VTMFSP Leader Danilo Racially Profiled; Community Mobilizes

VT Farmworker leader Racially Profiled. Vermonters Mobilize with Rapid Response Prompting Governor to Intervene

September 13th was a long and painful day for the Vermont farmworker community and friends. Our dear friend and one of the community's most courageous and outspoken leaders, Danilo Lopez, was racially profiled by State Police on I-89 just north of Middlesex during a routine traffic stop. Danilo and his co-worker Antonio spent the day incarcerated by State Police and later Border Patrol. After a long day of community mobilizing, the two farmworkers were eventually released to cheers, hugs and tears by two dozen friends and supporters at 8pm on Tuesday.

Danilo explains that around 8:30 am on Tuesday September 13, "Police stopped us. Though there was no reason to ask for my documented status they did and only for being a different color from our friend who was driving. We chose to remain silent...He called the Border Patrol quickly." Ironically, just 3 weeks ago Danilo had visited the State House to talk with Governor Shumlin and the Department of Agriculture to seek the Governor's support to stop Federal Programs like 'Secure Communities' that blur the lines between Police and Immigration Agents. He was looking forward to a longer meeting with the Governor scheduled for the end of the month, but now he is unsure if he can attend as he awaits a deportation hearing.

While Tuesday was a difficult day, it was also inspiring. As the VTMFSP learned more about the racial profiling incident directly from Danilo via text messages, our allies at the VT Workers' Center blasted out calls to action on the web and via text messages. We were truly amazed by the number of concerned Vermonters who immediately took action, spoke out and organized to raise attention about this injustice, which happens invisibly and unchallenged every day throughout the country. Calls of concern flooded the Police Commissioner and Governor's office asking them to stop Danilo and Antonio from being deported, and to do everything in their power to intervene due to the State Police's breach of their own Bias-Free Policing Policy. At one point a caller was told, "We'll Put you on the list but there are about 100 people ahead of you."

Friends and members of groups supportive of farmworkers' rights responded immediately and selflessly to the VTMFSP and VT Workers' Center's calls to action, including: the Central VT Farmworker Coalition, the VT Human Rights Commission, Vermont Immigration and Asylum Advocates, the Addison County Farmworker Coalition, VT Immigration Assistance, the VT Multicultural Alliance for Democracy and Equity, and the Vermont Federation of Nurses. Concerned legislators called us asking what they could do, and were redirected to call the State Police and Governor's office.

It wasn't until later that day that it became clear the hard work was paying off, when Gov. Shumlin publicly called for an internal investigation of the State Police's possible violation of their own Bias-Free policy. Later, the State Police announced that they would review their own policy. Two big steps in a long battle for Bias-Free Policing in Vermont.

Within a couple of hours of getting a text message or a facebook alert, a group of 15 concerned Vermonters also gathered at the Middlesex State Police barracks to figure out what they could do. When Border Patrol began to take Danilo and Antonio away in the early afternoon, five allies peacefully and spontaneously stood up for justice, putting their bodies on the line, blocking the Border Patrol vehicle in an act of defiant civil disobedience, pledging to not let their friends go invisibly or without resistance. Three were arrested.

As Danilo and Antonio were transported north, a different group of supporters followed the Border Patrol Vehicle to the Richford, VT station, where they later gathered again with reinforcements and organized a candlelight vigil, joined by two dozen people. As time passed, hope spread through the crowd, based on reports from tireless allies who had been on the phone all day with Senators and the Governor, that Danilo and Antonio would be released.

Nearly 12 hours after their original detention, friends and allies cheered in the dark, holding candles and exchanging hugs and tears of joy when Danilo and Antonio emerged having avoided the worst nightmare of disappearing into the dehumanizing deportation system. Later Danilo addressed the crowd, "Inside I felt alone but once we were released and saw all of you I was moved with tears of joy."

Though its hard to call this horrible day a victory because Danilo and Antonio await deportation procedures, the day did show that groups of heartfelt people working together do make a difference in Vermont. The swift and urgent response of so many Vermonters not only may have helped Danilo and Antonio but also, as Danilo himself recognized, it drew attention from powerful decision-makers about the injustice of the immigration system and to the everyday invisible reality of Vermont's migrant farmworkers.

All of us at Vermont Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project want to express our deepest gratitude to all of you who stood with Danilo, Antonio and all of Vermont's migrant workers on this challenging and inspiring day. We ask you to stick with us in the coming days and to join us as we regroup and prepare to do all we can to stop the deportation of Danilo and Antonio, and to work with the Governor to ensure that Bias-Free-Policing in Vermont be more than a catchy phrase.

What can you do?

1) Write (GovernorVT@state.vt.us) and call (802 828-3333) Governor Shumlin to thank him for starting the investigation on this case, and and ask him to:

· Complete a thorough review of the incident and launch a new model for a democratic, bias-policing grievance process that includes transparent community oversight and accountability;

· Pledge to keep ICE's "(in)Secure Communities" out of Vermont as it would only cause this kind of racial profiling to be more common and burden police with the duties of ICE

· Review and make public and accessible all Memorandums of Understanding between all VT Police agencies and federal law enforcement agencies;

· Strengthen and clarify the State Police Bias-Free-Policing policies in collaboration with the Vermont Human Rights Commission and stakeholder communities.

* Invest in promoting Bias-Free Policies to the community and training officers to adhere to their own Bias-Free-Policing policy.

2) Sign on to the Petition to Stop ICE's "Secure Communities" from coming to Vermont:

http://vtmfsp.org/node/98

3) If you can, please donate to VTMFSP. It takes a tremendous amount of time, energy and resources to sustain this work in support of Danilo and Antonio and all our VT farmworkers.

http://vtmfsp.org/node/91

Thank you again for your support and encouragement. Please stay tuned.

-Brendan O'Neill and Natalia Fajardo, on behalf of everyone at the Vermont Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project

Letter to the DREAM Movement: My Painful Withdrawal of Support for the DREAM Act

By Raúl Al-qaraz Ochoa

17 September 2010

I have supported the DREAM Act, despite my critiques and concerns over the military service component. In fact, I was one of the arrestees at the sit-in at John McCain’s office in Tucson, AZ; an act of civil disobedience where four brave undocumented students risked deportation and put the DREAM Movement back in the national political stage. I made peace with my participation because I felt I was supporting the self-determination of a movement led by undocumented youth and I felt we could subvert the component that was to feed undocumented youth into the military pipeline if we developed a plan to support youth to the college pathway.

First, let me say that I applaud and admire the tireless work you have all done for the past 10 years. Your commitment and dedication parallels giant student movements of the Civil Rights era. Your persistence in organizing even when the world turned their back on you is inspiring; your creativity in tactics, visuals and media strategy is amazing. Your movement gives hope to hundreds of students I have come across here in Arizona and beyond. It is because of your grassroots efforts—not the politicians’ nor the national Hispanic organizations’—that the Dream is still alive and has come this far. As an organizer with permanent resident status privilege, let me assert that your cause for access to college and path to legalization is just. No one can tell you that what you are fighting for is wrong.

With that said, I want to share how I am deeply appalled and outraged at how Washington politics are manipulating and co-opting the dream. I understand that some folks may say, “we just want the DREAM Act to pass regardless”, but it is critical to examine the political context surrounding DREAM in its current state. It is disturbing to see how Democrats are attaching our community’s dreams for education/legalization to a defense appropriations bill. This is grotesque in a number of ways:

1) Democrats are using the DREAM Act as a political stunt to appeal to Latino voters for the November elections because it is seen as “less” threatening than a broad immigration reform. The Democrats have the political will to recently unite and pass a border militarization bill in a matter of hours ($600 million!), yet they won’t pass a broader immigration reform? And now they are up for the DREAM Act? I’m glad they feel the pressure of the Latino voting bloc, but they obviously do not care about our lives, they only seek to secure their seats in November—which by the way look very jeopardized if they don’t move quickly to energize their “base”. They are also seeking to secure the gay vote with the gradual repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy as part of this same defense bill. All in all, insincere, token political gestures only serve to stall real justice.

2) Democrats are telling me that if I support access to education for all my people, I must also support the U.S. war machine with $670 billion for the Pentagon? Does this mean I have to support the military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan? By supporting the DREAM Act, does this mean I automatically give a green light for U.S. forces to continue invading, killing and raping innocent people all over the world? This is really unfair. Here in Arizona I struggle with a climate of fear and terror. Yet even though I am so far away, I hear the cries of Arab mothers who are losing their children in U.S. sponsored bombings and massacres. There’s a knot in my throat because victims of U.S. aggression abroad look just like us… victims of U.S. aggression at home. This ugly and twisted political system is dividing us and coercing us into supporting the funding of more bloodshed and more destruction if we want the DREAM Act to pass. Does this mean that our dreams will rest upon the nightmares of people that suffer globally? Obviously, students that call their Senators are supporting their future NOT bloodshed abroad, but we have to be responsible to the larger political implications of this.

3) Democrats are vilifying and criminalizing our parents. A really insulting argument prominently used for passing the DREAM Act that I keep hearing over and over is that because undocumented students “didn’t choose to come to the U.S. to break the laws of this country” you shouldn’t have to pay for the“sins” or “illegal behavior” of your parents. Are they serious?!? It is not okay to allow legislation to pass that will stand on and disrespect the struggle, sacrifice and dignity of our parents. What about blaming U.S. led capitalist and imperialist policies as the reasons that create our “refugee” populations. Our parents’ struggle is not for sale. We must not fall for or feed into the rhetoric that criminalizes us or our parents. We all want justice, but is it true justice if we have to sell out our own family members along the way?

Again, I support this fight –- it’s part of a larger community struggle. It’s personal to all of us. Passage of the DREAM Act would definitely be a step forward in the struggle for Migrant Justice. Yet the politicians in Washington have hijacked this struggle from its original essence and turned dreams into ugly political nightmares.

I refuse to be a part of anything that turns us into political pawns of dirty Washington politics. I want my people to be “legalized” but at what cost? We all want it bad. I hear it. I’ve lived it. but I think it’s a matter of how much we’re willing to compromise in order to win victories or crumbs.

This again proves how it is problematic to lobby the state and put all our efforts in legislation to pass. We should know that this political route is always filled with racism, opportunism, betrayals and nightmares. History repeats itself once again.

So if I support the DREAM Act, does this mean I am okay with our people being used as political pawns? Does this mean that my hands will be smeared with the same bloodshed the U.S. spills all over the world? Does this mean I am okay with blaming my mother and my father for migrating “illegally” to the U.S.? Am I willing to surrender to all that in exchange for a benefit? Maybe it’s easier for me to say that ”I can” because I have papers, right? I’d like to think that it’s because my political principles will not allow me to do so, regardless of my citizenship status or personal benefit at stake.

Strong movements that achieve greater victories are those that stand in solidarity with all oppressed people of the world and never gain access to rights at the expense of other oppressed groups.

I have come to a deeply painful decision: I can no longer in good political conscience support the DREAM Act because the essence of a beautiful dream has been detained by a colonial nightmare seeking to fund and fuel the U.S. empire machine.

I am so sorry and so enraged that this larger political context has deferred those dreams of justice and equality that we all share.

In tears, rage and love,

-r

Record Year of Repression

| By Arnoldo Garcia |

For those claiming that the immigration system is "broken" and needs "CIR," comprehensive immigration reform, ask someone who has had a loved one, a co-worker or a family member taken away by the police, jailed and deported, how broken is the system. Short of any reform, relief can be provided by taking a few commonsense and humanitarian steps. For example, the U.S. must fully restore civil rights and due process for all persons, regardless of their immigration or citizenship status. The abuses immigrants are subjected to in detention and deportation have to be investigated and prosecute those accountable.

This has been a signature year for the U.S. government, notable for the runaway repression of immigrant families, workers and communities. This is nothing to brag about:

• The U.S. is reporting that the number of people coming in without authorization, or who may have overstayed a visa and have also become "undocumented," has decreased.

• At the same time the U.S. is deporting record numbers of immigrants,; expected to surpass 400,000 by the end of the fiscal year ending in September.

• And, worse for immigrant families, workers and communities, a record number of migrant dead have been recovered on the U.S. side of the Mexico border.

These are the results of U.S. laws, practices, measures and policies that have criminalized immigration status, militarized immigration control and border communities, and that do not address the root causes of migration that forces a person to risk their life to survive.

On top of all this, immigrant workers face additional hurdles to employment with living wages -- and immigrant workers are scapegoated for the other record, record unemployment. Nothing or little is said about protecting labor rights, ensuring an income or a job and other remedies. U.S. immigration laws and policies fuel the banner year of scapegoating and anti-immigrant hate violence, another record this year.

Are more coming with authorization? Nope. The U.S. could drastically reduce the number of unauthorized entrants by decriminalizing status, issuing sufficient visas for family reunification and ending the backlog. And by regularizing the status of those already here.

Is repression the hallmark of "21st century law enforcement," as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) touts itself? The U.S. continues investing billions in expanding immigration controls, extending immigration-police collaboration programs, building jail bed space exclusively for immigrants and continuing the deadly strategy of militarizing the U.S.-Mexico border. The U.S. border security deliberately funnels migrants into the desert and mountains of Arizona and parts of New Mexico and Texas where thousands have perished or disappeared since this strategy, called "prevention through deterrence," was implemented in 1994.

System of Repression

The U.S. economy is still in a tailspin; unemployment is deep and jobs are shriveling up. Instead of protecting the labor rights of ALL workers, native and foreign-born, the U.S. has increased immigration policing in the workplace by creating a new generation of employer sanctions using E-verify. The GAO studied and found that employer sanctions cause new forms of racial discrimination in employment, housing and services. While this is old news, employer sanctions continues being expanded and in all its forms gives almost warlord status and power to employers.

With E-verify and employer sanction in hand, employers believe they can act with impunity and immunity, firing workers who assert their rights or organize unions. Employers violate wage laws and safety protections with impunity because they believe that the immigration status of an employee determines if they have to obey labor and other laws.

The old adage of "When the U.S. gets a cold, Mexico gets pneumonia" is more true than ever. When U.S. workers, especially white workers, face such dire times, immigrant workers, whether Mexican, South Asian, African, Haitian or of any nationality that does not pass as white, are literally thrown onto the street corners and are at the mercy of the the wolves of exploitation.

The U.S. government's treatment of immigrants is nothing to be proud about. Official policies have unleashed waves of scapegoating along with a proliferation of repressive legislation by state, county and local officials targeting immigrants -- or anyone perceived to be born outside the country. SB1070, the controversial Arizona law that gives local law enforcement additional powers to check a person's immigration status, is the tip of the iceberg of anti-immigrant repression.

Over twenty states are considering SB1070 copycat laws. The Obama Administration has implemented "Secure Communities" and other federal immigration-police collaboration programs in over 500 jurisdictions; final the goal is to extend Secure Communities to every county by 2012.

So, get ready for more record years of repression.

What is to be done? We need to "Dream, Rise, Organize" with fierce human determination to rollback and reverse the climate of hate, exploitation and abuse, as we continue organizing for socially just immigration reforms .

___________

Arnoldo Garcia works for the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; he is the director of NNIRR's Immigrant Justice & Rights Program. This slightly revised piece was originally published on the blog "La carpa del FEO: Fandango in East Oakland."

Take Action to Support Hunger Strikers' Fight against Arizona Racist Law

UPDATE on Hungry for Justice Student Hunger Strike against SB1070

Take Action to Support Hunger Strikers' Fight against Arizona Racist Law

University of California Berkeley students are now approaching their seventh day of a hunger strike that began Monday, May 3, 2010. Calling their campaign, "Hungry for Justice," the students are calling on UCB Chancellor Robert Birgenaux to denounce SB1070, the anti-immigrant, racial profiling law approved in Arizona in April.

Student hunger strikers report that Chancellor Birgenaux telephoned the students and he demanded tha students end their hunger strike before considering to negotiate.

The students are calling for support. They are asking that calls be made to the Chancellor and demand that he meet with the students.

You can call Chancellor Birgenaux at (510) 642-7466 and also email him at chancellor@berkeley.edu

• Tell Chancellor Birgenaux that you support the students' hunger strike and their demands to oppose SB1070 (see below issues from students).

Please copy your letter to two of the hunger strikers:
Mayra Gonzales at m.a.gonzales@gmail.com (323) 394-2484 and
Alejandro Lara Briseno at larabriseno@gmail.com. 510-717-8361

Please call and email the Chancellor to express your support for the Hungry for Justice demands made by the students on hunger strike.

Hungry for Justice students call on UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgenaux to:

"1. Publicly denounce Arizona's SB 1070 law and ask UCB President Mark Yudof and other UC Chancellors to do the same as such blatant signs of racism are not representative of the values of the UC system.

"2. Implement the promised AB540 task force to begin Fall 2010 ant to include student representation. (AB 540 students are undocumented who attend schools in California for the same costs, but often without support of financial aid programs

"3. Drop any and all student conduct charges related to protest actions that occurred during the academic year 2009-10

"4. Stop cuts to low-wage workers on campus and stop attacks against union activists; rehire all AFSCME service workers and UPTE union activists and CAL performance employees.

"5. Suspend the Student code of conduct and initiate a democratic student-led process to review the code. Those participating in this process should be charged with attending particularly to concerns about students due process rights and to free speech considerations. If through this review, it is determined that a new code can be written in any way that adequately addresses these concerns, a new code should be written by a democratic, student-led body. If not, the student code of conduct should be abolished.

"6. Accept responsibility for the violence and escalation of the confrontation and surrounding Wheeler Hall on November 20th and December 11, 2009 that resulted in injuries to many students and jeopardized the safety and security of AB540 students. Additionally, commit using non violent means of ensuring safety at student demonstrations is the future."

Students Go on Hunger Strike to Demand UC Berkeley Denounce Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law

Hungry for Justice

Students Go on Hunger Strike to Demand UC Berkeley Denounce Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law

By Arnoldo García | May 4, 2010

Youth and students continue leading the charge in the fight for immigrant justice and rights.

Some 25 UC Berkeley students from diverse Latino and Raza student campus-based organizations started a hunger strike yesterday at noon calling on UC Chancellor Birgenau to publicly denounce SB1070, the new Arizona anti-immigrant, racial profiling law.

Two of the hunger strikers, Elena and Natalie, explained that they would be on strike until they achieved their demands.

Calling themselves “Hungry for Justice,” this brave group of students want Cal Berkeley to come out on record against SB1070.

The hunger strikers also want UCB to fulfill its pledge to declare the campus a sanctuary for immigrant students. This includes providing a hot-line and urgent response network to report ICE or immigration policing on campus.

Hungry for Justice Unites Students

The Raza Caucus, a coalition of Latino campus organizations that meets regularly, decided on Monday to launch the hunger strike to respond to the severity of the crisis in Arizona. Along with SB1070, Elena and Natalie also noted the broadening danger after the Arizona legislature passed another racially discriminatory law banning ethnic studies in public schools.

Hungry for Justice is also demanding that Cal drop the charges against students arrested who last November occupied Wheeler Hall after they protested the 32% tuition fee hike and the massive budget cuts that promise to strangle California public education.

The students on hunger strike are part of burgeoning youth and student movement that is developing across the country demanding equal rights and access to education and other opportunities for all, regardless of their immigration or citizenship status.

Youth and student activists have organized a national march across the country demanding legalization for students. Nine students and youth carried out the first act of civil disobedience against SB1070 by chaining themselves to the front doors of the Arizona capitol state building the day after SB1070 was approved.

The latest action, the student hunger strike, is another beautiful act of resistance and organizing. Hungry for Justice's demand that UC Berkeley oppose SB1070 is a demand for a different type of relationship between communities and the public and private institutions that impact our daily lives.

Hunger Strikers Will Have Daily Actions in Front of California Hall

Every day the students are holding a mass or faith-based service at 11:00 a.m. and a rally at 7:00 p.m. to express support for the rights of Arizona and immigrant communities everywhere.

The students have set up two small canopies in front of Chancellor Birgenau's office at the California Hall building. Please visit and support the hunger strikers or join them in one of the rallies.

Hungry for Justice's action is a loud wake up call to UC Berkeley, President Obama, the Arizona legislature and other public officials and private institutions that they must condemn and reject SB1070 and the mentality behind it.

Click here to to find out more about or to support Hungry for Justice.

Arnoldo García works for the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and heads up its Immigrant Justice and Rights Program.

ICE Raid and Arizona Law Puts Communities Under Siege

From Democracy Now!

Legal Defender Isabel Garcia: Arizona Bill Forcing Officers to Determine Immigration Status Marks “All-Out Assault” on Latino Communities

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:

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/16/az

*

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