Minneapolis, MN – Chanting “Move the game! Move the game!”, 100 immigrants and supporters confronted a meeting of Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Bud Selig and team owners at a ritzy Minneapolis hotel on August 11, 2010. The protest was part of the national movement demanding that Major League Baseball move the 2011 All Star game out of Arizona unless the state repeals its recently passed anti-immigrant law, SB1070. Losing the All Star game would be a big blow to Arizona, resulting in an estimated $60 million loss of revenue. Thirty percent of MLB players are Latino, and many have spoken out against SB1070.

A delegation of five of the protesters – members of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) and U of M Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) – entered the hotel where the baseball owners were meeting in an effort to deliver 110,000 petitions directly to MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. As the delegation entered the hotel the police quickly handcuffed and arrested them, refusing to let them bring the petitions to Selig. Police also refused to allow Minneapolis City Council member Cam Gordon, who was present at the protest, to deliver the petitions to Selig in their place. As the five were arrested inside the hotel, the rally outside grew more spirited, with chants of “let them in!” and more chants of “move the game!”

Niger Arevalo of MIRAc spoke about the need to fight racist, anti-immigrant laws like SB1070 in Arizona, and also to fight anti-immigrant laws in Minnesota like HF3830 (the SB1070 copycat bill), 287g, and the recently-passed English-only law in Lino Lakes, MN. Carlos Roa from MoveTheGame.org said, “It is obvious that Commissioner Selig cares more about the profits of baseball than protecting the human and civil rights of players and fans. We won’t rest until Commissioner Selig and MLB team owners stand on the right side of history.” The other speakers at the rally were Minneapolis City Council member Cam Gordon (Ward 2, Green Party), American Indian Movement (AIM) leader Clyde Bellecourt, and Victor Contreras from Centro Campesino, who mobilized a bus load of people to the protest from Southern Minnesota.

The August 11 protest was organized by MIRAc and the Boycott Arizona-MN (BAM!) campaign. It was endorsed by MoveTheGame.org, Centro Campesino and SEIU Local 26.

Video from the August 11 “Move the Game” Protest (from Twin Cities Indymedia)

#MinneapolisMN #civilDisobedience #MIRAc #Arizona #BoycottArizona #SB1070 #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #BAM #BoycottArizonaMinnesota #MajorLeagueBaseball #MLB #BudSelig

Minneapolis, MN – The outpouring of online anger at Target turned to the streets on Aug. 5, as more than 50 people protested outside of Target’s store on Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue in the heart of Minneapolis’s Latino community. Target is under fire for contributing $150,000 to MN Forward for television ads in support of Minnesota Republican governor candidate Tom Emmer, a man infamous for his extreme anti-immigrant, anti-gay and anti-minimum wage views.

Outrage ensued when Target’s support for Emmer came to light last week. A Facebook group called “Boycott Target Until They Cease Funding Anti-Gay Politics” quickly amassed over 46,000 members and within days MoveOn.org collected more than 260,000 signatures against Target’s support of Emmer.

The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) and the Boycott Arizona-MN (BAM!) campaign rallied numerous communities to protest outside the Lake Street Target store, all outraged at Emmer’s extreme right wing politics and at Target’s support of the candidate.

According to Anh Pham of MIRAc, “We organized this protest because immigrants spend a lot of money at Target and we don’t want that money going to people who attack our community. This is a powerful opportunity to join together in alliance with workers, poor people and the LGBTQ community. Target really screwed up – but we are building a broad and powerful coalition to stop Target from doing this again and to stop Emmer’s agenda in its tracks.”

MIRAc’s Ana Vasquez outlined Emmer’s voting record for anti-immigrant bills, including drastic measures like denying prenatal care to women who are undocumented and his praising of Arizona’s anti-immigrant SB1070 bill, calling it “a wonderful first step.”

Jennie Eisert of the Anti-War Committee spoke about the outrage toward Emmer and Target from the LGBTQ community. Emmer supports bills to deny domestic partner benefits to gay and lesbian couples and supports a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Target is particularly vulnerable to criticism from the LGBTQ community, as they have spent years cultivating a gay-friendly image.

Deb Konechne of the Welfare Rights Committee and Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout spoke about Emmer’s long record of attacks on working class and poor people, which blew up in his face in the recent flap over Emmer’s proposal to lower the minimum wage and to cut wages for servers that get tips.

Target’s large financial contribution to MN Forward is one of the first examples of the fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2009 ruling that allows corporations to give unrestricted money to political campaigns. Target’s CEO Gregg Steinhafel was unprepared for the whirlwind of anger from the LGBTQ community, immigrants and workers. As they spun into damage-control mode, Target initially said they were supporting Emmer because of his pro-business policies, not because of his social policies. Then under increasing pressure, on Aug. 5 Steinhafel issued an apology, saying he was sorry that gay Target employees felt offended by this. Organizers of the Thursday’s Target protest declared that the half-apology was not enough, because Steinhafel did not commit to stop funding for MN Forward or Emmer’s campaign and also only addressed the anger felt by the LGBTQ community, not by immigrants or workers.

#MinneapolisMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #Labor #LGBTQ #MIRAc #SB1070 #TomEmmer #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #BAM #BoycottArizonaMinnesota #Target

Minneapolis, MN – The immigrant rights movement scored a victory in Minnesota. Under pressure from a growing boycott and weekly protests, on July 14 the owner of nine local Jimmy John’s sandwich shops in Minneapolis and the western suburbs signed a public statement condemning Arizona’s anti-immigrant SB1070 law and calling for immigration reform.

The statement signed by franchise president Michael Mulligan says, “We reject Arizona's SB1070 and urge the federal government to repeal this misguided law. We support the passage of just and humane comprehensive immigration reform.”

In May the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) initiated the Boycott Arizona-MN (BAM!) campaign to build the Arizona boycott in Minnesota. The first target chosen was Jimmy John's Minneapolis franchise owner, MikLin Enterprises, Inc.

Jimmy John's is one of the companies targeted in the national boycott campaign aimed at repealing Arizona's racist and anti-immigrant law, SB1070. They are targeted because company head Jimmy John Liautaud contributes large amounts of money to anti-immigrant Arizona politicians like Joe Arpaio and John McCain, who are staunch supporters of SB1070.

According to MIRAc member Anh Pham, “This is a victory for the immigrant rights movement. It's the first victory we know of against one of the companies targeted in the national Arizona boycott. We made it happen here through a campaign to get hundreds of Minnesotans to sign a petition pledging to boycott Arizona, and through regular protests in front of Jimmy John's in downtown Minneapolis. We hope this helps open the doors to more such victories around the country to force Arizona to repeal SB1070.”

#MinneapolisMN #MIRAc #BoycottArizona #SB1070 #JimmyJohns #BAM #BoycottArizonaMinnesota

Minneapolis, MN – One June 14, about 30 immigrants and immigrant rights supporters picketed outside of Jimmy Johns sandwich shop at Block E in downtown Minneapolis. Jimmy Johns is one of the companies targeted in the national boycott against Arizona in response to SB1070, the racist anti-immigrant law Arizona passed in April. The protest demanded that Jimmy Johns founder James ‘Jimmy John’ Liautaud stop supporting anti-immigrant politicians in Arizona such as Joe Arpaio and John McCain.

When the protest began, franchise owner Rob Mulligan came out of the store and offered the protesters free sandwiches, which they refused. He then handed out a statement to the protesters which said he respects their right to protest against SB1070, but doesn't want his business to be a target. When pressed on what his position is on SB1070, he said he would sign a petition against SB1070 but only “in a personal capacity.” He also said he'd pass on the protesters' message to the national office.

Prior to the 2008 election, the Liautaud Development Group LLC (which is run by Jimmy John Liautaud) funneled $10,000 to the Sheriff Command Association, which smeared Mayor Joe Arpaio's opponent, Dan Saban. Nationally, Liautaud has funded Senator John McCain, who supports SB1070 (giving him $4600 in 2008), as well as contributing $5000 in 2009 to the Free and Strong America PAC, which contributes to anti-immigrant U.S. Representatives and Senators. Jimmy Johns franchises pay a percentage of their profits to the central company, so money spent at Jimmy Johns in Minnesota is being used to fund anti-immigrant politicians in Arizona who brought forward SB1070 and other anti-immigrant laws.

The Jimmy Johns protest on Monday was part of the Boycott Arizona-Minnesota (BAM!) campaign. BAM! is a campaign of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) to spread the Arizona boycott in Minnesota in response to SB1070, and to fight against similar anti-immigrant laws and proposals in Minnesota. The campaign will continue to target businesses like Jimmy Johns and politicians that support SB1070.

A video from the protest, including an interview with protesters and with the franchise owner , is available here on TheUpTake.org.

#MinneapolisMN #MIRAc #Arizona #BoycottArizona #SB1070 #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #JimmyJohns #BAM #BoycottArizonaMinnesota