Los Ángeles, CA – Gritando, “¿Qué queremos? ¡Legalización! ¿Cuándo? ¡Ahora!” un grupo de más de 200 estudiantes de la Universidad de California – Los Angeles (UCLA) se juntó con miembros de la comunidad afuera de una sala universitaria en donde Carl Braun, director ejecutivo del Cuerpo de Defensa Civil de los California Minutemen, tenía planeado hablar el 6 de febrero.

La manifestación fue organizada por miembros del capítulo UCLA del Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), la Asociación de Estudiantes Graduados de la Raza y los Estudiantes por una Sociedad Democrática (SDS), juntos con varios otros grupos estudiantiles y comunitarios. Al principio llamaron la protesta para denunciar a los vigilantes Minutemen y protestar la presencia de su líder estatal en la universidad. Cuando empezaron a difundir los anuncios de la protesta, la administración universitaria canceló la invitación a Braun, expresando preocupación sobre la seguridad – y obviamente con miedo que se repetirá el incidento que se llevó a cabo en la Universidad de Columbia el otoño pasado, en lo cual un grupo de estudiantes interrumpió una presentación por los Minutemen y últimamente los forzaron salir.

Mientras los derechistas de la universidad han atentado decir que la cancelación del evento era una violación de los derechos de los Minutemen, los manifestantes acentuaron que eso no era cuestión de ‘libertad de expresión’. Los manifestantes, quienes representaron una gran variedad de grupos participantes, fueron muy claros: No estaban denunciando un mero grupo de opinión.

“Es una violación de derechos humanos lo que están haciendo estas personas,” dijo Cynthia Flores del MEChA en la UCLA. “Si [los Minutemen] no son asesinos, yo no sé que son.” Erika Coronado, de la Asociación de Estudiantes Graduados de la Raza, describió a los Minutemen como paramilitares. “Sabemos que esta organización es el producto ignorante de una estructura del poder que desea explotar a nuestro pueblo, que beneficia de los bajos sueldos y la miseria de nuestra gente. ¿Y todavía nos deportan, y todavía separan a nuestras familias? No. No lo aceptamos. Estamos en nuestra tierra y no nos botarán de ella,” dijo Coronado.

“Utilizar el racismo para hacerla víctima a una población no es tema de discusión académica,” leyó un informe sobre el evento escrito por el capítulo UCLA de la SDS. “Como Hitler en Alemania pre-nazi, los Minutemen atentan atacar a la gente pobre nacida afuera del país, pasando la culpa por los problemas de la sociedad a unos ‘ilegales’.” Durante la protesta muchos gritaron, “Nosotros no cruzamos la frontera – ¡la frontera nos cruzó!”

El sentimiento de la protesta era uno de victoria. Los organizadores sintieron que, en organizar la protesta, ellos lograron prevenir que un hombre considerado como responsable por los muertos de cientos de trabajadores indocumentados llegara para difundir su mensaje de odio y racismo en la universidad. “Espero que estudiantes de otras escuelas mirarán lo que logramos aquí como ejemplo de resistencia,” dijo Gurujiwan Khalsa de la SDS-UCLA, “igual como nosotros fuimos inspirados por la acción de los estudiantes en la Universidad de Columbia.”

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Los Angeles, CA – Chanting, “What do we want? Legalization! When do we want it? Now!” a group of over 200 University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) students and community members gathered outside of a campus lecture hall where Carl Braun, executive director of the California Minutemen Civil Defense Corps was scheduled to speak, Feb. 6.

The rally was organized by members of UCLA’s Moviemento Estudantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) chapter, the Association of Raza Graduate Students and the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) along with a number of other student and community groups. It had originally been called to denounce the vigilante Minutemen and protest the presence of their statewide leader at the university. As news of the protest spread, the university administration – clearly fearing a repeat of the incident that took place at Columbia University last fall, where a group of students disrupted a talk by the Minutemen and ultimately forced them to leave – cancelled Braun’s invitation, citing security concerns.

While the right wing on campus has attempted to label the events of the evening as a violation of the Minutemen’s rights, the protesters emphasized that this was not an issue of ‘freedom of speech.’ Demonstrators from the whole range of participating groups were clear: They were not denouncing a mere opinion group.

“It’s a human rights violation, what these people are doing,” said Cynthia Flores of UCLA MEChA. “If [the Minutemen] aren’t assassins, I don’t know what they are.” Erika Coronado, from the Raza Graduate Student Association, described the Minutemen as paramilitaries. “We know that this organization is the ignorant byproduct of a greater power structure that seeks to exploit our people, that benefits from seeing our people earning miserias, earning crumbs. And still they deport us, and still they separate our families? No. We will not stand for that. We are on our land and we will not be kicked off,” Coronado said.

“Fascist scapegoating is not up for academic discussion,” read a statement about the event by the UCLA SDS chapter. “Like Hitler in pre-Nazi Germany, the Minutemen attempt to demonize foreign-born poor people, blaming ‘illegals’ for society’s problems.”

Between the speeches, many took up the chant of, “We didn’t cross the border – the border crossed us!”

The general mood at the rally was one of victory. Organizers felt that by organizing a protest they were able to prevent a man who is considered by many to be morally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of undocumented workers from spreading his message on their campus.

#LosAngelesCA #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #ChicanoLatino #immigrantRights #Minutemen #UCLA #MECHA

Saint Paul, MN – Over 200 immigrants’ rights supporters drove out a dozen anti-immigrant ‘Minutemen’ as they tried to rally at the Minnesota state capitol building on the Fourth of July. According to Erika Zurawski, an organizer of the pro-immigrants’ rights rally, “The racist Minutemen tried to show their faces here, and we outnumbered them twenty to one. They left after a half hour without even being able to hold a rally or press conference at the capitol, as they had planned. We were chanting ‘Minutemen go home!’ and they did! Everyone at our rally was so inspired when they decided to just drive away.”

The anti-Minutemen protest was organized by the immigrant rights coalition that built the historic April 9 and May 1 immigrants’ rights protests in Minnesota, along with other anti-racist activists. The protest was called to counter the Minutemen’s presence and also to demand legalization and full equality for all immigrants.

The Minutemen are an anti-immigrant vigilante group that does armed patrols on the U.S.-Mexico border and is building their own ‘fence’ along the border. They have organized what they are calling a “21st Century Paul Revere Ride” this summer to try to spread their anti-Latino immigrant sentiment around the whole country. They plan to visit every state capitol en route to Washington D.C.

Thousands of Latin Americans come to the U.S. to seek survival and a better life. Many are driven out of their countries by poverty created by the ‘free trade’ agreements that the U.S. government imposes. Others are fleeing countries devastated by U.S.-sponsored civil wars. According to Patrick Leet, an organizer for immigrants’ rights and Latin American solidarity, “The problem of immigration isn’t immigrants; it’s a problem of U.S. foreign policy, especially trade policy in the last few years. When two million farmers in Mexico have been pushed off their land and wages in the cities are going down, what options do people have? So people take the option people everywhere have always taken, to go elsewhere and look for a better life for one’s self and family. The approach of groups that want to stop immigrants is futile.”

The Minnesota affiliate of the Minutemen, Minnesotans Seeking Immigration Reform (MINN-SIR) hosted the attempted anti-immigrant rally, but could only muster a handful of Minnesotans to come to the capitol to join the half dozen non-Minnesota Minutemen on the national tour. MINN-SIR has organized against immigrant workers in greater Minnesota, where many immigrants work in factories and in seasonal farm work.

While the Minutemen are a small group, their border militias and their fence building have pushed the national immigration debate to the right. President Bush referenced the Minutemen in his speech announcing that he would order 6,000 National Guard troops to further militarize the U.S.-Mexico border.

The pro-immigrants’ rights protesters in Saint Paul were a diverse group. There were many immigrants at the protest, but the majority of people were from Minnesota. According to immigrants’ rights organizer Francisco Segovia, “Minnesotans have a core value of being an inclusive society. And this core value is going to be against what these [anti-immigrant] people are about. It’s not just about defending immigrants; it’s about standing up for what you believe, rejecting racist ideas of exclusion. And that’s what I felt happened. Obviously the Minnesotans that came to the event understand the immigration issue and that we’re an essential part of this economy and society. But it was important that Minnesotans stood up for what they see as the core values of this society.”

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As the 30 members and supporters of the caravan from the Minutemen Project gathered on a sidewalk alongside of Highpoint Road, over 80 workers, students and youth rallied on the other side to let them know they are not welcome in North Carolina. The Minutemen were unable to get a permit to hold a rally downtown. Anti-minutemen protesters held signs and chanted, “No racists, no borders, no Minutemen supporters!” and, “Hey Minutemen what do you say, how many immigrants did you kill today?” as the Minutemen yelled, “Go back to Europe!” and waved American flags. When a young teacher from the Greensboro area yelled, “Hey, how many of you are in the [Ku Klux] Klan?” to the pro-Minutemen rally, it is noteworthy that at least four individuals on the other side of the street brazenly raised their hands.

The rally lasted about an hour, culminating in a confrontation between anti-Minutemen demonstrators and Minutemen supporters who had parked their cars in the lot where the pro-immigrants’ rights demonstrators were rallied. The police broke up this brief confrontation, but it was clear to all that the immigrants’ rights struggle will not be without its sharp battles.

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