Santa Ana, CA – On September 12, Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) and community members tabled in front of the well-known Salvadoran restaurant, El Salvador Café, to hand out crucial resources and information in response to Trump’s latest attack threatening to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Salvadoran immigrants.

CSO OC members handed out packets first to the Salvadoran restaurant workers and then branched out to the neighboring Mexican and Central American shops. Members spoke with workers and community members about Trump’s latest attack on the Salvadoran immigrant community and his previous policies, such as a $170 billion immigration enforcement spending package, suspensions and revocations of visas for individuals from 75 countries, and more.

CSO OC mobilized this tabling action as a response to the Legalization 4 All Network’s (L4A) week of action to Stop Trump’s Agenda and in solidarity with the Dallas Against Trump Coalition’s March on the Republican Midterm Convention (RNC). September 9-13 posed attacks such as Salvadoran TPS being set to expire on September 9, Trump’s vow to revoke 200,000 visas, and the Midterm RNC on September 9 and 10.

On the day Salvadoran TPS was set to expire, ICE sent out an announcement stating that a decision on the status of TPS for Salvadorans will be made at an appropriate time. Although TPS did not technically expire, this leaves the 170,000 Salvadoran TPS recipients in limbo.

CSO OC will continue to do their Barrio Walks in which they hand out important information and resources regarding ICE and Trump’s attacks on immigrants.

If you are interested in joining a CSO OC action or meeting, you can contact them at orangecountycso@gmail.com or on Instagram at CSO.OC.

#SantaAnaCA #CA #ImmigrantRights #Salvadorans #TPS #CSO #CSOOC #L4A

San José, CA – On Saturday, August 29, around 200 attendees and vendors came out to commemorate the 56th Chicano Moratorium in San José.

The 56th Chicano Moratorium was held in Backesto Park, where a new mural that featured local San José activists had been put up by Alfonso Salazar, after a long fight for Chicano representation in the park. Activists say it was important to hold it at Backesto Park to continue the Chicano struggle in San José.

The Chicano Moratorium was a historic anti-war march organized by Chicanos in East Los Angeles, where 30,000 people demanded an end to Chicano enlistment in the Vietnam War due to disproportionate deaths and a stop on police brutality in the United States.

Samantha Rojas of Defensoras Patient Organizing Committee and Ana Cortez of CSO SJ kicked off the event, chanting, “Raza si, Migra no!” Cortez and Rojas highlighted the importance of the 1970 August 29th Chicano Moratorium and its influence on the Chicano movement, saying, “Chicanos were also facing oppression in many forms here at home, from police brutality to exclusion from higher education.” Cortez and Rojas spoke about the discrimination that Chicanos faced and the brutality that protesters faced from the Los Angeles Sheriffs and Police Department, resulting in the deaths of prominent Mexican-American journalist Rubén Salazar, and Brown Berets Lynn Ward and Angel Díaz.

Patricio González Roa of CSO SJ chanted, “ICE out the Bay! ICE out of Gilroy!” highlighting the federal government's plans to build a detention center in Gilroy, California. Rob Bonta, attorney general of California, sued the federal government for legal violations and improper procedures, which resulted in construction of the site being paused. Roa emphasized the connection of the Chicano movement and struggle for equal rights to the attacks of ICE against South Bay Chicano residents.

Keynote speaker Dr. Ramon J Martinez, Secretary of the La Raza Historical Society and a participant in the original 1970 Chicano Moratorium, gave an oral history of the landmark event. “On that day, thousands of Chicano said ‘I’m not supporting the military,’” Dr. Martinez stated, emphasizing the role Chicanos faced in the United States military, where enlistment was viewed as a means of escaping poverty. “As an oppressed people, the military is one of the few ways that, one, you can have a little bit of Spanish and be accepted in this culture,” Dr. Martinez explained.

“The fact is that Chicanos have always been oppressed, we have always been oppressed since 1848 when the border crossed us,” Megan Sweet of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated. Sweet continued, “We must come together, as Chicanos, as people with morals to fight against a common enemy: U.S. imperialism.”

The event was organized by the Tonatiuh Brown Berets, Mujeres de Aztlan and Community Service organization San José (CSO San José) in coalition with endorsers and with food provided by Lighthouse Food and Rescue and Distribution.

The event featured cultural performances by Folclórico Colibri, an LGBTQ Mexican folklorico dance ensemble whose mission is to preserve Mexican customs and culture. Student poets from Mission College highlighted the importance of improving resources available to Chicano and undocumented students through poetry. The event closed off with performances by Chicano artists who uplifted strong community values amongst Chicanos.

#SanJoseCA #CA #OppressedNationalities #ChicanoLatino #ChicanoMoratorium #ImmigrantRights #BrownBerets #CSOSanJose #CSO

Santa Ana, CA – On Saturday, August 29, approximately 80 people gathered at El Centro Cultural de Mexico to commemorate the 56th Chicano Moratorium. As the event kicked off, the crowd chanted, “Chicano power!”

Griselda Ruiz, a member of Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) started, “This event is held every year to commemorate the Chicano Moratorium of the 1970s in East LA. On August 29, 1970, over 20,000 Chicanos and Chicanas marched peacefully to protest the Vietnam War and the large number of Chicanos dying in it. The protest turned violent when sheriff's deputies attacked, causing chaos, several injuries, and three deaths, including journalist Ruben Salazar, who was killed by a tear gas canister fired by police. So, we are united here and throughout the Southwest to honor all the past Chicanos and Chicanas who have fought for our rights.”

Diana Terreros from CSO OC’s immigration committee stated that since Trump took office, “Undocumented immigrants are living with the daily fear of raids, deportation, family separation, and even death at the hands of an ICE agent. Immigrants that have some sort of legal status such as TPS or DACA face that status either being terminated or delayed, both throwing people into uncertainty and financial instability.”

Terreros added, “Along with the attacks from the federal government, here in Santa Ana we have seen that corporations are taking advantage of the fear that immigrants are facing.” She was referencing Kingsley Management, a multi-million dollar corporation based in Utah, that is harassing and stealing homes from mobile home residents.

Abe Quintana, a member of CSO OC’s police accountability committee, spoke on the families impacted by police violence that they work with. “What we want to say about these cases is that racist police killings and brutality against Chicanos are features of national oppression. They are based on the oppression of the Chicano nation Aztlan.” Quintana added, “The objectives of our campaigns are designed to put more power into the hands of those directly impacted by police misconduct and violence.”

Francis Co. and the Lusitanos then performed some songs “from Santa Ana, for Santa Ana.” His songs included lyrics like “Show me the warrant, show me your badge, I want my lawyer. And ICE can kiss my ass!” and “They don’t take the farmer, just the workers on the farm. And what do we tell their children when their parents can’t be found?”

During the event, attendees visited tables from different organizations, enjoyed Oaxacan food, and enjoyed activities set out for children.

This was followed by a speech by Rain Mendoza of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. After speaking about Chicanos facing police and ICE killings all while living under poverty, she stated, “None of this is by accident. The oppression we face here is the national oppression of Chicanos. We are a nation carved from the theft of Mexican territory and the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.”

Mendoza ended with a solution: “As a communist I understand that the horrors we are up against cannot be reformed or voted out. To achieve change and liberation for our people we must overthrow the ruling class and fight for socialism.”

A member of the International League of People’s Struggle told the crowd, “Today we see the same vicious war machine intensifying, waging war and aggression on countries who stood against U.S. political control and plunder of their resources – war on Iran, murdering thousands of people, aggression against Venezuela and Cuba, and genocide in Palestine.”

This was followed by a statement by Vinny Mansoor of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network being read, “It means asking, every time we are told that another war is necessary: necessary for whom? Paid for by whom? And who gets buried when it’s over? Palestinians know this intimately. We know what it means when somebody else’s geopolitical ambition is paid for with our blood.”

The crowd then marched to the Ronald Reagan Federal Building. The protesters filled the streets with chants of “Raza si! Migra no!” “Jail killer cops!” “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air! U.S. out of everywhere!” and more.

When they arrived at the federal building, Terreros stated, “This is where our sister Nadia Topete, a Chicana immigrant rights organizer, was summoned for a grand jury just last month. The feds targeted her for being an activist in our sister CSO chapter in Boyle Heights and she bravely resisted this grand jury as CSO members and community members rallied for her outside where we are standing here today.” The crowd then chanted “Hands off Nadia Topete!” and “Fuck Trump!” while flipping off the building.

The event was organized by CSO OC and included endorsers such as MEChA from Cal State Fullerton, United Domestic Workers, and more.

#SantaAnaCA #CA #OrangeCounty #ChicanoMoratorium #OppressedNationalities #Chicano #CSO #ImmigrantRights

Santa Ana, CA – On Saturday, August 9, community members gathered in front of the Santa Ana Federal Building to demand Trump stop his attacks on Haitian immigrants. This protest was a response to a call to action from the Legalization 4 All Network to resist Trump’s racist attack on Haitian immigrants with the ending of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian immigrants.

The rally started with the chant os “Defend TPS! Defend TPS!” by Jay Perez from the immigration committee of the Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC).

“TPS once protected roughly 3 million people providing lifesaving protection from deportations and the ability to work and provide for their families. Since then, Trump’s regime has slowly gutted these protections, country by country: Honduras, Venezuela, now Haiti,” Perez continued.

“With the Supreme Court ruling, over 300,000 Haitians have lost their protected status overnight. This attack on TPS is an act of violence against our immigrant community and we will stand up and fight back! This administration is using every means at its disposal to ramp up its deportation machine and the Haitian community is now on the front lines of family separation and deadly deportations. We must show up for our neighbors!” Perez stated.

Diana Terreros of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) took the mic, “The termination of TPS is happening after Trump and Vance made disgusting racist comments about Haitian immigrants eating neighborhood pets in Ohio during their campaign that resulted in harassment and threats. It also comes after the U.S. has intervened in Haiti in an attempt to control their politics and economy for more than a century.”

“As a communist, I know that these destabilizing attacks will continue to happen under capitalism. That’s why I’m in FRSO, fighting to bring socialism forward every day. Whether you are a Chicana whose parents are at risk of deportation or a Haitian immigrant being forced to wear an ankle monitor, our enemy is the same and we must unite to fight against them!” Terreros concluded.

“Hands off TPS! Let Haitians stay!” chanted the protesters as they faced the federal building.

“We saw during the Biden administration, Haitians were whipped by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent while crossing a river to get to Texas. This was under Biden, and now things are worse. We are seeing how both sides of the ruling class function the same way in oppressing the colonized people of the world,” stated Paulo Cruzalgui of the Latin American Committee of the Hands off Uhuru! Hands off Africa! Fightback coalition.

Community members were encouraged to speak on the immigration organizing they do in Santa Ana. Joellez Lopez from CSO OC said, “Through CSO I have been exposed to the barrio walks. We go into the community, we educate people on how to identify ICE, give out resources, and also hear from them. We have been able to work closely with the Coach Royal residents who have been facing racist harassment from Kingsley management.”

“Let’s continue the work and let Santa Ana hear us! ICE out of OC! Hands off TPS!” stated Lopez.

This protest was organized by Community Service Organization Orange County alongside other community organizations. If you’d like to learn more or get involved with CSO OC. You can contact them on Instagram on CSO.OC or by phone at 714-367-6350.

#SantaAnaCA #SantaAna #CA #CSO #CSOOC #Immigration #TPS #ImmigrantRights

Santa Ana, CA – On June 15, Community Service Organization Orange County and movement lawyers with the Peace and Justice Law Center served a demand letter threatening to sue Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) for not disclosing records about the arrest and death of Freddie Washington. On July 1, SAPD was forced to release 18 body camera videos, 58 photographs and two incident reports. These records reveal the moments leading up to Freddie’s arrest on January 15, 2025.

Police were called about a man refusing to pay for his stay at a hotel in Santa Ana. The first officers to respond were Isaac Ibarra and Jonathan Mondragon. Ibarra was one of two officers who killed unarmed Noe Rodriguez in 2024, shooting him 11 times and lying about what Rodriguez was doing before the shooting.

When Freddie Washington did not answer the door, Officer Isaac Ibarra opened it using a set of master keys. Officer Jonathan Mondragon immediately drew his gun and pointed it directly at Washington during about 14 minutes of “negotiation.” Both officers tried to convince him to leave his room, calling for backup as Washington called his lawyer. Mondragon’s report mentions Washington’s “erratic” language and “refusal to comply,” both common justifications for excessive force by police.

Four more officers arrived and Ibarra coordinated the arrest. Police entered with tasers drawn, wrestled Freddie Washington out of his chair and forced him against a hotel room bed. Officers Jonathan Mondragon and Francisco Rodriguez held him down. An officer we can now identify as Frank Corpus punched Washington in the head twice on camera. Washington screamed for help.

Police wrestled Washington to the floor. As three held Washington down, officer Jesse Hernandez pressed his taser against Washington’s body and said, “Stop or you’re going to get tased” and “Stop fighting,” to which Washington replied, “I’m not fighting! Y’all are fighting me!”

Jesse Hernandez was involved in a prior in-custody death: on September 13 2022, Hernandez was one of many SAPD officers who chased unarmed 72-year-old Miguel Chavez into a CVS parking lot after he was in a car accident. In the parking lot, officer Mark Schifflett sicced his K-9 on Chavez, who died two days later from his wounds.

Police pinned Freddie Washington to the floor using their arms and knees for several minutes. They handcuffed him and put him in a restraint device called “the WRAP.” Fully immobilized, Washington asked for tea to drink, and several officers smirked and mocked him. Police hoisted Washington onto a gurney and he yelled as his cuffed wrists were driven into its surface. That is the moment Isaac Ibarra finally decided to offer Washington his tea, but he ultimately withheld it.

This small, sadistic gesture captures the heart of the incident. Throughout the arrest, Freddie Washington refused to surrender his dignity or his right to decide. And while police cited charges like “trespass” and “defrauding an innkeeper” to justify the violence, the truth is that the racist violence speaks for itself. It also speaks to the larger trend of police violence against Black people in the U.S. In California alone in 2025, Black people were 55% times more likely to be killed by police than white people, and Washington’s arrest resembled countless other police crimes that emerged before, during and after the George Floyd Rebellion.

Santa Ana City Attorney Sonia Carvalho said the city would release more records on or about July 8. These records should include materials related to Washington’s in-custody death on January 16, 2025. But SAPD has not released additional records. If it continues its pattern of delaying the release of records, Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) and the Peace and Justice Law Center will resume with the lawsuit.

CSO OC fights for families impacted by police violence and for community control of the police. The fact that the community had to threaten a lawsuit to get more clarity on Freddie Washington’s death reflects SAPD’s culture of impunity, but it also shows the power and necessity of taking action ourselves. The community should also have the right to decide how officers are disciplined for misconduct and excessive use of force, especially when they have histories of violence. In the meantime, you can help support the family of Freddie Washington by donating here.

#SantaAnaCA #CA #OrangeCounty #CSOOC #CSO #FreddieWashington #InjusticeSystem

California City, CA — On Saturday, June 13, San Francisco Bay Area immigrant rights organizations gathered in San Jose for a car caravan to California City Detention Center, as part of the Legalization For All Network (L4A)’S National Weekend of Action Against Immigrant Detention Centers.

Under the rallying cry, “Free our people, free them all,” demonstrators called for the immediate release of detained community members, including Guillermo Medina Reyes—a beloved Bay Area tattoo artist and organizer—and Kubanych Moldobaev, a cherished father, community interpreter and asylum seeker from Kyrgyzstan.

Participating and supporting organizations included both the Oakland and San Jose chapters of the Community Service Organization (CSO), Raizes Collective from Santa Rosa, Amigos de Guadalupe – Center for Justice & Empowerment and Latinos United for a New America (LUNA) from San Jose, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

The caravan departed from San Jose’s Mexican Heritage Plaza around noon, heading towards the caravan’s first stop in Gilroy, California, where ICE is looking to open a new detention facility. The caravan held a brief protest there.

“We're at our first stop, 7240 Holsclaw Road, where the federal government is getting ready to open a detention center. You can see here our comrades joining us protesting and signage saying ‘warning, work in operation’, even though folks in Santa Clara County and Monterey County are adamantly opposing this. As we are standing here, we heard several cars pass by honking in support of us being here protesting this proposed detention center in Gilroy,” said Isabel Lopez from Raizes Collective.

The caravan's next stop was McFarland, where the GEO Group operates two for-profit detention centers, Central Valley Annex and Golden State Annex. The company is responsible for holding about one-third of all immigrants in ICE custody nationwide.

In 2022, Guillermo Medina Reyes was detained at Golden State Annex. During his time there, Medina Reyes organized his fellow detainees through a hunger strike and work stoppage.

“He and eight others participated in a class-action lawsuit against ICE and GEO Group for abusive conditions and retaliation. Guillermo and the other plaintiffs testified to being forced to perform facility maintenance for $1 per day or be punished with solitary confinement if they refused to do essential janitorial and operational work. That case remains pending as of January,” said one of the caravan participants.

“In June, NPR reported that all over the country people in these facilities are facing medical neglect, rotten food as their only meals, and other routine human rights abuses. Hundreds of detained individuals are currently on hunger strike at Delaney Hall, another GEO Group facility in New Jersey, to bring attention to conditions there that they have been described as pure torture,” said Liza Mam from CSO Oakland.

GEO Group has received more than $142 million to operate ICE detention facilities in Adelanto and Desert View, and over $105 million for the Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde centers, another detention facilities only 30 minutes away in Bakersfield.

During the caravan’s stop, GEO Group private security closely monitored and recorded the group.

The caravan's final stop was California City Detention Center, a for-profit facility owned by CoreCivic, the nation's second-largest private immigration detention company.

“California City is the newest facility of a cluster of detention centers in Kern County. Community members have said they did not have an opportunity to raise concerns at public hearings before ICE began using the new site. This is a concerning and growing trend all over California; concentration camps popping up in our neighborhoods with no public input or consent,” said Liza Mam from CSO Oakland.

“The conditions are completely unacceptable and inhumane,” said Brandon Cavins from Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “People are going without AC in the hot Mojave Desert. They don't have enough food, and they don't have the medical attention that they need.”

Through a video call arranged with Kubanych Moldobaev, caravan members spoke directly with detainees, who described coercive signing of deportation papers, weeks-long delays in medical care, lack of air conditioning, fainting episodes, severe weight loss, limited contact with loved ones, and detention lasting more than 19 months.

“I have been here for two months locked up, please, I need help. They’re not telling me anything. I can’t communicate with my family. I need help,” said Isaias Soto, an 18 year old from Guatemala, speaking in Spanish.

“I have diabetes. I have been here for six months, tortured, and they have given me no treatment. I suffer from high blood pressure. Every time I go to get checked up due to my high blood pressure, they never give me treatment,” said Mario Caja from Mexico, speaking in Spanish, who reportedly fainted more than five times during his detention and relies on fellow inmates for care due to CoreCivic's neglect. “It's been more than a month that I can't sleep due to hard-hitting cramps in both legs. They give me a pill, but it does nothing. I don't know what to do. I have lost like 30 pounds in weight. For me this is like torture. I am dying here. I put in requests, but they don't see me until two or three weeks later.”

“I have a little girl of five years. My wife is diabetic. We are suffering here with not that much medical treatment. I work in the kitchen. There, they mistreat me, the officials. They make me do work that really should be theirs. I work more than eight labor hours, doing work that should be theirs. The commissary has been raised too much. It's $100, which we have to use to eat here. They treat us like dogs,” said Axel Mairena-Chavarria from Nicaragua, speaking in Spanish, who has been detained for more than six months. “Honestly, it's the officials who are the dogs. Sincerely, please excuse the phrase. The food has no flavor, and when it's mealtime, [the guards] tell us, 'chow chow,' as if we were dogs.”

Around 10 p.m., CoreCivic ended the phone call for count time. The caravan prepared to leave but first drove around the facility to document its entrance and the large number of buses transporting people there. As the group approached, remaining on public roads and without entering, a CoreCivic security pickup truck with tinted windows abruptly appeared to block the entrance.

After the caravan, some participants traveled to the “No Kings” protest in Gilroy, organized by CSO San Jose, SIREN, CARAS, the San Jose Coalition Against Trump, and other local immigrant rights groups, to share the detainees’ testimonies and oppose ICE’s proposed detention facility.

Remaining caravan members stayed in California City for an additional day to visit Moldobaev. They also requested to see Guillermo Medina Reyes but were denied by CoreCivic, reportedly due to a policy allowing only one detainee visit per day, a policy strongly criticized by advocates for its dehumanizing and isolating nature, further worsened by CoreCivic's denial of family contact visits, only allowing people to see their loved ones through glass rather than permit contact. This is an issue that Medina Reyes and others have been advocating to change.

After the journey, Moldobaev sent a message to the L4A Caravan. Translated from Russian, he said, “Good morning, Liza! We were doubly pleased, and a huge thank you to all your friends for your support. Everyone in our unit was delighted with you all, grateful and touched by your gesture and attention. Our call time ended yesterday, and counting began. So many people came up to me afterward, thanking me for the opportunity to speak up for what you're doing. I told them there was no need to thank me. I'll pass on my gratitude to you. It's all you do that shows you care!”

Moldobaev continued, “So, all your friends are being warmly shaken by the hands and hugged by people who have found themselves in difficult situations. Each of them is praying to God for a miracle, and what you're doing is a miracle. Not everyone is willing to leave their cozy couch and go the distance to support people like this.”

Since the initial writing of this article, Kubanych Moldobaev has been released and returned to his family in Kyrgyzstan after months of unjust ICE detention. Moldobaev had been requesting self-deportation since his detention in October 2025, with Kyrgyzstan confirming its readiness to receive him. His nine months of detention at California City can only be attributed to the inhumane policies of ICE and CoreCivic's profit-driven desire to prolong his stay.

Detainee testimonies will be posted on the CSO Oakland social media pages.

To get involved in opposing detention centers in the Bay Area, demanding the release of Guillermo Medina Reyes and other local detainees, and fighting for immigrant rights, follow CSO Oakland, CSO San Jose, and Raizes Collective.

All three organizations are members of the Legalization for All Network, a nationwide network of over 25 grassroots organizations fighting for immigrant rights.

#CaliforniaCityCA #CA #BayArea #CSO #ImmigrantRights #DetentionCenters #