News and Views from the People's Struggle
The Freedom Road Socialist Organization stands in solidarity with Nadia Topete, a Chicana immigrant rights activist and community organizer with Centro CSO. Nadia has been subpoenaed, and ordered to appear before a judge and grand jury on Wednesday, July 8.
Minneapolis, MN – On July 1, over 200 people rallied in support of the MN 15, a group of Minneapolis community members that were indicted on bogus conspiracy charges relating to ICE resistance in the Twin Cities. 14 of the 15 were due in court to enter not guilty pleas to federal charges.
California City, CA — On Saturday, June 13, San Francisco Bay Area immigrant rights organizations gathered in San Jose for a car caravan to California City Detention Center, as part of the Legalization For All Network (L4A)’S National Weekend of Action Against Immigrant Detention Centers.
Under the rallying cry, “Free our people, free them all,” demonstrators called for the immediate release of detained community members, including Guillermo Medina Reyes—a beloved Bay Area tattoo artist and organizer—and Kubanych Moldobaev, a cherished father, community interpreter and asylum seeker from Kyrgyzstan.
Chicago, IL – On Thursday, July 25, a press conference was held outside of the monthly Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) meeting welcoming the two new commissioners, as well as continuing to demand CPD be held accountable for collaboration with federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz. The meeting took place at Benito Juarez High School, in the predominantly Chicano working-class neighborhood of Pilsen. The press conference was held by the Immigrants’ Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (IRWC of CAARPR).
Sacramento, CA – On June 23, community members and organizations pushing for real sanctuary city protections showed up to city hall to demand substantial improvements to the existing Sanctuary City Framework. They cited the current policy having no binding restrictions on Sacramento Police Department and ICE collaboration.
By Ethan Connelly and Mindy Nielsen
Billings. MT – On Friday, June 26, around 30 community members rallied outside of Billings’ Emmanuel Baptist Church to protest the far-right organization Turning Point USA's “Make Heaven Crowded” event. Protesters gathered on the sidewalk outside of the church parking lot, holding signs and chanting against TPUSA's reactionary rhetoric being spread to their community.
NYC, NY – On June 28, beginning in Union Square, Manhattan, thousands participated in the annual Queer Liberation March.
The event is an alternative to the Pride march and gives the radical and militant activists in the LGBTQ community the opportunity to organize away from the corporate sponsors of Pride.
Oakland, CA — On Tuesday, June 16, over 50 people gathered in person and via Zoom to support Guillermo Medina Reyes at his Mental Health Diversion Court hearing in Alameda County.
Medina is a Bay Area tattoo artist and longtime organizer for the rights of detained immigrants and incarcerated people, having organized hunger and labor strikes during his detention at Golden State Annex in McFarland, California from 2021 to 2023.
Salt Lake City, UT – On Thursday, June 25, at Sherwood Park in the Glendale Neighborhood of Salt Lake City, a demonstration and press conference was held in support of a local organizer and father, Julio Irungaray Sr., who was abducted by ICE less than 48 hours before the event.
Minneapolis, MN – On June 23, local activist and artist Isavela López walked out of the Minneapolis federal courthouse smiling after the conclusion of her year-long battle against bogus felony charges pushed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in an act of political repression.
Dublin, CA – On June 8, at around 5 p.m., over 100 participants of the three-day “Caminata for Immigrant Rights” arrived at the corner of Arnold Road and Gleason Drive, next to FCI Dublin, a closed federal women’s prison that ICE plans to reopen as an immigrant detention center.
Adelanto, CA – On Saturday, June 13, immigrant rights organizations from around Southern California held a caravan and rally outside of the Adelanto Detention Center. The rally was led by Centro CSO, alongside CSO Orange County, NELA for Democracy, Defend Migrant Alliance – SOCAL, and No Camps California. The rally took place as part of the Legalization for All Network’s Weekend of Action with the main demand being to shut down all detention centers.
For weeks, detained immigrants have carried out hunger strikes at the Adelanto Detention Center in Adelanto, California and the Delaney Hall Detention Center in New Jersey. To show their solidarity, dozens of protesters outside the Adelanto Detention Center waved signs, and chanted “Free them all!” The hunger strikes were called by immigrants due to the lack of medical treatment and the inhumane treatment within the centers.
Verita Topete, co-chair of Centro CSO’s immigration committee, said, “Six years ago, I stood outside the Adelanto protesting while my father was detained inside. A hunger strike was happening at the time as people risked everything in order to demand dignity, safety and humane treatment. Six years later, history is repeating itself. We are back here in solidarity with the hunger strikers at Adelanto and Delaney Hall in New Jersey.”
The protesters hung posters of detainees who have died while in ICE custody, with several of those lives being taken inside the Adelanto Detention Center. Speakers emphasized just how inhumane the conditions are, and the lack of medical treatment detainees face.
Centro CSO in particular uplifted their campaign to free Alex Hernandez who has been wrongfully detained in Adelanto for months. CSO has led call-in days and other actions to demand Hernandez be freed and reunited with his family.
Rain Mendoza from CSO Orange County stated, “It's important to show solidarity with the courageous striking detainees and all immigrant detainees in detention centers. The treatment they are facing inside the detention centers is absolutely unacceptable. People are dying inside! We demand all detention centers be shut down. Free our people now”
If you would like to join the struggle to defend immigrant rights in Los Angeles and win Legalization for All, you can follow @CentroCSO on Instagram to find out about upcoming meetings and actions.
#LosAngelesCA #CA #CentroCSO #ImmigrantRights #DetentionCenter #Adelanto
Portland, OR – On Friday, June 17, the immigrant rights organization Portland Contra las Deportaciones (PDXCD) held a rally outside of city hall and attended the city council meeting to demand the council and the mayor revoke the permit for the ICE facility. Over 30 community members were forcibly removed from the meeting while exercising their First Amendment rights.
By Christopher Gibson
Cocoa, FL ‒ On June 14, the Space Coast Immigrant Rights Alliance (SCIRA) held a rally in Cocoa, Florida as part of the Legalization 4 All network’s weekend of action against detention centers.
By Esper Garcia and Mira Altobell-Resendez
Minneapolis, MN – On the morning of June 15, the Department of Justice announced charges against 15 anti-ice protesters for “conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer,” and other bogus charges. That same morning 12 out of the 15 protesters had their homes raided and were arrested in relation to the federal indictment.
Gilroy, CA – On June 14. around 300 protestors hit the streets in Gilroy to protest against ICE’s plans to open a detention and processing center in the southern part of Santa Clara County near Gilroy, California. At around a million residents, San Jose is the largest city in Santa Clara County, one of the nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area. Local activists say the detention center will impact all Bay Area residents.
San José, CA – On May 30, over 250 people gathered outside the Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San Jose to protest plans of an ICE processing and detention center in Gilroy and the reopening of FCI Dublin as an immigrant detention center.
Tacoma, WA – 15 Portland for Palestine organizers traveled up to the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, June 13. Portland for Palestine (P4P) was there to promote their ongoing campaign to help free a local Palestinian immigrant Tareq Zakarneh, a man who has been in ICE detention for over two years.
This morning, June 16th, there were multiple coordinated raids on immigrant rights activists in the Twin Cities. At least 15 people have been indicted, with the U.S. Grand Jury charging “conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer,” alongside a number of other trumped-up charges.
Tampa, FL – On a hot and humid Saturday, June 13, a spirited crowd of about 20 people stood outside Tampa’s police headquarters in downtown to demand the release of immigrant detainees from inhumane conditions, an end to Tampa’s collaboration with ICE, and legalization for all.