Phoenix, AZ – For many striking concessions workers, this is the first Thanksgiving they are not working. At Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, HMS Host hospitality is the biggest concessions service, with hundreds of workers. Those workers are fed up with four years of failure from HMS to agree to a decent contract. Four days into their indefinite strike, Unite Here Local 11 HMS Host workers are fighting for a contract that includes raises, affordable health insurance, an employer-paid pension, protection for workers' tips, and strong contract language for equal opportunity and protection from discrimination.

It should come as no surprise that these issues drove a 97% yes vote in favor of striking and to start their strike during one of the busiest travel weeks in the U.S., when corporations reap major profits.

The cooks, dishwashers, baristas, servers and bartenders on strike have severely impacted Terminals 3 and 4 at the airport. As with many airport workers throughout the country, they are predominantly from oppressed nationalities. “This company is not respecting us and not respecting our union,” said Lucia Salinas. “I don’t make enough to pay my insurance. I deserve a pension. This company has been denying everything.”

HMS operates all the Starbucks at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and the union workers know they’re being underpaid. “They're proposing my base rate to be $14 per hour, so I'm not even making what the same barista at a streetside location is making,” Victoria Stahl, UNITE HERE Local 11 member and a Starbucks barista at the airport.

#PhoenixAZ #PeoplesStruggles #strike #Strikes

Phoenix, AZ – The historic statewide educator walkout entered its third day Monday, April 30. Tens of thousands filled the capitol once again in order to talk with legislators and pressure Governor Ducey to fully fund public schools.

Last Friday, Ducey said he had a deal after a special session with a few Republican legislators. But the #RedForEd movement was suspicious and rejected his proposal based on rosy projections and “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

After Thursday’s monumental public demonstration of support with nearly 75,000 people at the capitol, Republicans shut down the Senate and left for the weekend. Where did they go? Many in the movement suspect they flew to Grand Rapids, Michigan for the ALEC Spring Summit. It is believed that many Arizona legislators who are ALEC members attended in order strategize how to defeat the walkout and #RedForEd.

Monday also saw the arrival of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten and other national union presidents.

The capitol area is surrounded by educators under tents prepared for a long day and night in order to keep vigilant watch over how the legislature discusses and votes on funding. There is no apparent mood to end the walkout at this time.

#PhoenixAZ #PeoplesStruggles #Teamsters #teachers #strike #Arizona #TeachersUnions

Phoenix, AZ – A red tidal wave is washing over downtown Phoenix, April 26, as the #RedForEd movement takes its demands to Governor Ducey and the Republican-dominated legislature. A week ago, 78% of the 57,000 educators who voted chose to walk out as a response to the lack of a realistic proposal from Ducey. His proposal, what he called last night his “final offer” uses a lot of unverified projections and moving monies from important programs such as health care and funds for the disabled and veterans.

Dubbed “DoubleTalk Ducey,” educators do not trust him, as he says there’s an economic boom in the state and that there’s money to meet the teachers’ demand of a 20% raise. These are contradictory statements because Arizona lawmakers have approved huge corporate tax cuts for years. For example, from 2016 to 2017, state revenue increased yet corporate income tax dropped $200 million. Moreover, the tax exemption loopholes in the state allow for an annual $14 billion in corporate profit. That amount is roughly the size of state revenue.

It is clear that education workers in Arizona are fed up with the extremely low pay and the criminal denial of funds to public schools. Behind all of this are the enemies of the labor movement, unions and public institutions: the Koch brothers, ALEC, and the DeVos agenda to crush public sector unions, slash corporate taxes and privatize education.

A decision will be made very soon as to whether or not the walk out will continue in the face of Republican betrayal of Arizona students and educators.

#PhoenixAZ #PeoplesStruggles #teachers #strike #Arizona #TeachersUnions

Phoenix, AZ – Thousands have gathered in downtown Phoenix to protest the presence of xenophobic President Trump. Led by the immigrant rights organization Puente, organizations have poured into the capital to refuse Trump’s pardon of the notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio is infamous for his enthusiastic and vicious implementation of Arizona’s racist, anti-immigrant SB1070. Recently, Arpaio was found guilty of contempt of court by a federal judge and faces up to six months in prison – unless he receives a pardon from Trump.

While Arpaio’s loss in a re-election campaign last fall was a people's victory, many are concerned he will avoid justice by being pardoned. He was a vocal opponent of undocumented workers and their families and maliciously treated ICE detainees by housing them in tents in over 100-degree heat. Arpaio used pink uniforms and vegetarian meals to attempt to degrade and humiliate the largely Mexican and Central American immigrants.

More updates coming soon as the event develops.

#PhoenixAZ #Puente #DonaldTrump

Immediately, CCA and federal agents from ICE retaliated by leaving the hunger strikers in the hot sun with temperatures over 100 degrees for six hours without water.

Protesters outside the facility called Emergency Services to prevent dehydration and heat stroke. They arrived four hours into the hunger strike and CCA denied them access to the strikers. CCA and ICE have also threatened the strikers with three months solitary confinement for their participation.

Puente, a Phoenix based immigrant rights organization are calling a press conference and protest at the ICE office here in Phoenix on the morning of June 15. Puente is promoting the demands of the 200 hunger strikers for:

1. Independent investigation into the two recent deaths and the ongoing use of excessive force by guards.
2. Improved conditions, including adequate medical and mental health care.
3. Access to legal resources and court hearings when requested.
4. An end to the exploitation of detainees’ work.
5. No more criminalization, detention, and deportations.

#PhoenixAZ #ImmigrantRights #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Puente #EloyDetentionCenter #CorrectionsCorporationOfAmericaCCA

Phoenix, AZ – Governor Jan Brewer delivered her business-as-usual State of the State address here on Jan. 13. Outside the capitol building, a crowd of nearly 100 students and community activists protested the “State of Hate” created by Arizona Republicans. Led by Citizens for a Better Arizona, a coalition of groups rallied, including Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) of Tucson.

The demonstration countered Governor Brewer’s right-wing agenda. The people’s rally held the Governor accountable for the neglect of over 6000 uninvestigated Child Protective Services abuse cases, protested the bigoted lawsuit of Attorney General Tom Horne against in-state tuition for undocumented students at Maricopa Community College, and called for an end to Governor Brewer’s ban on access to driver’s licenses for undocumented students – the Dreamers.

Students carried signs such as “Let Dreamers learn – education is a right!” SDS of Tucson challenged Attorney General Tom Horne’s threats of lawsuits against Arizona community colleges that offer tuition equity. Currently, undocumented students who grow up in Arizona and attend high school there are required to pay out-of-state tuition. This forces many to drop out and take low-paying jobs.

Ed Tolentino explained, “Tucson SDS really prepared to be a part of this action because of our commitment to equal access to education as a human right. The struggle for tuition equity is above all a struggle for equal educational opportunity for both documented and undocumented students, who, regardless of citizenship status, are humans. We hope to take this first action in demanding tuition equity in the direction of a larger student movement in which SDS can play an important role in fighting for equality on and off campus.”

Leaders held high an “Arizona GOP hate-meter”, detailing the Republican policies and Arizona laws that target Chicanos, Mexicanos, American Indians and others for repression. Arizona Republicans passed the infamous law known as SB-1070 that forced police to racially profile people based on “reasonable suspicion”. While the courts struck down most of SB-1070, the idea that some people and not others are “suspicious of looking illegal” was upheld. There is also the racist Sheriff Arpaio and his policy of raiding undocumented families in order to meet quotas for deportation and for-profit detention centers. Republicans continue to deny driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, despite the fact it harms everyone who drives or has auto insurance. In Arizona, national oppression of Chicanos is a major part of the Republican agenda.

After speeches, protesters burned driver’s licenses in solidarity with undocumented immigrants. Other protesters blocked the entrances and exits of the capitol, before deciding to pay a visit the governor’s office at the neighboring executive office building. Police attempted to deny access to Governor Brewer’s office, so a tense standoff developed. After a sharp verbal exchange, demonstrators surged passed the police to the elevators and rode up to the executive floor. State police were preparing to arrest them on the eighth floor, but protesters cleverly refused to exit the elevators and threw their stuffed animals – representing Arizona’s neglect of children and their education – at the feet of the arresting officers. The chants of “Stop the hate!” echoed through the capitol. State police, under the careful watch of Governor Brewer’s aides, took Elmo and his other furry friends into custody.

Tolentino, an organizer of the action said, “This protest proves the power of community and campus organizing. We hope that in the coming months an awakened Arizona rises to challenge the Republicans’ vicious attacks on the justice and dignity of its people.”

Organizers are claiming a victory in the wake of their protest. Governor Brewer announced in her speech that she was moving Child Protective Services out from under the authority of Department of Economic Security and giving it a stand-alone cabinet level position. The struggle for licenses and preserving tuition equity continues.

#PhoenixAZ #PeoplesStruggles #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #driversLicence #JanBrewer #Antiracism #TuitionEquity #CitizensForABetterArizona #TucsonSDS

PHOENIX, AZ – At midnight on May 31, Emilio Hernandez heard a knock on the front door. With the rest of his family sound asleep, he walked to the door and opened it. He couldn’t believe what he saw. There standing in the doorway was his wife, Bertha Hernandez.

Bertha Hernandez was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and held in Eloy Detention Center since November 2012. A large protest took place in Phoenix on May 29 demanding that ICE release her.

“When my dad answered the door, he started freaking out,” said Jennifer Hernandez, Bertha’s 16-year-old daughter. “I woke up because I thought something bad had happened, but when I ran over to the door, it was my Mom! I ran and hugged her, and I kept saying, ‘Is this real? Is this real?’”

ICE took Hernandez, a mother of five children, into custody in November 2012 at the Arizona-California state border for being undocumented, despite her having no criminal record during her 16-year residency in the U.S.. “The day I saw her get arrested, I didn’t cry,” said Jennifer Hernandez. “I was just in shock.”

Hernandez emigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador in 1997, seeking political asylum. The state of Arizona has no political asylum case manager, leaving Hernandez unable to obtain necessary documentation. All five of her children, including Jennifer, are U.S. citizens.

In an exclusive interview with Fight Back! News, Jennifer Hernandez described her family’s struggle in the nearly seven months in which her mother was detained. “It was hard not seeing her in the morning or at night. It’s been almost seven months, and it just so hard. You want to just say ‘I love you,’ and you can’t.” She talked of times when her five-year-old sister, who understood what happened to Bertha, wanted to be with her mom. “I would just say ‘I know’ and we would cry.”

The Hernandez family tried consulting lawyers about Bertha’s case, but they received very little help. “No lawyers wanted to take her case,” said Jennifer. “They said it was almost impossible to get her out. And that is devastating to hear.”

Organizers from Puente, a grassroots immigrant rights organization, met Jennifer Hernandez at Carl Hayden High School. Bertha Hernandez’s case struck a chord with Chicanos, Central Americans and Mexicans in the Phoenix area. Phoenix is located in Maricopa County, where the infamously racist sheriff Joe Arpaio abuses immigrants.

On May 29, organizers with Puente joined up with the Hernandez family to hold a massive march on the ICE office in Phoenix. More than 120 people marched in the protest, demanding Bertha’s release and an end to the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants.

The rally drew widespread community support from students, teachers, parents, and activists in the Phoenix area. Phoenix Union High School District Superintendent Kent P. Scribner and Carl Hayden High School approved of the protest organized by their students and the children of Bertha Hernandez.

“So many people wanted to help my mom,” said Jennifer about the rally. “It was crazy because I didn’t think that this many people would care about my mother and her case. People gave her so much importance, even people who didn’t even know her. We did the march, and when I saw how many people united, it was a lot.”

Bertha Hernandez saw the protest on a TV inside Eloy when a local television statement ran a segment on it in the news. In an interview with Fight Back!, Hernandez described her reaction to the protest, saying, “I was crying because I was worried for my children, for Jennifer. But everyone detained in Eloy said to me, ‘don’t cry.’ Everybody believed in me reuniting with my family and winning this victory.”

Immediately after the protest, ICE agents called Bertha Hernandez into their office to review her file. Facing enormous community pressure, they released her from Eloy less than a day after the rally.

“The ICE agents didn’t say much,” said Bertha. “They only said, ‘You’re going home now.’ I was crying and crying, saying ‘I don’t believe it.’” She continued, “But when they said, ‘You are going home now to the bus station in Phoenix,’ I said, ‘Okay, I believe it now.’”

ICE released Bertha Hernandez late at night on May 30, dropping her off at the bus station in downtown Phoenix. ICE did not contact the Hernandez’s family. Hernandez figured out how to return home, knocked on the door and surprised her anxious family, who had marched just two days earlier demanding her release.

Speaking to the release of Hernandez, Beto Soto, organizer with Puente and a leader of the march, said, “The almost-instant response by ICE towards the case of Bertha lays out the power of students organizing for family reunification in America. It shows ICE has no plan to fix the immigration system. What we need is legalization for all.”

When asked how she feels about the victory, Bertha Hernandez said, “I am excited, very happy. I don’t believe it because everything feels very, very different.”

This people’s victory in Phoenix comes at the end of a national week of action by immigrant rights groups around the U.S., which demands “Legalization for all.” The countrywide events targeted ICE offices, detention centers, legislators involved in drafting Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR), and other politicians.

Drawing lessons from this victory, Soto said, “The biggest lessons in American history have been taught by working and oppressed people, and now the students in Maricopa County will be leading a struggle for family reunification and the inalienable, self-evident right to go to school without fear. And in this case, ICE learned a powerful lesson from the students.”

#PhoenixArizona #PhoenixAZ #ICE #Arizona #BerthaHernandez

Phoenix, AZ – Thunderous voices of more than 120 people echoed through Phoenix on May 29 as protesters marched to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, demanding the release of Bertha Hernandez and an end to deportations of undocumented immigrants. Students, counselors and teachers from Carl Hayden High School joined immigrant rights activists in the streets to protest the detention of Hernandez and other immigrants.

ICE agents stopped Hernandez, a mother of five, at the Arizona-California border in November 2012. Though Hernandez lived in the U.S. for more than 16 years – raising five children, all whom are U.S. citizens – ICE took her into custody and placed her in Eloy Detention Center. The for-profit Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) runs Eloy. Hernandez has no criminal record. She immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador seeking political asylum. She currently faces deportation, which will effectively break up her long-established family.

Organizer Beto Soto of Puente, a grassroots organization of immigrant rights activists, said in an interview about the case, “Jennifer’s mother has been held in Eloy Detention Center since November. Given that she applied for asylum in the U.S., and given Arizona does not have an asylum case manager, her case has yet to be heard from an expert.” Soto called this “an injustice, in no uncertain terms.”

Puente linked up with the Hernandez family to organize the rally, demanding Hernandez’s release from Eloy Detention Center and an end to the deportations. Hernandez’s case drew widespread community support from Chicanos, Central Americans and Mexicans in Maricopa County. Importantly for students and parents, Phoenix Union High School District Superintendent Kent P. Scribner and Carl Hayden High School approved of the protest organized by their students and the children of Bertha Hernandez.

The rally began mid-morning in Steele Indian School Park, where protesters gathered to hear about Hernandez’s case. Speakers outlined the day’s plan and then protesters marched off to the ICE office in Phoenix to voice their demands directly to the officials responsible for Hernandez’s detention. Chanting “No more deportations!”, protesters congregated outside the building to hear testimony and speeches from Hernandez’s family and others who face racist repression.

In front of the crowd, Jennifer Hernandez, Bertha’s daughter and a student at Carl Hayden High School, demanded, “Release my mom! She did not commit any crime.” She gave a powerful speech about the impact of her mother’s detention and the stress caused to the family by not knowing if she will be deported. Hernandez also spoke about the breakup of hundreds of thousands of families, “We need to stop deportation in general.”

ICE officials refused to meet with the protesters regarding Hernandez’s case.

Since the 2010 passage of Arizona’s SB 1070, which allows law enforcement to practice blatant racial profiling, Arizona remains a major battleground in the struggle for immigrant rights. The notorious Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, facing a recall campaign, was found guilty of racial profiling by a U.S. Federal District Judge on May 24. Arpaio’s abusive and racist reputation as the most anti-immigrant sheriff in the U.S. leads to the detention and deportation of people like Hernandez. However, there is a strong and growing fightback movement in Arizona and nationally, aiming to defeat Arpaio, ICE and deportations.

“The systematic attacks on families in Maricopa County are being met with the organizing efforts of students, teachers and parents,” said Soto. “Deportations affect the academic lives of students, our Chicano and Latino communities and the future of Arizona.”

All over the U.S. this week, immigrant rights activists raised the demand, “Stop the deportations! Legalization for all!” by taking direct action. “Cases like Hernandez’s highlight the need for a truly comprehensive immigration reform that provides legalization for all undocumented people,” said Soto.

Puente and other immigrant rights groups plan for further action to stop the deportation of Bertha Hernandez. On June 14, Puente and Hernandez’s family will attend Sheriff Arpaio’s hearing on the federal court ruling and demand his immediate resignation.

#PhoenixAZ #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE #Arizona #immigrationRights #legalizationForAll #BerthaHernandez #Puente

Phoenix, AZ – Over 500 activists and community members gathered here on the morning of July 29 to protest SB1070 on the day the law was going into effect. The law has lost some of its teeth due to pressure from the immigrant rights movement, which resulted in the long overdue federal injunction. On July 28, a judge struck down the part of the law that required all Arizonans to carry their proof of legal status constantly, as well as the part that legalized and mandated racial profiling, declaring these parts unconstitutional. However, most of the law remains intact, including the parts that criminalize day laborers and target families with mixed immigration status.

Chis Newman, an immigrant rights lawyer, rallied the activists July 28, in a meeting just before the protest saying, “This struggle did not begin with SB1070 and it will not end with it. SB1070 is a manifestation of the racist cancer that is affecting our Latino communities.” This means that the struggle for Chicanos and immigrants in this country is far from over.

Protesters rallied in front of the office of Sheriff Arpaio, one of the main figureheads of the racist, anti-immigrant movement. Not only does Arpaio wrench thousands of families apart with his excessive raids and deportations, he also commits human rights violations with his humiliating treatment of undocumented prisoners. An estimated 20 activists were arrested in the street, including members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), heroic local community organizers from Puente Arizona and others, as supporters chanted, “Arrest Arpaio” and “Down with 1070! We will not comply!”

Later, protesters blockaded the county jail, forcing sheriff department deputies to remain inside for over an hour. As a result of this blockade, Sheriff Arpaio was forced to cancel his raids and deportations for today. The July 29 demonstrations were a victory for the oppressed peoples of Phoenix and the rallies will continue across Arizona and the nation.

Grace Kelley is a member of University of Minnesota Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

#PhoenixAZ #SheriffJoeArpaio #civilDisobedience #Arizona #SB1070

Phoenix, AZ – Tensions build as July 29 nears – the date set for the racist law SB1070 to go into effect. Under this law police officers will have the power to demand immigration papers from any person who they stop. Garage sales have already begun lining the streets of Arizona as families flee trying to escape the impending oppression.

As the tension has mounted, so has the struggle for human rights. Activists from all over the nation are descending on Phoenix to organize against this law, joining grassroots organizations in Arizona. Already, on July 22, 16 people were arrested for blocking an intersection in an act of defiance saying, “We will not comply!”

In the 90-degree heat of the evening, over 100 community organizers sat outside gearing up for the huge events this Thursday, July 29. The actions will begin at 8:00 a.m. with a march to the courthouse. Later in the day activists plan to confront Sheriff Arpaio and rally outside the county jail. “After this Thursday, we won’t even be allowed to be on the sidewalks to find work,” said Karlos, an activist with PUENTE. Asked why he fighting back, Karlos replied, “They just want to scoop us up and throw us out, but we won’t let them.”

A somber testimony from a pair of Guatemalan day laborers at the meeting highlighted the urgent need for legalization and reform.

One of the workers spoke about how his cousin (also a day laborer), was picked up for a job one day. “I never saw him alive again,” the man confided. He had fallen to his death from a palm tree where he had been working. The employer disappeared without a trace and with no way to be held accountable by the law. “Now we just need $500 to send him home.” The activists at the meeting rallied and in an act of solidarity raised over $1000 passing around a baseball cap.

It is this kind of unity that will win the struggle for immigrant rights. These communities refuse to be silenced or bullied into submission. The meeting ended with people stating why they organized, one older Latino man shouted from the crowd, “Because we are not animals!” Copycat laws are starting to encroach on other states. Now is the time to get involved and help in the fight for full legalization!

#PhoenixAZ #ChicanoLatino #deportations #Arizona #SB1070