Aurora, CO – On Saturday, August 29, 70 community members and activists gathered at Del Mar Park in Aurora, Colorado for the anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium and to oppose deportations. The event commemorated the anniversary of the original Chicano Moratorium in 1970. This anniversary, observed yearly by communities across the country, is also known as Chicano Liberation Day.

On August 29, 1970, 30,000 Chicanos mobilized in East Los Angeles to protest the Vietnam War and the disproportionate rate at which Chicanos were being drafted by the U.S. military and killed. The Moratorium was the culmination of a year’s worth of marches and rallies building up to the mobilization. Led by a broad movement of Chicano anti-war activists organized in the National Chicano Moratorium Committee, the organizers of the march included the Brown Berets and student activists.

The day of the Moratorium, the LAPD arrested hundreds of activists and murdered three people. Police murdered two Brown Berets, Lynn Ward and Angel Díaz. Police also murdered LA Times journalist Ruben Salazar, who was known for his fearless reporting on civil rights and police brutality.

Now, 56 years later, community members gathered at Del Mar Park to demand “Legalization for all!” and an end to deportations. About a half dozen vendors set up canopies and tables displaying apparel and artwork. The crowd watched as Kalpulli Yohualli Ehecatl, a local indigenous dance group, performed Danza Mexika. Many participated by facing the four cardinal directions in turn with the dancers, and many children joined in. Several organizations tabled, including FRSO, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and Denver Aurora Community Action Committee (DACAC).

Gizell Garcia Palacio from SDS spoke to the crowd, “the U.S. government only wants Chicanos here when it becomes convenient for them.” Palacio asserted that the U.S. is now scared because “they know that we have power.”

Another speaker, Alex Riedle from Aurora Unidos CSO demanded that, “all individuals are allowed to live our lives without fear of political repression and persecution regardless of our citizenship status.”

The Chicano Moratorium at Del Mar Park was the first in the Denver metro area to be hosted in Aurora, which has a sizable Chicano and immigrant population. Immigrants make up over 20% of the population of Aurora.

Organizers with Aurora Unidos CSO foresee this year’s Moratorium as the first of many. They envision the Chicano Moratorium contributing to organizing the Chicano community in the city.

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Aurora, CO – On the morning of December 22, Jeanette Vizguerra, an immigrant rights activist detained by ICE in March of this year, was released on bond from the GEO ICE detention facility in Aurora.

In the evening of December 21, the American Friends Service Committee announced that Vizguerra had finally won release with a $5000 bond after a nine-month detention.

Vizguerra was abducted by ICE from her workplace on March 17 without warning. Throughout her imprisonment at the GEO detention facility, she faced constant threats of deportation without a valid order.

Vizguerra, known as a local community organizer, but also recognized nationally for her work as an advocate for immigrant rights and sanctuary, was notably named one of Time magazine's “100 Most Influential People” in 2017. She is a staple at protests and local events.

In the past nine months, the communities of Denver and Aurora organized weekly vigils every Monday evening outside the GEO facility. At least a dozen protests were organized in both cities against the detention of Vizguerra and other community members, at which several of her family members spoke. Organizations like Aurora Unidos CSO, Shoes Off Collective, American Friends Service Committee, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, and the ACLU consistently supported and gave updates on Vizguerra’s legal struggle and the horrid conditions inside the Aurora GEO detention facility.

In the afternoon after Vizguerra’s release, community members and organizations gathered outside the Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse in Denver to celebrate the victory.

#AuroraCO #CO #ImmigrantRights #ICE #AuroraUnidosCSO #COIRC #Feature