Friday, April 30, 2010

All out for May Day: We are all Arizona now!

Haga clic aqui para leer este mensaje en espanol.

  • Stop Anti-Immigrant SB1070
  • End All Immigration-Police Collaboration
  • Legalization with Rights & Justice for All
  • Support the frontline communities: Donate to Grassroots Arizona Solidarity
On the eve of May 1, the international working class holiday commemorating the struggle of predominantly immigrant workers in the U.S. and abroad to win an 8-hour work day, U.S.-born and immigrant workers face crucial challenges to achieve justice and human rights for all.

Since 2006, when immigrant communities mobilized in unprecedented numbers and put their working class imprimatur reviving the holiday in a new way, May Day has become a critical day of action to celebrate, reflect and envision the changes U.S.-born and immigrant workers need to achieve economic justice.

May Day is also the day when working class immigrant communities across the country will say a booming NO to immigration reform proposals that threaten to continue separating families - that would criminalize work and immigration status, further militarize immigration controls and border communities, and increase policing, detentions and deportations.

Workers' rights are immigrant rights

Today, immigrant workers continue fighting for living wages and know that an injury to one is an injury to all.

On May Day 2010, hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers, families and community members will hit the streets in dozens of cities to raise their voices once again for a fair and just legalization that respects their labor and civil rights, and for an end to immigration raids, detentions and deportations.

Fight the Hate:We are all Arizona now!

On May Day immigrant workers and their allies and partners will also fight the hate.

Together our voices will rumble loudly, calling on President Obama and other public officials to stop to Arizona's SB1070, the anti-immigrant, racial profiling law.

Stopping SB1070 will not be enough. President Obama must also suspend all federal immigration-police collaboration programs, 287(g) and Secure Communities, which grant local police SB1070-type powers.

Click here to request that President Obama stop SB1070. Or call (202) 456-1111.

We want comprehensive legalization & rights

NNIRR believes it is more crucial than ever for all of us to stand with immigrant workers, families and communities to stop SB1070, while demanding that immigration reforms start by protecting the human rights of all immigrant and refugee members of our communities.

Stopping SB1070 and ending immigration-police collaboration will help us keep our eyes on the prize and send a powerful message to Congress and President Obama that only comprehensive legalization and rights will solve the problems at the border and in the interior.

Senate Democrats have unveiled a "new" immigration plan harnessed to an enforcement regime that would continue to fuel the human rights crisis in Arizona and wherever immigrant communities live, work, worship, study or play. The plan promises increased border security, tougher employer sanctions and more obstacles and penalties that will make it extremely difficult for individuals to adjust their status. Undocumented immigrant workers would have to admit to committing a crime before being able to even get in line.

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The movement for justice to stop SB1070 in Arizona needs 'GAS'!

The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights is creating a solidarity fund to support grassroots immigrant community-based organizing in Arizona.

To make our voices, our mobilizations and protests against SB1070 even more powerful means that we also provide concrete support for Arizona's frontline community groups. Your generous donation will ensure that community groups have the resources, volunteers and money to more effectively resist and rollback SB1070.

As you mobilize your community to hold vigils, protests and other activities to stop SB1070 from spreading, remember to generously donate to support the grassroots community groups on the frontlines of Arizona.

Click here to make a donation to GAS - the Grassroots Arizona Solidarity Fund.

Just write in Grassroots Arizona Solidarity or "GAS" in the online "designation" box and we will make sure your contribution gets to the hard-working groups in Arizona.

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On May Day and beyond, NNIRR believes that our communities' voices for legalization and other immigration reforms are sending a clear message to President Obama and Congress that stopping SB1070 and other abuses committed against immigrant workers, families and communities demands a plan that starts with rights and justice

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Monday, April 26, 2010

SWU RGV: Rama Carty, Free to fight for Justice out of the confines of Detention. + TX Observer: Rama Carty Finally Free of ICE

Southwest Workers’ Union RGV

April 26, 2010


Rama Carty, Free to fight for Justice out of the confines of Detention.

No one is free as long as racist bills like SB1070 are put into practice.

[Rio Grande Valley, Texas] The decision to dimiss the charges against Rama Carty were long over due and should never have been filed. But it was his punishment for publicly defending his rights and the rights of others.

It is a victory for immigrants and families who have been retaliated against by ICE at detention facilities for hunger striking and denouncing and reporting abuses, the violation of human rights and civil liberties. Although some will say we do not have human or civil rights if we are immigrants, we will always find a way to have our rights recognized through awareness, change and building a community based social movement that empowers us to break the cycle of hate against marginalized sectors such as workers, immigrants, women, children, and all low wealth and people of color, etc.

Rama Carty is a human rights/immigrant rights activist who was extremely vocal and was key to documenting various human rights abuse at the Port Isabel Detention Center for Immigrants. As a result he was targeted for retaliation and a quick deportation to Haiti (a country that does not claim him as a citizen) in the midst of a 2 day Amnesty International visit where detainees were interviewed.

Rama Carty never wavered in his pursuit of justice and his struggle to denounce the abuse he and many others have faced by a system that has used its authority to discriminate, break and disappear people, separating them from their families and loved ones. As we look toward the state of hate in Arizona and the continued discrimination and militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border we know we are far from being free and that the struggle continues. Rama Carty was one of many immigrants who have carried on a hunger strike at the Port Isabel Detention Center and there are many others that continue that struggle who remain nameless.

It is time for the violence against our communities to end. No more militarization, no more discrimination, no more retaliation. We want to live in peace.

Yet, the violence of impunity and laws that seek to sanction that violence continue with the institutionalization of hate in Arizona and its common every day practice in Texas as well. We face raids in our neighborhoods, raids at the workplace and raids in the prisons. Our community has been criminalized and demonized in the media. We have been colonized for many years on the border and institutionalized hatred here should not be tolerated, here nor in any country where humanity sets for us a higher standard of conduct and determination of the law.

What does an immigrant look like? Look in the mirror and take a long look. We are living in a global society, functioning in a global economy; we are international workers, women, children and men who deserve the right to be free. Humanity has no borders. Somos migrantes unidos sin fronteras.

-- Anayanse Garza

Southwest Workers’ Union RGV

415 W. Mahl St.

Edinburg, TX 78539

cell. 956.207.2571

tel./fx. 956.316.0089

anayanse@gmail.com


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Texas Observer

http://www.texasobserver.org/lalinea/rama-carty-finally-free-of-ice-detention


Rama Carty Finally Free of ICE

by Melissa del Bosque

Published on: Friday, April 23, 2010

Rama Carty’s long journey through ICE’s broken detention system was documented in our March 19th issue. When the story came out, things were still looking bleak for Carty a legal resident of the United States.

He was out of immigrant detention, after 20 months, but he was still wearing an ankle monitor and living under restrictive parole conditions. He was also stuck in a Brownsville hotel room for a month while he fought to clear his name in federal court.

Read rest of article at:

http://www.texasobserver.org/lalinea/rama-carty-finally-free-of-ice-detention

Friday, April 23, 2010

FW: Take Four Actions for Justice & Against SB1070, Arizona's latest hate law

Take Four Actions for Justice and against SB1070 in Arizona, click here:

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

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We are ALL Arizona /Todas y todos somosArizona

En español en http://www.nnirr.org

AZ Governor Brewer Signs SB1070, Anti-Immigrant Racial Profiling Law

Communities in Arizona and across the country build opposition, call for ending SB1070

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed today the anti-immigrant, racial profiling bill SB1070 at 1:30 pm Pacific Time, despite a massive outpouring of opposition from within the state and nationwide.

In the state of Arizona, massive protests have been taking place and are expected to continue. This morning thousands of high school and college students, largely from immigrant families, broke away from classes to take part in protests against this horrific legislation that could have a devastating effect on their communities.

The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights joins these grassroots voices and mobilization of Arizona communities to denounce SB1070.


TAKE FOUR ACTIONS


NNIRR urges you take four actions NOW to take a stand for justice and human rights.


1. Raise your voices for fairness and equality at the border.


Call Gov. Brewers office and tell her SB-1070 is a disaster for the rights of all our communities.

SB-1070 will intensify racial discrimination, criminalization of immigrants – or anyone who does not pass as white or a U.S. citizen.

CALL (602) 542-4331 | You can also email Gov. Brewer at: azgov@az.gov


2. We are all Arizona:

Organize a house-meeting, a vigil and other actions to express support for immigrant rights in Arizona and in your community.


Also ask your family members, co-workers, neighbors and friends to talk about what is happening in Arizona. Ask them to make calls and send emails to Gov. Brewer with this message: We are all Arizona. Your law cannot break our spirit of community; your law will not stand. Racial profiling and racial discrimination are illegal and SB-1070 will be stopped.


3. Build the movement for justice & human rights – tell President Obama to roll back the hate and end all immigration police-collaboration initiatives.


Call President Obama to ask him to speak out against the climate of hate and SB-1070. SB-1070 depends on federal immigration policing programs.


Ask President Obama to roll-back the federal immigration enforcement programs that allow local police agencies to collaborate in immigration control. The 287(g) and Secure Communities programs are encouraging the kind of hateful activity we are witnessing in Arizona.


CALL the White House at (202) 456-1111.


4. Give direct support and express your solidarity to communities organizing on the ground in Arizona.


The Coalición de Derechos Humanos, (DH) based in Tucson, is organizing and working with grassroots community groups and activists to demand accountability and an end to U.S. immigration and border control policies that deliberately funnel migrants through Arizonas deadly desert and mountain regions and where hundreds die and disappear every year.


Gov. Brewer is signing SB1070 and also increasing the militarization of immigration and border communities, calling for the deployment of National Guard troops on the Arizona border. Derechos Humanos (DH) is in the frontlines of the fight for rights in justice and against the militarization of immigration control and border communities.


Click here to visit the Coalición de Derechos Humanos and make a generous contribution to support community organizing for justice and human rights.


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For more information visit: http://www.nnirr.org/


To subscribe to NNIRR’s immigrant rights news list, receive up-dates and action alerts, click here.

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Monday, April 19, 2010

Gobernadora Brewer: VETA la SB 1070


¡Alto a la criminalización de migrantes!
¡Cesen las detenciones raciales!


Exige a la Gobernadora Brewer que veta la Propuesta SB 1070 en Arizona.



Esta semana, Arizona puede hacer historia protegiendo los derechos humanos al VETAR una de las leyes anti-inmigrante más brutales y racistas que este país haya visto en décadas.

La Propuesta SB 1070 fue aprobada por la legislatura estatal de Arizona y ahora espera la firma de la Gobernadora Janet Brewer para convertirse en ley.

Levanta tu voz por la justicia y la igualdad ya: ¡Todas y todos somos Arizona!

Haga clic aquí para leer y firmar la petición que le dice a la Gobernadora Brewer que VETE la Propuesta SB 1070.

En coincidencia no casual, el jueves 15 de abril, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) lanzó redadas masivas en varias localidades de Arizona, aterrorizando a miles de trabajadores, familias y niños. Mientras la legislatura estatal aprobaba la Propuesta SB 1070 -- que criminaliza permanentemente a la comunidad migrante -- más de 800 agentes de la migra en conjunto con alguaciles federales y la policía local, sembraron el temor y el pánico a través de varias comunidades de Arizona.

Con un clic, ayuda a nuestras comunidades hermanas en Arizona al exigir un alto a la agresión de DHS contra nuestros derechos y la propuesta de ley en Arizona. Haga clic aquí para decirle a la gobernadora Brewer que vete la SB 1070, la ley anti-inmigrante de detenciones raciales.

Si la propuesta es firmada por la gobernadora Jan Brewer, la SB 1070:

  • Criminalizará al migrante indocumentado como “transgresor” en el estado de Arizona. La SB 1070 dará poder a las autoridades de detener y sentenciar a a las y los trabajadores indocumentados y a sus familias. En algunos casos, las y los trabajadores indocumentados y sus familias podrían ser acusados de delitos graves al establecerse la felonía de transgredir (parecido a la HR 4437, ‘la ley de Sensenbrenner’ del 2005).
  • Legalizará sin controles las detenciones raciales permitiendo que la policía detenga a cualquier persona “sospechosa” de ser indocumentada.
  • Dará a la policía la autoridad de implementar leyes federales de control migratorio, arrestar a personas que no pueden presentar documentación que compruebe su estancia legal en los EEUU.
  • Dará a la policía el poder de investigar y atrapar a empleadores por contratar a trabajadores indocumentados
  • Convertirá en delito que jornaleros busquen trabajo e impondrá a todas las personas, sin importar su condición migratoria, a presentar documentos de identidad, de lo contrario toda persona podrá ser detenida y deportada.
  • Exigirá que todas y todos, sin importar su condición migratoria o ciudadanía, porten papeles de identificación o ser sujetos a la detención y hasta la deportación.
  • Dependencias públicas y proveedores de servicios se verán obligados a exigir documentos de identificación a cualquier persona.

¡Todas y todos somos Arizona!

De convertirse en ley las repercusiones serán devastadoras para migrantes y todos los pueblos de color en Arizona. Además, la Propuesta SB 1070 tendrá consecuencias peligrosas, estableciendo un precedente nacional al criminalizar de manera permanente a nuestras comunidades.

  • La redada del DHS y la Propuesta SB 1070 en Arizona representan un giro en nuestra lucha por reformas migratorias con justicia social. El “plan de reforma migratoria” anunciado por los Senadores Schumer y Graham el mes pasado es una propuesta que permitiría tal criminalización de inmigrantes. Promete “llenar los vacíos en las capacidades de detención” que probablemente conducirán al uso de la policía nacionalmente para aterrorizar a las comunidades migrantes.

El VETO de SB 1070 enviará un mensaje claro al Congreso, al Gobierno de Obama y al país entero que la criminalización de las y los trabajadores, las familias y las comunidades migrantes no son una solución.

Dile a la Gobernadora Brewer que VETE la SB 1070 y levanta tu voz por una reforma migratoria con justicia social que respete los derechos humanos y la dignidad.

Gracias a presente.org por apoyar esta iniciativa.

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Tell AZ Gov. Brewer to Veto SB1070 | Dile a la gobernadora de AZ que VETA SB1070

Haga clic aqui, para leer este mensaje en espanol


We Are All Arizona / Todas y todos somos Arizona!


Stop the Criminalization of Immigrants, End Racial Profiling!


Demand that Governor Brewer Veto SB 1070

Para tomar accion ya, haga clic aqui.

This week, Arizona could make history and protect human rights by VETOING one of the worst anti-immigrant and racially targeted laws our nation has seen in decades.

SB 1070 was passed by the Arizona state legislature and awaits the signature of Governor Jan Brewer.

Raise your voice now for justice & equality: We are all Arizona

Click here to read and sign the petition to tell Governor Brewer to VETO SB 1070.

In no small coincidence, on Thursday, April 15,the Department of Homeland Security carried out multiple massive raids in Arizona, terrorizing hundreds of workers, families, and children. Over 800 ICE agents were joined by U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement, causing fear and panic across several Arizona communities while the state legislature passed SB 1070, which permanently criminalizes the immigrant community.

With one click, help our sister communities in Arizona to stop DHS attacks on our rights and the new Arizona law. Click here to tell Gov. Brewer to veto SB 1070, the anti-immigrant racial profiling law.

If signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer, SB 1070 would:

  • Criminalize all undocumented immigrants as "trespassers" in the state of Arizona. SB 1070 would subject all undocumented workers and their families to arrest and conviction for misdemeanors, and in some cases felony charges for the new crime of "trespass" (reminiscent of HR 4437, the 2005 'Sensenbrenner bill').
  • Legalize unchecked racial profiling by police of anyone they "suspect" is undocumented.
  • Give police the authority to enforce federal immigration law and arrest people who cannot produce identification proving their legal residency in the U.S.
  • Give police the power to investigate and entrap employers for hiring undocumented workers.
  • Make seeking work illegal for day laborers and force all individuals, regardless of immigration status or citizenship, to carry identification papers or be subjected to detention and even deportation. Public agencies and service providers would have authority to demand identification documents from any person.

We are ALL Arizona

The repercussions of such a law will be devastating for immigrants and all communities of color in Arizona. Moreover, SB 1070 will have dangerous consequences, setting a national precedent for states and federal law, permanently criminalizing immigrants.

The DHS raid and SB 1070 law in Arizona are a turning point in our fight for socially just immigration reforms. The "immigration blueprint" announced by Senators Schumer and Graham last month is a proposal that allows such criminalization of immigrants. It promises to "fill gaps in apprehension capabilities" that will likely lead to the use of local police nationally to terrorize immigrant communities.

The VETO of SB 1070 will send a historic signal to Congress, the Obama Administration and the country that the further criminalization of immigrant workers, families and communities will not solve the problem.

Tell Gov. Brewer to VETO SB 1070 and raise your voice for socially just immigration reforms that uplift human rights and dignity.

Thanks to folks at presente.org for their support of the petition process.

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Friday, April 16, 2010

News Release: Massive ICE sweep terrorizes Arizona communities following state passage of anti-immigrant profiling law

News Release

Friday, April 16, 2010

Massive ICE sweep terrorizes Arizona communities

following state passage of anti-immigrant profiling law

Contact:

(Oakland, CA) More than 800 federal, state and local agents descended April 15 on four Arizona communities - Nogales, Rio Rico, Tucson and Phoenix -- in one of the largest dragnet immigration enforcement operations conducted by the Obama Administration. Isabel Garcia of the Tucson-based Coalición de Derechos Humanos said, “Instead of bringing in the Department of Justice to investigate the immigration abuses and uphold our rights, the Obama Administration sics the ICE police on our communities.”

The sweep, described by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as “targeting human smuggling networks,” sent shockwaves across the Grand Canyon State, paralyzing residents with fear and panic.

ICE’s massive raid bolstered the anti-immigrant climate that rules the state. It came on the heels of the passage of SB1070 in the Arizona legislature; the bill requires local law enforcement officers who have a “reasonable suspicion” that someone is in the state without documents to determine that person’s immigration status. Arizona police will be able to subject any person to an immigration status check, even without that person having possibly violated any laws. The bill also allows citizens to sue a city, town, or county if they believe a law enforcement agency is failing to enforce this law. The governor of Arizona is expected to sign the drastic measure that would exacerbate racial profiling.

Arizona lawmakers, county and local police and other public officials and vigilante hate groups have been subjecting migrants and communities of color to a state of siege and terror for several years as a result of extreme measures aimed at curtailing migration. Human rights groups have countered these attacks and have demanded federal investigations over civil rights violations.

The latest ICE sweep led to the arrest of 47 people named in criminal indictments, including 17 individuals put under administrative arrest during the ICE mayhem.

Kat Rodriguez of Derechos Humanos described ICE’s chaos, “There was a massive show of force, with helicopters, dozens of agents, police vehicles, and weapons, assaulting our community in a fashion never seen before.” She continued, “This raid marks a new low in the Obama Administration’s lack of accountability.”

Christian Ramirez of the American Friends Service Committee said, “The enforcement operations yesterday in Arizona were explained by ICE as a crackdown against the leaders of the shuttle-service industry transporting undocumented immigrants. They said this was to address the ‘root of the problem.’ However, entire communities were terrified by the war-type operations they suffered in their neighborhoods.” He added, “If the Administration is serious about getting to the root of the immigration dilemma, Obama should change U.S. trade policies.”

Community to Obama: Stop Raids, Investigate Abuses

Derechos Humanos and others are calling on the Obama Administration to suspend all ICE immigration operations and immigration-police collaboration and to investigate the abuses. Local authorities in Maricopa County, emboldened by misguided federal immigration powers, have increasingly come under fire by human rights groups over civil rights violations, resulting in numerous federal investigations.

A slew of Arizona state laws have criminalized immigrants and gutted the civil rights of Latinos and other communities of color – and anyone who passes as “immigrant.” The laws complement federal border control strategies that forcibly funnel migrants through Arizona’s most desolate and dangerous regions in order to cross into the U.S. As a result, U.S. border control is responsible every year for the death or disappearance of hundreds of migrants in the deserts and mountains of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

Ironically, the latest raid took place within days of a key deadline for the return of Census forms; the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) and over 200 groups across the country had urged Obama and the Department of Homeland Security to suspend such enforcement actions to support greater immigrant participation in Census 2010.

The human rights groups are also urging the President to actively support not just any comprehensive immigration reform, but one driven by human rights, not enforcement.

A few weeks ago, an immigration framework led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and supported by the White House, promised a “tough but fair” immigration overhaul.

“Sadly the immigration framework that policy makers have proposed in Washington offers more of the same failed policies that undermine civil rights, separate families and terrorize communities”, said Ramirez. “Arizona cannot become a template for immigration reform. The President has the power to end the human rights nightmare that has haunted immigrant communities for over a decade. President Obama must end the raids now.”

“President Obama should be concerned with the human rights consequences of these ‘tough and fair’ policies,” said Catherine Tactaquin, NNIRR Executive Director. “What we need in immigration reform and legalization are full constitutional rights and protections for all persons, regardless of their immigration or citizenship status. We can’t be promising to bring people out of the shadows when enforcement policies are striking fear in communities and separating families. President Obama should be investigating the abuses, not adding to them.”

For more updates and information visit:

http://www.nnirr.org/

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ICE Raid and Arizona Law Puts Communities Under Siege

From Democracy Now!
Immigration_web

Arizona lawmakers have approved what’s being described as the harshest anti-immigrant measure in the country, forcing police officers to determine the immigration status of someone they suspect of being an undocumented immigrant. Meanwhile, over fifty people were arrested Thursday in a federal immigration sweep targeting van operators allegedly involved in smuggling in undocumented migrants from Mexico. We speak to Isabel Garcia, co-chair of the Tuscon-based Coalition for Human Rights and legal defender of Pima County, Arizona. [includes rush transcript] [...]

To read or see Democracy Now! video interview with Isabel García, click here:

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For more information, to take action and updates on the massive ICE raid and other developments in Arizona and immigrant rights, visit: www.nnirr.org

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Thursday, April 15, 2010

All media tele-conference: Community Groups Decry ICE Raids in Arizona, Hold Obama Responsible

For Immediate Release


Community Groups Demand Accountability from Obama Administration

For Massive ICE Raid that Destabilized Arizona Border Communities


What: National telephonic media conference on ICE raid that terrorized Arizona border communities.


When: Friday, April 16, 2010, 10:00 a.m. PST (1:00 p.m. Eastern; 12:00 p.m. Central; 11:00 a.m. Mountain) for a duration of 45 minutes.


Call-in to (719) 325-4903 Access Code: 8540341


Title: National Network Press Conference on Arizona ICE Raid


Who:

· Arnoldo Garcia, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR), Oakland, CA

· Isabel Garcia, Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, Tucson, AZ

· Monami Maulik, DRUM: Desis Rising Up and Moving, New York

· Christian Ramirez, National Coordinator, Project Voice, American Friends Service Committee, San Diego, CA

· Catherine Tactaquin, NNIRR (Moderator)

Why: Community groups across the country will call again on the Obama Administration to suspend immigration enforcement and investigate the abuses, after the Administration’s latest immigration policing action coincided with the passage in Arizona of one of the worst anti-immigrant state laws in the country. Under the guise of going after smugglers, the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out a massive multi-agency police raid on Thursday, April 15 in Phoenix, Tucson and other border towns. ICE’s police action severely destabilized border communities, striking deep fear. ICE’s actions caused many community members to keep their children home from school, not shop or go to work.


For More Information:

Arnoldo Garcia, NNIRR, (510) 465-1984 ext. 305, agarcia@nnirr.org


Media conference announcement and other relevant documents are also available at:

http://www.nnirr.org/

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_____________________________________________


National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Red Nacional Pro Derechos Inmigrantes y Refugiados

310 8th Street Suite 303

Oakland, CA 94607

Tel (510) 465-1984 ext. 305

Fax (510) 465-1885

www.nnirr.org

http://nnirr.blogspot.com


READ NNIRR’s latest human rights report Guilty by Immigration Status


Show your support for justice & human rights!