Local businesses were closed during the time of the march. Thousands of students organized walkouts, and buses came to Waukesha from over 12 cities across the state. People rallied at Cutler Park before marching on the Waukesha County Courthouse. The program ended with speakers addressing the crowd, calling on them to join the fight for immigrant rights by phoning state senators and the sheriff’s office to demand that 287(g) is struck down.

FRSO proudly marched in unison with the other friends, family and comrades.

This action showed that the Wisconsin community is committed to continue this fight.

#WaukeshaWI #287g #DayWithoutImmigrants

Recently controversy around 287(g) has grown. In 2010 Kennesaw State University student Jessica Colotl, who at the age of 21 was targeted for being of Mexican origin, by being pulled over by a university police officer and arrested for driving without a license. Jessica's family, friends and members of the community decided to stand up and fight back – their efforts resulted in Jessica having an extended stay in the U.S.

Other immigrants have not been as fortunate. ICE and local agencies using 287(g) are out of control and are directly responsible for thousands of children, who are U.S. citizens, being thrown and forgotten in foster care when their parents are deported. These families may never again have the opportunity to reunite. Mexicano, Central American and Chicano families have been especially hard hit.

When many of us heard 287(g) was going to go up for renewal in 2013, many of our own towns and cities decided to spread the word and come together against it. Enough was enough! The pueblo (people) united and together we fought against the racist oppression 287(g) had brought upon us and we won! ICE announced on Dec. 21, 2012 that it would not be renewing 287(g).

While we are very happy to hear our direct efforts against 287(g) led to its scrapping, we know that this law itself is not what oppresses us. As always, our oppressors find ways to continue oppressing us and it is up to us to continue fighting back.

One way in particular that police and racist community members continue their targeting against immigrants and oppressed nationalities is Secure Communities (S-Comm). While 287(g) gave local police the power to ask people about their immigration status on the streets, Secure Communities just moves that profiling into the jails, forcing local jails to act as ICE agents by scanning everyone who’s booked into a jail for any reason through a national database. As 287(g) has been phased out, Secure Communities has ramped up dramatically and is now being imposed in local jails in the whole country.

S-Comm is responsible for a large number of deportations now, as local jails have been turned into deportation assembly lines. So now if racist local police want to harass immigrants, they just have to arrest someone (for whatever reason or even without a reason), and once they’re booked into the local jail and scanned in the national database, ICE can get their hands on them and the person can be deported even if they are never actually charged with or convicted of any crime.

Our battles are not over. And while we are celebrating the demolishing of 287(g) today, the struggle continues to end the Secure Communities deportation program and all similar programs that continue to tear apart immigrant communities.

#TampaFL #deportations #287g #ImmigrationAndCustomEnforcementICE #SecureCommunities

Los Angeles, CA – Demanding “Stop SCOMM” and “No deportations,” members of the Southern California Immigration Coalition denounced Sheriff L. Baca at his annual prayer breakfast here, Jan 14.

SCOMM, which goes by the name “Secure Communities,” is the Immigration Custom Enforcement/police program that attacks poor and working class immigrants, mostly Mexican and Central American, who are caught up in traffic or other minor infractions.

SCOMM advocate Sheriff Baca wrote an editorial saying undocumented people do not have civil rights. His jails are under investigation for brutality against people awaiting trial and for corruption by Sheriffs deputies.

The protesters told Baca that they will not accept the detainment and deportation of thousands of their people by his police/ICE collaboration by SCOMM and 287g.

Protesters, including veteran Chicano leader Carlos Montes, whose home was raided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s SWAT team May 17, 2011, demanded that Baca resign now.

The Southern California Immigration Coalition (SCIC) has been working with many groups who support these demands.

To get involved in the fight for immigrants rights and unite for an upcoming May 1, 2012 march and rally, come to SCIC meetings, which are held the 2nd and 4th Sunday of every month. For more information: www.immigrationcoalition.org.

#LosAngelesCA #deportations #SouthernCaliforniaImmigrationCoalition #287g #SecureCommunities #SheriffBaca #SComm

St. Paul, MN – On April 14, immigrant rights activists in Minnesota celebrated a victory as Governor Mark Dayton announced he would not pursue an Executive Order collaborating with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on deportations and enforcement programs.

Earlier on April 5, Governor Dayton announced he would let two Executive Orders concerning immigration enforcement left over from former Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty expire and that he would spend about a week deciding whether to pursue any new executive orders regarding immigration.

The first order he let expire was Pawlenty’s order mandating employers with state contracts to check new employees using the E-Verify federal immigration database. The second order was one that directed state agencies to pursue cooperation with ICE to carry out deportations and other punitive enforcement wherever possible, including the Criminal Alien Program (CAP) and 287g agreements with the Department of Public Safety, among other things. CAP is responsible for many deportations in Minnesota and is implemented in the county jails. 287g is a program that trains police officers to act both as local police and as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents.

When former Governor Pawlenty, who is now running for the Republican presidential nomination, announced the immigration enforcement executive orders in January 2008, it touched off a firestorm of protests and criticisms. Most considered the executive orders to be little more than divide-and-conquer political grandstanding in an election year, yet the orders had a real effect in making life more difficult for immigrants in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee ( MIRAc) is waging a No More Deportations campaign which aims to stop Minnesota and its counties from collaborating with ICE deportation programs like CAP, 287g and Secure Communities. MIRAc put out a statement encouraging people to call Governor Dayton to demand that he not pursue any further collaboration with ICE on deportation or enforcement programs.

According to Niger Arevalo of MIRAc, “It’s good that Governor Dayton didn’t renew Pawlenty’s anti-immigrant executive orders. But this is just the beginning – immigrant workers are still being deported and families are being separated at an alarming rate in Minnesota and this has to stop now. The No More Deportations campaign wants to make sure that Governor Dayton does not implement the so-called Secure Communities deportation program. And we’re calling on the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners to vote to stop cooperating with ICE through the Criminal Alien Program. We encourage people to join our campaign to stop deportations in Minnesota.”

#SaintPaulMN #InJusticeSystem #ICE #MIRAc #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #287g #CriminalAlienProgram #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SecureCommunities #GovernorMarkDayton

Saint Paul, MN – On July 29, the day Arizona’s anti-immigrant law SB1070 took effect, 250 people rallied against it at the State Capitol in St. Paul, MN. This was one of many actions around the country on the national day of action. The rally aimed to keep pressure on for the full repeal of SB1070, and for the repeal of the federal 287g program that allows local police to carry out immigration laws. The rally was held at the state capitol to send a strong message to Minnesota legislators against Minnesota's SB1070 copycat bill, HF3830.

The protest was organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) and the Boycott Arizona Minnesota (BAM!) campaign. Speakers at the rally included Javier Morrillo, President of SEIU Local 26, who made clear that the struggle to stop SB1070 is not over just because of the judge’s temporary injunction against a few parts of the law. In a statement he said, “Judge Bolton's decision demonstrates what we have known all along – a 50-state patchwork of conflicting, costly state laws will not solve our immigration problems.”

Anh Pham of MIRAc spoke at the rally about the history of racism and national oppression against Chicanos and Mexicans in Arizona. She said, “The whole Southwest, including Arizona, was once all part of Mexico until the mid-1800s. After the Mexican-American War, the US gained the northern territories of Mexico, which included the area all the way from Texas to California. It is no joke that for some the border truly did cross them. Now I’m not here to give a history lesson, but when I hear some of the politicians and newscasters talk about ‘illegal aliens’, you would think that one day people woke up to find that Chicanos and Latinos suddenly appeared out of real flying saucers.” Pham also talked about the more recent history of racism in Arizona, like the fact that in the 1980s Arizona was the last state in the country to honor Martin Luther King day as an official holiday.

Marco Davila and Ana Vasquez also spoke, explaining the various anti-immigrant laws and proposals, and laying out the next steps for the immigrant rights movement in Minnesota. It was announced that MIRAc is joining the national protest campaign to pressure Major League Baseball to move the All Star game out of Arizona, with a protest planned for August 11.

A guerrilla theater action was part of the rally, in which four people dressed as emergency public health workers in orange jumpsuits and medical face masks cordoned off the steps of the capitol with “CAUTION” tape, declaring they were quarantining it from the epidemic of anti-immigrant laws around the country. The four then removed the orange jumpsuits to reveal t-shirts underneath with the message “No one is illegal / Ningun ser humano es ilegal”.

The rally was opened up by Mexica dancers from the West Side of St. Paul, and also featured poetry from spoken word artist BUGS of Poetic Assassins, and music by guitarist Kestral.

#SaintPaulMN #Arizona #BoycottArizona #SB1070 #287g

Hace un año, los chicanos, mexicanos y centroamericanos celebraron el fin de ocho años de la administración de Bush. Además de lanzar dos guerras y provocar la mayor crisis financiera desde la Gran Depresión, la administración de Bush intensificó la represión contra los inmigrantes. Las redadas y deportaciones de los obreros por el Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) se duplicó, y luego se duplicó nuevamente con Bush. El gobierno de Bush implementó el programa conocido como 287(g), en el que ICE trabaja junto con la policía local y permite que racistas como el alcalde Joe Arpaio de Arizona hostigue a los chicanos, mexicanos y centroamericanos. La ley de octubre de 2006 “Secure Fence Act” intensificó la militarización de la frontera con México, contribuyendo a la muerte de más inmigrantes intentando entrar a los Estados Unidos.

En diciembre de 2005, la Cámara de Representantes aprobó la ley HR 4437 que hubiera criminalizado a los indocumentados aun más. En respuesta, las comunidades chicanas, mexicanas y centroamericanas estallaron en protestas masivas en marzo de 2006, un ejemplo más de sus aspiraciones a la igualdad. Estas protestas callejeras aumentaron hasta llegar a los millones el 1 de mayo de 2006 en Los Ángeles, San José, San Diego, Chicago, Milwaukee y en casi todas las grandes ciudades y en muchas ciudades pequeñas en todo el país. Estas protestas exigieron la legalización de los indocumentados, un fin de las redadas y deportaciones, y un fin a la militarización de la frontera y oposición a cualquier programa de 'obreros huespedes'. Los chicanos, mexicanos y centroamericanos constituyeron la gran mayoría de los manifestantes, por que la lucha por la legalización es parte de la larga lucha del pueblo chicano por la igualdad y la autodeterminación. A ellos se unieron un número importante de otros latinos y miembros de sindicatos, así como africanos, árabes, asiático-americanos y otros, cuyas comunidades tienen un gran número de inmigrantes.

Los políticos respondieron a las protestas de dos maneras. En la Cámara de Representantes, el demócrata de Illinois, Luis Gutiérrez, y el republicano de Arizona, Jeff Flake, se unieron para presentar el 'Acto STRIVE'. STRIVE fue una combinación de cosas buenas (expansión de la inmigración legal) y cosas malas (más criminalización de los indocumentados) y sobre la cuestión clave de la legalización la propuesta de ley tenia demasiados obstáculos. La Ley de Reforma de la Inmigración en el Senado, en gran parte escrito por el demócrata de Massachusetts Ted Kennedy y los republicanos de Arizona John McCain y Jon Kyl y apoyado por el presidente Bush, fue aún peor. La Ley de Reforma de Inmigración hubiera eliminado los visados de reagrupación familiar y en vez de la legalización de los indocumentados, les hubiera convertido a ellos y sus familias en 'obreros huespedes'. Esta propuesta de ley no fue aprobada ya que la izquierda y la derecha se oponían a ella.

Desde 2006, las protestas del 1 de mayo se han vuelto mucho más pequeñas y han tenido lugar en menos ciudades, pero siguen, junto con las protestas en contra de las injusticias que se presentan a los inmigrantes indocumentados. Miles de obreros se han manifestado en el sur de California para protestar en contra de su despido debido a las nuevas auditorías de ICE, que afectan a las empresas que contratan a los indocumentados. Las protestas han surgido en los eventos con la secretaria de Seguridad de las Fronteras, Janet Napolitano, (que supervisa el ICE y la Patrulla Fronteriza), con más de un mil protestando en Santa Clara, California en octubre 2009. Los estudiantes universitarios han protestado los altavoces racistas y anti-inmigrantes y siguen organizando para apoyar a legalización y para ganar la igualdad de acceso para los estudiantes indocumentados.

Hace un año la administración nueva de Obama prometió acción sobre la reforma migratoria en su primer año. Pero inundado con la escalada de la guerra en Afganistán y el rescate de Wall Street, la única otra cuestión que se aborde realmente era la reforma de salud. Ante la creciente impaciencia de la comunidad inmigrante y la negligencia obvia por la administración, el diciembre pasado el congresista Gutiérrez presentó la propuesta de ley “Reforma Integral de Inmigración para la Seguridad y Prosperidad de América” o CIR-ASAP. Este proyecto de ley fue respaldado por los congresistas latinos, los congresistas de Asiáticos y de las islas del Pacífico, los congresistas afroamericanos y los progresistas en el congreso. Esta propuesta de ley es mucho mejor que la 'Acta STRIVE'. CIR-ASAP expandería la inmigración legal, ofrece la legalización para los indocumentados con menos obstáculos, revierte algunas de las peores políticas del ICE (como el programa 287 (g)), y no tiene un programa de trabajadores huéspedes.

Los editores de ¡Lucha y Resiste! creemos que el apoyo a la CIR-ASAP puede ayudar a reconstruir el movimiento de masas que es la clave para una reforma consecuente de inmigración. Apoyamos reformas que realmente mejoran la vida de la gente pobre y obrera. Aunque la propuesta de ley no es perfecta, beneficiaría a millones de indocumentados y sus familias, así como también ayudaría a los millones de mexicanos, filipinos y otros que se ven obligados a esperar hasta 20 años para estar reunidos con sus familias. Un problema con la propuesta de ley es que ampliaría el programa del gobierno “E-Verify” de selección de los obreros. El mayor peligro, sin embargo, no es la propuesta de ley (que es relativamente buena), pero que la gente caiga en el “algo es mejor que nada” y las actitudes de “tenemos que seguir lo que los políticos demócratas nos dicen.” Esto sólo conducirá a una reforma migratoria que es más a favor de las grandes corporaciones y llena de ataques derechistas contra los inmigrantes. Uno sólo puede mirar lo que ocurrió con la reforma de salud, donde grandes empresas de seguro de salud han luchado para que la ley beneficiará a ellos mismos más que a los obreros.

La clave es continuar organizando y movilizando la base de los chicanos, mexicanos y centroamericanos para ganar la legalización, para detener los despidos y la deportación de trabajadores indocumentados, y para ampliar la inmigración legal y oponer a un programa de obreros huéspedes. Debemos continuar los esfuerzos por construir un amplio frente unido que incluya a los aliados asi como el movimiento de trabajadores y los movimientos de otras nacionalidades oprimidas. La lucha para aprobar una ley de reforma migratoria tiene que ser combinada con protestas masivas en la calle y con movilizaciones masivas de las masas el 1 de mayo.

¡Todos a movilizarse el 1 de mayo 2010!

¡Alto a los despidos y a las deportaciones!

¡Apoyo a la propuesta CIR-ASAP!

#EstadosUnidos #ICE #Editorials #HR4437 #CIRASAP #287g #STRIVEAct #RepLuisGutierrez

One year ago Chicanos, Mexicanos and Central Americans celebrated the end of the eight years of Bush administration. In addition to launching two wars and ushering in the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, the Bush administration stepped up repression against immigrants. Raids and deportations of workers by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doubled, redoubled and then doubled again under Bush. The Bush administration implemented the notorious 287(g) program, where ICE teamed up with local police and sheriffs allowed racists such as Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio to harass Chicanos, Mexicanos and Central Americans. The October 2006 “Secure Fence Act” stepped up the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, contributing to the deaths of more and more immigrants trying to enter the United States.

In December of 2005, the House of Representatives passed the Republican-backed HR 4437 that would have further criminalized the undocumented. In response, the Chicano, Mexicano and Central American communities erupted in massive protests in March of 2006, another example of their aspirations for equality. These street protests swelled into the millions on May 1, 2006 in Los Angeles, San José, San Diego, Chicago, Milwaukee and in almost every major city and in many smaller cities across the country. These protests demanded legalization for the undocumented, an end to raids and deportations, stopping the militarization of the border and opposition to any guest worker program. Chicanos, Mexicanos and Central Americans made up the vast majority of protestors, as the struggle for legalization is part of the Chicano people’s long struggle for equality and self-determination. They were joined by significant numbers of other Latinos and labor unions, as well as African, Arab and Asian Americans and others whose communities had large numbers of immigrants.

The politicians responded to these protests in two ways. In the House of Representatives, Illinois Democrat Luis Gutierrez and Arizona Republican Jeff Flake teamed up to submit the STRIVE act. STRIVE was a combination of good (expanding legal immigration) and bad (more criminalization of the undocumented) policy and on the key issue of legalization had too many barriers. The Senate Immigration Reform Act, largely written by Massachusetts Democrat Ted Kennedy and Arizona Republicans John McCain and John Kyl and backed by President Bush, was even worse. The Immigration Reform Act would have eliminated family reunification visas and, instead of legalizing the undocumented, would have made them and their families into guest workers. Neither bill passed, as they were opposed from both the left and the right.

Since 2006 the protests on May 1 have gotten much smaller and have taken place in fewer cities, but continue, along with protests of the injustices that undocumented and other immigrants face. Thousands of workers have marched in Southern California to protest their firing under the new ICE audits, which target businesses that hire the undocumented. Protests have erupted at events featuring Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (who oversees ICE and the Border Patrol), with more than a thousand turning out in Santa Clara, California October 2009. College students have protested racist and anti-immigrant speakers and are continuing to organize support for efforts to legalize and provide equal access for undocumented students.

A year ago the new Obama administration promised action on immigration reform in its first year. But bogged down by the escalation of the war in Afghanistan and the bailout of Wall Street, the only other issue really tackled was health care reform. Facing growing impatience from the community and obvious neglect by the administration, Congressperson Gutierrez introduced a “Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security And Prosperity” or CIR-ASAP last December. This bill was backed by the Congressional Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, Black and Progressive caucuses, and is much better than the old STRIVE act. It expands legal immigration, offers legalization of the undocumented with fewer hoops, rolls back some of the worst ICE policies (such as the 287(g) program), and doesn’t have a guest worker program.

The editors of Fight Back! think that support for the CIR-ASAP can help to rebuild the mass movement that is key to meaningful immigration reform. We support reform that genuinely improves the lives of poor and working people. While the bill is not perfect, it would benefit millions of undocumented and their families, as well as help the millions of Mexicans, Filipinos and others who are forced to wait up to 20 years to reunite their families. One problem with the bill is that it would expand the government e-verify screening of workers. The biggest danger, though, is not the bill itself (which is relatively good), but having people fall into the ‘something is better than nothing’ and ‘we have to follow what the Democratic politicians tell us to do’ attitudes. This will only lead to immigration reform that is more support for big corporations and filled with right-wing attacks on immigrants. One can only look at what happened to health care reform, where big health insurance corporations fought to make the law benefit them more than working people.

The key is to continue to organize and mobilize the grassroots among Chicanos, Mexicanos and Central Americans for legalization, stopping the firings and deportation of undocumented workers, increasing legal immigration and opposing a guest worker program. We must continue efforts to build a broad united front including allies such as labor and other oppressed nationalities. The struggle for legislation needs to be combined with militant protests and continued mass mobilizations for May 1.

All out for May 1, 2010!

Stop the workplace firings and deportations!

Support the CIR-ASAP!

#UnitedStates #ICE #Editorials #HR4437 #CIRASAP #287g #STRIVEAct #RepLuisGutierrez