Minneapolis, MN – Students from at least 12 Minneapolis and suburban high schools walked out of school, Jan. 20. at noon to protest the current wave of immigration raids and deportations happening around the country. After walking out, the students converged at Martin Luther King Park in south Minneapolis for food and an open mic where students spoke about their experience with family members and friends being deported. Students then left the park and marched down major Minneapolis streets including Nicollet Avenue and Lake Street.

Students participated from high schools including Washburn, Southwest, South, Roosevelt, El Colegio, Hiawatha, Cristo Rey, Kennedy, Richfield and others. Several cars full of students even came to join the protest from Northfield, more than an hour away from Minneapolis.

The walkout was initiated by high school students who saw an injustice happening and decided to take the initiative. One of the organizers, Julio Martinez, said, “We protest because we want to stop deportations. We’re standing up for our rights, and we want other young people know to speak up when something is wrong, to stand up for their rights.”

Samantha Compean Morales, another student organizer, said, “We are doing this walkout to show solidarity with the families that are being ripped away from each other by ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. Obama, the deporter-in-chief, approved of having ICE agents deport people who crossed the border after May 2014. Sadly, a huge percentage of people taken during the raids are women and children, that fled Central American countries. They came to the U.S. to escape from drugs, war and corruption happening in their home countries. They are seeking better job opportunities, a better future and a better education not only for themselves but also for their families.”

Community members and college students were also present in support of the youth-driven event. Community activist Marco Cruz Blanco, who marched with the students said, “We are here to uplift the voices of our youth and to remind ourselves that the struggle is transgenerational and therefore it’s crucial to invest in brown youth.”

#MinneapolisMN #ICE #ImmigrationRaids #walkout

Los Angeles, CA – The We Are All Elvira & Saulito Unity Coalition held a successful protest here, Oct. 12, in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters, demanding an end to raids and deportations. The protest brought together many immigrant rights, religious, community and anti-war groups that have been active in the fight for the legalization of undocumented immigrants.

During the rally and picket a delegation entered the Los Angeles federal building to deliver a letter to James Hayes, local ICE director, with a message from the coalition to stop the raids. The protest condemned the ICE raids, the persecution of immigrants and the harsh conditions at ICE detentions centers.

The new coalition was formed in response to the arrest and deportation of Elvira Arellano in Los Angeles on Aug. 19. It has held several successful militant actions, like the Aug. 25 march and rally in downtown Los Angeles and the Sept. 12 national boycott with a vigil and rally at Mac Arthur Park. This effort is truly an example of a united front coming together to work collectively that brings strength and unity to the immigrant rights movement in the face of increased attacks by the ICE.

#LosAngelesCA #News #ImmigrationRaids #ChicanoLatino #deportations #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE #WeAreAllElviraSaulitoUnityCoalition

Postville, IA – More than a thousand people gathered in the small town of Postville, Iowa, July 27, to protest the largest immigration raid in U.S. history – the raid took place here at the Agriprocessor kosher meat processing plant – and to demand an end to such immigration raids. On May 12, about 400 immigrant workers, mostly from Guatemala and Mexico, who worked at the plant were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. Most were either put in jail or deported.

At 1:00 pm about 2000 people came together in Postville’s Saint Bridget Church. Many protesters came from as far as North Dakota, Wisconsin, Chicago and Minnesota and from other areas of Iowa. To the surprise of many, a handful of anti-immigrant counter-protesters were waiting for them at the church.

The organizers started the action with a religious service in which local government authorities participated, along with a representative from the Guatemalan consulate. At 1:45 the march started. The first stop on the march was in front of the Agriprocessor plant where the massive immigration raid took place. There some leaders of the Jewish community spoke about how the raid had happened and the losses suffered because of the raid.

The march continued and made another stop at a nearby park, where people spoke about the importance of maintaining unity in the face of this racist anti-immigrant wave. The march then continued around the block where the anti-immigrant counter-protesters were waiting with banners that read, “People like you deserve to be in hell.” The marchers refused to be provoked by the counter-protesters and continued back to the church, where more people were waiting to join the march.

At the end of the march there were speakers. The mayor of Postville said immigrants are welcome here, and that he wants an end to raids. He said that they want the people back who were taken in the raid, that the community needs them.

Then some immigrant workers who had been detained in the raid spoke. They are now forced to wear a government-issued leg bracelet, a device that allows immigration officials to track them. They spoke of about the importance of uniting to end these racist raids and said that people shouldn’t wait to be in their situation before they act.

Children of detained immigrants expressed their sadness when they read a very moving poem written by another child: “We are Latinos and we will never be ashamed of our parents or our origin, and we pledge to defend our community.” Another child said, “As children affected by the raid we demand that they stop the raids, and we ask all immigrant communities for support.”

One man named Angel remarked, “This town is destroyed – now there is no peace and people are leaving to go somewhere else. My brother was one of the people detained in the plant and he’s still in prison. This is an injustice and we need a lot of support from the community.” Many other immigrant workers from Postville said similar things.

In addition to Latinos and other immigrant groups, many Jewish groups in the Midwest also mobilized for Sunday’s protest to show their opposition to how the owners of the Agriprocessor plant treated immigrant workers, and expressing opposition to the raid that took place there.

The Agriprocessor plant where the May 12 raid happened is the largest kosher meat processing plant in the country. Kosher foods are those that conform to Jewish dietary laws. To be considered kosher, meat must be processed according to more humane standards. When the terrible workplace conditions, mistreatment of immigrant workers and child labor violations at Agriprocessor started to become known, some Jewish community leaders in the Midwest began to speak out against conditions at Agriprocessor and have even proposed changing kosher laws to include better treatment of workers, not just the more humane slaughter of animals.

The main message of the march was for immigrant workers and their supporters to be organized and support each other to stop the immigration raids.

#PostvilleIA #Postville #News #ImmigrationRaids #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE #Agriprocessor

Asheville, NC – Demonstrations were held in Asheville, North Carolina and neighboring Hendersonville Oct. 12 against recent raids by ICE, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. ICE recently raided Mills Manufacturing, a military contractor that produces parachutes for the Army. Over 50 workers were detained in the raid. Many of these workers have families and strong ties to the community.

The demonstration brought together over 200 people to demand an end to the raids. Protesters, including members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Students for a Democratic Society, marched from Mills Manufacturing Company to a rally at the Buncombe County Courthouse, with signs bearing the names of the workers who were detained, under a banner reading, “ICE out now!”

Called to account was the newly elected Sheriff Van Duncan of Buncombe County. Sheriff Van Duncan was elected to replace Sheriff Medford, who is now convicted on corruption charges. Van Duncan promised an end to racial profiling and harassment of immigrants who have committed no serious crimes, but he has failed to deliver on this promise. Demonstrators chanted, “Sheriff, we’re here! We don’t want to live in fear!” and “No mas, no more!”

The protesters called for an end to the harassment of students just because they speak Spanish, an end to the offense of ‘driving while Latino’ and an end to local police working for ICE.

#AshevilleNC #StudentMovement #News #ImmigrationRaids #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE

The raids came only eight months after Bush announced his immigration ‘reform’ plan. Though the administration’s immigration ‘reform’ was basically a guest-worker program that served big business, the Bush administration reckoned that some of the false hopes raised by the plan would translate into more votes for Republican candidates. However, the raids speak volumes on what the Bush administration is all about. It has an agenda that is racist, reactionary and quick to employ repression.

One effect of this latest round of raids, which are unusual in their size and distance from the border with Mexico, has been to create widespread fear in immigrant communities throughout the Southwest. Mexican and Latino parents are afraid to send their children to school and the undocumented hesitate to go shopping, to church or to use public transportation. The creation of this climate of fear and worry is no accident. It’s by design. The exploitation of the undocumented by agribusiness, manufacturing and retail corporations is one of the pillars of the Southwest economy. The immigration raids are ablunt tool to reinforce a system of robbery and national oppression.

The Southwest of the U.S. was once northern Mexico. Like the slavery of African Americans, the theft of almost half of Mexico cannot be dismissed as ancient history without any relevance for today. One of the results of this land grab, and the subsequent discrimination and oppression unleashed from Texas to California, was the development of the Chicano people – a nation within the U.S. borders. The immigrations raids, directed at Mexican immigrants and others, fit right in with a system of racist inequality which pervades the Southwest. The oppression directed at Chicanos and Latinos impacts on every aspect of life; ranging from wages and working conditions to the denial of basic democratic rights – rights that include equality for the Spanish language, political power and self-determination.

By launching these raids the Bush administration has lifted a rock, only to drop it back on its foot. The days when the powers that be can deny something as basic as drivers licenses to those without documents are numbered. The powerful demonstrations in Ontario and other California cities are the shape of the future. Attacks on the undocumented are being met by a growing and determined movement that will settle for nothing less than legalization and full equality.

On July 10, the National Alliance for Human Rights convened an emergency statewide meeting in Ontario, California to help organize local, regional and statewide coalitions to build a statewide mobilization plan against the raids and other racist attacks. Local actions and mass mobilizations are planned for the next three months.

#UnitedStates #Editorial #ImmigrationRaids #Editorials #ChicanoLatino #BushAdministration #deportations

On Jan. 21, the Southern California Immigration Coalition held a rally in front of the Los Angeles Federal Building to send a message to the President Obama demanding legalization for 10 million immigrants and an end to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and deportations.

The new Southern California Immigration Coalition is made up of teachers, students, anti-war and immigrant rights groups based in southern California. The Coalition was formed to build unity in the struggle against the increased repression against immigrants – especially against Mexican immigrants. The Coalition will continue the fight to win full legalization from the new administration. The Southern California Immigration Coalition will lead a march on March 28, to build toward the May 1 demonstration for immigrant rights in downtown Los Angeles

#LosAngelesCA #News #ICE #ImmigrationRaids #ChicanoLatino