Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. Orellana has been released from jail and the NAARPR is working to support his defense.

Statement Demanding the Release of Alejandro Orellana

On June 12th, FBI agents arrested Alejandro Orellana, a member of Centro CSO, a branch of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression based in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, for providing aid to the community being tear-gassed. Orellana’s arrest comes the same day Senator Alex Padilla was violently assaulted at a Homeland Security press conference. We condemn Orellana’s arrest as a clear example of racist and political repression. After immense community pressure led by the Centro CSO, Orellana was released the following day! The power of the people are driving ICE back and freeing people like Orellano, and it will be the power of the people that get Orellano’s charges dropped!

Los Angeles, CA – On Friday, June 13, Alejandro Orellana, an immigrant rights activist who was arrested by the FBI, was freed from federal custody.

The previous morning the FBI, with the support of the National Guard and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, raided Orellana’s home in East Los Angeles and arrested Alejandro, a longtime member of Centro CSO, on charges of “conspiracy to commit criminal disorders.”

In a packed courtroom with family, supporters, and Centro CSO members, Orellana stood strong against the ridiculous charges. The U.S. Attorney tried to have the judge order Orellana to stay away from downtown LA but that order was rejected.

Los Angeles, CA – On June 11, over 100 Chicanos gathered at Salazar Park for a news conference and rally to denounce the violent ICE kidnapping of a father of two in Boyle Heights. At 10:15 on the morning of June 11, a vehicle with a mother, father, infant and toddler traveling on Whittier Boulevard was pinned between two ICE vehicles. The father’s vehicle was tear gassed, and the father was kidnapped by agents, leaving the totaled car on Whittier.

Members of Centro CSO, an organization that fights for immigrant rights in Boyle Heights and East LA, were at the scene while the confrontation unfolded and demanded ICE show the warrant and identify themselves – which the agents laughed at and refused. The man is being charged with assault on a federal agent, but DHS has yet to provide evidence.

Los Angeles, CA — On the morning of June 12, in East Los Angeles, the FBI, National Guard, and LA Sheriff’s Department cornered off the street where immigrant rights activist Alejandro Orellana lives. Neighbors came out of their homes, concerned they were witnessing another ICE raid. FBI agents forcibly entered Orellana’s home, overturned all of his belongings, seized his electronic property, and then escorted Orellana handcuffed into one of their vehicles.

Los Angeles, CA – On Monday, June 9, Centro CSO held a press conference to call out and denounce the violence that protesters met with when they marched to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.

At that June 8, protest, tear gas was fired without warning or provocation into a crowd of children in strollers and infants in carriers. Babies cried and choked as CSO called on the crowd to march back to Boyle Heights.

Boyle Heights, CA – 400 people gathered at Mariachi Plaza on June 8, for a protest called by Centro CSO against recent ICE raids in Los Angeles. Other demands included legalization for all, ICE out of our barrios, no Metro collaboration with ICE, ICE out of immigration courts, and free those detained in the basement of the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Los Angeles, CA – Chicanos and supporters have been gathering at the Metropolitan Detention Center since yesterday evening, June 7, when the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents and other law enforcement personnel, started flash bombing and tear gassing protesters.

Los Ángeles, CA – On Friday, June 6, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided multiple locations in Los Angeles, triggering rapid response from communities and a spontaneous protest in downtown Los Angeles.

ICE operations carried out coordinated raids throughout the morning and afternoon, including two confirmed Home Depot parking lots and what’s known as LA’s Fashion District downtown. FBI agents were assisting in ICE operations and people were detained without warrants. It is still unconfirmed how many people were detained.

Los Angeles, CA – On the morning of Tuesday, June 3, the Community Self Defense Coalition was alerted that there might be U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence at Mariachi Plaza. Two members of Centro CSO were able to confirm eight agents resembling the fatigue attire of Homeland Security patrolling the upstairs and downstairs of the METRO line at Mariachi Plaza.

After confirming, CSO immediately released a call to all available community members and CSO members to rush to Mariachi Plaza for an emergency protest. About a dozen people arrived at Mariachi Plaza shortly after the agents left the scene. CSO was joined by business owners of Espacio 1839, the Chamber of Commerce and were supported by various businesses along 1st Street.

Los Angeles, CA, – On Sunday May 25, over 35 protesters gathered in front of the East LA sheriff's department. May 25 marked the five-year anniversary of George Floyed’s murder by Minneapolis Police Department killer cop Derek Chauvin. Protesters demanded “No Derek Chauvin pardon!” and “Legalization for all.”

Centro CSO (Community Service Organization) organized the protest. Activists held signs reading “Jail killer cops” and “Boot the Banditos.”

Los Angeles, CA – For the 10th consecutive year, hundreds of workers, students and activists joined Centro CSO for its May Day in Boyle Heights march and rally. For this year’s event, CSO raised two main demands: “Legalization 4 All” and “No to Deportations” as part of the movement against Trump’s attacks on immigrants.

After a spirited rally at the historic Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights, protesters marched to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison where immigrants are incarcerated.

Los Ángeles, CA — Más de 150 activistas, tanto veteranos como nuevos organizadores de todo EE.UU., se reunieron el fin de semana del 12 y 13 de abril en una exitosa cumbre para luchar contra las deportaciones. La Cumbre de Emergencia del Suroeste Contra las Deportaciones se convocó para unir a diversas fuerzas para luchar contra las políticas antiinmigrantes de la administración de Trump. La mayoría de los asistentes eran del suroeste de EE.UU., históricamente el hogar de la mayoría de los chicanos y mexicanos, y de un número creciente de centroamericanos.

Los Angeles, CA — More than 150 activists, both veterans and even more new organizers from all over the U.S. gathered the weekend of April 12-13, in a successful summit to fight deportations. The Emergency Southwest Summit Against Deportations was called to try to bring together a broad range of forces to fight the anti-immigrant policies of the Trump administration. Most of those who came were from the southwest United States, historically the home of most Chicanos and Mexicanos and a growing number of Central Americans.

Carlos Montes es un líder reconocido a nivel nacional en el movimiento chicano, de derechos de los migrantes y en la lucha contra la guerra. Fue cofundador de los Boinas Cafés (Brown Berets), una organización chicana de la clase trabajadora en Estados Unidos a finales de los años 1960 y 1970. Los Boinas Cafés se inspiraron y a menudo fueron comparados con el Partido de las Panteras Negras (Black Panther Party). 

Los Ángeles, CA – El 12 y 13 de abril, activistas y organizaciones de derechos de los inmigrantes se reunirán en la Cumbre de Emergencia del Suroeste Contra las Deportaciones en la histórica comunidad chicana de Boyle Heights, en Los Ángeles, California.

Esta Cumbre de Emergencia del Suroeste es una oportunidad para que los activistas por los derechos de los inmigrantes se reúnan en el Suroeste, una región de gran importancia histórica para chicanos y mexicanos, para compartir estrategias sobre cómo organizarse y resistir con éxito los ataques de Trump y de ICE.

Carlos Montes is a nationally respected leader in the Chicano, immigrant rights and anti-war movements. He was a co-founder of the Brown Berets, a Chicano working-class organization in the United States in the late 1960s and 1970s. The Brown Berets were inspired by and often compared to the Black Panther Party.

Montes was one of the leaders of the 1968 ELA Chicano Blowouts, a series of walkouts of East Los Angeles high schools. He is portrayed by Fidel Gomez in the 2006 HBO movie Walkout. Montes is one of the ELA 13 indicted by a grand jury for conspiracy to disrupt the Los Angeles school district. With the Brown Berets, Montes organized the first Chicano Moratorium protest against the Vietnam war in East LA, which took place December 20, 1969.

Los Angeles, CA – On March 8, activists from Centro CSO and Freedom Road Socialist Organization met up in Boyle Heights for their eighth annual celebration marking International Women’s Day. This year’s event featured a panel with speakers from different areas of work that Centro CSO is focused on such as immigration, education, and police brutality, as well as a labor activist from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and a keynote speaker from the LAUSD school board.

Los Angeles, CA – On Thursday, February 27, at 6 p.m., Chicanos packed an East Los Angeles town hall meeting that was put on by the Civilian Oversight Commission of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and LA County. Over 60 Chicanos from East Los Angeles and the immediate surrounding area joined the meeting, both in person and virtually, to denounce the attacks on Raza by the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

Los Angeles, CA – In East Los Angeles, the grassroots organization Centro CSO has been fighting to ban the Fort Apache logo that East Los Angeles Sheriff's deputies proudly wear on the front right pocket of their uniform. The logo is disrespectful to Chicanos, as it was created by deputy gang members from the Little Red Devils gang out of the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (ELASD) station to glorify their attacks on Raza.

The logo depicts a riot helmet on top of a combat boot with the words “Low Profile” and “Siempre Una Patada En Los Pantalones (Always A Kick In The Pants).” The East Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputies created this logo after beating and killing Chicanos during the Chicano Moratorium on August 29, 1970, in East Los Angeles. The Chicano Moratorium was a large Chicano march, and protest against police brutality as well as the Vietnam War, where countless Chicanos were being sent to the front lines to die in the name of U.S. imperialism. Chicanos demanded an end to the draft and the presence of military recruiters in schools.

Los Ángeles, CA — Más de 200 estudiantes de Garfield High School realizaron un paro estudiantil el 4 de febrero. Padres marcharon junto a sus hijos, mientras los estudiantes salieron energéticamente de la escuela.