Minneapolis, MN – More than 150 people protested December 8 in downtown Minneapolis, blocking Washington Avenue near Interstate 35W in for two hours at rush hour. They protested outside of Senator Amy Klobuchar's office demanding that the U.S. Senate act immediately to legalize people with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) temporary immigration status.

The protest, organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), is part of a national push to get the Senate to pass the American Dream and Promise Act during Congress’s lame duck session this month. The Act was passed by the House of Representatives in 2021, but has languished in the Senate. With Democrats losing control of the House of Representatives starting in January, and with right-wing courts on the verge of ending the DACA program as well as threatening Temporary Protected Status (TPS), the future of more than a million immigrants and their families hangs in the balance.

If DACA and TPS are ended by right-wing courts without Congress taking action to legalize people with those statuses, they will be thrust into undocumented status and at risk of deportation after having grown up here and built a life here for decades.

The protesters focused on Senator Klobuchar because she is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the Dream Act is stuck. Feeling the pressure as the protest neared, both Senator Klobuchar and Senator Tina Smith's office agreed to meetings with activists and community members the day of the protest. While Democratic senators from other states have been actively pushing on social media about the urgency for the Senate to take action this month, Minnesota's senators have not shown such leadership.

At the end of the protest, the speakers led the crowd in a chant of “We'll be back!”

#MinneapolisMN #immigrantRights #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc #DeferredActionForChildhoodArrivalsDACA

Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, July 21, just before the 9 a.m. city council meeting, immigrant rights leaders, labor leaders, and city council members held a press conference at City Hall in the rotunda. They publicly launched and explained their “Immigrant Power Now” campaign, unveiling a ten-point platform to make pro-immigrant changes at the municipal level in Minneapolis.

Speakers included Akhi Menawat and Miguel Hernandez of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), Pablo Tapia of Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, Rebecca Chang of MN8, transgender community activist Olivia, Ed Eiffler Jaramillo of SEIU Local 26, and Mary Webb Hampton of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59. They were joined by Minneapolis Councilmembers Jason Chavez (Ward 9) and Aisha Chughtai (Ward 10), who also spoke in favor of the campaign.

The Immigrant Power Now campaign is a series of ten proposals created by grassroots immigrant rights activists and supported by organized labor and community groups. The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) is leading this effort, and the current demands build on MIRAC’s Sanctuary Platform campaign from 2017-2018 which directly led to the passing of a Municipal ID program, which was passed but never implemented.

The first demand in the new platform calls on the city to finally implement the Minneapolis Municipal ID program they passed in 2018. This would make an ID available to all city residents regardless of their immigration status, which would benefit many Minneapolis communities. Access to Municipal IDs for all is being implemented in other Minnesota cities such as Rochester and Northfield. Organizers said that it’s time Minneapolis follows suit.

The second demand in the platform calls on the city to create a fund for residents with DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) to fund initial and renewal application fees. These fees are significant and the city should have an interest in keeping DACA recipients in our communities.

The third demand is to expand the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs so it has increased capacity to create and implement programs that will benefit immigrant families. This office was created thanks to pressure from many in the community including MIRAC and must be given additional funding and staffing to be successful.

Akhi Menawat, a member of MIRAC, said, “MIRAC works closely with immigrant communities. This platform was developed through a combination of surveys and conversations with immigrant families. The results were clear: immigrants want access to an ID, to be able to stay in their homes and be paid for their work, and to have a say in what happens in their community. The Immigrant Power Now platform is a set of ten concrete steps city leaders must take immediately. Our communities have been waiting for too long, the time to act is now.”

Minneapolis City Council member Aisha Chughtai, who represents Ward 10 and supports the Immigrant Power Now campaign said, “I believe cities are the last line of defense for people. We’ve seen this across the nation with COVID, economic recovery, abortion access, and it can be true for immigrant rights too. This is why I’m thankful that MIRAC worked directly with immigrant communities to find the most important things the city can do to support immigrant families in Minneapolis.”

The Immigrant Power Now platform is initiated by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), an all-volunteer, grassroots immigrant rights organization. This campaign is endorsed by several organizations including: Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, Minnesota 8, Ayada Leads, AFSCME Local 3800, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) Local 59, MN Workers United, Anti-War Committee, Climate Justice Committee, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, and Bikers Riding Against Police Brutality. With the campaign now publicly launched, organizers expect many more groups to join in the effort to increase immigrant rights and power in Minneapolis.

#MinneapolisMN #immigrantRights #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc

St. Paul, MN – On August 22, immigrant rights and Palestine solidarity activists presented over 1000 signatures of Minnesota residents petitioning the State Board of Investments (SBI) to divest state pension funds from the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems. Elbit sells cluster bombs and weaponized white phosphorus to the Israel Defense Forces, whose indiscriminate use on besieged Gaza has been widely condemned by international organizations. Elbit also manufactures surveillance equipment for the Israeli apartheid wall, and drones used in targeted assassinations of Palestinian political leaders.

Advertising its products as “battle-tested” on occupied Palestine, Elbit has won over $150 million in contracts from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security to build surveillance towers on the U.S.-Mexico border, including as part of President Trump’s racist ‘build the wall’ initiative.

Aadarsh Akula of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee told the State Board of Investments, “Since 1990, as a result of border militarization, there’s been about 7000 corpses in the desert on the southern border. The Migration Policy Institute notes that these corpses are directly correlated with increasing border militarization.”

“As a concept, border militarization totally ignores the fact that humans have intrinsic value, that they don’t just need to die if they cross a border,” Akula added. “This company cares more about its bottom line than the intrinsic value that all human beings pose.”

The SBI is comprised of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Auditor Julie Blaha, Secretary of State Steve Simon, and is chaired by Governor Tim Walz. All are Democrats who were elected on promises of opposing President Trump’s immigration policies. In 2018 while campaigning for governor, Walz tweeted, “President Trump wants to blow $18 billion of taxpayer funds on his border wall? Give me a break.” Ellison appeared at 2018’s May Day Parade in Minneapolis wearing a “Yo no creo en fronteras” (“I don’t believe in borders”) t-shirt, and earlier this year stated that Trump was “unable to persuade Congress and the American people that a wall is necessary.”

Speaking to the SBI, Autumn Lake of the MN Anti-War Committee elaborated on Elbit’s role in Israel’s war crimes. “Cluster munitions, white phosphorus shells and military drones have all been used by the state of Israel in their brutal campaigns against Palestinian civilian populations. Almost 10,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed since September 29, 2000. Two thousand of those killed were children. Elbit Systems bears a direct responsibility for helping maintain this cycle of colonial violence against an indigenous people.”

Lake concluded, “Simply put, the funds that are being used to bring people peace of mind in their retirement years should not be gained through investment in a company that profits from war and imperialism.”

Elbit Systems is one of several Israeli companies from which organizations of the Minnesota BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Community have long demanded the state divest. Minnesota BDS Community member Sylvia Schwarz, of Jewish Voice for Peace, spoke at the press conference activists held just before the SBI meeting.

“I urge the State Board of Investments to divest from Elbit Systems, just as the Norwegian Pension Fund, the Danske Bank, the Swedish National Pension Fund, the Dutch Pension Fund, and Deutsche Bank have done,” Schwarz said.

Despite holding a lengthy conversation over the conflict between ethical considerations and their “fiduciary duty” as state investors as it pertained to climate change, the SBI had nothing to say about Elbit Systems. Following the presentation by the activists, Governor Walz abruptly adjourned the meeting without comment.

In response, organizers have called for a militant protest outside the governor’s mansion at 1006 Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, to take place on Thursday, August 29 at 5:30 p.m.

#StPaulMN #International #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Palestine #Divestment #US #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc #Antiracism #DonaldTrump #borderMilitarization

Organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) on less than a day’s notice, the protest made sure that the largest military-style workplace immigration raid yet under the Trump administration did not go unchallenged.

The immigration raid was carried out by the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, which is ICE’s investigative branch. ICE simultaneously raided multiple workplaces in Nebraska and in southern Minnesota. The two Minnesota towns targeted were Sleepy Eye and Appleton. The targets were immigrant workers for Christensen Farms, which has its headquarters in Sleepy Eye and has a plant in Appleton. Incidentally, Appleton is the town where a private prison corporation and right-wing politicians want to reopen a currently-inoperative prison as an immigrant prison.

Christensen Farms is one of the largest pork producers in the United States with operations in several Midwest states. On August 8, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper, “Dozens of agents in black SUVs pulled onto the company property, blocking entrances to keep people from leaving or entering,” and, “for several hours, agents interviewed every employee and checked some IDs.”

At the Minneapolis protest, speakers included Kathryn Sharpe of the Interfaith Coalition on Immigration (ICOM); David Gilbert-Pederson of Minnesota Workers United and the Minnesota Regional Labor Federation; Minneapolis City Council member Jeremiah Ellison; Pastor Rebecca Voelkel of the Center for Sustainable Justice; Jill Jacobson of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, and Kristin Dooley of Women Against Military Madness (WAMM). Speakers connected the struggle of immigrant workers, the labor movement, faith communities, the need for local government to enact policies to protect immigrants from the federal government’s anti-immigrant campaign, and U.S. militarism that drives forced migration.

In addition to condemning the ICE raid at Christensen Farms in Appleton and Sleepy Eye, MIRAC called for ICE to immediately release all the immigrant workers they detained, and to end all workplace immigration raids. They also called on Governor Dayton and all city and county governments in Minnesota to immediately end all coordination with ICE. Finally, they demanded an end to deportations, legalization for all, and abolishing ICE.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #InJusticeSystem #Labor #OppressedNationalities #ChicanoLatino #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc #legalizationForAll #Antiracism #AbolishICE

Saint Paul, MN – 40 protesters demanded an end to deportations and an end to Wall Street’s wars outside a big-money Democratic Party fundraiser that featured presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, Feb. 12.

The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and the Anti-War Committee joined forces to send their message outside the Minnesota Democratic Party’s fifth Annual Humphrey-Mondale Dinner at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. In addition to Clinton and Sanders, the event featured a who’s who of Minnesota’s democrat political establishment, and reportedly raised over $1 million. Seats at the event cost between $50 to $5000 per person. An additional donation of $2000 bought a picture with the presidential candidates.

The MIRAC statement for the protest said they were protesting, “to send a message to all the presidential candidates that we demand #Not1More deportation. The Obama administration has deported more than 2 million people – more than any other administration in U.S. history. We call on all candidates to commit to stopping deportations and separation of families.”

The Anti-War Committee’s statement said they were protesting, “to voice our opposition to many of their policies on war, drones, surveillance and mass incarceration, which have all continued under the current Democratic administration.”

#StPaulMN #AntiwarMovement #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc #AntiWarCommittee

Minneapolis, MN – About 40 people came together here, March 8, to celebrate International Women’s Day. The program included speakers from the trade union, welfare rights, student and anti-war movements.

Stephanie Taylor of Freedom Road Socialist Organization told the crowd, “We are all here today to celebrate International Women’s Day – a day when, across the globe, people stand up to recognize the struggles of women everywhere. Women have been and always will be leaders and fighters in the struggle for justice. We are here not just to celebrate the victories of women so far, but to anticipate all our struggles to come as we fight for our own liberation and for a better world.”

Taylor also spoke of the case of Rasmea Odeh, stating, “I wanted to take a moment to focus attention on Rasmea Odeh, a Palestinian American who is facing the danger of up to 10 years in prison and deportation at her March 12 sentencing hearing in Detroit. Rasmea Odeh should be seen as an example to everyone fighting for equality and liberation.”

Delfina Rojas, who works with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) and other community organizations, spoke about the struggle of immigrant women for equality, against domestic violence and for an end to deportations.

To finish out the program, Angie Citlali performed a powerful song dedicated to the 43 Mexican student activists from the Ayotzinapa rural teachers college who were disappeared and almost surely massacred by the Mexican state last September. The song makes connections between students here in the U.S. and in México.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #InternationalWomensDay #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc #RasmeaOdeh #Ayotzinapa

Minneapolis, MN – El sábado 16 de febrero, más de 300 inmigrantes y personas que apoyan los derechos de los inmigrantes marcharon en la calle Lake a través del corazón de la comunidad latina. La gente llenó las calles con consignas de “sí se puede” y “Pawlenty escucha, estamos en la lucha!”

La marcha fue organizada por la Coalición de Acción por los derechos de los inmigrantes de Minnesota (MIRAc) en respuesta a las leyes antiinmigrantes propuestas recientemente por el gobernador Pawlenty. La marcha terminó con un foro en la iglesia Walker, en donde los manifestantes aprendieron un poco más sobre las propuestas antiinmigrantes y hablaron sobre cómo derrotarlas.

En enero el gobernador Pawlenty lanzó cinco propuestas antiinmigrantes. El también anunció cuatro “acciones ejecutivas” las cuales pueden tomar efecto sin aprobación legislativa. Las acciones ejecutivas son para que la policía sea entrenada en imponer las leyes de inmigración (Acuerdo “287g”), para que los futuros empleadores estatales y contratistas de más de $5.000 verifiquen la ciudadanía de sus empleados a través del sistema nacional de E-Verify, para que se haga una revisión de los datos de base de licencias de conducir de Minnesota y buscar posibles casos de fraude, y para que las cumbres de aplicación de leyes sean sostenidas para entrenar a que la policía se enfoque en identificar supuestas “actividades criminales” relacionadas con inmigrantes indocumentados.

Las propuestas de Pawlenty, por las que votará la legislatura, son para que criminalice las ordenanzas “ciudad santuario” en todo el estado de Minnesota; para multar con $5.000 a los negocios cada vez que “conociéndolo” contraten inmigrantes indocumentados; para incrementar las penalidades por “robo de identidad”; y para hacer que nuevas leyes que supuestamente identifican el tráfico humano pero que realmente identifica a los inmigrantes documentados.

Pawlenty no ha dicho de dónde se obtendrán los fondos para implementar las acciones ejecutivas. Los analistas han dicho que es poco probable que las propuestas legislativas sean aprobadas. Muchas personas se han dado cuenta que estas leyes son similares a las leyes antiinmigrantes que Pawlenty propuso en años electorales anteriores. Un manifestante sostenía un cartel que decía “No somos peones políticos” y muchos manifestantes denunciaron el patrón electorero de ataque contra los inmigrantes cada año de elecciones.

De acuerdo a Kristen Melby de MIRAc, “Pawlenty está haciendo esto como una táctica electorera pero, aún si ninguna de estas leyes son aprobadas, tienen un efecto real en la comunidad, esto crea un clima en el que los inmigrantes son el blanco. Si no protestamos en contra de estas propuestas darán lugar a más abuso y discriminación.”

En respuesta al E-Verify, parte de la propuesta del gobernador Pawlenty, Marco Dávila miembro de MIRAc comentó, “aunque estas propuestas no han pasado, muchas compañías están tomando la iniciativa de enviar cartas de seguro social ‘no match’ a sus empleados y han empezado a despedir trabajadores. Estas compañías no tienen la obligación legal de hacerlo – están siguiendo el mal liderazgo de políticos como Pawlenty.”

Las propuestas antiinmigrantes del gobernador Pawlenty en Minnesota se asemeja a los recientes ataques en otros estados como Arizona. Desde que la reforma migratoria comprensiva falló a nivel nacional el año pasado, el gobierno ha incrementado las redadas y deportaciones alrededor del país, las cuales están aterrorizando comunidades y dividiendo familias. Mientras tanto, las fuerzas antiinmigrantes han cambiado su enfoque tratando de aprobar leyes antiinmigrantes a niveles locales y estatales para tratar de acosar y hacerle la vida lo más difícil posible a los inmigrantes.

De acuerdo a William Martínez, quien dirigió las consignas durante la protesta, “el día estaba hermoso y era visible la unidad entre la comunidad inmigrante y aquellos que la apoyan y que marcharon ese día. Había trabajadores, estudiantes, maestros y muchos más que se juntaron para luchar en contra de los fuertes ataques antiinmigrantes del gobernador. Utilizaremos esta unidad para organizar una poderosa marcha el 1ro. de mayo. Continúa la lucha por los derechos de los inmigrantes en Minnesota y por la completa legalización e igualdad para todos los inmigrantes.”

#MinneapolisMN #News #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc #TimPawlenty

Minneapolis, MN – More than 300 immigrants and immigrant rights supporters marched on Lake Street through the heart of the Latino community, Feb. 16. The people filled the streets with chants of, “Si se puede!” (Yes we can!) and, “Pawlenty, escucha, estamos en la lucha!” (Pawlenty, listen, we are in the struggle!).

The march was organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition (MIRAc) in response to anti-immigrant laws recently proposed by Governor Pawlenty. The march ended with a forum at Walker Church, where the protesters learned more about the governor's anti-immigrant proposals and talked about how to defeat them.

In January Governor Pawlenty put forward five anti-immigrant proposals. He also declared four ‘executive actions’ which can take effect without legislative approval. The executive actions are for the police to be trained to enforce immigration laws (a ‘287g Agreement’); for new state employees and state contractors over $5,000 to verify their citizenship through the national E-Verify system; for a review to be done of the Minnesota’s drivers license database to look for cases of possible fraud; and for law enforcement summits to be held to train police to target supposed ‘criminal activity’ related to undocumented immigrants.

Pawlenty’s proposals that will be voted on by the legislature are to outlaw sanctuary city ordinances in Minnesota; to fine businesses $5,000 for every time they ‘knowingly’ hire undocumented immigrants; to increase penalties for ‘identity theft’; and to make new laws allegedly to target human trafficking but really targeting undocumented immigrants.

Pawlenty has not said where the funding will come from to implement his executive actions. And analysts have said it’s unlikely that the legislative proposals will pass. Many people have noted that these proposals are similar to the anti-immigrant laws Pawlenty proposed in previous election years. One protester held a sign that said, “We are not political pawns,” and many marchers denounced Gov. Pawlenty’s pattern of immigrant-bashing every election year.

According to Kristen Melby of MIRAc, “Pawlenty is doing this as an election-year tactic. But even if none of it passes it has a real effect on the community. It creates a climate where immigrants are targeted. If we don't speak out against these proposals it creates a slippery slope that just leads to more abuse and discrimination.”

Responding to the E-Verify part of Gov. Pawlenty's proposal, MIRAc member Marco Davila commented, “Even though these proposals have not passed, many companies are taking their own initiative to send out social security 'no match' letters to their employees and have begun to fire many workers. These companies have no legal obligation to do so – they are following the poor leadership of politicians like Pawlenty.”

Gov. Pawlenty's anti-immigrant proposals in Minnesota mirror similar recent attacks on immigrants in other states such as Arizona. Since comprehensive immigration reform legislation failed on the national level last year the government has increased raids and deportations around the country, which are terrorizing immigrant communities and dividing families. Meanwhile anti-immigrant forces have shifted their focus to trying to pass anti-immigrant laws on the state and local levels to try to harass and make life as difficult as possible for immigrants.

According to William Martinez, who led chants during the protest, “The day was beautiful and unity was visible among the immigrant community and supporters who marched. There were workers, students, teachers and many more that came together to struggle against the governor’s immigrant bashing. We will build on this to organize a powerful march on May 1. The struggle continues for immigrant rights in Minnesota and for full legalization and equality for all immigrants.”

#MinneapolisMN #Minneapolis #News #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc #TimPawlenty

Minneapolis, MN – On May 1 – International Workers Day – a mass march and street festival is planned here to demand immigrant and workers’ rights. The march will begin at 4:00 pm on Lake Street and 13th Avenue, in the heart of Minneapolis's Latino community. The march is initiated by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition (MIRAc), which has organized many of the immigrant rights protests in the Twin Cities since it formed in the wave of mass marches in spring 2006. (see below for posters promoting the march)

The theme of this year's Minneapolis march is “United on International Workers Day since 1886.” The demands of the march are “stop the raids and deportations,” “legalization for all,” “drivers licenses for all” and “pass the Employee Free Choice Act.”

According to MIRAc member Niger Arevalo, “We are doing outreach every day, at the Latino nightclubs, in our neighborhoods, at Latino businesses, in the Spanish language newspapers and radio, at community events, to build the biggest possible march on May 1 to demand our rights as immigrants and workers. Momentum is building.”

May 1 is celebrated as International Workers Day around the world. This year it also coincidentally marks 100 days since President Obama took office. Many immigrant rights activists have pushed for Obama to sign an executive order during his first 100 days to stop the wave of large-scale workplace immigration raids that grew exponentially under the Bush administration. These massive militarized raids terrorize whole communities while separating hundreds of families.

According to Francisco Segovia of MIRAc, “Stopping the raids and deportations is a central focus of our march this year. We call on President Obama to issue an executive order to halt the immigration raids until a just immigration reform is passed. It gave people hope when he signed an executive order to shut down the prison camp at Guantanamo. There's no good reason he can't also sign an order to stop the raids that also blatantly violate human rights and decency.”

The demand for “drivers licenses for all” corresponds to a deeply felt frustration among immigrant workers in Minnesota. Public transit is not adequate here, so most people are forced to drive to work. But since immigrants can't get a drivers license, any routine traffic stop means an impounded car or worse, and also means people driving without insurance. Some states allow immigrants to get drivers licenses. The organization Mujeres in Liderazgo (Women in Leadership) is fighting to pass a law in Minnesota to allow anyone to get a drivers license regardless of immigration status. The May Day march is taking this up as one of the central demands for immigrant workers in Minnesota this year.

The march will also demand that Congress pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would make it easier for workers to form unions. The current laws make it nearly impossible for workers to unionize. A blistering anti-union propaganda campaign funded by large corporations has caused some politicians to back off from supporting EFCA, even though the Democrats control Congress and the White House.

AFSCME Local 3800 is one of the unions supporting the May 1 protest. Local 3800 Vice President Mary Lou Middleton said, “We support the right of all workers to form unions and the struggle for full equality. Big protests on May 1 around the country will help push the politicians to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.”

The immigrant rights movement in the Twin Cities won't be resting after May 1. On May 6 MIRAc is supporting a civil disobedience action at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington. The civil disobedience protest aims to “shut down ICE” using civil disobedience tactics. Like the May 1 march, the civil disobedience action on May 6 will demand that Obama sign an executive order to stop immigration raids and deportations.

#MinneapolisMN #News #MayDay #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE #May1March

On Friday, May 1, tens of thousands marched for immigrant rights in demonstrations across the country. The marches and rallies called for legalization of the undocumented, an end to the raids and deportations and maintaining family unity. Although smaller in the number than in previous years, the marches drew a broad cross-section of the Latino communities, including many families. There were also significant numbers of trade unionists and members of Asian American communities.

Perhaps the largest single march was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where more than 20,000 people came out on May 1. The march was organized by Voces de la Frontera (Voices of the Frontier), a local immigrant rights group. In addition to a large turnout from the Latino community with Mexican and American flags, the march included union workers and students from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter carried a banner reading “Solidarity with all immigrants – No human being is illegal!”

In Los Angeles, nearly 10,000 hit the streets on May 1. Although there was not a single unified march as in other cities, each protest drew thousands of Chicanos, Mexicanos and Central Americans. There were also contingents from labor unions, Asian American communities and college campuses. There was a contingent of Salvadorans who support the leftist FMLN, whose candidate was just elected president of El Salvador. Many of the marchers had signs from the Southern California Immigration Coalition, one of the march organizers, reading, “Obama, escucha!” (Obama, listen!) that called on the president to stop the ICE raids, legalize the undocumented, oppose a guest worker program and support the right to organize.

The Chicago May 1 march drew more than 5000 despite the rain and a high level of concern about the new H1N1 flu virus. The demonstration was organized by the Centro Sin Fronteras and the March 10th Coalition and led off with a banner calling for legalization. The march included workers from the Republic Windows factory and a large contingent from Teamsters 743. Armando Robles, president of UE local 1110, representing the Republic Windows workers, said “We go out to demand not only immigration reform with full equality for all the immigrants, but we also march for the whole working class.”

In the California bay area, there were large marches in Oakland, San Francisco and San José. The protesters for immigrant rights had to brave an unusual rain, but were in high spirits. In San José, a thousand people chanted “¡Obama, escucha, estamos en la lucha! (Obama, listen, we are here to fight!), while speakers called on the president to live up to promises of immigration reform in the first year. Many of the marchers had signs reading “Crush ICE,” referring to the hated Immigration and Custom Enforcement which has been carrying out raids of workplaces and communities to deport the undocumented.

Immigrant rights marches also were held in other large cities such as New York, Washington, D.C., Miami, Houston and Denver as well as in smaller cities and towns.

In Minneapolis, hundreds took part in a march led by the Minneapolis Immigrant Rights Action Coalition. In addition to demands to stop the raids and deportations and for legalization, marchers also called for state drivers licenses to be granted to the undocumented and supported the Employee Free Choice Act or EFCA. Mary Lou Middleton, vice-president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3800 urged everyone to support the EFCA, “So that all workers are protected from exploitation by their employer.” The Minneapolis marchers were refused a permit by the city, but they fought for an endorsement from the city council and went ahead with the protest.

In addition to the marchers, thousands more watched and supported the protests. In Minneapolis, Alejandro Flores stepped out of her workplace to watch. “I’m so happy,” she said, “I’m sad that I have to be at work and can’t join. ¡Viva los inmigrantes!”

#UnitedState #News #MayDay #SouthernCaliforniaImmigrationCoalition #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc

Bloomington, MN – 30 community members were arrested here, May 6 while committing civil disobedience to shut down the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters and stop deportations for the day. The action was initiated by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action coalition (MIRAc).

An ICE official stated that the action did not disrupt any of the naturalization ceremonies, but failed to comment on whether or not the goal of stopping deportations for the day was accomplished.

According to Nick Espinosa, who participated in the civil disobedience, “Our civil disobedience protest was successful in calling attention to the ongoing crisis and tragedy of immigration raids and deportations. We got out the message that there is a simple, immediate solution: President Obama can and must sign an executive order declaring a moratorium on raids and deportations.”

U.S. Representative Keith Ellison echoed the message of the protesters: “ICE raids should come to a stop. They’re disruptive and they create fear...it’s critical that it not go off national consciousness.”

A strong community support rally that lasted from 7:00 a.m. until the final arrestee was released around 8:00 p.m. kept the participants in high spirits. However, cases of harassment and mistreatment by the Bloomington police department were reported by those arrested.

The activists were well prepped for the action, thanks to several training sessions, and were fully aware that the only information they were required to give the police was on their drivers licenses. But the police repeatedly misled those being held, claiming that that they could not be processed and released until disclosing their place of birth and social security number. An arrestee noted, “These questions were designed to identify potential undocumented immigrants to report to ICE, so we didn’t want to participate in that system.”

The Bloomington police ultimately released all of those arrested on Wednesday, even though most of the arrestees refused to give their social security numbers, effectively exposing the contradictory statements made by the police. Some were detained for nearly ten hours without food.

When questioned why they required this information, several officers implied it would be used to verify the citizenship status of those arrested. Furthermore, the officers suggested that they regularly turn over undocumented persons to ICE.

#BloomingtonMN #News #ICE #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCoalitionMIRAc #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE