Why We Walk

Reflections on the Migrant Trail

By Kathryn Rodríguez


I just returned from the 8th Annual Migrant Trail, a 75-mile walk from Sásabe, Sonora to Tucson, Arizona. The purpose of the Walk is to bear witness to the loss of life, the deaths of thousands of women, men and children on the US-México border by walking through the corridor where most human remains are recovered. Derechos Humanos has sponsored the Migrant Trail since the beginning, and I have been honored to walk every year.

Eight years ago, when a friend came to our weekly Derechos Humanos meeting with the idea for the Walk, I signed up to be part of the organizing committee. That first year, there were about thirty of us, and many of us had spent years working on the border.

Many of us have friends that have crossed the border here in Arizona, and some of us have known people who have died as a result. The idea of being in that space, of physically being present in an intentional way, was highly appealing to me.

It would be impossible for anyone who has never been a migrant to be able to understand what walking that trail feels. Besides the incredible amount of support that we have— water whenever we want it, support vehicles to carry our gear and anyone struggling to keep up, bandages and blister kits, and allies bringing meals out to us— we have the assurance that we will arrive safely.

[Primal Fear of Police]

Even stripping all of that from us, we exist free of the primal fear that I have seen in countless migrants. I once sat in a car with a woman so terrified that the smell of fear rolled off of her in long, powerful waves, and I finally understood what is meant when they say that animals can smell fear. I’ve talked to countless people who call to report a loved one missing, hearing fear lace every word they speak as they describe clothing and hair and eyes and teeth, hearing them desperately trying not to voice the fear that death will be the answer they are given.

Fear of law enforcement is something that is, for the most part, foreign to U.S. citizens — many of us assume that law enforcement is there to help us, and do not make conscious efforts to avoid any sort of detection or attention. I have learned, in my time at Derechos Humanos, the incredible lengths to which people must go to in order to live their lives. My privilege shames me when I think about this other reality, this sub-existence that we have carved out for the people that we so hypocritically depend on in this nation. I try to think about these things as we walk twelve to sixteen miles each day on the Walk.

There is something very cleansing about physical movement. The repetition of your heel, toe, heel, toe on the ground, and how that moves upward through your body. Many of us carry crosses bearing the names of individuals who have lost their lives on the Arizona border, and I try to think about how I can do justice to the ones I seek to honor. This year I walked with Alfonso Hernandez Ramirez, age 50, and Miguel Angel Rodriguez Ortiz, age 4. I thought about these two—a man in the prime of his life, most likely with a wife and children at home, and a little boy who would never have those things because he was never allowed to grow up.

[Migrants Dying on Border Are Not First Time Crossers]

I think about the fact that some of the migrants who die on the border are not first-time crossers who have traveled up from the south of México, but people who have been living for years in Phoenix or Chicago or Atlanta. Many view Arpaio’s crackdown on the immigrant communities as an unjust deportation, but it can also be a death sentence for those who struggle to return. Perhaps the officer who calls Border Patrol does not see it this way, but this is the reality. When a woman or man has lived here for fourteen years, gotten married, had children, bought a home or business and is then suddenly deported, where do we think they will go? Of course they will cross the border. Of course they will try to get home.

More and more of the stories I hear of relatives reporting loved ones missing are people who have created lives for themselves in this country, people who have become part of our communities.

We cannot forget, in denouncing the deaths on the border, to denounce the policies that send them to that unforgiving desert. Trade policies that have displaced agriculturally based workers from mostly Indigenous communities must be ended.

The militarization of the border must be halted, and the border wall removed. Deportations must no longer be permitted to tear families apart. Racial profiling and collaboration with Border Patrol must not be permitted, not just because it is unjust and unfair and racist, but because people are dying as a result.

After the first year of the Walk, we discussed doing it for a second year. It was a long, intentional discussion, and in the end we decided that we would only do it a second year if we were willing to commit to walking every year until the deaths stop.

To date, I have walked 600 miles to honor that promise. With every step we take, I hope that the hearts and minds of those who have turned hard hearts toward our migrant and immigrant sisters and brothers can be softened toward compassion and love, and I pray for the day that there are no deaths to denounce, no injustice to right, and for the day that we end the Migrant Trail.

*
Kathryn Rodríguez is the Program Director of Coalición de Derechos Humanos, based in Tucson, AZ.

These photographs were taken by Arnoldo García at the start of the 2010 Migrant Trail Walk.

On Wrong Side of History Again: Supreme Court Upholds Law Aimed at Immigrant Workers

by the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos

Last week, the Supreme Court upheld the 2007 Arizona Legal Workers Act which mandates the use of E-Verify by all Arizona employers and allows Arizona courts to revoke business licenses of employers found to "knowingly or intentionally" hire undocumented workers.

The Act was originally signed into law by former state governor Janet Napolitano in 2007 and challenged by a broad coalition of business and civil rights groups. While the decision does not explicitly address other state immigration laws, such as Arizona's draconian SB 1070, it follows a long history of racist persecution of undocumented people and communities of color.

In effect, the decision sends a green light for continued raids in Arizona and the enactment of similar forms of racist and anti-immigrant legislation in other states.

For over a hundred years, workers from Mexico and other Latin American countries have been actively encouraged by businesses and the federal government to enter the US in an unauthorized fashion. Through their sweat and toil, these workers and their families have built important sectors of the country's economy, while undergoing the cruelest forms of degradation. In light of such a history, the Supreme Court's decision yesterday is shameful and hypocritical.

Rather than addressing US foreign policy and free trade agreements which have been responsible for the mass displacement of workers in Mexico and other parts of the world, this decision is based on the erroneous premise that penalizing employers will address the immigration issue. Employer sanctions will not stop people from leaving loved ones behind, and undergoing untold amounts of risk to enter the US to survive or join their families.

Moreover, employer sanctions in the past have clearly shown that it is the worker, and not the employer, who bears the brunt of such measures. We have seen how such measures in Arizona have driven workers into the underground economy and into even more abusive and precarious working and living conditions. Only days after Joe Arpaio announced his 20th raid in Phoenix, this misdirected decision will simply give more license to criminalize and persecute undocumented communities and communities of color.

This decision comes at a moment when the Arizona economy is in dire straits. This measure will increase regulation in a way that will result in intrusive police enforcement at the work-site and create tremendous financial costs. Building and administering a flawed E-Verify system, hiring additional enforcement agents, and conducting more inspections, raids and prosecutions will be an additional economic burden on Arizona residents who already suffer from the lack of resources for basic services in education, healthcare, jobs and infrastructure.

The Supreme Court has stood on the wrong side of history before. In 1857, the Court ruled that people of African descent could never be US citizens and were not protected by the Constitution. Four decades later, the Court upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the "separate but equal" doctrine. In 1944, the Court ruled the constitutionality of the government order to force Japanese Americans into internment camps. In all these shameful instances and others, the Court sanctified the oppression of vulnerable groups. And just like these earlier rulings, the 2011 decision will also one day be relegated to the dustbin of history.

*

Coalicion de Derechos Humanos

P.O. Box 1286
Tucson, AZ 85702

Office: 520.770.1373
Or 1.800.682.4280
Fax: 520.770.7455
www.derechoshumanosaz.net

U.S. Border Security Causes Record Migrant Deaths in Arizona

Arizona Fiscal Year Deaths: 253

For Immediate Release
October 21, 2010
Contact: Derechos Humanos: 520.770.1373

After a Decade of Denouncing Border Militarization,
Arizona Communities See Record Deaths Continue on the Arizona-Sonora Border
While Migrants Continue to Die, DHS Secretary Napolitano Brags About Militarization and Border Policies

Arizona-The final number of bodies recovered on the Arizona-Sonora border for the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2009 and ended September 30, 2010 is 253, the second highest on record for the Arizona -Sonora border, reports Coalición de Derechos Humanos. The data, which are compiled from medical examiner reports from Pima, Yuma, and Cochise counties, are an attempt to give a more accurate reflection of the human cost of expensive and lethal U.S. border and immigration policies.

Derechos Humanos has denounced the militarization of our border, even before we began to see the deadly effects. In 1994, there were 14 known migrant deaths in Arizona, and our communities were outraged, protesting the loss of human life. Only sixteen years later, we are recovering eighteen times that number in one year. That is a 1,707% increase. We cannot permit this to continue.



The final count includes 170 males, 32 females, 4 minors, and approximately 156, or 61.7% of unknown identity. Countries represented in the final count include México, Guatemala, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.

This figure is higher than last year's total of 206 remains recovered, and while the true total number of deaths on the border is impossible to calculate, Derechos Humanos has documented at least 2,104 deaths on the Arizona- Sonora border since 2000. The number of remains recovered in neighboring states and south of the border is not currently available.



In reviewing the data from this year, an alarming piece that jumps out immediately is the staggering increase in the number of remains of unknown gender. Three years ago, that number was 5, 19 the following year, 31 last year, and this year we are at 51, an incredible 20% of the total recovered. It is unconscionable that our government not only continues with these policies, but openly brags about increasing militarization efforts on the border.

Unknown gender indicates that not enough of the remains were recovered to determine gender, and without DNA, it is impossible to know even this basic information about the individual, making identification and return to their families even more difficult. The dramatic increase in these unknown gender cases are a troubling indicator of what is to come, as people are pushed out into more and more isolated areas, making rescue and detection less likely, and the likelihood of death more certain.

There is information to suggest that the migration flow patterns are shifting due to the Funnel Effect, which has been documented by the Binational Migration Institute.* The high number of skeletal remains recovered this year, 59 (23.3% of total) support this likely shift in migration flow, and it is possible that the long periods of time before being recovered indicates that people are crossing in more isolated and desolate areas, with less chance of rescue or discovery. It is unknown how many remains are currently near the border but have not yet been discovered, and it is probable that some of these remains will never be recovered.

For more than a decade, border communities have cried out for justice, demanding change to the policies that funnel hundreds of men, women and children to their deaths every year. Not only have the human cost of these policies been acknowledged, but efforts have been increased every year. The Department of Homeland Security has been given a blank check every year-granted power, equipment, and resources that could further real security in our communities, such as education, health care and economic development-instead, they have become instruments of death.

A war has been waged not only on immigrants, but on the families that live in border communities-the Indigenous who find their lands red with the blood of native brethren, the desert animals and environment who see their homes destroyed by border infrastructure, and people of conscience who see death becoming horrifyingly normalized every day by our leaders and politicians. We stand united in grief and resolution over these unnecessary deaths, as we witness the fatal policies of division and xenophobia that continue to invade our sacred borderlands.

<|>

The complete list of recovered bodies is available on the Coalición de Derechos Humanos website: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net. This information is available to anyone who requests it from us and is used by our organization to further raise awareness of the human rights crisis we are facing on our borders.

* The complete BMI study, The "Funnel Effect" & Recovered Bodies of Unauthorized Migrants Processed by the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, 1990-2005, is available on the Derechos Humanos website.

###

Editors note: embedded links were added.

The Arizona Machine: Reflection on Tucson Kidnapping

By Raúl al-qaraz Ochoa www.antifronteras.com

It's true. Life in pre-BS 1070 Arizona is the same as post-BS 1070 Arizona.

I saw the video of yesterday's kidnapping where young people in the south side of Tucson were forcefully separated from their dad and mom, they were taken away by Border Patrol.

Watching this violent assault on youtube got me sick. My stomach turned into a clenched fist. The blood circulating throughout my body probably stopped flowing for a bit and it turned into boiling lava erupting from my sad and outraged heart. and all i could do was cry, cry like a baby... for those children, for that family, for my family, por mi tia, por las mamas y papas de Tucson con los que organizo, por l@s jovenes que estan tan dentro de mi corazon y rezos. Por todas ellas y ellos, y los millones que no conozco.

Almost reaching 400,000 deportations (250,000 of those being 'non-criminal'), the Obama administration is on course to deport more people than any other president in u.s. history. His administration is following a disturbing government plan titled "Operation Endgame", which outlined since 2003 their goal of deporting all "removable illegal aliens by the year 2012". This kidnapping does not represent an accident in the system, it is an intentional part of the larger plan.

The video made me feel disempowered. so overwhelmed. Imagine how it can destroy a mother and her children. It's a trauma that never goes away. This nightmare is all too familiar to me and my family. Rage is too little of a word to describe my body's reaction. In fact, there are no words in the english or spanish languages that can express the tremendous sense of indignation that not only shatters my every bone, it also shatters my spirit and essence as a human being in this community.

I wonder... when are we going to end powerlessness in the face of such a monstorous system? We're up against law enforcement agents that operate under an evil state apparatus. Despite a court decision to temporarily block the "papers please" part of BS 1070, it still happens. and it will continue to happen with or without BS 1070. Clearly, if we are ever to achieve meaningful change, this oppressive machine must be entirely and completely dismantled. No court decisions, no laws or lawsuits, no elections and no public policies will ever be enough. Think of this unsuspecting family's struggle in the larger context of white supremacy, colonization, capitalism, war and empire.

"

There comes a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part, you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.

"

(Mario Savio of the student movement of the 1960's)

This quote rings true right now.

Mothers are being kidnapped. Fathers are being taken away on their way to work. And money is being made from their detention. CCA (Corrections Corporation of America, a private prison corporation) has infiltrated the corrupt AZ government forces and helped push for BS 1070 to pass! Deaths at the u.s.-mexico border continue to increase year after year after year as the national machine apparatus is scheduled to pour $600 million for even more border militarization!

Does this apparatus smell rotten to you? Does it make you sick at heart? Can you passively stand by as this is taking place on your clock, in your community? How would it look like for us to put our bodies upon the gears and wheels of this machine? What will it take to interrupt and completely shut down this machine? Somehow, somewhere, someday this empire machine will be taken down. It's only a matter of perseverence and time.

I have hope. I have faith. I will continue to organize... for this machine to fall. I will continue to pray... for all of us--past, present and future.

IRN Note: Raúl al-qaraz Ochoa's "The Arizona Machine: Reflction on Tucson Kidnapping" was originally published at www.antifronteras.com

Youth wins stay of deportation, DREAM stays strong

Now, let’s continue pressing Pres. Obama and Congress to suspend all detentions & deportations and investigate the abuses

NNIRR thanks her members, partners, allies and friends who made calls and/or signed the petition to support Marlen Moreno-Peralta’s now successful bid to stop the Department of Homeland Security from deporting her. Marlen Moreno-Peralta is a DREAM-eligible community member in Tucson, Arizona. Her deportation was stayed as a result of DREAM-led efforts. We believe that today she is more determined than ever to fight for justice – for her family and her community. This is a significant victory for Ms. Moreno-Peralta and her family. This is also a sign of hope that only vigorous community-based organizing and solidarity can prevent an injustice from taking place.

Marlen’s situation, unfortunately, is not unique. Thousands of members of our communities, both documented and undocumented, are languishing either in immigrant jails awaiting deportation or are being deported as you read this update. Hundreds of thousands have already been deported. ICE tears families apart, disappears co-workers and neighbors and U.S.inhumane immigration laws and system continue shredding our rights.

The overwhelming majority of those in ICE deportation proceedings have had their rights violated where they lived and worked. Their rights are also violated and abused in the legal process, where ICE and other immigration enforcement officials coerce immigrants into signing away their rights, deny or have inadequate legal representation and/or jail and deport them with impunity for the smallest of offenses.

Since President Obama was elected to the U.S. Presidency, NNIRR has been calling on his administration to suspend all detentions and deportations, end all immigration-police collaboration programs, demilitarize immigration control and border communities. But this is not enough. The U.S. must also address the root causes of international migration by creating fair trade policies abroad and socially just economic development in the U.S. that promote sustainable communities, strengthens labor and civil rights protections. Fair and just immigration reforms are impossible without fair and just trade policies.

Click here to read the letter to Obama.

The struggle of DREAM youth and student activists and leaders, their courageous civil disobedience and organizing, has been inspiring. The rising movement against immigration-police collaboration, the national civil resistance being lead by the Puente Movement in Phoenix against SB1070, and the DREAMers’ demand for rights and legalization raise critical issues of how to stop the U.S. government humanitarian crisis now being imposed upon immigrant communities and people of color.

The U.S. federal government has created laws, policies, measures and practices that are fueling immigration policing in almost every social sphere of the country. Immigration checkpoints, usually associated with the border region, are cropping up everywhere. “Checkpoints” are being used by schools, landlords, employers, public and private social services, banks, stores, and others who feel empowered to ask a person for their papers to receive services or – in some cases – to turn them over to the police or ICE. U.S. immigration enforcement is fomenting xenophobia and racist violence, too.

NNIRR’s strategy of working to link our communities from the border to the interior has become more salient with the deepening U.S. militarization of immigration control and border communities and the extension of immigration policing. Why? Communities everywhere are facing the same immigration-police onslaught. U.S. federal immigration-police collaboration programs and border security spawned SB1070, Arizona’s anti-immigrant, racial profiling law. Other states are already excluding immigrants from services and as many as twenty states are considering copycat laws. Anti-immigrant hate is much easier to legalize and codify where the federal and state governments are implementing polices, laws, practices and measures that criminalize status and use outlawed forms of racial discrimination.

The U.S. federal immigration-police collaboration programs are no better than its offspring, SB1070. SB1070 and Arizona police may be the most notorious version of police collaboration that unabashedly uses racial, ethnic/nationality and religious profiling. But the federal programs, 287(g) and “Secure Communities,” are using the same methods and producing the same results: Immigration-policing destabilizes communities; people live in fear and anyone who is perceived to be or is an immigrant is more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

Stopping Marlen Moreno-Peralta’s deportation, at least temporarily, gives her and her family a brief respite. Our communities also won a small breathing space that we can use to continue envisioning how we demand and get the U.S. to suspend all detentions and deportations and stop the abuses and restore our rights.

If we can stop one deportation, we can eventually get the Obama Administration to suspend all detentions and deportations. Why? The DREAMERs and our communities continue rising up; they are keeping the fires of resistance blazing. Anything is possible when you dream in community.

Justice & Human Rights for All: Stop the deportation of Marlen Moreno-Peralta

Three days left for Aspiring Teacher and Mother of Two, Marlen Moreno-Peralta

Supporters to Announce Next Steps and Where the Case Stands

Contact: Rigo Padilla, (773) 614-9668

Tucson, Arizona. On August 5th, Marlen Moreno and supporters will gather to announce where her case stands after an outpouring of community support that has drawn the attention of local and national media. Her supporters will also discuss the next steps they will be taking to ensure that Marlen will not be separated from her husband, her sons, and her dream of going to college and becoming a teacher.

To this date, support to stop the deportation of Marlen Moreno has come from over 40 organizations nationwide and includes America's Voice, Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, No More Deaths, American Immigration Lawyers Association, National Council of La Raza, Center for Community Change and diverse organizations across the state of Arizona.

WHEN: Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: El Tiradito Shrine, 420 S Main Ave; Tucson, Arizona

WHO: Marlen Moreno, Arizona DREAMer facing deportation; Margo Cowan, Marlen's attorney; Tucson youth and community leaders.

Read more...

ACT NOW!! to stop Marlen Moreno's Deportation this Sunday, August 8!!

We ask that all friends and allies help spread the word about Marlen's situation-- please distribute widely!!

ACT NOW!! to stop Marlen Moreno's Deportation this Sunday!!

* Call Secretary Napolitano, and tell her to stop Marlen's deportation:
(202) 282-8495

* Call Assistant Secretary John Morton and tell him to stop Marlen's deportation:
(202) 732.3000

YOU SHOULD SAY: "I am calling to leave a message of support for Marlen Moreno who is being deported on August 8th. Marlen is eligible for the DREAM Act when it passes and should not be deported. I ask that Secretary Napolitano and/or Assistant Director Morton please step in to defer her deportation, she is an asset to this country. Thank you."

THIS IS ONLY FOR ORGANIZATIONS:

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SIGN ON LETTER
http://action.dreamactivist.org/marlen/signon/

[EVERYONE] SIGN THE ON-LINE PETITION:
http://bit.ly/marlenpetition

Check out the FaceBook page:
http://bit.ly/marlenfb

Marlen's entire story is here:
http://bit.ly/marlenstory

Also, you can:

1. Call Rep. Grijalva (202-225-2435) and ask that he introduce a private bill on behalf of Marlen. Ask that he contact DHS and ICE immediately urging them to stop Marlen's deportation.

2. Call Rep. Gutierrez (202-225-8203) and ask that he also introduce a private bill on behalf of Marlen. Ask that he contact DHS and ICE immediately urging them to stop Marlen's deportation.

Script for speaking to member of Congress:

"Hi, my name is ____. I am calling about Marlen Moreno. She is a bright and talented DREAMer from Arizona. She is married to a legal resident and has two U.S. citizen children, but yet still faces an August 8th deportation. I am calling to ask that the representative step up to the plate and introduce a private bill for Marlen, in addition to directly contacting John Morton and Janet Napolitano, urging the both of them to immediately halt Marlen's deportation. Please do not allow for Marlen to be deported! Thank you."

BACKGROUND:

Marlen Moreno, 26-year old DREAMer is set to be deported on August 8th - this next Sunday!

Marlen is DREAM Act-eligible, is the mother of two US citizen sons and the wife of a Lawful Permanent Resident. Please follow the instructions below and act now to help keep Marlen in the United States . Please join us for a Press Conference tomorrow, 8/3, at noon at Southside Presbyterian Church to call on Secretary Napolitano to terminate Marlen's deportation proceedings.

Arizona- On Sunday, August 8th, less than a week from today, Marlen Moreno will no longer be in this country. She is a wife, married to a legal permanent resident, and a mother to two wonderful U.S. citizen children, Freddy Alan who is 3 and Leobardo, Jr. who is just 10-months old.

Marlen was brought to the United States when she was only thirteen years old. She has been living in Tucson, Arizona for over thirteen years and, like many DREAMers, considers this country her home. Since the start, her parents told her to value her education and, through hard work, she was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Marlen aspires to become a pre-school teacher because she believes education is the key to success.

In 2008, as she slept with her 8-month old son in her hands, ICE showed up at her house to detain her. She would spend the next four months in jail and detention all because she needed to work to provide for her family. She now faces deportation from the only country she knows. Worst of all, she faces separation from her husband, a legal resident, and her two sons, both American citizens.

This action alert was provided by Coalicion de Derechos Humanos; Tucson, Arizona.

Raise your voices: Tell Obama to end to all immigration-police collaboration & Stop SB1070!

Join in the National Day of Action

Against SB1070

For justice & human rights

Thursday, July 29, 2010

NNIRR, the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, invites you to take action against SB1070, Arizona's anti-immigrant racial profiling hate law. Click here to raise your voice against anti-immigrant hate laws and demand justice and human rights from any place in the country or world.

Here are the key websites for information and connections to campaigns and work specifically against SB-1070, Arizona's anti-immigrant racial profiling law:

• Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Tucson, AZ: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net
• Puente Movement, National Day Laborer Organizing Network: http://www.altoarizona.com
• Presente.Org: http://www.movethegame.org
• Sound Strike: http://www.thesoundstrike.net/
• Also read NNIRR's statememts and calls to actions against immigration-police collaboration and reports on human rights violations here.

+++++

PARTIAL LIST OF EVENTS/ACTIONS

(Note: these are the announcements that were emailed to NNIRR))

1. Phoenix, AZ

Thursday, July 29

Rally at Wells Fargo, 9am

1st Ave. and Washington

Rally at the 4th Ave. jail, 4pm

4th Ave. and Madison

Sponsored by Alto Arizona and others http://www.altoarizona.com

2. Tucson, AZ

¡YA BASTA! Enough

Comunidades Uniéndose a La Resistencia! Communities Uniting to Resist!

Resistiendo unid@s hasta el 29 de julio!

Resisting together up to and all day July 29th!

The State Bldg. in on corner of Congress and Granada.

El Edificio Estatal esta en la esquina de Congress y Granada.

July 28 5:00pm:

Demonstration begins. Resistencia Unida at State Bldg. - YA BASTA!

July 28 7:30pm:

Sundown. Vigil begins. Candles begin to light. Bring your arte, candles and veladores for the all-night vigil!

July 28 9:00pm:

Musica! Energizing ourselves to maintain an all-night presence at the State bldg. Spoken word, beat box, poetry, songs shared TODA LA NOCHE!

July 29 5:30am:

Calpolli Teoxicalli Sunrise Ceremony/Ceremonia al amanecer

July 29 7:00am

Interfaith service AT PRESIDIO PARK (City Hall)

July 29 8:00am

ALL OUT! Massive Convergence at State Bldg.!

REPUDIO a la SB1070!

July 29 4:00pm:

ALL WORKERS OUT! SEGUIMOS EN RESISTENCIA!

THE RESISTANCE CONTINUES!

We act on the principle that if a law is unjust, our duty is RESISTANCE!!

For more information, please call (520) 770-1373 [ Email: kat@derechoshumanosaz.net ]

Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Tucson, AZ: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net

3. North Carolina

Raleigh and Charlotte

http://ncimmigrants.blogspot.com/

Media Alert

For immediate Release

Contact:

Roxana Bendezú or Stacey Bonilla

704-264-4444 or 704-737-7124

Roxanabendezu@ gmail.com

Stacey.bonilla@ yahoo.com

ARIZONA DOESN’T SPEAK FOR ME!!!

NO SB1070!

WHAT: On Thursday, July 29^th, 2010, Charlotte United: A Coalition of Community Partners, will host a rally and live theater performance, followed by a candlelight prayer vigil.

WHO: Charlotte United: Action NC, Grassroots Leadership, Unity Group of Charlotte, Bonilla Community Services, American Friends Service Committee, Immigrant Solidarity Committee, Saint Peters Catholic Church Social Justice Committee, Glenn Hutchinson, Tom Strini.

WHEN & WHERE: 6:30 pm on Thursday, July 29, 2010 at Marshal Park (555 S McDowell St Charlotte, NC 28204)

BACKGROUND: Opposition has sparked across the state of Arizona and the country to defeat SB1070 and any policies that further criminalize people and separate families. We know that if SB1070 is not stopped in Arizona now, similar laws will spread throughout the country. In North Carolina, legislators are considering an Arizona like bill.

In May of this year, Senate Joint Resolution SJ1349 was introduced in the NC Senate. The federal government needs adopt a comprehensive immigration reform that will not only protect American jobs, but will also lead to a path to citizenship for the close to 12 million undocumented people in our country. An enforcement only approach is unreasonable and will not solve the root causes of undocumented immigration. A comprehensive approach from the federal government is the answer.

As a state that has led the civil rights movement in the 60’s, it us up to North Carolina to set an example for the rest of the nation and say, this is not acceptable. This law can only terrorize communities if the federal government cooperates with it. We demand that the Obama Administration take decisive action and not comply with Arizona’s SB1070. We as North Carolinians, stand firm in our belief that “an injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere”.

4. North Carolina

Raleigh, NC: 5pm July 29th:

From Arizona to North Carolina: March for Immigrant Justice

WHAT: A march to protest racial profiling and discrimination against immigrant and minority communities

WHEN: July 29 at 5 p.m.

WHERE: Gathering at Nash Square, at the corner of Dawson and Hargett, to march through downtown Raleigh to the State Capitol

RALEIGH (July 29) -- Concerned North Carolinians will hold a march and rally in downtown Raleigh on July 29 to protest racial profiling and discrimination against immigrant and minority communities.

The event is part of a national day of action against the enactment of the Arizona law SB 1070, which mandates that all local police and sheriffs demand documents from people they suspect might be in the state without authorization. The marchers will gather at 5 p.m. at Nash Square (the corner of Dawson and Hargett in Raleigh) and walk to the State Capitol for a rally.

SB 1070, or the “Arizona Law,” requires that all law enforcement agencies determine the immigration status of a person if there is “reasonable suspicion” that the person is unlawfully present. Under this law, people who look “foreign” can be targeted for minor infractions – having a broken taillight or jaywalking – and then asked for proof of legal status. U.S. citizens and legal residents who “look like” foreigners could be at risk of arrest and deportation if they cannot produce acceptable forms of identification to verify their immigration status.

While North Carolina has not passed similar legislation, racial profiling continues to be a serious concern across our state. Currently in North Carolina, at least 29 county and local law enforcement agencies are participating in either the 287(g) or "Secure Communities" programs, which are partnerships between local law enforcement and ICE (Immigration Customs and Enforcement).

These programs focus on identifying and apprehending immigrants who may be in the country without authorization, resulting in the arrest and deportation of undocumented people after they have been arrested for minor violations. This has led to the widespread fracturing of families and created a climate of heightened fear in our communities.

On July 29, the marchers will call on state and federal officials to stop unfair treatment of immigrants and to work for a just immigration policy that includes compassion for those who are trying to overcome poverty and political oppression. Participating groups oppose racial profiling in Arizona, North Carolina and throughout the country. The marchers seek laws that are inclusive and respect the dignity of all human beings.

“From Arizona to North Carolina: March for Immigrant Justice” is being organized by NC ICE Watch in partnership with Black Workers for Justice, the Fr. Charlie Mulholland Catholic Worker House, NC DREAM Team, NC Justice Center, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Pueblo Unido, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Student Action with Farmworkers and community leaders.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Fernando Mejia (English and Spanish), mobile 208-830-0313, fernando@ncjustice.org or Jeff Shaw (English), mobile 503-551-3615,jeff@ncjustice.org.

5. New York

We Are All Arizona!

National Day of Action against SB 1070 Law: March Across the Brooklyn Bridge

Thursday, July 29^th

9:30am Gather at Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn

(take A/C trains to High Street, OR 2/3/4/5/R trains to Borough Hall)

10:00am March across Brooklyn Bridge

11:00am Press Conference & Rally at Foley Square in Manhattan

(take 4/5 to Brooklyn Bridge OR N/R/W to City Hall)

Why We Are Marching:

• We stand in solidarity with the people of AZ against the inhumane and unjust law SB1070
• We oppose Arizona-like laws that have spread throughout the nation, including right here in NYC
• We condemn racial profiling in all forms as exemplified by SB1070 and moreover we denounce the racism that underlies these laws

Our Demands:

1) We want humane legalization for all, not a “Comprehensive Immigration Reform” that creates more Arizonas through harsh enforcement policies like 287g, border militarization, and increased deportations.

2) We want an end to mass detentions, deportations, 287g, Secure Communities programs that criminalize immigrant people.

Organized by:

New Sanctuary Movement, Families for Freedom, Immigrant Defense Project, Black Institute, Churches United to Save & Heal, Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, DRUM-Desis Rising Up & Moving, VAMOS Unidos, American Friends Service Committee, Wind of the Spirit (NJ)

Endorsed by (in progress):

Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, Damayan, Sistas and Brothas United, NY Immigration Coalition, World Can’t Wait, Sikh Coalition, Urban Youth Collaborative, Immigrant Communities in Action, Center for Immigrant Families, Sikh Coalition, United for Peace and Justice, South Asian Americans Leading Together, Boycott Arizona Coalition, Muslim Consultative Network, New Immigrant Community Empowerment, CAAAV, Center for Constitutional Rights, Peekskill Area Pastors Assoc., La Union, National Economic & Social Rights Initiative, Coney Island Avenue Project, Youth on the Move , Sikh Coalition, SA Bar Assoc. of NY, Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund, Adhikaar, NYS Youth Leadership Council

To endorse- email monami@drumnyc.org

For details, call Families for Freedom- (646) 290-5551

6. Oakland, CA

Stop Arizona SB 1070! * Stop Secure Communities

Join us to stand for an end to the discrimination and persecution of immigrants!

Our Spirit Will Not Be Broken! Justice for Immigrants!

Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 3:00 pm

Oakland, Fruitvale BART Plaza

Street Theater, Speakers, Dance, Poetry, Praying & Interfaith Service

Sponsors: Black Alliance for Just Immigration, East Bay Interfaith Immigration Coalition, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Just Cause, Mujeres Unidas y Activas Multicultural Institute

For information call East Bay Sanctuary Covenant (510) 540-5296 ask for Manuel

7. Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA), Jackson, MS:

MIRA will host a news conference on Thursday, July 29, 2010 at Noon in Room 113 at the Mississippi State Capitol. Please call the MIRA office at (601) 968- 5182 for more information.

8. Rhode Island

Rhode Island joins National Day of Action against Arizona's SB1070

Community presents demands to Gubernatorial Candidates

Thursday, July 29 is the official date for the implementation of SB1070 in Arizona.

Around the country and in Latin America, there are plans for protests and resistance.

In Rhode Island, various organizations are planning a rally to show solidarity with the people of Arizona and at the same time, pressure candidates for Governor to commit to a different future for Rhode Island.

The event starts with a brief rally at 4:30 in the park behind the Armory (between Cranston and Westminster Streets, in Dexter Park) in Providence. At the end of the rally, people will have the chance to review the responses that the candidates have submitted to a series of questions and demands, such as:

• commit to veto and to speak against any “copycat” of Arizona's SB1070
• order the DMV to accept government ID from other countries in order to receive a license
• prohibit police from asking for ID from people without cause
• support “In-State Tuition” through which graduates of RI high schools are charged the same tuition whether they have papers or not, and
• rescind the executive order

“We are against the criminalization of our communities, whether they are Latino, Asian, or African American, and we also oppose the attempt to attack the citizenship of the children of immigrants, as is happening in Arizona,” said Marlon Cifuentes, organizer with English in Action.

Groups supporting the day of action include: DARE Direct Action for Rights and Equality; Providence Youth and Student Movement (PrYSM); Olneyville Neighborhood Association (ONA); English in Action (EfA); Immigrants in Action Committee; RI Jobs with Justice; AFSC, SE New England Chapter; and Ocean State Action.

For more information, contact Olneyville Neighborhood Association ONA at 228-8996.

9. Los Angeles

http://www.immigrationcoalition.org/

Protests and Press Conference in LA to STOP Arizona SB1070!

TODAY!! Tuesday July 27th & AGAIN on Wednesday the 28th at 5:00PM!

Downtown LA Federal building: 300 North Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Organized by the Southern California Immigration Coalition. Please help us spread the word!! And if you want to go to Arizona with us on Wednesday night, go to our website to reserve your seat!

[Get on the] Boycott Bus to Arizona

Southern California Immigration Coalition- SCIC is going to Arizona.

Be at Arizona July 29 to stop SB1070

Cost $35.00 per person

Meeting place is Centro Cultural Francisco Villa * 2100 Maple Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90011

We leave Wed night July 28

We return Thursday night July 29.

Please RSVP right away.

Phone # 323-602-3425

10. McAllen, TX

For More Info. Contact: (956) 207-2571

PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANNOUNCE

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF NON-COMPLIANCE to STOP SB1070

In Front of the Federal Courthouse, on the corner of 18^th and old Hwy 83 in McAllen, TX

1:30PM, Wednesday, July 28, 2010

How does the Rio Grande Valley weigh in with enforcement programs that rely on racial profiling and apprehensions in a race to rock bottom for Human Rights?

Southwest Workers’ Union will hold a press conference in front of the Federal Courthouse to issue a statement about the Federal Court hearings that put into question the legality of SB1070 in Arizona. Community members rally and vigil for Arizona and against racist enforcement programs because the Rio Grande Valley comes in 3^rd place in apprehensions (2008), behind San Diego, CA (second place) and Tucson, AZ which of course is in first place.

During our press conference we will announce our participation in events on July 29^th, 2010, in accordance with Puente Arizona’s call for an International Day of Non-Compliance (don’t consume, don’t comply) during which nation-wide and internationally there will be events to demonstrate against the racist SB1070. We call for peace in our communities and an end to the discrimination and violence against im/migrants.

2PM- Spiritual Fast and Boycott against SB1070: convene to celebrate the fast and boycott by gathering in front of the Basilica de San Juan in San Juan, TX (400 N. Virgen de San Juan Blvd. San Juan, Texas 78589

Sponsored by Southwest Workers’Union and Redes Ciudadanas of Texas.

* (We will also be supporting LUPE at 10AM for the “Vigil Against SB1070,” Corner of Cesar Chavez Road and Business 83 in San Juan, TX 78589.)

Background Info: Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler is in Arizona. He is challenging SB 1070, a Jim Crowe law that would make police arrest and prosecute people suspected of not having papers. Â SB1070 will be implemented on Thursday, July 29.

The Justice Department has argued the law oversteps constitutional bounds by creating a parallel immigration system that threatens the federal one and interfering with foreign relations.

According to the Migration Policy Institute website, five of the nine Southwest sectors accounted for 88.4 percent (640,198) of all border apprehensions. And Tucson, AZ accounted for more Border Patrol apprehensions in 2008 than any other sector. The Rio Grande Valley, Texas (10%) rated 3^rd place with Tucson, Arizona in first place (44%); and San Diego, Californiain second place (22%) regarding the most apprehensions in 2008.

Arizona was the premiere state partner in a Homeland Security program called 287(g), which since 2002 has made it okay for local law enforcement to ask about papers and detain immigrants without criminal charge. As a consequence, local police in the nation have detained thousands of im/migrants. During the hearing Kneedler argued that SB 1070 is an unconstitutional departure from the course they set.

11. SAN FRANCISCO, CA

JOIN THE SF DAY LABOR PROGRAM AND THE WOMEN’S COLLECTIVE AT A PRESS CONFERENCE AND RALLY TO INSIST THAT ATTORNEY GENERAL JERRY BROWN ALLOW SAN FRANCISCO TO OPT-OUT OF THE "S-COMM" PROGRAM!!

S-COMM is an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program that operates within the criminal justice system and which allows state and local law enforcement to automatically provide information to ICE of anybody who is arrested, no matter how minor the charge. In April 2009, the California Department of Justice signed an agreement with ICE, which activatedCalifornia's participation in the program. Although S-COMM is a voluntary program, Attorney General Jerry Brown has prohibited San Francisco from not participating. Our "Sanctuary Law" has in effect been obliterated !

WHAT: Press Conference and Rally to pressure Attorney General Jerry Brown to allow SF to not participate in S-COMM program. Save our Sanctuary Law!

WHEN: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 11 am.

WHERE: In front of Attorney General Jerry Brown's San Francisco office, 455 Golden Gate Ave.

For more information, please contact Renee Saucedo at renee@lrcl.org, (415) 553-3404.

12. San Diego, CA

Contacts | Contactos

Adriana Jasso

Coordinator of the Raza Rights Coalition (proyecto de Unión del Barrio)

(619) 808-7277 (celular)

Bryan Constantino

Comité de Derechos Humanos Digna Ochoa

(619) 990-7360 (celular)

SAN DIEGO COMMUNITIES RALLY AGAINST SB 1070

AND EXPRESS THEIR SOLDARITY WITH THE COMMUNITIES OF ARIZONA.

San Diego, CA – On Wednesday, July 28, 2010 the Raza Rights Coalition and its member collectives will be organizing a protest in front of the Federal Building located in downtown San Diego. This action is a response from people in San Diego to the call for solidarity and national protests that numerous organizations in Arizona have made at the national level.

“If the judge responsible for considering the two lawsuits against SB 1070 delivers on Wednesday a decision in favor of the new law, it will give the green light to the nine other states that have already announced their intention to introduce similar legislation like the law in Arizona.” So states Adriana Jasso, coordinator of the Raza Rights Coalition. Actions to denounce and repudiate SB 1070 are urgent in order to ensure that the massage of the organized communities will be heard throughout the country.

A racist and repressive environment will not win the battle against the struggles of community based organizations that have for years worked to win dignity and human rights. This invitation is for all people to unite with this call for solidarity against SB 1070. United we can become one voice against racism and repression.

This action of solidarity will start at 5PM, on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at:

Federal Building, 880 Front Street, San Diego 92101