Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Frank Chapman, Executive Director, of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR).

Leonard Peltier, renowned Spirit-Warrior of the Dakota people, symbolizes the courageous centuries long resistance of the Indigenous peoples against racism, genocide and national oppression. In the spirit of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, Leonard has maintained his innocence and fought for his freedom for five decades.

The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression has stood in unconditional solidarity with Leonard Peltier, the oldest and one of the longest held political prisoners in U.S. history.

The reason the federal government held Leonard in captivity and behind bars for half a century is not because he was guilty of any crime but because the FBI agents who were killed were white men. Leonard himself said “When a white is killed, even if he brought it on himself, all Indians are guilty. Isn’t that the way it’s always been?”

Yes, that is the way it’s always been. However, with Leonard the situation is even more aggravated by the fact that he is a freedom fighter for his oppressed people.

Decades ago, Leonard’s lawyer, Ramsey Clark (former Attorney General of the United States) said, “I think I can explain beyond serious doubt that Leonard Peltier committed no crime whatsoever.”

We now know that the government knew what Ramsey Clark knew, yet they refused to release Leonard.

Leonard was accused of murder in 1975 and in 1985 the government prosecution admitted, “We did not know who shot the agents...” he was accused of killing. Forty-nine years later a government prosecutor repeated this admitted truth to President Biden. Apparently, Biden listened, and in response to the demands of the people, at the age of 80 and after 50 years of torturous imprisonment, Leonard is coming home.

It’s definitely a people’s victory and we celebrate it as such. It is not “Justice at Last.”

We acknowledge and salute the Indigenous people’s movement, Leonard Peltier’s family, and his decades long standing Defense Committee. It was the mass movement of the people demanding justice that moved President Biden to issue an order of Executive Clemency.

Based on the evidence, Leonard deserved an apology and a pardon of innocence. The sober reality is that the U.S. government continues its genocidal policies against the Dakota people and all the Indigenous people of America.

We stand in unconditional solidarity with the first nations indemanding their sovereign rights and their struggles for freedom.

#LeonardPeltier #Clemency #ExecutiveOrder #Biden #IndigenousSovereignty #Dakota #RamseyClark #NAARPR

Fight Back! is circulating the following statement by the Legalization for All Network (L4A).

Legalization for All Network Statement on Biden Executive Order

The June 17 Biden Administration Executive Order to facilitate the legalization of spouses of U.S. citizens affects up to 500,000 undocumented people. The Legalization for All (L4A) network considers the order a positive step towards the goal of legalization for all of the undocumented.

At the same time, this positive action does not absolve the Biden administration of adopting a Trump-like policy on the U.S.-Mexico border. On June 4, 2024, Biden issued an effective ban on those seeking asylum. The ban goes into effect when the daily average of border arrests tops 2,500.

This spring, the average daily number of border arrests was 4,300. In other words, as many as 1,800 people a day attempting to cross the U.S./Mexico border now face quick deportation or being turned back to Mexico without starting an asylum claim.

Shortly following the ban, immigrant rights groups took to the streets around the country and in Washington D.C. demanding that Biden remove the ban and expand Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Undocumented immigrants need much more concrete and secure immigration policies that are not at the mercy of an upcoming election. The newly announced executive order does the following:

• Allows undocumented people married to US citizen for ten years to legalize their status while remaining in the United States. This would benefit about 500,000 undocumented.
• Gives temporary status to undocumented children of US citizen parents, aiding about 50,000.

While L4A views this as a victory for our movement, Biden’s executive order applies to less than 5% of the undocumented.

President Biden and the Democrats have lost a considerable amount of voter and public support due to their role in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. At the same time, the Republican Party has made it clear that anti-immigrant measures are a centerpiece of their political agenda. Trump continues calling for mass deportations, more detention centers, and for other bigots, like Texas Governor Greg Abbott, to buildemergency facilities to further militarize the Rio Grande.

Rather than fall for the Biden administration's cynical political moves, L4A has endorsed both the march against the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention. We ask all people and organizations who are part of our network or follow our work, to do the same and march with us in our immigrant rights contingents.

Send us a message now to notify us about your attendance at either the march on the RNC or DNC: Legalization for All on X, Instagram, Facebook or https://legalizationforall.wordpress.com/

#LegalizationForAll #Legalization4All #MarchOnTheRNC #MarchOnTheDNC #Biden #ExecutiveOrder #ImmigrantRights #Immigration #UndocumentedRights