Alianza Comunitaria Transnacional, and the Arriba Las Vegas Workers Center.

 

This comes as a victory for MRNV and many others working to help this group obtain justice after the deadliest mass shooting in the country. Even though it’s a huge step forward for victims and the organization, they will both continue to keep authorities accountable on their promise to review the victim’s applications.