Protesters said the attack was unjustified. “The US has no right to attack a sovereign nation. Especially one that's devastated by years of sanctions, that's in no position to defend itself,” said Progressive Student Organization member, Frannie Christensen. She added that there is no proof that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

Minneapolis anti-war groups worked with the Iraq Peace Action Coalition (IPAC) to organize protests, meetings, and press conferences during each day of the conflict. The emergency response protest, held Thursday, December 17th, at the downtown Federal Building, turned out 500 people to oppose the US war on Iraq.

On Friday, CISPES (the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) and PSO organized a die-in at the Minneapolis Federal Building, and successfully blocked the public doors for two hours. A sit-in, also on Friday, won a meeting with Senator Paul Wellstone. Saturday, before the last round of bombing, 250 people marched through the Uptown shopping district with banners and chants calling for an end to the war.

For Alan Dale, from the Emergency Committee Against US Intervention in the Persian Gulf, these actions were important, “because this is how you stand up and speak out against these attacks, it strengthens the opposition.” He said, “The anti-war movement made its presence felt, not only in the Twin Cities, but all over the country.”

Christensen, who was one of the 13 protesters arrested at the Federal Building, praised civil disobedience, “We sent a strong message to government officials that we didn't agree with what the government was doing and we weren't going to sit back and let it happen without our protest being heard.” She added, “We were willing to go to jail for it because going to jail for a few hours can't compare to being bombed. And, you have to stand up for what you believe in.”

Protesters frequently criticized the US reasons for launching this attack. Layla Asamurai, from the Minnesota Alliance for Iraqi Children, pointed out that Butler's report cited no new weapons violations by Iraq. In attacking Iraq on flimsy grounds, she says, “The US gave up its rights to ever inspect for weapons. It destroyed the country, and Iraq knew it had nothing to hide. The US lost its credibility.”

According to Alan Dale, “This is all a fight about control of oil profits.” He said, “The US doesn't intervene in the interest of most people, including most people in the US. The US government intervenes in the interest of large multinational corporations.”

Long-time anti-war activists, students, the Arab community, and many concerned community members, workers and activists joined in the protests.

“We see first hand how this government doesn't care about real people,” said Linden Gawboy from the Welfare Rights Committee. “It doesn't take more than two seconds to see what they're doing to the people of Iraq is like the war they're waging on us here. It makes us sick how they kill people and think they can get away with it.”

Stefanie Yorek, who works at the Fairview-University Hospital, said she was there to protest the war because, “They're killing people just like us, for oil profits.”

Students from colleges and high schools all over the Twin Cities played a huge role: Southwest and Hopkins High Schools, the University of Minnesota, Macalester, and many others. “It's really important for students to be aware because it shapes how we'll respond to future world events,” said PSO's Christensen. “We're younger, we're still forming our ideas, and if the youth of today doesn't take action, who will!?”

Protesters believe these mobilizations made a huge impact in the Twin Cities, and will strengthen the movement as events continue to unfold between the US and Iraq.

There appears to be no end to this conflict in sight. President Clinton insists that the sanctions and weapons inspections must continue. Since the December aggression, Iraq has not allowed weapons inspections and has fired on British and American planes attempting to enforce no-fly zones over Iraqi territory.

Organizers say Iraq is correct to defend its rights as a sovereign nation. Alan Dale says, “The no-fly zones are an invention of the US and British governments, and have no basis in any UN resolutions whatsoever.” Frannie Christensen adds, “The US and Britain have no right to impose the no-fly zone on Iraq, and they can't expect their planes not to be shot at, after bombing the country.” They expect the conflict will escalate to another US military assault.

Organizers say the anti-war movement in Minneapolis is still growing stronger, and according to Asamurai, “has a lot of work ahead of it.” IPAC will continue to educate the community, with speakers who've traveled Iraq and public forums with more in-depth information.

In case of another US military attack, Frannie Christensen says, “We're not going to let any time be wasted before responding. We showed there are hundreds ready to act.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #News #Iraq #Imperialism #CISPES #IraqPeaceActionCoalition #Bombing

The agreement, negotiated with William Yates, national director of INS services, represents a huge victory for local organizers, whose year-long campaign mobilized thousands of immigrants and their allies. Organizers met with cheers and standing applause when they announced to a crowd of some 500 immigrants and supporters that the INS was finally willing to meet their demands.

According to event organizer, Jesse Huerta of the St. Paul Ecumenical Alliance of Churches (SPEAC), “We've been fighting for over a year and we deserved to have someone come out here and fulfill these demands. We feel positive about this, but we're still fighting discrimination from the INS.”

The February meeting was organized by the Joint Committee on Immigration, a project of Latino churches in St. Paul (SPEAC) and Minneapolis (Interfaith Action).

Last fall, Aljets refused to meet the group's demands, claiming his hands were tied by national INS policies. Working with Senator Paul Wellstone, the Joint Committee brought the national INS to Minnesota to answer community concerns.

INS concessions include: Training an employee at the Bloomington, Minnesota, INS office to speak Spanish; distributing INS forms in public locations; and setting up a national English and Spanish hotline for immigration information. Some of these services will take the INS over a year to implement.

The INS and the Joint Committee were unable to agree on other community demands and will meet again in April. In further negotiations, the Joint Committee will call on the INS to expand its office hours, to make phones available to detained immigrants, and to work with unions to ensure the rights of immigrant workers.

“This meeting is important,” said Jessica Sundin who attended as a member of Twin Cities CISPES (the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador). “After years of attacks on the basic rights of immigrants, Minnesota immigrants have turned the tables and put the INS on the defensive.” CISPES is pressuring Minnesota senators and representatives to roll back federal anti-immigrant laws.

Although the INS agreed to some short-term improvements in service, it has not stepped away from its heavy focus on enforcement. While millions of dollars are spent on deportations and patrolling immigrant communities, Congress and the INS do nothing to ensure that immigrants receive the services they are legally entitled to.

With the INS speeding up its deportation process daily, the Joint Committee is giving voice to complaints from Twin Cities immigrants. They say that the backlog of paperwork, the frustrating lack of Spanish-speaking INS workers and long lines at INS offices make it still harder to obtain and maintain a legal immigration status.

When asked what will come next for the Joint Committee, Jessie Huerta says the fight for immigrants' rights is far from over. “Our campaign is not over with these victories. We're fighting myths about undocumented immigrants. Most of them are tax-payers, hard working and deserve to be paid respect.”

#MinneapolisMN #News #CISPES #immigrantRights

“I feel like a lot of people got our message either in person or from the news coverage. I was inspired by how so many people supported our message! Minnesotans understand how important it is to support immigrant rights!” said march organizer John Till of Twin Cities CISPES, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador.

Over twenty community organizations endorsed the rally. Jessie Huerta and Alberto Puga from SPEAC (St. Paul Ecumenical Alliance of Churches) spoke about their fight for the local director of the INS, Curtis Aljets, to meet the nine demands of the Latino community. Demands include more Spanish speaking office staff, and a Spanish accessible hotline for families of the detained.

Yee Won Chong from Women Against Military Madness spoke about her own experience as an asylee, and Barb Bordner from the Welfare Rights Committee spoke about her group’s fight for immigrants to receive the government assistance they deserve. Two elected officials also spoke in favor of immigrants’ rights: Karen Clark, a State Legislator, and Jim Niland, a member of the Minneapolis City Council.

Councilman Niland stated that imperialism and colonialism has made many developing countries unlivable. He denounced INS repression against undocumented workers. He spoke out against unjust enforcement of the new laws. He noted that the INS targets Latinos when there have always been people in this country without papers.

The INS responded to the action by claiming that CISPES was leading a “campaign of misinformation.”

Immigrants' Rights Campaign

“We are building an alliance between progressive and immigrant communities here in Minnesota. This alliance will become an important force for change!” said CISPES activist Jessica Sundin.

The Twin Cities has become a hotbed of activism against the INS. Local INS director, Curtis Aljets, has been put on notice that immigrant and non-immigrant communities do not support his agency's actions. The local struggle for immigrants’ rights has included mass meetings lead by SPEAC and Interfaith Action with the INS and the park police.

SPEAC and Interfaith are church based coalitions fighting injustice in INS enforcement. They are campaigning for more information to their community from the INS so that families will be able to call the agency if a loved one has been detained. They have already won several concessions from the INS and are in the process of increasing their pressure. They plan more public meetings this fall.

CISPES has been campaigning this year as well. They have collected over 1100 signatures on a petition to the INS to end its raids and harassment. CISPES also organized the August 8th march and rally to protest increasing raids in Minneapolis, including the raids of public parks this summer.

Immigration in Minnesota

Immigrants come to Minnesota to be with their families and to flee political repression, war, and poverty. CISPES activist Dan Palahniuk points out that immigration policy is politically motivated. “In the 1980s, Congress gave special treatment to immigrants from Cuba and Nicaragua because the US government did not support the governments in place there. At the same time, people from Guatemala and El Salvador were fleeing political violence and civil wars, and had to immigrate illegally. The INS denied legal status because our government supported the dictatorships they fled. We believe that no one is legal and that labeling people illegal doesn’t address why people come to the US,” he said.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has stepped up its deportation efforts in Minnesota. In 1996, Congress gave a mandate to the INS for stricter enforcement and increased funding to the agency. So far in 1998, deportations from Minnesota are four times the numbers in 1992. Minnesota has become number three in the nation for workplace raids. The INS has conducted raids in public parks, apartment buildings, and community centers. The INS has increased the number of people they deport through INS – police cooperation. The police assist in over 80 percent of all deportation cases in Minnesota.

These raids and deportations destroy immigrant communities. Immigrants are afraid to use public spaces and to call the police. Community fear impacts community safety and domestic violence. And parents and children are being separated brutally and suddenly by deportation.

Activists in the Twin Cities pledge to continue organizing. “Only through educating the immigrant community about their rights and educating non-immigrants about their responsibility can we pressure for real change. We are committed to doing that!” said CISPES activist