Minneapolis, MN – President Trump refused to honor the budget agreement made by Democrats and Republicans, demanding funding of his border wall as a part of the Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a potential candidate for president in 2020, had suggested that she is willing to negotiate a deal with Trump to provide funds for a border wall. Fifty people rallied against any deal for funding a border wall at Senator Klobuchar's office on December 20. The protest was co-initiated by Minnesota Caravan Solidarity and the Anti-War Committee.

Autumn Lake, a member of the Anti-War Committee, opened the rally program, “We are also here to take a stand against Senator Amy Klobuchar's willingness to capitulate to the Trump administration's demand for funding for the proposed wall at the Mexican border. As the Trump administration continues its attacks on the most vulnerable groups among us, it is as important as ever for Minnesotans to stand up for our migrant brothers and sisters. Senator Klobuchar, however, projects herself as someone who is open to ‘compromise,’ and as someone seeking ‘sensible immigration reforms’ – reforms that inevitably lead to increased border militarization and the continued criminalization of migrants. Make no mistake, ‘sensible immigration reforms’ means funding for detention facilities where children are detained and have died, funding for the ICE agents that terrorize and racially profile innocent Latino populations already within U.S. borders, and funding for the militarized aggression against innocent asylum seekers.”

Lake continued, “This militarism is not limited to U.S. foreign policy, however. The deployment of military units to the U.S.-Mexico border continues to pose a genuine threat to the refugees currently attempting to gain asylum. Despite claims of a drawdown of forces, as many as 4000 active duty troops will remain deployed at the border, their deployment having been extended to January 31. Roughly 2300 National Guard troops are scheduled to remain at the border until September 2019. Per an order signed by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, these troops are authorized to use lethal force during these deployments.”

The other speakers included Victor Ramirez Juarez, an activist with the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, and Dave Logsdon, who spoke representing Minnesota Caravan Solidarity and is the president of Veterans for Peace Chapter 27.

On December 22, the U.S. federal government began its partial government shutdown. Immigrant rights and anti-war activists see the lack of Trump’s border wall funding in the final package as a victory.

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In solidarity, Father Jose Sigfredo Landaverde joins this hunger strike supporting these women and all migrants.

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San Ysidro, CA – U.S. Border Patrol agents fired tear gas and rubber bullets into Mexico in response to a march organized by refugees, including many women and children, seeking asylum. The march had remained peaceful until Mexican authorities forced the refugees marching into a canal separating San Diego and Tijuana, according to the American Friends Service Committee. It was then that Border Patrol agents fired tear gas, flash bangs and rubber bullets into the crowd. One young girl is reportedly in critical condition after being “struck with tear gas” according to the Movimiento Cosecha. The world's busiest border crossing was subsequently closed on both sides.

The refugees are part of the larger refugee caravan of about 5000, made up of people fleeing Central American countries. The United States has backed right-wing coups and militant repression of workers’ movements over many years in these countries, leading to a mass exodus of people seeking to escape the escalating violence.

Rather than allow refugees to apply for asylum, particularly given the role the United States played in the declining conditions of their home nations, the Trump administration has instead dubbed this an “invasion,” and deployed military troops to the border. The U.S.-Mexico border has become increasingly militarized over the past 20 years and even more so in the last several months.

In response to this increasing militarization, a coalition of local San Diego and Los Angeles political organizations and immigrants' rights groups organized a march in solidarity with the refugee caravan. More than 500 people came to show support, chanting slogans like “Somos un pueblo sin fronteras” (we are one city without borders), “No borders, no nations, stop the deportations,” and “From Palestine to Mexico, these border walls have got to go.” The march began around 10 a.m. in San Ysidro on the U.S. side of the border, several hours before attack on the caravan.

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Organizers are planning for a robust turnout in solidarity with the caravan. The rally will start at 5:15 p.m. in front of the Minneapolis Federal Building at 4th Street and 4th Avenue. Afterwards, organizers will lead a march towards Wells Fargo to highlight the complicity of the banking industry in supporting for-profit detention centers across the U.S.

The statement issued by protest organizers says, “U.S. foreign policy created many of the economic and political crises that our brothers and sisters from Honduras and Central America are desperate to escape and now fleeing from. Migration has been taking place throughout human history, and the migrants now coming to the United States are seeking a better life for their families. We reject Trump’s vilification of immigrants as dangerous rapists and murderers. We want all migrants to know that we welcome them with open arms to our community. We call on Minnesotans to say ‘Refugees are welcome here! No troops at the border! No human being is illegal!’”

The rally was initiated by the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee and a new coalition, Minnesota Caravan Solidarity. Over a dozen local organizations, now including Anti-War Committee, Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, COPAL MN, Haiti Justice Committee of Minnesota, Immigrant Movement for Justice, Minnesota Cuba Committee, Minnesota Hands Off Honduras, Minnesota Peace Action, Morena Minnesota, Puerto Ricans in Minnesota Committee, Women Against Military Madness, and Women’s March Minnesota.

FFI: https://www.facebook.com/events/171433553807406/

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