Coloradans For Immigrant Rights

ICE Cold Hearts...Melted!

2012-02-14T13:03:00.003-07:00

Yesterday, February 13th, 2012 at the Aurora Immigrant Detention Center, 525 handmade Valentines were delivered to 450 people unjustly interned by the state. Today, Valentine's Day, an additional 75 cards were gifted to day laborers in Denver and Aurora... Thanks to you!

Yesterday, the waiting room was full of people waiting to visit thier loved ones and they each took a handmade valentine presented by Maureen and Sister Alicia. Today, each of the day laborers among sheepish grins and chuckles accepted a homemade Valentine of thier own. Many people seperated from thier families accepted your loving valentines.

The Valentines you made touched hearts and shared strength. We are all made more whole knowing these stories of fierce love and unforgettable power.

Many people have told us that this Valentine project provided them with an opportunity to not only be creative, but also to be self reflective. To set aside feelings of frustration about political posturing and to put what LOVE they could into a simple beautiful card. To take just an hour or so to think about the experiences of immigrants in this country and to focus on the reasons we struggle for immigrant justice day in and day out.

A special thank you to all of the Valentine Artists, including but not limited to Coloradans For Immigrant Rights, Regis University Social Justice Students, Harriet Mullaney’s English classes at Bruce Randolph Community Learning Center, Wendy Kaas & Sarah Levin, Betty & Anne, Boulder Unitarian Universalists, Stephen Von Merz's DU Class, the Bridge Project, St. Mary's Academy, Fort Collins Holy Family Church Adult Reflection Group and Sister Mary Garcia, Julie Gonzales, Maureen, Rainbow Alley Youth Drop In Center, Wayne's friends, Malcolm & Mariah, Nadine Swahburg, Maggie Gomez, Shannon Masden, Aunnastasia Pacheco, Kenia Morales, Jenny Santos, Ire & Yvette Sauceda-Lindsey, Karla, EJ Becker, Judith Marquez, Greg Ferrari, Che Rise Tren, Nadya Waziri, Lisa Knoblach, Connor McFarland, Melissa Nix, Tom Kowal, Robert McGoey and many others!

On February 6th, 2012, over 200 people gathered at the Aurora Detention Center to make their voices heard. The February monthly vigil was planned by Coloradans For Immigrant Rights, a project of AFSC and Regis University Students.
We invited Stephanie Tanny, a spoken word artist, and Alejandro Jimenez to share their challenging and inspiring poems. We sang some love songs and chanted to the people interned inside. And we decorated the wall that separated us from the center with a huge streamer heart and balloons. We carried signs with our message including a large broken heart symbolizing how our broken immigration system keeps the United States apart from the rest of the world and the broken hearts of those families separated by borders and walls.

Some of the Valentine’s read like this:

Dear Valentine, You are not alone. I hold you in my heart, thoughts and prayers. Love knows no borders or walls and together we can share each other’s strength and courage. I am with you in spirit on this Valentine’s Day. No estas sol@. Est@s presente en mi corazón, mis pensamientos y mis oraciones. El amor no reconoce fronteras ni muros. Juntos podemos compartir nuestr@ fuerza y valor. Mi espíritu está contigo en este Día de San.

Immigrants and Immigrant Allies: Making Justice Visible

2012-02-02T11:59:00.011-07:00

Note: The below blog post was written by Lucy Duncan, but with contributions and editorial support by Gabriela Flora, Jenn Piper, and M'Annette Ruddell.

“That invisibility to which I refer occurs because of a peculiar disposition of the eyes of those with whom I come in contact. A matter of the construction of their inner eyes, those eyes with which they look through their physical eyes upon reality.” – Ralph Ellison

Jordan Garcia with
Day of the Dead Altar
at Monthly Vigil

Refusing to be invisible when people are conditioned not to see is a revolutionary act. Seeing and recognizing those whom we are not supposed to acknowledge is also a powerful act of resistance. Both small and large acts of such courage are being taken by immigrants and immigrant allies every day. I had the privilege of seeing such powerful witness when I visited AFSC’s Denver office in November.

Jenn Piper, AFSC’s Colorado Interfaith Organizing Director, invited me to go with her to a deportation hearing. Piper organizes an interfaith clergy witness network, the members of which serve as immigrant allies, and one service they offer is being prayerful presences at deportation hearings, offering spiritual support to the immigrants in the courtroom and afterwards.

COURT: The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) courtroom in Denver is in the Bank of the West building, which seemed both strange and fitting to me. We waited in the marble lobby for Alma,* the young woman whom we were there to support, along with Kelly, a Unitarian minister. Alma, a slight woman with round brown eyes, arrived with her cousins. She had left her daughter, who is sixteen-months-old and a citizen, at home with family. Not to be able to converse without interpretation with Alma felt uncomfortable to me, I felt my being monolingual as a disability that day.

An elevator took us to the courtroom level where we cleared the metal detectors before meeting with Alma’s lawyer in a small room off to the side. He didn’t know Spanish, so Liz and Piper translated. The lawyer said that, despite the fact that she had no criminal record, Alma’s legal options had been exhausted, and he recommended that she agree to voluntary departure. Alma asked questions about what this would mean and learned that she would have until March to report to the US embassy in Mexico. If she did not prove that she had left the United States, she would be subject to detention and immediate removal.

With exasperation, the lawyer said, “In August, President Obama announced that he would be prioritizing those with criminal records in deportation proceedings, but that hasn’t happened. There has been no executive order, and the deportation of those with no record have continued or speeded up.” It was hard not to feel that there must be something more we could do. But really, there is no legal pathway to permanent resident status for the vast majority of people who are undocumented.

Alma looked scared and shaken as we went into the courtroom which was smaller than I expected. Hearings were scheduled for a number of people, not just Alma, and we watched as one man got a year extension to his visa. When Alma was called to the front, she put on headphones so that she could hear the court translator.

There wasn’t much ceremony. The lawyer said that Alma was willing to accept voluntary departure, the ICE prosecutor agreed, and the judge affirmed the decision. The Department of Justice insignia behind the judge struck me as ironic. Piper told me later that one judge presiding over deportation hearings of men in shackles acknowledged that what he was doing wasn’t justice; he was merely applying the law.

The whole process took just a few minutes. I wanted someone to yell, “No,” to reflect on what happened. How many families does that judge rend apart each day? How many does the prosecutor? It all seemed so perfunctory, so banal, while hearts were breaking.

We left the courtroom while Alma quietly wept. She’s young, maybe twenty. She’s been in the country for eight years, hasn’t been back to Mexico. Her partner is a citizen of Ecuador. If she leaves, will they ever be reunited? The choices all seemed untenable – to stay here and risk detention, then forced deportation, to go to a place without her partner that is no longer her home, to leave her child here with family and go to Mexico on her own.

Back in the lobby, we gathered in a little circle as Kelly offered a prayer about hardship and trusting in Jesus. Liz and Piper translated. We each hugged Alma, encircling her with our concern and compassion. What else could we do?

After Alma left, we drank tea together and talked about what we had witnessed, how helpless it made us feel, how senseless it seemed. Who would it hurt for Alma to be allowed to stay? Who is being protected? We talked about collusion and how each time we buy raspberries or strawberries or tomatoes we are participating in the exploitation of migrant labor.

VIGIL: That night, I joined AFSC staff and about sixty others for the monthly vigil held at the Aurora Detention Center, a for-profit detention center owned by the Geo Corporation (“one of the world’s largest corrections and detention organizations,” which is traded on the NYSE). It was early November and really cold. The detention center detains undocumented people indefinitely, without due process.

We gathered on the wide road nearby with candles, signs, noisemakers, and then proceeded to the detention center entrance for a ceremony. The group was mixed – immigrant allies and people without documents. The people without papers were brave to be there, to come out of the shadows and insist on being visible. To commemorate the day of the dead, culturally important to many of those gathered, they had brought pictures of their loved ones who had died, but whose graves they could not travel to visit. Jordan Garcia, AFSC’s Immigrant Ally Organizing Director, set out scarves and candles on the ground, and one by one those who had photos placed them on the improvised shrine. A thin man talked about being without papers for fifteen years and how he felt invisible as part of an underground and vulnerable work force. His assertion was that labeling him as “illegal” was intentional so that his wages would never be fair.

We shouted and banged on things, hoping those inside could hear us. Jordan told me the old detention center had windows and during vigils, those inside could hold signs against the glass to thank the protesters for being there. In addition to the monthly vigil, those detained are remembered by a huge pile of handmade cards Jordan delivers on Valentine's Day. These signs of support from outside may seem slight, but they matter. Any indication that we see and haven’t forgotten them makes some difference.

Earlier the day of the vigil, a reporter had called Gabriela Flora, AFSC Regional Project Voice Organizer, and asked about the status of comprehensive federal immigration reform. She replied that, with the current Congress, there isn’t much likelihood of reform any time soon. With the help of “Secure Communities,”** the administration will have deported more people in Obama’s first term than Bush did in the eight years of his presidency. Accompanying Alma and others to deportation hearings and holding these monthly vigils are acts of faith, the impacts of which are felt deep within the communities most affected. People without papers feel less alone, less invisible. Piper and AFSC’s work with citizen allies is critical to help people understand the depth of the trauma current immigration policies cause. What does it mean to live in the shadows of the US economy, cleaning houses, harvesting food, making do? Or working professionally with a secret fear? Now every time I even think of buying raspberries or tomatoes, I think of Alma.

I think of Alma and take heart that immigrants are organizing in Colorado and across the country. People are refusing to be invisible, coming forward with courage and determination, like those at the vigil. They bravely share their stories and how the for-profit system of detention dehumanizes them and tears their families apart. Allies are listening to their stories and using their privilege to work for change, side by side with immigrants.

For true change to happen, it must be defined by those directly affected. The policy changes necessary to undo the damage done over the last 25 years (really the last 500) will not happen quickly. Real change takes time and takes commitment by everyday people like you and me. In bearing witness to the reality that people like Alma face, by standing with them and understanding how we are a part of the system that renders them invisible, we are working to create a just society where illegal will no longer be a noun, and law is based on respecting the humanity of all those in our society.

By accompanying immigrants in this resistance, we have the opportunity to see with our hearts. Immigrants refusing to be invisible, as well as allies willing to really see and accompany those affected by these policies, can help us to make manifest the invisible, the unseen but palpable, world which recognizes the innate worth and brilliance of every person.

You can read more of Lucy's relfections at her blog "Acting in Faith".
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Alma is not this woman’s real name, I changed it to protect her.
** Secure Communities involves local and state authorities in immigration and customs enforcement. The program has encouraged racial profiling, divided families, and eroded basic community trust in law enforcement where implemented.

Immigrants and Immigrant Allies: Making Justice Visible

2012-02-02T11:18:00.003-07:00

A contribution from Lucy Duncan, from her amazing blog: Acting in Faith, Connecting Friends to the work of AFSC
Note: The below blog post was written by Lucy Duncan, but with contributions and editorial support by Gabriela Flora, Jen Piper, and M'Annette Ruddell.

“That invisibility to which I refer occurs because of a peculiar disposition of the eyes of those with whom I come in contact. A matter of the construction of their inner eyes, those eyes with which they look through their physical eyes upon reality.” – Ralph Ellison

Refusing to be invisible when people are conditioned not to see is a revolutionary act. Seeing and recognizing those whom we are not supposed to acknowledge is also a powerful act of resistance. Both small and large acts of such courage are being taken by immigrants and immigrant allies every day. I had the privilege of seeing such powerful witness when I visited AFSC’s Denver office in November.

Jen Piper, AFSC’s Colorado Interfaith Organizing Director, invited me to go with her to a deportation hearing. Piper organizes an interfaith clergy witness network, the members of which serve as immigrant allies, and one service they offer is being prayerful presences at deportation hearings, offering spiritual support to the immigrants in the courtroom and afterwards.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) courtroom in Denver is in the Bank of the West building, which seemed both strange and fitting to me. We waited in the marble lobby for Alma,* the young woman whom we were there to support, along with Kelly, a Unitarian minister. Alma, a slight woman with round brown eyes, arrived with her cousins. She had left her daughter, who is sixteen-months-old and a citizen, at home with family. Not to be able to converse without interpretation with Alma felt uncomfortable to me, I felt my being monolingual as a disability that day.

An elevator took us to the courtroom level where we cleared the metal detectors before meeting with Alma’s lawyer in a small room off to the side. He didn’t know Spanish, so Liz and Piper translated. The lawyer said that, despite the fact that she had no criminal record, Alma’s legal options had been exhausted, and he recommended that she agree to voluntary departure. Alma asked questions about what this would mean and learned that she would have until March to report to the US embassy in Mexico. If she did not prove that she had left the United States, she would be subject to detention and immediate removal.

With exasperation, the lawyer said, “In August, President Obama announced that he would be prioritizing those with criminal records in deportation proceedings, but that hasn’t happened. There has been no executive order, and the deportation of those with no record have continued or speeded up.” It was hard not to feel that there must be something more we could do. But really, there is no legal pathway to permanent resident status for the vast majority of people who are undocumented.

Alma looked scared and shaken as we went into the courtroom which was smaller than I expected. Hearings were scheduled for a number of people, not just Alma, and we watched as one man got a year extension to his visa. When Alma was called to the front, she put on headphones so that she could hear the court translator.

There wasn’t much ceremony. The lawyer said that Alma was willing to accept voluntary departure, the ICE prosecutor agreed, and the judge affirmed the decision. The Department of Justice insignia behind the judge struck me as ironic. Piper told me later that one judge presiding over deportation hearings of men in shackles acknowledged that what he was doing wasn’t justice; he was merely applying the law.

The whole process took just a few minutes. I wanted someone to yell, “No,” to reflect on what happened. How many families does that judge rend apart each day? How many does the prosecutor? It all seemed so perfunctory, so banal, while hearts were breaking.

We left the courtroom while Alma quietly wept. She’s young, maybe twenty. She’s been in the country for eight years, hasn’t been back to Mexico. Her partner is a citizen of Ecuador. If she leaves, will they ever be reunited? The choices all seemed untenable – to stay here and risk detention, then forced deportation, to go to a place without her partner that is no longer her home, to leave her child here with family and go to Mexico on her own.

Back in the lobby, we gathered in a little circle as Kelly offered a prayer about hardship and trusting in Jesus. Liz and Piper translated. We each hugged Alma, encircling her with our concern and compassion. What else could we do?

After Alma left, we drank tea together and talked about what we had witnessed, how helpless it made us feel, how senseless it seemed. Who would it hurt for Alma to be allowed to stay? Who is being protected? We talked about collusion and how each time we buy raspberries or strawberries or tomatoes we are participating in the exploitation of migrant labor.

That night, I joined AFSC staff and about sixty others for the monthly vigil held at the Aurora Detention Center, a for-profit detention center owned by the Geo Corporation (“one of the world’s largest corrections and detention organizations,” which is traded on the NYSE). It was early November and really cold. The detention center detains undocumented people indefinitely, without due process.

We gathered on the wide road nearby with candles, signs, noisemakers, and then proceeded to the detention center entrance for a ceremony. The group was mixed – immigrant allies and people without documents. The people without papers were brave to be there, to come out of the shadows and insist on being visible. To commemorate the day of the dead, culturally important to many of those gathered, they had brought pictures of their loved ones who had died, but whose graves they could not travel to visit. Jordan Garcia, AFSC’s Immigrant Ally Organizing Director, set out scarves and candles on the ground, and one by one those who had photos placed them on the improvised shrine. A thin man talked about being without papers for fifteen years and how he felt invisible as part of an underground and vulnerable work force. His assertion was that labeling him as “illegal” was intentional so that his wages would never be fair.

We shouted and banged on things, hoping those inside could hear us. Jordan told me the old detention center had windows and during vigils, those inside could hold signs against the glass to thank the protesters for being there. In addition to the monthly vigil, those detained are remembered by a huge pile of handmade cards Jordan delivers on Valentine's Day. These signs of support from outside may seem slight, but they matter. Any indication that we see and haven’t forgotten them makes some difference.

Earlier the day of the vigil, a reporter had called Gabriela Flora, AFSC Regional Project Voice Organizer, and asked about the status of comprehensive federal immigration reform. She replied that, with the current Congress, there isn’t much likelihood of reform any time soon. With the help of “Secure Communities,”** the administration will have deported more people in Obama’s first term than Bush did in the eight years of his presidency. Accompanying Alma and others to deportation hearings and holding these monthly vigils are acts of faith, the impacts of which are felt deep within the communities most affected. People without papers feel less alone, less invisible. Piper and AFSC’s work with citizen allies is critical to help people understand the depth of the trauma current immigration policies cause. What does it mean to live in the shadows of the US economy, cleaning houses, harvesting food, making do? Or working professionally with a secret fear? Now every time I even think of buying raspberries or tomatoes, I think of Alma.

I think of Alma and take heart that immigrants are organizing in Colorado and across the country. People are refusing to be invisible, coming forward with courage and determination, like those at the vigil. They bravely share their stories and how the for-profit system of detention dehumanizes them and tears their families apart. Allies are listening to their stories and using their privilege to work for change, side by side with immigrants.

For true change to happen, it must be defined by those directly affected. The policy changes necessary to undo the damage done over the last 25 years (really the last 500) will not happen quickly. Real change takes time and takes commitment by everyday people like you and me. In bearing witness to the reality that people like Alma face, by standing with them and understanding how we are a part of the system that renders them invisible, we are working to create a just society where illegal will no longer be a noun, and law is based on respecting the humanity of all those in our society.

By accompanying immigrants in this resistance, we have the opportunity to see with our hearts. Immigrants refusing to be invisible, as well as allies willing to really see and accompany those affected by these policies, can help us to make manifest the invisible, the unseen but palpable, world which recognizes the innate worth and brilliance of every person.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Alma is not this woman’s real name, I changed it to protect her.

** Secure Communities involves local and state authorities in immigration and customs enforcement. The program has encouraged racial profiling, divided families, and eroded basic community trust in law enforcement where implemented.

This American Life: Reap What You Sow

2012-01-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

Alabama's new immigration law aims to make life so difficult for illegal immigrants that they will "self-deport." And in a way it's working. Immigrants are fleeing Alabama...but not just the undocumented ones. This and other stories of people living with the unintended consequences of their decisions.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/456/reap-what-you-sow

Migration in Mexico: Roots, Realities, and Resistance

2011-12-27T11:51:00.001-07:00

A Joint Witness for Peace/AFSC New Hampshire Delegation
February 25 to March 4, 2012
The southern Mexican state of Oaxaca is home to 16 different ethnic groups, making it one of the most diverse and culturally rich states in Mexico. But due to extreme inequality and misguided development policies, a large number of Oaxaqueños and Oaxaqueñas have migrated to other parts of Mexico and the US looking for economic survival. The effects on the families left behind, on migrants themselves, and on community life in Mexico and the U.S. raise many questions that we will address while in Oaxaca. The knowledgeable Witness for Peace Mexico Team has extensive connections to people, organizations, and communities who will tell us the real story of migration in Mexico.
What to Expect:
 Learn about the root causes of migration,
including US foreign policy in Latin America
 Hear stories of Central Americans migrating
through Oaxaca on their journey northward
 Learn about the connections between migration
and the drug trade
 See rural and urban projects that provide
alternatives to migration
 Learn about the history and resistance of
indigenous communities in Oaxaca
 Stay in the homes of families directly impacted by
migration
 Connect delegation experience to the realities of trade and immigration in the US
 Develop strategies to act in solidarity with the Mexican people and immigrants in the US
Details:
$910 + airfare (includes the cost of food, lodging, in---country transportation, guides, and language interpretation. Scholarships and fundraising opportunities are available. ) For more information or to apply contact: Arnie Alpert, aalpert@afsc.org, (603) 224-2407
Witness for Peace (WFP – www.witnessforpeace.org) is a politically independent, nationwide grassroots organization of people committed to nonviolence and led by faith and conscience. WFP’s mission is to support peace, justice and sustainable economies in the Americas by changing U.S. policies and practices which contribute to poverty and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean. This trip is co--sponsored by the New Hampshire Program of the American Friends Service Committee.

Reflections on the Intersections of Flawed Drug and Immigration Policies

2011-12-20T12:25:00.009-07:00

The criminalization of immigrants continues to reach new heights and enforcement programs expand and justify themselves in the mainstream by saying they are going after “criminals”. In CFIR we have been having some intense discussion on challenging this view that it is ok to target and deport people labeled as “criminals”. The discussion has been challenging at times because there is often pressure both within and outside the movement to highlight the worthiness of “good immigrants”. This perspective ignores that more and more basic activities (like working and driving) have been criminalized, that all groups of people have members who engage in a range of activities and that people should not be labeled and targeted their whole lives for a misstep.

To help us explore this issue of criminalization and how to counter it, last week we brought in Art Way from the Drug Policy Alliance to discuss the intersection between flawed drug and immigration policies. We explored how
labels have been used to dehumanize both immigrants and people who use drugs (words like: “Illegal” and “addict”). We explored how militarization of the drug war is deeply connected to militarization of the border. The eighteen participants in the skill share found it powerful to learn about how historically drug laws have mirrored immigration law to maintain power and are not actually about the substance or “public safety”. Drug laws were targeted against different immigrant and ethnic groups (e.g. anti-opium den laws targeted Chinese immigrants and anti-marijuana laws targeted Mexican workers). Both immigration and drug laws throughout the US’s history have criminalized everyday behavior, but are selectively enforced and target only certain populations for doing these things. The fact that people of color comprise 13% of drug use, but are 78% of drug convictions deeply highlights this point. Tens of thousands of legal residents and other noncitizens are deported every year on drug-related grounds. In 2010, 25% of all deportations of people with criminal records were for drug charges of which the vast majorities were due to minor possession of marijuana. Deportees often are held in for profit detention centers miles away from family members without adequate due process for a drug conviction that may have occurred years ago. The disproportionate emphasis placed on targeting illicit drug use and distribution in communities of color and urban environments where noncitizens are concentrated increases the likelihood of interaction with law enforcement authorities. The imposition of drug sweeps and zero tolerance policies in schools, drug-free zones and the high prevalence of public drug selling invite a heightened law enforcement presence in communities of color, where noncitizens reside in great numbers. Once a noncitizen enters the criminal justice system, there is a substantial risk that the outcome of prosecutorial proceedings will have immigration consequences.

We ended the discussion with what we can do to make change. This discussion included looking internally and addressing the shame and stigma around drug use; to support drug policy based on science compassion, human rights and health; educating ourselves and others on the consequences of guilty pleas for deportation and push for pre-plea judicial programs and paying a fine for drug use rather than criminal conviction; raise awareness around drug propaganda; work to end the war on drugs and militarization of the border.

-Gabriela Flora, American Friends Service Committee
To learn about our future skill shares and other activities, please visit us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/AFSC-Coloradans-for-Immigrant-Rights/113045722068217

In a Broken Immigration System, DOMA Adds Another Layer of Injustice Bi-national lesbian couple waits for answer; DOMA holds their future hostage (Seg

2011-08-17T13:24:00.002-06:00

For Immediate Release: August 15th, 2011
Contact: Julie Gonzales, CIRC, Julie@coloradoimmigrant.org, 720-891-2712 | Jessica Cook Woodrum, One Colorado, 720-412-3772, jessicaw@one-colorado.org

Denver, CO - Abandoned as a child, abused, and mistreated, a young lesbian woman made her way from Mexico to the United States and built a life alongside the woman she loves. However, Mrs. Hernandez's future (who asks that her full name not be used) now hinges on a decision from an immigration judge. But new prosecutorial discretion guidelines for bi-national same-sex couples from John Morton, the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, could prove to be crucial for her future, as they address the way immigration judges should apply and interpret the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

"It is absurd that someone like Mrs. Hernandez is facing deportation from her partner and the life they have built together, due to a traffic stop. This happens to thousands of families across the country as a result of increased local law enforcement collaboration with ICE. Unfortunately, DOMA makes our already broken immigration system even worse," said Julien Ross, Executive Director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, "DOMA denies committed same-sex couples any rights in sponsoring their spouse, and often leaves their families with few options for changing their situation."

Ross continued: "The real solution would be to recognize Mrs. Hernandez's marriage, and allow them the same rights as any other married couple under immigration law. But at the very least, ICE should follow their own guidelines on discretion and stop her deportation immediately."

Mrs. Hernandez met her partner, a US citizen born and raised in Denver, and fell in love in 2006. They were married in Iowa in 2010. However, as a result of DOMA, their marriage is not recognized for immigration purposes and her partner is barred from sponsoring Mrs. Hernandez for legal status.

When Mrs. Hernandez was pulled over for a minor traffic violation in 2008, she was detained and spent nearly 3 months at an immigration detention center. Since that time, the couple has spent more than $20,000 on the legal battle to fight her deportation case and to have their marriage recognized and respected by immigration courts.

"No loving, committed couple should be torn apart by the laws of our country," said Brad Clark, Executive Director of One Colorado. " Mrs. Hernandez and her partner have made a lifelong promise to take care of each other, and their marriage should provide them with security to build a life together. But because of these unjust, discriminatory laws, their family hangs in the balance. That's just plain wrong."

A decision on Mrs. Hernandez's case is expected on August 19th at the Denver Immigration Court. In the coming days, community organizations will be working to mobilize support. Please contact Julie Gonzales, Director of Organizing for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition at Julie@coloradoimmigrant.org, or Shannon Masden, Field Manager for One Colorado at Shannonm@one-colorado.org to get involved.

###

The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) is a statewide, membership-based coalition of immigrant, faith, labor, youth, community, business and ally organizations founded in 2002 to improve the lives of immigrants and refugees by making Colorado a more welcoming, immigrant-friendly state. CIRC achieves this mission through non-partisan civic engagement, public education, and advocating for workable, fair and humane immigration policies.

One Colorado is a statewide advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring equality and opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Coloradans and their families. With offices in Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, and Grand Junction, One Colorado effectively improves the lives of LGBT Coloradans by lobbying the General Assembly, executive branch, and local governments on issues like safe schools, relationship recognition, and LGBT health and human services. Learn more about www.one-colorado.org.

Para Distribuicón Inmediata: Lunes, 15 de agosto del 2011

Contactos: Julie Gonzales, CIRC, Julie@coloradoimmigrant.org, 720-891-2712 (bilingüe) | Jessica Cook Woodrum, One Colorado, 720-412-3772, jessicaw@one-colorado.org (inglés)

Bajo un sistema roto de inmigración, DOMA agrega otra capa de injusticia

Pareja bi-nacional lesbiana espera una respuesta; DOMA tiene su futuro rehenes

Denver, CO - Abandonada como niña, abusada y maltratada, una jóven lesbiana salió de México, llegó a los Estados Unidos, y construyó una vida al lado de la mujer que ama. Sin embargo, su futuro ahora depende de una decisión departe de un juez de inmigración. Pero John Morton, el Director del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE, por sus siglas en inglés) acaba de mandar nuevas directrices de discreción prosecutorial para parejas bi-nacionales del mismo sexo, y pueden ser decisivos para el futuro de Sra. Hernandez (quien pide que su nombre completo no sea usado) porque tratan de la manera que los jueces de inmigración deben interpretar y aplicar la Ley de Defensa del Matrimonio (DOMA, por sus siglas en inglés).

"Es absurdo que alguien como la Sra. Hernandez está enfrentando una deportación de su pareja y la vida que han construida juntas, por causa de una parada rutinario de tráfico. Esto pasa a miles de familias al nivel nacional por la mayor colaboración entre la policía local y ICE. Desafortunadamente, DOMA empeora el sistema de inmigración ya roto," dijo Julien Ross, Director Ejecutivo de la Coalición para los Derechos de Inmigrantes de Colorado (CIRC, por sus siglas en inglés), "DOMA niega las parejas comprometidas del mismo sexo cualquier derecho a patrocinar a su esposo o esposa, y por la mayoría de los casos, deja las familias sin la oportunidad de cambiar su situación."

Ross continuó: "La solución verdadera sería reconocer el matrimonio entre la Sra. Hernandez y su pareja, y darles los mismos derechos que reciben todas las otras parejas casadas bajo la ley de inmigración. Por lo menos, ICE debe seguir sus propios directrices de discreción y cancelar su deportación inmediatamente."

La Sra. Hernandez y su pareja, una ciudadana nacida en Denver, se conocieron y se enamoraron en el 2006. Se casaron en Iowa en el 2010. Sin embargo, bajo DOMA, su matrimonio no es reconocido bajo la ley de inmigración y la pareja no puede patrocinar a Sra. Hernandez por un estatus legal.

Cuando Sra. Hernandez fue parada por una infracción de transito en el 2008, fue detenida y pasó casi 3 meses en la cárcel de inmigración. Desde entonces, la pareja ha pagado más de $20.000 para batallar legalmente en contra del caso de deportación y para que las cortes de inmigración reconozcan y respetan a su matrimonio.

"Ninguna pareja comprometida y cariñosa debe ser separada por las leyes de nuestro país," dijo Brad Clark, Director Ejecutivo de One Colorado. "Sra. Hernandez y su pareja han hecho una promesa de por vida de cuidar la una a la otra, y su matrimonio debería de proveerlas con la seguridad de construir una vida juntas. Pero por estas leyes injustas y discriminatorias, su familia está en duda. Es una gran equivocación."

Esperan una decisión en el caso de Sra. Hernandez el 19 de agosto en la Corte de Inmigración de Denver. En los siguientes días, movilizarán varias organizaciones de base en apoyo. Favor de contactar a Julie Gonzales, Directora de Organizar con CIRC, julie@coloradoimmigrant.org, o a Shannon Masden, Manager de Campo con One Colorado, shannonm@one-colorado.org para involucrarse.

###

La Coalición para los Derechos de Inmigrantes de Colorado (CIRC, por sus siglas en inglés) es una coalición estatal de organizaciones de inmigrantes, fé, sindicatos, comunitarias, negociantes, y aliadas fundada en el 2002 para mejorar las vidas de inmigrantes y refugiados a través de asegurar que Colorado esté más acogedor y pro-inmigrante. CIRC alcanza nuestra misión por involucramiento cívico no-partidista, educación pública, y abogacía para una reforma migratoria justa.

One Colorado es una organización estatal de abogacía dedicada a asegurar la igualdad y oportunidad por Coloradenses lesbianas, gay, bisexuales, y transgéneros (LGBT) y sus familias. Con oficinas en Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, y Grand Junction, One Colorado mejora las vidas de Coloradenses LGBT a través de abogacía en la Asamblea General, el poder ejecutivo, y en gobiernos locales en temas como escuelas seguras, reconocimiento de relaciones, y salud y servicios humanos para la comunidad LGBT. Aprende más en one-colorado.org.

http://www.coloradoimmigrant.org/article.php?id=1135

Globalization and Migration workshop

2011-08-17T13:18:00.006-06:00

This past Saturday at the AFSC headquarters, we had our amazing workshop on Globalization and Migration. The workshop was designed to dissect the immense topics that are Globazation and Migration while taking into account the economic components as well. As epic and overwhelming as these topics sound, we were able to design a workshop that attempted to tackle the monster of a topic. There were about 35 people in the audience and they were all fully engaged. The activities were enlightening and were well received by the audience.

Globalization Y Migration Head, Heart and Feet from participants:
I learned…
That we can teach each other a lot of things.
The difference between the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
About Nigeria standing up for its people against Neoliberalism.
About the key players and the important terms to know when talking about neoliberalism.
That activities make it easier to show what’s going on
That popular education actually works
That it’s really important to come together and pull some of these things apart, and THEN act
We need to work together as nations and fight at a global level

I felt…
Happy about how this workshop turned out
Overwhelmed
Excited about being with like minded people
That truth wins out in the end
Hopeful
Refreshed
More equipped
More connected to the suffering caused by the system and my role in it
Inspired by everyone’s contributions
Like I thought really hard today

I will…
Educate myself about resistance in other countries, like Nigeria
Take what I learned to the streets
Do a workshop at CIRC
Talk about the root causes of migration more
No longer buy name brands
Look for more opportunities for action and education around globalization
Bring it to build on our work at RAP
Bring it to my Social Justice faith leaders group, and other faith communities

*written by Fadima Gologos

4th of July

2011-07-06T11:58:00.006-06:00

Photo credit Tim Paynter

On the 4th of July 2011 I attended my first Solidarity Vigil, it was held this past Monday in front of the Detention center in Aurora. The Vigil was sponsored by Denver Fair Food, and it was an act of solidarity "...with all who are imprisoned, exploited or enslaved!" This vigil, which took place on the date of the independence of the United States, was symbolic beyond measure. The participants were of a diverse crowd with people from all ages, socio-economic classes and life paths. As we were making our way down the road there was this atmosphere that was charged with the intensity of the present, melancholic memories of the past and bittersweet hopes for the future.

The wind transported our loud, passionate and eager voices in all directions as we chanted "What do we want? JUSTICE, how do we get it? MELT the ICE". We were a sight to behold, because there was a lot of depth and symbolism accompanying the date we chose to go on that vigil. It was evident that we had acknowledged the progressive strides that have been taken in the America, but we also emitted a profound yearning for the amelioration of the conditions of those who have been and are still imprisoned, exploited or enslaved.

The vigil was also a very educational one; Denver Fair Food enacted a short skit that retraced the exploitative and enslaving roots upon which the American system was built, this skit provided us with enough knowledge to understand the gravity of the situation and prompt us to action. We were faced with the realities of America with all its flaws magnified.

The most moving parts of the day included the testimonies of the people, and the beautiful silence that was a silent cry of prayer. The people in the immigrant community who were bold enough to testify included a father, a mother of six who is forced to support her large family by herself, and another mother who has been deprived of her child. The only crimes that these victims can be accused of are the fact that they were born in another country and wanting to provide a better life for their children. Despite all these injustices, I strongly believe that these testimonies demonstrate fearlessness and bravery beyond measure and I wish I had half the courage and internal strength that these heroes have.

The first person who stepped up to speak was the Mexican father of two (a son and daughter) who had been detained in Montana and subsequently released. He tried to relay to us that he is not a criminal and that we need to keep on fighting; all he ever wanted is give a better life to his children and provide them with opportunities he never had. He mentioned how he can take them to the movies and those were things that he was not able to do while he was growing up. He explained the despicable conditions in these detention centers: in one room there were 70 detainees and they had to share five rolls of toilet paper, and they were reprimanded for pointing out that the toilet paper was not sufficient.

This inhumane treatment struck a chord in a Leticia, mother who has seen her son, Sharif only once in eight months, it caused her to wail in anguish and that was one of the hardest things I had to watch in helplessness. Her son was taken at 5:00 am in the Morning shortly after thanksgiving and he was taken to the GEO detention center. Last month he was transferred to Colorado Springs and has been detained there ever since. The third testimony was from a mother of six, two of which are sick and her husband has been detained in the Aurora detention center since March and she is struggling with taking care of her six children. She mentioned how she has been struggling to find a job and how it is hard to find day care.

My first vigil was nothing short of eye-opening and emotionally charged. I would have to say that my favorite part of the whole evening was when we were asked to get close to our neighbors and touch them, close our eyes and just take deep breaths. There was a cool breeze, the sun was setting and the beautiful silence that ensued felt like a silent victory and a promise that the best is yet to come.

- Written by: Fadima Gologo

The next Vigil: United Communities, Living in Freedom.
Monday, August 1st, 2011.
We will meet at 30th Ave & Peoria Street, Aurora, CO.
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Obama Administration’s Announced Tweaks to Secure Communities Fail to Address Ongoing Human and Civil Rights Abuses

2011-06-22T12:02:00.002-06:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jennifer Piper
jpiper@afsc.org

Denver, CO -- (June 20, 2011) The Colorado office of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) rejects the Department of Homeland Security’s recently announced fruitless adjustments to address the overall failure of the Secure Communities Initiative and it’s continued civil and human rights abuses.

“Creating an advisory commission does not addresses grave concerns brought by civil, human and immigrant rights groups. This program has been foisted on local governments and communities under false pretenses,” said Gabriela Flora, Project Voice Regional Organizer of the AFSC. “We restate our demand that the Obama administration suspend Secure Communities.”

In recent weeks Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts have either pulled out of or refused participation in the program. Numerous cities across the country continue to seek a way out of this deportation dragnet that stretches local law enforcement’s resources and entangles them in immigration laws. As a result, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Progressive Caucus have both called for a moratorium on the program pending an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General called for by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren slated to begin next month.

Jennifer Piper, Interfaith Immigration Organizing Director of the AFSC, declared “We call on Governor Hickenlooper to follow Illinois, New York and Massachusetts and retract Colorado’s participation in this flawed program. Although ICE claims the program secures our communities, we are all aware of the fact that it has the reverse effect.”

United Church of Christ Pastor Anne Dunlap explained her opposition to the program saying “My faith calls me to support policies that unify our communities and to challenge divisive and unjust policies. ‘Secure Communities’ is a fundamentally flawed program, and cannot be fixed by even well-intentioned minor tweaks. This program perpetuates racial profiling, creates tensions between police and immigrant communities, and pulls people into the broken deportation system, tearing apart families and communities in the process”.

In light of the failure of Secure Communities, the American Friends Service Committee calls on the Obama Administration to:
• Publicly oppose and terminate all programs that create partnerships between state and local law enforcement and ICE.
• Halt the development of the vast data-gathering infrastructure that houses Secure Communities and inform the public of the current scope and purpose of its data collection and dissemination activities.
• Ensure any immigration enforcement programs have rigorous safeguards against racial profiling and human rights violations.
###
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths
who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief
in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

Happy International Workers Day!

2011-05-02T11:39:00.001-06:00

...from a generous friend!
Sisters & Brothers, Happy International Workers Day!

...in celebration of this day I wanted to share Part 1 in a series of online slideshows on how to research corporations for economic and social justice. I would like as many workers and community folks to learn how to research this type of information so please feel free to forward this email, post the link on Facebook, etc.

I'll be uploading the remaining parts during the next two weeks and will have all the parts available online for full viewing from Mid-May until June 1st. After June 1st I will start working on a book which will contain much of the same content and introduce you to my labor/political cartoon. : ) I'm taking $10 bucks off the price of the book if you shoot me an email saying you'd like to pre-order a copy. I'll also have the books available in bulk for larger organizations.

This is the only email I'll be sending about the slideshows so if you'd like to stay current just click here to see if a new gallery has opened.

I'll also be posting all the parts of this presentation on Facebook so if you would like to be friends on there, just click here to find me.

hope you're all well, happy International Workers Day!
In solidarity,
Ric Urrutia

--
Ric Urrutia
Photographer
720-207-8313
http://www.behindthelens.net

In honor of Earth Day, See the Borderlands...

2011-04-25T13:24:00.001-06:00

Photojournalist Krista Schlyer has shot some of the most dynamic and astounding scenes of wildlife and walls along the U.S.-Mexico border. If you're familiar with Sierra Club Borderlands Campaign, then you've seen her work.
For Earth Day, she has put together a 4-minute film clip capturing a very ominous and timely threat. She exposes an extreme proposal to hogtie more than 30 important environmental protection laws, not just along the southwest land border, but also along the Canadian border, the Gulf Coast, the East Coast, the West Coast, even the Hawaiian and Alaskan boundaries! 2 out of 3 Americans live within the areas to be affected, and depend on the protection these laws provide for clean water, clean air, and a healthy environment.

View the film by clicking on the link below, or copy-pasting it into your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0zHg6Wfu5g
Sincerely, Dan Mills

Parents, Clergy and Educators take note! "Listen to the Children" is the perfect intro book for you.

2011-03-03T19:42:00.005-07:00

I heard great things about the book "Listen to the Children: Conversations with Immigrant Families" and so decided it was time to read it for myself.

First of all, the book is bilingual; one half in Spanish, the other in English! This is a great bonus making it possible to have discussion and share the resource bi-culturally. It's simply and directly written and is a great tool for adults who want to help kids prepare for:

a parent's absence
moving to a new country
a new school

The author, Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, provides illuminating examples of conversations and situations families might face. I felt guided through how to shift these conversations in ways that empower children and families to love and respect one another. She sees the whole community (faith communities, teachers, extended family, and friends) as key to children's health. I also really appreciated her tips on talking with kids in an age appropriate way.

While the book was written to highlight children's issues, it also helped me keep in mind all of the challenges, strengths, hopes and dream immigrant parents carry with them. "Listen to the Children" provides tips for parents on how to get what they need from schools and faith communities as well. It encourages them to reach out to the larger community for advice, and to share their experiences with other immigrant families.

Conde-Frazier demonstrates how biblical stories can be a source of strength for children whose family's status is precarious. She touches on the capacity of the faith community to support families in the wake of enforcement actions and the importance of a safe and open place for families and children. Most of all I appreciated her treatment of the issues that impact immigrant families regardless of status; identity, education, justice, dignity.

I look forward to more from Conde-Frazier and hope that she can give us a more in-depth treatment of each of the areas she covered in this intro book, providing us with more culturally sensitive bilingual tools on parenting, integration and respect.

The book is in our library of resources now at AFSC, so please stop by to check it out!

ICE Cold Hearts...Melted!

2011-02-15T15:33:00.015-07:00

by Jordan T Garcia

On Monday, February 14th, 2011 at the Aurora Immigrant Detention Center, 475 handmade Valentines were delivered to 450 people unjustly interned by the state. An additional 50 cards were handed out to day laborers in Aurora. Thanks to you!

I spoke with a woman named Patricia in the detention center waiting area, as she waited to be allowed to see her husband and the father of her 3 year old before he signed his voluntary departure for his deportation. Her fierce strength gripped me in the moments she shared her struggle to explain to her daughter Alicia that she didn’t do anything wrong to keep her father away on Valentine’s day.

Later yesterday morning, Pedro, a carpenter and Day Laborer from Aurora, tucked a Valentine made by a 7 year old Bella inside his pocket. Among sheepish grins and somewhat deriding chuckles from fellow day laborers, though none were too shy to take a homemade Valentine of thier own, he explained. His son, in Oaxaca, was about the same age when Pedro left to come to the US four years ago to send money home to his parents, now raising his kids.

The Valentines you made touched hearts and shared strength. We are all made more whole knowing these stories of fierce love and unforgettable power.

At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. We must strive every day so that this love of living humanity will be transformed into actual deeds, into acts that serve as examples, as a moving force.

~ Che Guevara

Many people have told us that this Valentine project provided them with an opportunity to not only be creative, but also to be self reflective. To set aside feelings of frustration about political posturing and to put what LOVE they could into a simple beautiful card. To take just an hour or so to think about the experiences of immigrants in this country and to focus on the reasons we struggle for immigrant justice day in and day out.
A special thank you to all of the Valentine Artists, including but not limited to Coloradans For Immigrant Rights, Metro Organization for People, Melissa Nix, Nicki Gonzales & Tania Valenzulea and the Regis University Social Justice Students, Maria and the students at the Iliff School of Theology, Sister Alicia and St. Mary's Academy and Escuela de Guadelupe students, Harriet Mullaney’s English classes at Bruce Randolph School, and the attendants of Yolotzin (1st!) & Yvonne Sandoval’s birthday party. And another special thank you to Seth Donovan for making the arrangements with the Detention Center Staff.

On February 7th, 2011, over 150 hundred people gathered at the Aurora Detention Center to make their voices heard. The February monthly vigil was planned by Coloradans For Immigrant Rights, a project of AFSC and the Denver Justice and Peace Committee.
We invited Suzi Q Smith, a spoken word artist and slam poet whose poem is copied below, along with other poets such as Homero Ocon who shared their beautiful pieces. DJPC shared broken hearts concerning the roots of migration and participants shared the ways they will mend hearts in their own lives. We sang some love songs and chanted to the people interned inside.

We carried signs with our message including a large broken heart symbolizing how our broken immigration system keeps the United States apart from the rest of the world and the broken hearts of those families separated by borders and walls.

Some of the Valentine’s read like this: Dear Valentine, You are not alone. I hold you in my heart, thoughts and prayers. Love knows no borders or walls and together we can share each other’s strength and courage. I am with you in spirit on this Valentine’s Day. No estas sol@. Est@s presente en mi corazón, mis pensamientos y mis oraciones. El amor no reconoce fronteras ni muros. Juntos podemos compartir nuestr@ fuerza y valor. Mi espíritu está contigo en este Día de San.

Arizona vigilante found guilty of murdering Latino man, daughter

2011-02-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

By the CNN Wire Staff
February 15, 2011 2:04 a.m. EST
(CNN) -- An Arizona jury on Monday convicted anti-illegal immigration activist Shawna Forde of murder in the killing of a Latino man and his 9-year-old daughter during a 2009 vigilante raid she led on their home.
The Pima County jury convicted Forde on eight counts, including two counts of murder for the shooting deaths of Raul Flores and his daughter, Brisenia, and the attempted murder of the child's mother, Gina Gonzales, at the family's rural Arivaca home on May 30, 2009.
The child and her father were American-born U.S. citizens.
The jury also convicted Forde on two counts of aggravated assault, and one count each of burglary, armed robbery and aggravated robbery.
The jury is scheduled to return Tuesday for the penalty phase of the trial.
Forde's alleged accomplices, Albert Robert Gaxiola and Jason Eugene Bush, are scheduled to go on trial later this year.
During the trial, prosecutors portrayed Forde as the ringleader of the hit squad, and said she had planned the raid and the murders to steal weapons, money and drugs to finance a new anti-illegal immigration outfit.
The trio picked the Flores home, prosecutors said, because of a claim made by Gaxiola they would find drugs there.
While Flores had a history of drug-related offenses, none were found in the house.
Posing as border patrol and law enforcement officers, Forde, Gaxiola and Bush, whom prosecutors identified as the gunman, showed up at the Flores home after midnight, several hours after the family had returned from a shopping trip in Tucson to buy shoes for their daughter for summer camp.
Brisenia Flores was sleeping on the couch with her puppy when the killers demanded to be let into the home. They accused Flores of harboring illegal aliens and said the house was surrounded by agents.
Once inside, the gunman shot Flores in the chest and Gonzales in the leg. Later Brisenia was shot as she pleaded for her life.
Jewelry taken from the Flores home was later found in Forde's possession. Text messages discovered on her phone also implicated her in the crime.
Forde once belonged to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps before she was removed for what former fellow members described as unstable behavior, according to news reports.
Forde then formed a splinter group, Minutemen aAmerican Defense. She led protests against illegal immigration and patrolled the Arizona-Mexico border armed with weapons.
Bush was the group's national director of operations, according to reports.

http://us.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/14/arizona.double.killing.verdict/index.html?hpt=T2

AFSC Responds to Violence against Those in Public Life

2011-01-10T17:26:00.001-07:00

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization committed to overcoming violence in communities throughout the U.S. and around the world, is deeply saddened by the violence of January 8, 2011, in Tucson, Arizona, when an attempt to kill U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords brought death and injury to so many.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all victims of the shooting, as well as their families and friends who are now mourning the deceased and anxiously awaiting the recovery of the injured. As Friends say, we are holding them in the Light.

In our work for peace, we have seen how each act of violence hurts not only the immediate victims, but tears at the fabric of entire communities. In the wake of such a senseless violation, everyone in Tucson will struggle to feel secure, to regain trust for each other, and to work together to move forward. Our hearts
go out to all in Tucson today.

Today’s strident political atmosphere escalates tension and helps to set the stage for incidents like this one. Our world is increasingly swept up in a tide of intolerance. We are all too accepting when political and spiritual leaders use rhetoric that demonizes those with different beliefs; when those who should call us to higher purpose, instead, contribute to an atmosphere that provokes the most vulnerable, disturbed among us to acts of vandalism, violence, and assassination. We all must take responsibility for correcting a political climate that has become so polarized and vitriolic.

It is not an accident that this tragic shooting took place in Arizona, where punitive laws and anti-immigrant scapegoating have only resulted in misunderstanding and divisiveness in our borderlands. These laws have brought us no closer to creating humane, workable policies that respect the rights and needs of those living on either side of the border. This is but one example of how our nation’s divisive rhetoric works against developing effective solutions to society’s pressing needs.

What would help us move forward?

The American Friends Service Committee urges our elected officials, spiritual leaders and community leaders to commit now to act with civility and common purpose to heal our society. Real healing goes beyond civil words and tamped-down rhetoric and looks to the root causes of violence in our society, the conditions of inequality and injustice. A political culture devoted to honestly and reasonably addressing those conditions would be a healthier one for all of us.

We call on national, state, and local leaders to respond with compassion to the needs and aspirations of those who have been disenfranchised by the political system and excluded from the economic recovery. This is a time to fulfill the promise of “justice for all.” This is a time for leadership towards “a more perfect
union.”
January 10, 2011

The DREAM shall never die

2011-01-03T13:21:00.002-07:00

Reflections on Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the DREAM Act

By CFIR memberMark O'Brien

Proponents of the DREAM Act failed to gain the 60 votes needed for a cloture vote in the U.S. Senate in order to end a filibuster on the Bill.

This of course was a major disappointment for millions of individuals who were hoping that the DREAM Act would pass in the Congress. The prevailing view was that the DREAM Act had a low chance of successfully passing in the Senate despite a courageous victory in the House.

It may seem like this is the end for the DREAM Act at least until the 2012 elections. However, this is just the beginning. While the Legislation failed to gain the necessary votes in the Senate, the DREAM is still alive! As Senator Edward Kennedy stated at the Democratic National Convention in 2008:

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the DREAM shall never die…

December 20th marked the 5th anniversary of H.R. 4437, otherwise known as the Sensenbrenner Bill that passed in the House. This highly punitive legislation would have made it, among other things, a felony to be in the United States undocumented. The Sensenbrenner Bill was a wake-up call for people of all races, colors and creeds to come together and unite against the hard-hearted nature of such legislation.

Almost immediately, individuals and organizations started to mobilize and an awakening began that brought together communities across the nation. People mobilized and engaged in organizing, outreach and service. Folks from all walks of life rose up to say NO to the Sensenbrenner Bill and the hostile tone that was taking shape in the United States towards immigrants.

The energy and enthusiasm was palpable as communities came together through the bond of peace. There was a tremendous amount of organizing, meeting with legislators and their staff, working on messaging, framing and advocacy. We took sharp, decisive action and did not rest or let up during the Christmas holiday break, and by the time Congress returned, the momentum took them off guard. The Sensenbrenner Bill died in the Senate.

The momentum culminated in March 2006 with rallies across the country that drew 50,000 to 150,000 people. In Denver, a March 25, 2006 rally at Civic Center Park drew an estimated 75,000 people. This was extraordinary given that organizers had met 3 days before and thought that there might be 5,000 people in attendance. But the word went out and then suddenly, when all the forces came together in a singular moment, there was an outpouring that came forth like a river. As I drove into town, streams of individuals, families and groups came from all directions towards Civic Center Park. There were people coming from everywhere and I recall telling a friend on the cell phone, who had asked how I thought the rally would go, "hold on...something is happening-something is breaking lose". This was confirmed when I got close to downtown, parked and joined the procession of people heading to the Park. The presence, power and energy of this gathering was effervescent, there was a joyfulness among the crowd. The morning gave way to a celebration of community and an inspiring presentation. No one there that day will forget, nor should forget, the beauty of the experience.

Over the past 5 years a tremendous amount of time, effort and energy has gone into Comprehensive Immigration Reform. From the McCain-Kennedy Bill to the DREAM Act, there has been an enormous amount of debate, argument, demonstration and lobbying regarding this issue. There has been many promises from politicians who have been, at best, ineffectual in providing genuine leadership on immigration reform. The economic crisis has certainly not helped this situation.

Along with other Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation, the DREAM Act was a parallel effort to provide an opportunity for children, teenagers and young adults, brought to the U.S. with their parents, an opportunity to come from the shadows and be able to work, attend school, join the military and have a path towards legal residency, and the potential to become a permanent resident and/or U.S. Citizen.

The fact that the DREAM Act failed to pass in the Congress is a great disappointment to many and will impose difficult hardships on folks who are undocumented, but it cannot be overstated that this is just the beginning of what will be a very challenging road ahead and we will need to press on toward the goal by working together and staying united in one vision, mission and purpose. We will need to work hard and sacrificially with deliberate intent on CIR and a new DREAM Act.

We need to hearken back to those who came before us and have provided an example to follow. I think of Martin Luther King and how many years he and millions labored, and still labor, for Human Rights. I think of Gandhi and the peace movement in India and how it influenced Dr. King and peace movements around the world. I think of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers movement and his efforts that began in the 1950s. I think of Dorothy Day and the many that advocated for immigrants rights in the late 19th and early 20th century. I think of my own father who worked tirelessly for immigrant rights beginning with Dorothy Day in the 1940s and with Cesar Chavez in the 1950s before the United Farm Workers existed. I think about 'the long journey' fighting against the abuse and exploitation of the Bracero Program and picketing in California during the 'Don't Eat the Grapes' strikes. These were long, hard battles that lasted many years and required extraordinary sacrifice.

The main thing is this : The experience over the past 5 years has shown how a communities can come together with a shared vision to advocate for the cause of justice and Comprehensive Immigration Reform. We will not waiver in our commitment and we will stand together in unity willing to sacrifice time and time again until we achieve our common goal. But even when we do achieve this goal we must remember the words of Senator Edward Kennedy when he said...

One of the great lessons I have learned from a life in politics is that no reform is ever truly complete. We must constantly keep moving forward, seeking ways to create that more perfect union..

We must continue and intensify our work to manifest what Martin Luther King, Jr. named "The beloved community."

In addition, I am reminded of a quote that I hears a few years back which was: "the difference between peacemaking and activism is that peacemaking is transformational". So, as we go forth, let us also be peacemakers in the pursuit of just immigration policy, because in addition to our activism; it is peacemaking that is transformational and ultimately what brings about true and lasting change.

Let us love and serve one another, encouraging each other as long as today is called today, remembering that

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the DREAM shall never die…

Peace and Love,

Mark

A Joint Statement about Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the DREAM Act

2010-12-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

VOICE, LYFE and Out Boulder – A Joint Statement about Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the DREAM Act – LGBT and Immigrant Communities Continue to Stand Together
Many people in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) and Allied community have worked tirelessly to help repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” On Saturday, the U.S. Senate approved a stand-alone bill to repeal the military’s 17-year-old ban on lesbians, gays and bisexuals serving openly in the military. The vote was 65-31.
DADT is an important and hard-earned victory and provides us reason to celebrate; however, on the same day the U.S. Senate’s failed cloture vote blocked consideration of the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act). The DREAM Act, which passed the U.S. House last week, seeks to provide undocumented young people “conditional permanent residency” if they arrived in this country before they were 16 and attend college or serve in the military. Upon graduation or completion of their enlistment, they would receive permanent legal residency with an opportunity to apply for U.S. citizenship.
We are grateful for the leadership of Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and and Mark Udall who voted for the DREAM Act and the repeal of DADT.
We also thank Rep. Jared Polis, who represents Colorado’s Second District (which includes Boulder County) for his unwavering and strong leadership in support of both the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and passage of the DREAM Act. Polis co-sponsored the DREAM Act and said in his remarks, “The DREAM Act is not only a human rights issue, it's an economic issue and it's a competitiveness issue. These young people are some of our very best Americans…I call upon the House and the Senate to immediately move to pass the DREAM Act and help make these young people proper Americans.” In his remarks about DADT, Polis said, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is the only law in the country that requires people to be dishonest or be fired if they choose to be honest.”
VOICE (Voices of Immigrant Children for Education and Equality), LYFE (Longmont Youth for Equality) and Out Boulder (Boulder County’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community center) ask LGBT people to speak out in favor of immigrant rights. We ask immigrants to speak out on behalf of LGBT rights. We ask you to continue to see the connections between the treatment of LGBTs and immigrants in federal, state, and local policies. For over 17 years the LGBT community and our allies have fought for the repeal of DADT. This change provides hope to the immigrant justice community that progress does happen and that we will see comprehensive immigration reform soon.
We ask you to recognize that some people are both immigrant and LGBT and that community-building must focus on all facets of the community. In the spirit of solidarity and social justice, it is important to acknowledge that DADT only applies to service members who are gay, lesbian or bisexual—not to transgender service members. We continue to stand with the transgender community, as well.
In a letter from the Birmingham Jail in 1962, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr wrote,
“We are bound by an inescapable garment of mutuality, whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
The results of December 18, 2010 further the need to acknowledge that our issues cannot be faced in isolation. It remains true that those who hate us come from similar and often intertwined ideological foundations. We will celebrate Don't Ask and Don't Tell being repealed while also considering what we can do next to work with the Dreamers. Our opponents may try to use ‘divide and conquer’ tactics to carry out their agenda, but we will not be divided. Now more than ever, we must stand together in solidarity - an injustice to one is an injustice to all.

We continue to stand with all immigrant youth

2010-12-28T09:10:00.002-07:00

The American Friends Service Committee is saddened that the United States Senate did not improve and pass the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM Act.)

AFSC believes that creating a humane immigration system is an important human rights issue facing the United States, and will continue to advocate for overhaul of the existing system to guarantee dignity and respect for all immigrant families.

Although the DREAM Act had the support of 55 Senators in the final vote, this was not sufficient to overcome the lack of political will displayed by some of our nation’s leaders.

If you want to know how your Senators voted click here.

The final bill in the Senate prioritized military service over access to education and community service. In the months and days leading up to this vote, AFSC joined with immigrant youth in urging our senators to offer undocumented youth equal access to education and multiple paths to citizenship that would have best served the needs of U.S. society.

This vote took place in a time of increased deportations and escalation of the failed border policies, including the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border. Reversing the current immigration policies that separate families, criminalize workers and jeopardizes the quality of life of communities continues to be an urgent human rights issue.

For over a decade, immigrant youth have been tirelessly advocating for passage of the DREAM Act, and they will not stop now. AFSC sees the DREAM act as a means to allow millions of undocumented youth the ability to continue to contribute to our society without the fear of deportation. AFSC will continue to work with local immigrants’ rights groups, nationwide immigrants’ rights organizations and legislators to include important improvements in any future legislation:

Enrollment in vocational programs in addition to formal college education,
Access to scholarships and other funding sources for financing their education,
A community service alternative, and
A conscientious objection clause for those who chose the military enrollment option.
The American Friends Service Committee encourages our supporters to strengthen the movement to guarantee the protection of human rights and to keep families together.

originally posted here: http://afsc.org/story/after-defeat-dream-act

DREAM Act fails, but we have not been defeated. La lucha sigue!

2010-12-27T12:45:00.002-07:00

by our friends at Padres y Jovenes Unidos
On Saturday, December 18th, the U.S. Senate failed to pass cloture on the DREAM Act, effectively killing it, despite the already historical passage in the U.S. House of Representatives. We are saddened by the Senate’s conscious decision to put their careers before the lives of thousands of students and their families. We are outraged to see Senators who failed to rise above political games, turning down talented individuals ready to contribute and help save our nation’s economy. And while we are particularly disgusted with the five Democratic Senators who blocked the DREAM Act, we cannot forget the gaggle of 41 Senators who voted to kill it. You are following in the footsteps of previous legislators who would see fit to deny a certain group of people their civil and human rights for your own political gain. You truly do represent the worst of American politics and NOT what Americans value.
For nearly a decade now, Padres & Jovenes Unidos and students nationwide have been organizing to pass the DREAM Act. Our youth have held many local actions and events throughout the years and we’ve seen thousands more across the country, all calling on Congress to step up and take action. This year, we were honored to witness historical events that mirrored the Civil Rights era – hunger strikes, sit-ins, and other acts of civil disobedience. We were inspired by the courageous Dreamers who risked deportation and even put their lives on the line under the banner, “Undocumented and Unafraid!”
We thank all the parents, community members, elected officials, religious leaders and ally media outlets, artists and celebrities who stood in solidarity with the Dreamers and helped our movement get this far. We thank all the Representatives and Senators who did the right thing and voted in support of the DREAM Act, especially our Colorado U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators for their leadership.
But most of all, we thank the youth for leading this fight. Your heart, energy and creative tactics allowed us to see a glimpse of where we must take our current movement for equality, because this fight is not just for the DREAM Act; we are fighting for dignity, respect, acknowledgement and justice.
Our message to the youth and all our allies in this fight is: We will not give up. Saturday we suffered a setback, but remember that we have been here before. And, just like then, we must get up and continue to fight back. We must be proud of what we accomplished and take advantage of how close we got this year.
Our message to the elected officials who chose to put the dreams of thousands of immigrant students on hold is the following: Next time, don’t forget that the majority of Americans support the DREAM Act and that you were elected to serve your constituents. You should know that we see right through your irrational and racist excuses, your cowardice and your hypocrisy. We know that for you this is NOT about upholding the values of one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. For you, it is the politics of fear and you wrap yourselves in the banner of false patriotism to justify your vote. Loud and proud we tell you that this is not the end. On the contrary, the fight for DREAM is stronger than ever before. That while the Dreamers are no longer afraid, you should be, because we will prevail.
To all our compañeros in the movement: let’s take a small break, spend the holidays with our loved ones, re-energize, reflect and renew our commitment to the struggle. 2011 will be no easier. This must be a year in which we hold many elected officials accountable for the promises they have yet to fulfill and the wrong choices they made that are hurting our communities. We must return refreshed and ready to build alliances with other working class and suffering sectors of our society who are our brothers and sisters in the movement for equality and justice for all!
¡LA LUCHA SIGUE…HASTA LA VICTORIA!

Kyle Michael Huelsman's Speech from the DREAM Act Press Conference Monday, November 29th, 2010

2010-11-30T15:16:00.001-07:00

Today, thousands of allies across the country came together to make their voices heard. In their presence resonates a call for change, and like them, I see in our faces a demand for justice. No longer shall we sit idly by while our friends, family, and community members are pushed to the margins of society. Right now, on these steps, we ask of our nation to move forward in the direction of respect and equality.

This morning in Boulder, a group of activist dropped a banner off an overpass that read: Dream act now. Together, undocumented and documented people stood in solidarity of a promise nearly a decade in the making. Hand in hand, we symbolized progress not just for the issue of immigrant rights, but also for that of human dignity. I stand here before you as a white, documented, university student that fights on the grounds of civil rights, because when one of us is in chains none of us are free. With my immense privilege comes a responsibility to speak with those people who are so often silenced. Right now, I can speak only to my opportunity.

Throughout high school, one message never left my side; hard work and perseverance leads to success. Like many others, this is the narrative holds true to our vision of America. Equal opportunity prefaces the freedom that we all hold so true to our hearts. It is the story upon which America began and the story that leads us forward today. In the year 2010, this vision falls on deaf ears as 65,000 high school seniors are denied a chance of a better future. The brilliant, vibrant youth that this nations so desperately needs in our university system, are pushed out of the College tract and. What was for me the American Dream is for many undocumented students the American Nightmare.

UN Tribute to Monsignor Romero Highlighted in El Salvador

2010-11-29T16:22:00.002-07:00

SAN SALVADOR - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador highlighted a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly that pays a fitting tribute to Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero.

In a communiqué sent to reporters, the Foreign Ministry reported the declaration of March 24 as International Day of the Right to Truth in relation to serious violations of Human Rights and Dignity of Victims.

The Foreign Ministry added that in this a way the UN pays a fitting tribute to Archbishop Romero, a tireless defender of human rights until his assassination on March 24, 1980.

This initiative recognizes the need to promote historical memory and the importance of the right to truth and justice, the Alternate Permanent Representative to the UN, Carlos Garcia, said.

The resolution, proposed by El Salvador, was cosponsored by 45 countries, including Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Guatemala, Hungary, Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico.

On March 24, President Mauricio Funes acknowledged Romero's legacy and on behalf of the Salvadoran state apologized for the assassination perpetrated 30 years ago, the Foreign Ministry said in the memo.

http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/november/14/centralamerica10111402.htm

Views on White Allyship from a Person of Color

2010-11-03T12:03:00.002-06:00

by Stefanie Tsosie
you can visit her blog here: http://whatwouldjohncollierdo.blogspot.com/

Here it is. I've had some people ask me before about how white people can help with anything. This is what I came up with. Enjoy!

Rule number one: Step off.

Sometimes I think it’s nearly impossible for some white people to just chill out and not lead any groups, not spearhead any activities, or to not go out and teach people the ways of whatever culture they just learned about. We don’t need that. WE can do that. That’s what we WANT to do. Rather, you’d be much more helpful by just sitting back and stepping up when we ask for help. 500 years of colonial leadership got us in this situation in the first place, so why would we want that same power to lead our movement for community empowerment?

Rule number two: Ask people directly about what you can do.

Instead of telling others what they should do, or expressing opinions on how communities can fix themselves, why don’t you ask THEM what THEY NEED. You’d be surprised to know that most communities already know what they need and they know what makes them thrive. We don’t need 5,000 copies of Ayn Rand that you collected from your whatever drive (although if it’s a cold winter, we’ll take them!). My suggestion is to find an organization or community you’re interested in and care about and contact them to see what they need. Don’t approach communities with your ideas because they’ll probably get shot down. Also, keep in mind that ‘your part’ can be big or small. Some communities may want you to attend a rally, or to gather resources for an event. Others might simply ask you to help them by changing a part of your daily routine (ie. don’t shop at this store because the owner is doing x, y,z). Those types of contributions are okay. As long as you asked, and as long as you follow through, your contribution will not go unrecognized.

Rule number three: Don’t get butthurt.

You will be excluded from some things. You will feel left out sometimes. You will get made fun of and laughed at sometimes. But don’t get butthurt and say we hate white people and we’re racist.

It’s not racist.

And if you don’t understand that, then this isn’t the first thing you need to be doing to help out other communities. Instead, you need to educate yourself on race and power structures. Unless you do that first, you’re doing everybody a disservice. Please understand that although you are an integral part in helping communities get recognition/sovereignty/rights/resources, etc, you are not a part of the grassroots constituency served.

Rule number four: Don’t go blabbing to your friends about how cool you are because you’ve joined the ‘movement.’

It’s not your movement. It’s our movement. And don’t join it to impress other people. We expect people to be committed. Not only to whatever movement it is, but also to education, empowerment, and understanding. People that blab are the ones that set up ‘Warrior Camps’ and ‘Sweatlodges’ and think they ‘Know the way of the Indians.’ You may appear to be cool to your friends by wearing your ‘spirit object’ around your neck, but to us you just look like a jackass. The other thing that happens when you start talking to other people, is that sometimes people get misconceptions and don’t fully understand what community empowerment is. See rule number five.

Rule number five: Refer interested people/parties to the organization or community itself.

The second biggest problem to white people taking over movements started by communities of color, is white people speaking on behalf of those same communities. First off, it makes us look like we can’t speak for ourselves, which is just offensive. Secondly, we want to be the ones to finally educate others properly on issues that we think are important. Why would you take that away from us? That would take us back to square one. Thirdly, this always leads to bad news. Like whities dying in sweat lodges constructed out of noxious plastic.

So whether it’s a media representative at a rally, or an inquiring friend, ALWAYS refer them to speak with a representative from the organization/community. We know how to tell our stories best.

Rule number six: Educate yourself and be aware of your surroundings.

If you don’t understand something, just ask. Most people are more than willing to impart knowledge of why they’re pissed at something.

Also, pay attention to where you are and who is around you. And don’t pretend like you’re ‘colorblind’ or ‘you don’t see race.’ That’s bullshit. Even if you don’t see race, it sees us and it impacts the world whether we like it or not. Being colorblind is one of the most selfish things you can do. Feel free to question who is around you and always be aware of that. Ever notice that sometimes you’re the only white person in a room? How about if there are no people of color in a room? Yeah. We notice those things all the time. Now try and think about why that is. It’s okay to recognize privilege and that you have some. We don’t hate you for that. We just don’t like it when you don’t recognize it. Practice run - Why are there no or very few people of color on a golf course or ski resort? I’ll just leave that at that. We’ll see how you do on figuring out the rest.

Rule number seven: Be persistent.

Power structures and institutions cannot change without everybody involved. Thank you for your help, but it’s a long fight. Be persistent and enduring.

I’m sure there are more subtleties to the rules. And there may be amendments later. This is just a start. Please feel free to comment, question, share, whatever. Thanks!

Music Video! "Quiznos your stalling is killing me!"

2010-11-03T10:50:00.001-06:00

This is hot!!! As promised, here is the music video from the Oct. 15 "Quit stalling, Quiznos" flashmob and protest.

Check out the video on youtube or view it below.

Share with all your friends!

See our photoreport from the action as well: "Quiznos, the world is changing!!! When will you?"

And read the article from the Westword blog: "Denver Fair Food and Coalition of Immokalee Workers target Quiznos"

"Quiznos, the world is changing!!! When will you?" Photoreport from the Oct. 15 action outside Quiznos HQ

2010-10-21T20:53:00.003-06:00

During the morning preparations for our action outside Quiznos headquarters last Friday, Gerardo Reyes Chavez (on the left) from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers quickly scrawled a sign reading "Quiznos!!! The World is changing. When will you?" His words cut to the significance of the current moment in the Campaign for Fair Food and the urgency of the need for Quiznos to join the potential tidal shift in farm labor relations in Florida (and beyond) which the moment represents.

Just last week, the CIW and Pacific Tomato Growers, one of the nation's largest tomato growers, announced a milestone agreement embodying the principles of fair wages, human rights and a voice for farmworkers for which the CIW has been fighting for so long. The agreement represents the first direct relationship between a grower and the grassroots, worker-led Coalition. Such a relationship would have been unimaginable just a couple years ago and is a profound break with literally hundreds of years of history during which farm owners have viewed farmworkers as little more than "machines in the fields."

Nonetheless, as Lucas Benitez of the CIW stated at the announcement of the agreement, "As we turn the page on this new chapter in Florida agricultural history, however, I do want to make one thing crystal clear. We are not today claiming that we have achieved the changes sought by the Campaign for Fair Food. Rather, we are announcing that we have forged a plan of action that gives us a realistic chance to bring about those changes."

The vision of a more just and humane agricultural system is teetering on the edge of becoming a reality. As a major buyer of tomatoes, Quzinos' purchasing power can contribute to pushing this reality into being or can serve to hold it back, delaying the hopes of thousands of farmworkers. With Pacific - in addition to the other leading Florida grower East Coast, two of the largest organic tomato producers, all Quiznos' leading fast food competitors, and the food service industry - now solidly behind the CIW's plan of action, there can be no acceptable excuses for Quiznos' failure to join the emerging Fair Food concensus. Justice delayed is justice denied, and unless Quiznos works with the CIW, it is supporting the intolerable status quo which is the human rights crisis in Florida agriculture.

"Quit Stalling, Quiznos!" Photoreport from the Action
With this dramatic background, a rowdy crowd - including not only a broad spectrum from clergy to students of the Denver community, but also our Fair Food companer@s from around Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Illinois and as far away as New York and Florida - convened on Quiznos headquarters. We had a simple message: Quzinos must quit stalling!

Never content with your average protest, the Fair Food activists kicked things off with a song and dance routine to the tune of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" to delivery our message.

"Quiznos, your stalling . . . is killing me (and I), I must confess I still believe (still believe) working conditions must be in line with human riiiiiighhhttts! This agreement you must sign!"
The music video is forthcoming, but beware, 'cause it'll get stuck in your head.

After a few inspiring words from Gerardo Reyes, we began a lively picket. Meanwhile, a delegation went upstairs to Quiznos headquarters . . .

. . . to deliver a set of jumper cables to the sandwich franchise. In May, Quiznos promised us that it was pursuing an agreement with the CIW. Quiznos' words have rung hollow as the months have passed and there has been no progress on its part. We brought the cables as a gift to help Quiznos quit stalling and start moving in the right direction again.

To our dissapointment, no one from Quiznos was willing or able to meet us and accept our gift. Eventually, a senior vice president got on the phone and spoke with Rudy Cortinas, national co-coordinator of the Student/Farmworker Alliance. But not only was the VP unwilling to meet with us in person, he refused to so much as listen over the phone to Gerardo Reyes from the CIW. And instead of affirming the importance of a partnership with farmworkers in the protection of human rights in Quiznos supply chain, he regurgitated tired explanations about how the company was taking its own steps to address the issue. The cold shoulder we received at Quiznos headquarters is a big departure from the respect for workers in its supply chain that Quiznos claims to embrace.

Gerardo closed things up by rallying the crowd to continue the struggle and indeed re-double our efforts to bring Quiznos to the table. Everyone present may have been frustrated having been snubbed by Quiznos, but we left more determined than ever to bring about justice for farmworkers in Quiznos' supply chain.

Time to talk about immigration: Welcome to Shelbyville

2010-10-20T10:27:00.005-06:00

Originally posted on 10.19.2010 by
Janine Vanderburg, JVA Consulting
visit JVA here!

Over 250 people jammed into the Aurora Fox Arts Theater in Aurora for a special screening of Welcome to Shelbyville, a film directed and produced by Kim Snyder that weaves the narratives of different groups of residents—white, African American, Latino and Somali—in a small southern town as they grapple with the changing demographics of their community and their beliefs about themselves and others in their town.

Following the movie, Joe Wismann-Horther of the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning facilitated an audience conversation, asking thought-provoking questions like:

What are things from the film that are uncomfortable and that you’ve heard in our own community?

Diverse members of both immigrant and refugee communities and “receiving” communities shared honest and painful experiences that mirrored those in the movie:

A young Muslim woman shared the challenges she faces when asked why she wears a veil
A consultant shared the negative attitudes about refugees that she has heard during group facilitations
Others shared how they felt unsettled by the conversation in the movie among a group of Christian ministers when they realize the potential to convert Somali refugees: “These are the people we have been trying to reach—now we don’t even have to get a passport.”
It was also an opportunity to educate the audience about what the refugee resettlement process is like. One refugee explained the challenges of the resettlement process and the need to be self-sufficient eight months after arriving in this country; others expressed their desires to help others from their communities resettle and the feelings of frustration they have felt through the sometimes systemic barriers to offering that help. Paul Stein, director of the Colorado Refugee Services Program, explained that refugee resettlement is the “local completion of a foreign policy commitment,” adding that refugees now receive eight months of resettlement assistance compared to the 36 months of assistance they used to receive in the 1980s.

Mostly, audience members acknowledged the importance of bridges between immigrant and refugee communities, which could be organizational, or individuals like Luci, the ESL teacher in the movie who explains to her students how they should approach a newspaper reporter who writes negative stories about immigrants, and who helps bring together the different communities around food, music and conversation. As one audience member stated: “We can help bridge the cultural divide through the gift of hospitality.”

This comment had parallels to the conversation that followed of a comment Senator Michael Bennet made in a Meet the Press debate on Sunday:

“And what I’ll tell you is this, my favorite rooms are the ones where there are Democrats, Republicans, unaffiliated voters and Tea party people, because when folks are together in a room, they actually have to listen to each other. I think one of the things that we are facing right now is that we’ve stopped listening to each other in our politics.”

On Monday night, in the movie and in the conversation that followed, people were both saying tough things and listening to each other. I came away feeling inspired and optimistic about the ability of people coming together to break down the barriers that distance us, and thinking that if we could all watch this movie between now and the end of the year, how 2011 might be different.

A shout-out to the people who brought this event here and who work hard every day to make the vision of integrated communities a reality:

Meg Allen, Denver Coalition for Integration
Jordan Garcia, Immigrant Ally Organizing Director, American Friends Service Committee
Rich McLean, St. Therese Catholic Church
Jenny Pool-Radway, Original Aurora Community Integration Collaborative
Kit Taintor, Colorado African Organization
Jamie Torres, Office of Support Services, Denver Office of Human Rights and Community Relations
Joe Wismann-Horther, the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning
Screenings are taking place tonight in Longmont and Glenwood Springs, and on Thursday in Grand Junction. Click here for times and locations.

Resources:
For more information about the film, see http://welcometoshelbyvilleonline.org/wordpress/

For more information about how you can get involved in Colorado, see http://welcomingcolorado.org

A Blog about Arizona...

2010-10-07T14:52:00.000-06:00

The following article is one of a series of accounts from students who recently returned from Arizona. They were part of a delegation that spent a week touring the state amid the enactment of the controversial law SB 1070. The Center for New Community, a national civil rights organization based in Chicago, sponsored the trip, which included nine students from Washington D.C., New York, Chicago and Colorado.

By: Kristen McCulloch

On our first full day in Arizona, we traveled to the Sonoran desert and walked along one of the paths that migrants traverse on their journey into the United States. Although the heat and sun sweated water from our bodies, our physical condition could never approach the state of an undocumented border crosser. Walking the path made me think of the trail of tears that forced Native Americans out of their homelands into the territories unwanted by the newly established United States government and, to be honest, the present-day passage into the United States only differs because the lines are more clearly drawn for all to see. The persecution continues to affect tribal communities along the border however, with many Iraq-war-veteran-turned-border-patrol-agents pressuring natives to surrender their sovereign IDs for US passports.

We went to the Florence Detention Center in Pinal County where, if you look for long enough at any of the 2000 employees, you can see moral flash floods of shame and discomfort floating behind their cold, yet friendly, eyes. The director, the equivalent of a prison ward, walked into the conference room where we were discussing the treatment of the detainees with a few administrators and overseers and cracked the joke, “You think we care about them? The illegal aliens? ….” None of us laughed and he definitely regretted trying to lighten the mood in that moment. It was felt on both sides that to laugh would be to pardon their sins.

Our group questioned how they understand the immigration reform movement throughout the trip. A huge influence was the media, and it seems important to give it equal consideration by questioning what is being pumped into the unquestioning eyes and ears of the average American citizen, especially the reasons cited for why the most recent wave of immigrants needs to be removed from the U.S.A.

The main argument seems to be that the removal of all undocumented workers would be a solution for the global economic downfall, of which the US is absorbing part of the impact: mass deportation to levy the growing national unemployment rate. Anyone who has taken basic economic theory knows that this claim runs counter to fact. The accusation that undocumented immigrants don’t pay taxes has already been proven false.

Others, such as Arizona’s Governor Brewer, fervently claim that undocumented people threaten national security and this is cause to funnel millions of tax-payer dollars into erecting more miles of environmentally-degrading border wall and border enforcement. The perceived threat, in the discriminatory eyes of many, is inclusive of millions of individuals that are hard-working, home-owning, and education-earning friends, customers, and classmates long established in this country. It would also include the countless day laborers, bending for hours in order to deliver hand picked produce to every grocery store in the nation. Last time I checked, those strawberries aren’t packing gunpowder.

In the least, these arguments are created by greedy and powerful private interests in cahoots with certain politicians, but truth be told, that agenda runs alongside a much darker stain in American history: xenophobia, racism, and discrimination covered up by money, commercialized notions of morality, sensationalized media and censorship/ lack of education.
The reason our group came together was to explore the police state that is now Arizona and to understand more fully what the implications of SB 1070 are. The passage of SB 1070 is often viewed as the most recent attack on human rights, but many do not realize the extent to which this situation is a continuation of white nationalist ideology. All participants on our brief journey into the communities of working poor and criminalized innocents could not have expected the depth to which the situation in Arizona is unjust and heartbreaking. It is with the honesty of the unexpected that truth seems to come to life, and it is exactly that which we so stridently experienced during our short stay and now communicate to you.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/kristen-iris/a-blog-about-arizona-82010/10150313249385651

Colorado Activists Perform Public Storytelling to End Racial Profiling

2010-10-07T12:38:00.001-06:00

“What’s your story?!?” shouted a group of 15 community activists in a busy public bus driving through downtown Denver, Colorado. Fellow bus riders’ attention turned to one activist narrating a true story about racial profiling gone horribly wrong; an older black man was beaten for supposedly not coming to a complete stop while driving. The rest of the actors chimed in with phrases of disbelief and demands for justice while handing out flyers.
This skit was part of a series of public activist theatre actions in Denver on September 30, 2010, planned and performed by representatives from several Colorado community nonprofit organizations as part of the National Week of Action of the Rights Working Group’s Racial Profiling: Face the Truth Campaign. The campaign’s goal is to achieve commitments at all levels of government to ban all forms of racial and religious profiling by law enforcement. Colorado nonprofit organizations Rights for All People and Colorado Progressive Coalition, the two Colorado core partners in the Rights Working Group campaign, recruited other groups to help plan this local action to educate the public through storytelling. Other organizations critical to this event’s success were Coloradans for Immigrants Rights (A project of the American Friends Service Committee) and the Colorado Anti-Violence Program.
Three narrations highlighted the devastating effects of racial profiling, the lack of police accountability, and the collaborations between local law enforcement and federal immigration on local communities. One skit told of a young woman’s pledge to never call the police again after her plea for help as a victim of domestic violence resulted in a notice of possible deportation. Another powerful story portrayed a gay man being illegally searched and verbally abused in a park; when the man went to file a complaint it was ripped up in front of him, leaving him with no choice but to speak out against the lack of enforcement of the systems put in place to protect individuals from profiling.
The 15 activists performed the skits in public locations including the Department of Human Services, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the 16th Street Mall. Overall the group distributed flyers to and performed skits in front of over 150 people. The flyers asked members of the public to submit their own stories related to profiling and explained current Colorado profiling issues such as the possible implementation of the Secure Communities program and the recent passing of HB1201 which requires that police inform individuals of their right to not consent to a search. Postcards in support of the End Racial Profiling Act also gave Colorado individuals a way to take action at the federal level.
As the Rights Working Group continues to address profiling at the national level, Colorado organizations hope that this action is only one of many to educate the local public about the reality of profiling’s many forms and ask others to step forward, share their own story and speak out for change.
Contact Information:
Liz Hamel, Rights for All People: 303-893-3500, liz@rap-dpt.org
Art Way, Colorado Progressive Coalition: 303-866-0908, art@progressivecoalition.org

An Invitation to Paul Ortiz and the DREAMers from an Ally (Community Voices)

2010-09-24T15:10:00.001-06:00

LA DREAM Act Credit-Ruben Hernandez, http://www.flickr.com/photos/dreamactivistorg/3660708115/

by Pablo Paredes

Dear Paul and beloved DREAMers,

As a Latino, a veteran and an activist we share much in the way of life experiences. When I hear Paul's history I am proud and stand in admiration wondering how I can connect with such an activist and build together. I can see why you are throwing your hat in the ring in defense of the DREAMers. These are folks I also admire and feel a deep sense of pride for because I consider myself connected to the larger community with them. A community of migrants, children of migrants, people of color, and marginalized folks fighting back against injustice. In many ways, I feel they have become excelent role models for our community. They challenge us to be unafraid and to stand for what is right even if it means taking risks. They have answered a call that many sheros and heros in our history have before them. They now form part of an amazing continuity of freedom fighters that includes the freedom riders of the civil rights era, the out and unafraid queer folk who staged the Stonewall uprising and many even before those moments in relatively recent history.

5 years ago I also felt the call and I also took some risks. See in 2004 I found my brown body in a blue navy uniform and I was asked to take young Marines to Iraq to face possible death and probable orders to take the lives of Iraq's women, children and elderly in large numbers as "colateral damage". I could not do it. What's more, I felt it was the time to take a stand. As a latino I was also motivated by the reality that 4 green card Latin@ soldiers were among the firs week's casualties and over 20% of the invading force was RAZA. These numbers speak to the reality that when brown bodies finish bootcamp they are more likely to navigate combat rather than navigating radar and high tech systems. When I took my stand on December 6th, 2004, and refused to participate in the invasion and occupation of Iraq and spoke out publicly against that illegal and imoral war being fought disproporitonately by folks of color - my family was also risking something else.

My partner's visa had expired and I was drawing attention to our family at a time when her status was a vulnerability. She told me that the risks we faced were so much smaller than the risks that soldiers of color and Iraq's people faced. So I went through with it and I was Court Martialed and kicked out of the military without many benefits. I was held in a legal detention center for 10 months and I served out a 3 months of a Hard Labor sentence as well. My wife discovered she was pregnant a few months before my trial. I was not free during the final months of her pregnancy.

It is this history that makes me feel closer to the ideals, activism experience and willingness to face risk of the DREAMers than perhaps most people who haven't lived these kinds of life choices involving serious risks. After being discharged I was unemployed, uneducated, and unqualified to do anything other than War making from a Navy vessel. My undocumented partner and I, who were living in San Diego where I was discharged, had a newborn baby. Our Young family went from friend's living room to living room trying to survive and figure out an employment opportunity for me to support us. We were always terrified of travel even in the city and of accessing services because there were raids back then all the time and families torn apart. I wanted to petition for my wife's status but the process took long and we could not afford the application and legal fees ($1500 just to get started at that time.)

After almost a year of this lifestyle a job opportunity appeared in Oakland. This was almost as scary as continuing our current reality because it meant crossing ICE check points in order to go north. Because the job had a 3 month trial period we made an even more difficult decision that I would go first and stay in a friends living room while sending money back to my wife who now had to navigate the city, undocumented and not very fluent in English- by herself. As soon as the first paycheck came we began trying to work for her status but the lawyers said we had to be together and so she had to come up to Oakland. I went back down and we decided we would risk everything driving up even though my trial period was not over yet. We hopped in a little car and headed north with a newborn and not much to call our own. As we approached a truck weigh station I think some powerful force intervened on our behalf. I accidentally got off on the weigh station which was only for trucks and it just so happens by doing so we dodged an ICE Check point. My wife's heart pumped so hard I could feel it in her tense piercing grip around my right hand as we drove just ten feet to the right of the destruction of families like ours.

I am sharing some of my personal life to assure you that I am not the "Social Justice Elite" by any stretch of the imagination. I am not an "anti-militarist absolutist" by any stretch of the imagination. My experience led me to commit myself to work with young people of color and undocumented youth in low-income realities to fight for rights and challenge militarism that leads so many in these communities to death, psychological trauma and dire poverty. I've spent the last 5 years working with high school aged youth from low-income communities of color mostly in the public schools of this interesting state of California.

I am committed to these youth. I organize with them politically, I believe in lifting their voice but I also am committed to their basic needs. I help many of the youth I work with on homework and school projects, i've invited more than one into my home when they were in trouble. They have cried on my shoulder and vented in my living room. I've advocated with them about problems in their group homes, in altercations with police, and in problems at school. I've volunteered to teach spanish as an active elective, so that one of them could make enough credits to graduate on time. This community is my life. I know it well I know their stories and most of this country does not and does not seem to want to listen.

So let's talk about undocumented youth within this community. Studies and activist often mention that there are over 2.1 million undocumented youth in this country and about a quarter of them live in California where I do my work in the public schools. Most are in elementary school or High school or were there in the last 5 years at the same time that i've been doing this work in High schools. Few, a relatively small percentage are in college where you do your work. I don't mean that to minimize your commitment or your voice but i think perspective is critical. The fact is of these 2.1 million we know that at least 1.4 million will never see a college classroom. There are reasons for this that most activist and people wrestling with our country's inequality are somewhat familiar with. But I will restate a few.

Tracking systems in public schools that often pipeline white students to college tracks while students of color and especially undocumented English language learners are tracked on paths that don't prepare them for transfer into 4 year institutions. English Language Learners often undocumented are also mislabeled "special needs", sometimes they are erroneously thought to have speech impediment and other tracked disabilities simply because they are not english dominant and administrators misunderstand this.

The parents of undocumented parents earn far less income and work longer hours than citizen parents leading to low parent involvement and behavioral as well as academic problems that push these students out of school or into poor grades and bad tracks. The lack of federal financial aid for those who somehow make it past all these other barriers means youth who are academically prepared for college still lack access to college. Many undocumented youth have family commitments that result from their parents status that don't allow them to pursue a higher education including single parent homes where the eldest has to pay parental roles or be a wage earner.

These stories and these youth who will never see a college classroom, account for over 62% of the 2.1million undocumented youth being talked about in the DREAM debate. They are the majority, the most affected, and they are almost completely absent from the dialogue. We are focusing on the voices of the relatively small slice of this community that is very articulate, educated, and already in or clearly pipelined toward a four year university. I admire them, I support them and I can understand very clearly why being with them and seeing their valiant efforts day in and day out someone as committed to justice as you, would stand with them.

This is exactly why I stand with the other 62%. I admire them and I support them because they have a strong voice as well, they have a lot to say and they are also valiant. Every day they face this adverse system that pushes them literally out and they do so with courage. Yesterday one of these valiant youth told me enraged how he feels when even teachers speak of "illegals". He responded "I may have come from Mexico but they came from England, so why am I the Illegal."

These moments of push back and resistance have made me fall in love with these young folks that no one seems to want to listen to. They are not as fluent and articulate as some of the DREAMer voices in english. They are not without "baggage". They are often not college bound. But they have dignity, humanity and incredibly valuable things to teach us as well.

I learned a lot from your open letter, Paul, even if some comments felt unfair. I am sure this letter will contain some language that you to will take issue with. But I also hope that the DREAMers and you too, will find some value in my perspective and my call for inclusiveness and unity.

Given that I absolutely admire and stand in solidarity with the intentions of the DREAMers if not the current DREAM Act options for 62% of our youth. Given that I want to build with this new vanguard of the freedom fight and with you and your important contributions to this fight. Given that our movement can be stronger if it includes more voices especially the voices of the majority and the most affected among undocumented youth. I want to propose that we try to move forward together incorporating each other's voices and concerns. I want to invite the DREAMers to meet with the youth I love and hear their stories, concerns and needs. Most importantly I want to ask that the DREAM movement would invite us to their table where we would be honored to sit and better STAND with them and organize with them for all of our collective rights and freedom.

At that table we will have to have difficult conversations about wether federal financial aid such as pell grants is negotiable, and wether community service and vocational paths are negotiable, and lastly what the military component means to 62% of the youth who are most affected and for whom college may not be an option.

I am sure there will be some compromises, I don't expect all of our issues to unilaterally shape the debate. But I do hope they can get a fair hearing, without name calling and with sophisticated understanding of what is at stake and sufficient voice for the major stake holders.

I think I have laid out the case for why the voices of the youth I love and of veterans of color like myself deserve to become part of the dialogue. These are the most affected youth and the largest part of the undocumented youth community and to exclude them would betray the spirit of this struggle for justice.

As long as a military component is on the table then voices from young vets of color are critical to raise the issues that we understand are at stake. Paul, I know and appreciate that you were able to follow the footsteps of Zinn and Fanon and to a large extent so have I even if I am still low-income living in affordable housing and not your typical success story. And you are right that those experiences shaped me and politisized me as they did you and our elders you mention.

However this experience is the exception not the rule. For every Zinn there are thousands of homeless vets. For every Fanon there are thousands of veteran suicides (18 a day as we speak). For every story like mine there are dozens of stories like Jesus Suarez del Solar who got his citizenship through the military but post humorously after bleeding to death in the harsh Desert lands of Iraq.

So our stories and our ability to raise the stories of the homeless, the war casualties, the suicides and all manner of injury that the military can inflict (on our Arab brothers and sisters as well) have to become a part of the DREAM dialogue so long as a military component is considered.

Hoping to build bridges and unity like what we saw in the marches of 2006. Back then I marched with a diverse group of folks from the community and allies from Tijuana to California raising the issues of criminalization and militarization of the Latin@ community.

Our March stopped of at Cesar Chavez's Grave to let him know he can rest in peace and power because his struggle continues and it stopped at recruiting stations not to advertise the military path to our community but to challenge it.

In struggle and toward comm-UNITY,

Pablo Eduardo Paredes

Latin@ Veteran and Undocumented Youth Ally

American Friends Service Committe

Youth and Militarism Program and Human Migration and Mobility Network

Latino Youth Defines DREAM Act as a De Facto Military Draft

2010-09-22T17:07:00.001-06:00

By VAMOS Unidos Youth

We write this statement to raise our voices as Latino youth working and living in the Bronx, New York in opposition to the DREAM ACT as it stands. We demand that we return to our original DREAM ACT that had a community service option instead of a military one. The military has been losing their numbers due to the multiple wars the US has begun. The DREAM ACT would hand us over on a platter to fight these unjust wars. The DREAM ACT has been warped over the years to draft Latino youth into the military, as they need more and more soldiers to fight their wars.

We have been living under harsh conditions. Our communities have been historically underprivileged, with militarized streets, schools that seem more like jails than educational institutions, and poverty that pushes people to desperation and sadness. We have grown up with the trauma of having our family members and friends detained, jailed, and deported. But we are strong and determined, so we keep onwards. We have stood next to our parents as they worked as street vendors, as they were ticketed, arrested, and sometimes assaulted by police for trying to make a living. We, as youth, have also been ticketed and arrested alongside our parents. We have come to understand what it is to be humiliated and then stand and fight for what is right, what is principled, what is just. Our parents’ unrelenting strength to fight for us and their rights have taught us to always stand up for what is right and never sell out.

We have asked ourselves “Is the DREAM ACT an advantage or disadvantage for us as immigrant youth?” Many of us were excited about the possibility of getting documents and finally being able to be recognized as human beings, be able to get a job, an education, and help our families. Along with our teachers and mentors we delved into community organizing and becoming politically conscious. We began learning about our history and our people’s resistance. We then expanded to other cultures and histories and began to appreciate them. We marched side by side with youth from all over the world including South Asia and the Middle East. We saw that within our hearts there was no difference, and enjoyed each other’s company and diversity. Our spirits were momentarily paralyzed when we began learning about the effects of war and how their families and communities had been destroyed. We began to ask ourselves “How can we stop these wars, how can we help?” Our political education allowed us to see through the military propaganda and the army recruiters in our blocks and schools. Speaking to our peers we saw how the military was using them to fight wars that didn’t concern us and killed our friends. This forced us to look at the DREAM ACT a lot closer.

THE DREAM ACT REVEALED

In order to qualify for the DREAM ACT you have to have migrated before the age of 16 and have proof of residence in the United States for five consecutive years since the date of arrival. Also, you have to have graduated from high school or have a GED. This would eliminate many of our older youth, those that did not finish high school, and recent arrivals. You must then complete the following:
Serve two years in the military, or;
Finish two years of bachelor’s program or higher degree in the US.
What happened to the community service option that the original DREAM ACT contained? Why did our supposed advocates allow for the removal of the community service option? Was it because it became in this form the DREAM ACT became winnable? At what expense?

Two Years of College

The first option on the DREAM ACT is to go to school for at least two years; this is great for people who can afford the high tuition rates. But what about those of us who do not have enough money for the tuition, the books, and personal expenses? Also let’s not forget about our families who have more than one undocumented child who needs to go to school to get their papers.

DREAM ACT proponents say that most people will not go to the military, that they can afford school if we work. Unfortunately those folks are distanced from our realities and don’t understand our economic hardships. We broke down the cost of each year in school without the aid of Pell Grants or Financial Aid for attending two years of a four years University; our calculations were the following for a university in Ohio, which does not allow in-state tuition for undocumented students:

Cleveland State University: Out of State
12 Credit Hours - $7,884.00 X 2 = 1 Year = $15,768.00 X 2 years = $31,536.00
Expenses for Students Living at Home with their Parents = $6,568.00 X 2 years = 13,136.00
GRAND TOTAL = $44,672.00
Only 10 states allow for undocumented students to pay for in-state tuition. The majority of undocumented youth would have to pay amounts as stated in the example above. We are lucky to be in New York as it is one of the states that allow undocumented youth to apply for in-state tuition. At the same time we understand that by accepting the terms under the DREAM ACT most youth would not have the same opportunity we do here in New York. Undocumented youth in states like North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, New Mexico would be forced to take the military option in large numbers as they would not be able to pay the high prices of education. For this reason we do not support the DREAM ACT.

Two Years of Military Requirement

We, the VAMOS UNIDOS YOUTH, do not support the DREAM ACT due to the military component. The fact that it has been introduced as a defense appropriation bill adds insult to injury. The DREAM ACT is a de facto military draft, forcing undocumented youth to fight in unjust wars in exchange for the recognition as human beings, a Green Card. This is a trick by the politicians, Democratic Party, and DC immigration advocates. The same way many supposed “advocates” for immigrant rights sold out the community with Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR), they now sell us out with the DREAM ACT. We stand against any militarization- whether it is of the border, our communities, or our status. We will not kill innocent people in exchange for Green Cards.

Our parents have firmly stated in their fight for immigration reform, “We will not accept papers tainted with the blood of our people still crossing the border and dying,” in regards to CIR and it’s militarization of the border component. We say the same “We will not be used for the wars of the corporations and the rich in any part of the world in exchange of blood-stained immigration papers.”

We make a call out to all community organizations and allies to stand firmly on what is principled, against the DREAM ACT if it contains the military provision. Our fight will not be won in one or two years. We are prepared to organize our communities and struggle for many years. We cannot negotiate out our lives, our dignity, and the lives of others. We must rethink our strategies and take control away from the DC immigration advocates which have shown us they don’t have our interest. They have watered down good legislation at a very high cost to the community. Our communities need to decide and take control. We stand with our brothers and sisters affected by wars; we feel their pain and desperation. We will not be used to decimate other countries and their people. Thus, we stand together against the DREAM ACT with the militarization component and fight for what is principled, even if it takes us a very long time.

In Solidarity,

VAMOS UNIDOS YOUTH
vamosunidos@gmail.com

VAMOS Unidos: Vendedores Ambulantes Movilizando y Organizando en Solidaridad (Street Vendors Mobilizing and Organizing in Solidarity), is a Bronx, NY, community-based social justice organization founded by low-income Latina/Latino immigrant street vendors.

DREAM Movement: Challenges With the Social Justice Elite's Military Option Arguments and the Immigration Reform "Leaders"

2010-09-22T13:32:00.000-06:00

Tuesday 21 September 2010
by: Jonathan Perez, Jorge Guitierrez, Nancy Meza, and Neidi Dominguez Zamorano
t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.

. . . We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."

-- Martin Luther King, Letter From the Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963

We are undocumented youth activists and we refuse to be silent any longer. The DREAM Act movement has inspired and re-energized undocumented and immigrant youth around the country. In a time when the entire immigrant community is under attack, and increasingly demoralized, stripped of our rights, the DREAM movement has injected life, resistance and creativity into the broader immigrant rights struggle.

Until we organized this movement, we had been caught in a paralyzing stranglehold of inactivity across the country. We were told that the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, or CIRA, was still possible. Yet we continued to endure ICE raids and we witnessed the toxic Arizona SB1070. Meanwhile, CIRA had lost bipartisan support and there was no longer meaningful Congressional or executive support for real reform.

Youth DREAM Act activists stopped waiting. We organized ourselves and created our own strategy, used new tactics and we rejected the passivity of the nonprofit industrial complex. At a moment when hope seemed scarce, we forged new networks of solidarity. We declared ourselves UNDOCUMENTED AND UNAFRAID!

Mirroring the experiences of Dr. King and the youth activists of Birmingham, our allies encouraged us to avoid implementing "controversial" tactics.[1] We were told to wait for a better time in the future where immigration reform would again become plausible.

Just as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee followed the advice of Ella Baker to create their own organization independent of older organizations, we did the same. The nonprofit organizations and politicians pushing for Comprehensive Immigration Reform continued to try to dictate what our actions should be. We felt that a barrier in achieving legalization was the Nonprofit Industrial Complex.

The Nonprofit Industrial Complex is a network of politicians, the elite, foundations and social justice organizations. This system encourages movements to model themselves after capitalist structures instead of challenging them.[2] In this manner, foundations control social movements and dissent; philanthropy masks corporate greed and exploitation. We reject this by functioning as donation-only and volunteer-based organized groups controlled by the communities we are a part of.

We are building the DREAM Movement action-by-action, city-by-city, and campus-by-campus. In the spirit of the Freedom Rights and Chicano movements of the 1960s, we have decided to put our bodies and lives on the line. Repeatedly, undocumented youth have risked the threat of physical violence, incarceration, and deportation by engaging in acts of non-violent direct action in order to push the immigrant rights movement forward.

On August 19, DREAM Team LA and OC DREAM Team, in collaboration with the Dream Is Coming, a national campaign, held the first DREAM Act town hall organized and led by undocumented students. The objective of the town hall was to address major questions and concerns about the legislation as well as to discuss the strategy and tactics that undocumented youth have embraced. One main goal was to create a safe space for undocumented youth and allies to talk about the shift in the DREAM Movement.

More than 250 people attended the town hall, and more than 50 people joined through live stream from all over the nation. More than half of the participants stayed all the way until the end of the evening at 10:30 pm, after we responded to the last question from the audience and finished all announcements from different members of the Los Angeles community.

For the first time undocumented youth publicly shared their work and experiences as UNDOCUMENTED, QUEER AND UNAFRAID activists in the nation. Also, the event allowed these same youth to address the critiques from friends and allies regarding the military service option of the DREAM Act.

The energy in the church was overwhelming and exciting. We knew that in this place we would need to conduct painful but necessary conversations. We invited everyone who is part of our larger community -- especially those who we know are not in full support of our work or the military service option of the DREAM Act, which is part of the current language of the bill.[3] We had decided that instead of waiting for the people in the audience to ask the difficult questions, we would pose those same questions there in public, just as we do in private and in our organizing spaces.

We accomplished this through a panel of all UNDOCUMENTED AND UNAFRAID activists. Our panelists were: Lizbeth Mateo, one of the arrestees in Senator John McCain's office in Arizona on May 17, 2010; Yahira Carrillo, another arrestee from the Arizona action on May 17, 2010 who also identifies herself as a queer woman; Carlos Amador, one of the many hunger strikers from California who organized a 15-day hunger strike for the Dream Act in front of the Senator Dianne Feinstein's office and Jorge Guiterrez, a queer man who also participated in the 15-day hunger strike in California that started July 19, 2010.

Many of the straight men who took the mic had strong critiques of the DREAM Act and its military provisions. They questioned our support for an admittedly less-than perfect piece of legislation. Each time, the panelists responded candidly to questions as well as concerns about the DREAM Act and our movement.

This experience was uplifting as well as frustrating for us. We did not want to silence anyone in that space, nor did we dismiss anyone's critiques or comments, but we left that space feeling like it was necessary for us once again as UNDOCUMENTED AND UNAFRAID activists to put forward our responses and reactions to these critiques, with the purpose of creating dialogue in order to move forward. After a number of conversations with fellow DREAMers, we felt that we needed to challenge the attitudes of privilege and self-righteousness that we believe fuel the opposition to our movement.

Our so-called allies need to realize that they are not undocumented and, as such, do not have the right to say what undocumented youth need or want. Our progressive allies insist in imposing their paternalistic stand to oppose the DREAM Act and tell us that this is not the "right" choice for us to acquire "legal" status in this country. We wonder: Who are they to decide for us? And by what criteria do they deem the DREAM Act not to be the "right" legislation for undocumented youth to become "legal" in this country?

The passage of California's AB 540 in 2001, a bill that allowed undocumented youth to pay in-state tuition for college, and the later creation of the DREAM act, gave our communities hope; they held out the promise that legalization was eventually possible. A decade later, we face a horrific anti-immigrant backlash, and tens of thousands of our sisters and brothers are languishing in prisons; untold numbers of human beings have been killed or have died of thirst during increasingly dangerous border crossings.

Many of us have been organizing in other movements such as the anti-war, LGBTIQ, and labor movements. We have also studied and learned through experience and academics from past freedom movements. We learned to see our struggle in a global perspective and historical context -- that attacks on undocumented immigrants and refugees of color are not unique to the United States. We see the same thing happening in Europe, Oceania, Asia and Africa. We understand that we are working within an imperialist nation. There is a long history of Nativism in the United States and it continues to manifest itself with laws that criminalize immigrant communities and communities of color.

The DREAM movement has come under criticism by liberal and conservative critics alike. We face racist, sexist, homophobic attacks from the right wing. From the left, many peace activists and immigration-rights advocates disapprove of the DREAM Act because of its so-called military option. Meanwhile, CIRA supporters across the country remain largely silent in this debate and fail to heed the voices of undocumented youth activists. Seemingly impervious to the growing anti-immigrant hatred sweeping this land, some of our former allies began advocating for a watered-down Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill that would lead to more enforcement and criminalization of our immigrant communities and communities of color.

Today, nearly two million so-called undocumented students languish in our society. Some of these students are high school honor students who are prevented from attending college; those who can attend college often cannot receive scholarships or in-state tuition simply because of where they were born. Countless thousands are prohibited from learning skills and acquiring the education they need to survive in this society.

The DREAM Act would provide a crucial opening for these immigrants, and yet many people of good faith oppose the DREAM Act because of the military option added to the bill by Senator Feinstein. They argue that the DREAM Act is a Pentagon-supported bill that is dressed up in a pro-education and pro-immigrant costume. We believe that progressive politics should be based on facts and not conspiracy theories.

It has been argued that the military option will funnel thousands of young people into the military. We disagree with this argument. Military recruitment in our communities will continue whether the DREAM Act passes or not. In 2007, the DREAM Act did not pass, but the military recruitment in communities of color continued unabated. Moreover, who, in this current anti-immigrant climate would step forward to sponsor a reconfigured DREAM Act without a military option? A military option could easily be introduced as a stand-alone bill. Let's be honest. We all know that the Democratic Party refuses to be painted as "unpatriotic," especially with mid-term congressional races looming. A DREAM Act shorn of its military option, sadly, is an impossible proposition.

Why should undocumented immigrants pay the price of US militarism while more privileged groups in society see their interests looked after? The undocumented youth movement -- unlike some other causes -- is led and shaped by the people most directly impacted. The social justice elite have posed the argument that because of the current state of public education it is unwise for the DREAM Act to pass because it will force undocumented youth into the military. So should we wait until there are no more wars? Should we wait until our public school systems are perfect?

Should we wait until a perfect politician introduces the perfect bill? Or should we wait until there are another 1.8 million undocumented youth with little chance at a successful future. We say hell no! We are tired of our third-class status, and we are tired of the social justice elite dictating what we can and cannot do, all the while speaking on our behalf and pretending they represent our interests.

The nonprofits, think tanks, the privileged and self-righteous activists who comprise the social justice elite have had their hand in stopping the DREAM Act from being introduced, and at times, they have been more vicious than the right.

WE DO NOT WANT IMMIGRATION RIGHTS "ADVOCATES" SPEAKING FOR US ANY LONGER. WE DEMAND THE RIGHT TO REPRESENT OURSELVES!

From the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa to the freedom movements in the 1960s and to the Chinese student rebellions in Tiananmen Square, youth have always been at the forefront of successful movements and radical social changes. Unfortunately, it seems that we have not learned from this rich heritage of youth speaking truth to power. Because if we accept and embrace the current undocumented student movement, it means the social justice elite loses its power -- its power to influence politicians, media and the public debate. The power is taken back by its rightful holders.

We have challenged the Nonprofit Industrial Complex, the Prison Industrial Complex and the Military Industrial Complex. Many of the DREAMers have organized in high schools and universities against military recruitment and done anti-military recruitment education with thousands of women and youth of color. Undocumented students have shown the country and the world that we are more than capable of leading a new freedom-rights movement in this decade.

DREAMers face unique challenges in this country: We must support our families while going to school; we must pay for college while we organize and at the end of the day, our allies attack us. Some of us have made the sacrifice and risked deportation willingly. The DREAM movement is a genuine large-scale movement; we have taken from what happened in the '60s, learned from it, fine-tuned it to our current context and relentlessly moved forward.

For all of these reasons and more, undocumented students and our allies have launched a struggle that will culminate in a victory for immigrant rights in the United States. In order to understand the current situation, we must look to the students who are shaping this movement. We must look to Yahaira, Mo, and Lizbeth, the students who staged a sit-in in McCain's office. We must look to the "Trail of Dreams": Felipe, Gaby, Carlos, and Juan. We must look to DREAM Team LA and Orange County DREAM Team, groups of young activists for the DREAM Act. We must look to the women and men in the DREAM movement, undocumented queer and transgender young activists with emerging ideologies that challenge the capitalist, heterosexual and misogynistic systems here in the United States.

We are not only the undocumented youth that live in the United States; we are the displaced youth from across the Americas, Asia, and Africa. We were displaced by American-funded violence, wars, and the expansion of capitalism through globalization.

We have lived with fear since arrival and our exploitation runs rampant because we are also women, queer and transgender people of color. For those of us undocumented youth who also identify as queer, coming out is a something we must do twice. We come out as queers to our families and friends and then come out again as undocumented in this country.

We can no longer be afraid of revealing our status or identities. We must fiercely challenge privilege and oppression, whether located among allies or the opposition. We hold the right to self-determination of those most affected by the US empire's oppression. We are in a struggle to regain what has been taken from us: our dignity, our freedom and our spirituality. Our fight is for the legalization of all people, and the DREAM Act is a vehicle towards that goal.

We, the undocumented youth have shaken the social justice struggle to the very core . . . and we have so much more to offer. We know that our acts of liberation and hope will generate more acts of liberation and hope.

"Caminante, no hay puentes, se hace puentes al andar"

(Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks)
-- Gloria Anzaldua

[1] Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail. Foreword by Rev. Bernice A. King (Harper Collins; 1st edition (August 1994).
[2] INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, eds., The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex (Cambridge: South End Press, 2007).
[3] For more information on the DREAM act, see the DREAM Act portal at: http://dreamact.info/

Behind the Latest Version of the DREAM Act: Is This Legislation We Should Support?

2010-09-21T16:25:00.001-06:00

By ALEJANDRA JUAREZ

"When that [DREAM Act] passes, millions of children will be able to get the education they need to contribute to our economy," stated Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) during his press conference announcing that he would include the DREAM Act in the Defense Authorization Bill on September 21. Almost immediately, Republican leaders came out against the move in spite of the commonly held belief that the DREAM Act is bipartisan legislation. "I intend to block it, unless they agree to remove the onerous provisions," said Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

While Republicans are accusing Democrats of playing partisan politics in an effort to maintain their footing this coming November, mobilizations have been taking place across the nation for months now in an attempt to get Congress and the Obama administration to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). Immigrant youth, especially, have trekked across state lines, protested in congresspersons' offices, and flooded Congress with letters urging them to pass the DREAM Act. Called DREAMers, they have come out and risked being deported in the hope of gaining legal status.

What is the DREAM Act?

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act has been floating in Congress for nearly a decade now, first introduced in 2001 as H.R. 1918 and S. 1291 in the House and Senate respectively. In 2007 Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) filed to place the DREAM Act as an amendment to the 2008 Department of Defense Authorization Bill (S. 2919), but it failed to pass. A last-ditch effort was made later that year by introducing the DREAM Act as a stand alone bill, nevertheless, the 60 votes required to avoid a filibuster were not there.

The version now being included as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill by Sen. Reid was introduced in March of 2009 by senators Durbin (D-IL), Lugar (R-IN), Reid (D- NV), Martinez (R-FL), Leahy (D-VT), Lieberman (I-CT), Kennedy (D-MA), and Feingold (D-WI).

If passed, the DREAM Act of 2009 would give young undocumented immigrants from any country of origin who are under 35 years old and who arrived in the United States before age 16 the opportunity to gain legal status by either attending college or joining the military. However, only those who have obtained a high school diploma or GED and have not left the United States in the last five years are eligible to gain conditional Legal Permanent Residency (LPR).

Once eligibility has been ascertained, LPR status would be granted on a conditional basis and valid for six years, during which time the student would be allowed to work, go to school, or join the military. After six years, if the person has shown good moral character and either completed a minimum of two years of higher education toward a bachelor's degree or higher, or served in the military for two years, the conditional status would be removed and full LPR would be granted.

With any chance of passing CIR now declared dead by many Democratic leaders, including President Obama, we are being told the DREAM Act is Plan B , the only viable proposal for addressing the immigration issue. Just last week Univision's Jorge Ramos proclaimed that there will be no legalization for the 11 million undocumented this year. Nor, perhaps, next year -- nor the next. Senator Reid, himself, said, "I know we can't do comprehensive immigration reform -- I've tried to. I've tried so very, very hard."

A Rift Has Developed

But although the DREAM Act has unconditional supporters in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and other Latino organizations like the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), in particular, a rift has begun to appear within the movement that has emerged around the DREAM Act.

Community groups like San Diego's Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD) has opposed the armed forces provision of the DREAM Act for years. More recently, even the young activists who have participated in acts of civil disobedience across the country have not only questioned the military component but the way in which the Democrats are contributing to the argument that the parents are criminals who broke the law by crossing the border illegally in an attempt to provide a better life for their children. "They are vilifying and criminalizing our parents and [arguing] that undocumented students shouldn't pay for the sins or illegal behavior of their parents," wrote Raul Al-qaraz Ochoa, one of the protesters arrested at Sen. McCain's office in Arizona this summer.

Still, the majority in the movement uncritically supports the DREAM Act because they believe its passage will benefit millions of young undocumented immigrants while also serving as a stepping stone for CIR down the road. If we examine the legislation closely, however, some issues arise with these arguments.

First, the simple fact that Democrats are attaching the DREAM Act to the defense bill speaks to its militaristic orientation; the DREAM Act forms part of the Department of Defense's FY2010-12 Strategic Plan to help the military shape and maintain a mission-ready All Volunteer Force.

According to UC San Diego professor Jorge Mariscal, the DREAM Act was largely developed by the Pentagon. One need only read Senator Durbin's testimony. It was not about education. It was strictly about making a pool of young, bilingual, U.S.-educated, high-achieving students available to the recruiters.

This is further evidenced in the 2009 policy report "Essential to the Fight: Immigrants in the Military Eight Years After 9/11," authored by Margaret D. Stock, retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. In it she writes, "Despite the important contributions of immigrants to the military in the ongoing conflicts, one proposal that would allow more immigrants to serve in the armed forces [DREAM Act] has made little headway in the past eight years. ... Because attending college is a very expensive proposition, ... joining the armed forces is a likely choice for many of the young people who would be affected by the bill (p. 8).

Stock concludes, "Without them, the military could not meet its recruiting goals and could not fill the need for foreign-language translators, interpreters, and cultural experts. Given the unique and valuable functions that immigrants often perform in the military, they are a critical asset to the national defense. Immigrants have been and continue to be essential to the fight" (p. 11).

At the same time, by attempting to pass the DREAM Act before the November mid-term elections, Democrats seek to rally support from Latinos who comprise the largest sector of the immigrant community and who are a key voting bloc for the Democratic Party.

It was this voting bloc that handed Obama the presidency in 2008, based largely on the promise that he would deliver CIR during his first year in office. Having failed to do so -- and, on the contrary, having increased the repression on the undocumented community through raids, employer sanctions, and the militarization of the border -- more and more Latinos have grown increasingly discontented with the Democratic leadership.

It is difficult to imagine a Democratic victory in Congress without the Latino vote. The Democrats know this and are offering the DREAM Act as appeasement, claiming there is no political will to pass CIR. Yet, it took no effort to pass the $600 million border militarization bill this past August.

Other Objections

Second, according to Sen. Reid and other proponents, passage of the DREAM Act would benefit millions of undocumented immigrants. Although it is difficult to know the exact number of undocumented youth in the United States, the Migration Policy Institute's 2010 study "Dream vs. Reality: An Analysis of Potential DREAM Act Beneficiaries" claims that there are approximately 2.1 million who could potentially be eligible.

However, not all would qualify for LPR status. Only an estimated 825,000, or 38%, would be able to gain full LPR. For those undocumented youths who do not meet the requirements after the six years of conditional status there is no guaranteed that they would not be deported. The legislation also authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to share information with other law enforcement agencies.

Third, the choice of attending an institution of higher learning, as opposed to joining the military, in order to qualify for LPR is only feasible for a small number of undocumented youth. For example, Latinos in general, compared to other ethnic groups have the lowest number of college attendees -- only 1.9%, compared to 3% for Blacks, 3.8% for whites, and 8.8% for Asians. The national high school drop-out rate among Latinos is around 40%. In California the drop-out rate is 36%.

Moreover, a significant percentage of the 1.5 generation coming to the United States without papers arrive with very little schooling and come to work to contribute to the family income. These undocumented youth would not even qualify for conditional LPR status.

The college option of the DREAM Act must also be looked at within the new higher education framework where the cost of attending college becomes another barrier. Throughout the country -- and in California especially -- the tuition or university fees at public universities have skyrocketed ... a whopping 32% increase at the UCs and CSUs last year and 54% at community colleges; not to mention the cap enrollments and repeal of affirmative action also affecting ethnic minorities.

Under the DREAM Act students would not be eligible for federal financial aid -- only loans and work study. Moreover, the DREAM Act gives states the prerogative to decide if these students qualify for in-state tuition (repealing Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996).

De-Facto Choice to Gain LPR Status

The military option then becomes the de-facto choice to gain LPR status for most undocumented youth. There are already non-citizens in the armed service who are seeking citizenship for themselves and their loved ones through fast track established by former President Bush in 2002 as part of the War on Terror.

However, as Professor Mariscal points out, the promise of a green card is not always assured. Military service does not guarantee citizenship and tragically for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, posthumous citizenship [is] a purely symbolic gesture with no rights or privileges accruing to the deceased person's family.

With the continued occupations in the Middle East and elsewhere, as well as the increased militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, it is very likely that those joining the military under the DREAM Act will see combat. And although the DREAM Act asks for only two years of military service, we must be aware that there is no such thing as a two-year military contract. In 2003 Congress passed the National Call to Service Plan as part of the Military Appropriations Act. This mandated that all of the services must create an enlistment program offering a two-year active duty enlistment option, followed by four years in the Active Guard/Reserves, followed by two years in the Inactive Reserves. This is a total of eight years.

If that were not enough, low-income and youth of color tend to see most of the direct combat. Professor Mariscal writes, "Latinos and Latinas are bunched together in the private and corporal ranks (or lowest ranks) and therefore are among the most likely to receive hazardous duty assignments. ... [In 2001 they] made up 17.7% of the Infantry, Gun Crews, and Seamanship occupations in all the service branches. Of those Latinos and Latinas in the Army, 24.7% occupy such jobs and in the Marine Corps, 19.7%.

It is important to remember that Latinos make up only 13.5% of the general population. In contrast, in the elite and most highly romanticized military special operations units such as the Navy Seals, people of color are virtually non-existent given the stricter educational admissions criteria.

For a DREAM Act With No Military Strings Attached!

The DREAMers and the movement they have built together with their allies have fueled the immigrant rights movement in spite of other setbacks like SB 1070. Undocumented youth are tired of the vast inequities and limited opportunities afforded to them because of their citizenship status.

Although the DREAM Act would only benefit a small number of undocumented immigrant youth, what the DREAMers are fighting for -- the right to education for all, the right to have a job that helps our families get out of poverty, the right to live without fear of incarceration and deportation, the right to keep families together -- is the right thing.

All of us in the immigrant rights movement and our allies should applaud and support their cause and denounce the Democrats for attempting to usurp the struggle. We should not be asked to assist in the continued occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, or in any new militaristic adventures in Latin America, Iran, or elsewhere in order to obtain papers for our immigrant brothers and sisters. Nor should we have to subjugate those who look like us in foreign lands or on the border.

We in the immigrant community are not discouraged by the lack of political will in Washington. We will continue to fight for a new and just immigration policy based on human and workers' rights.
More than ever, it is necessary to (re)build an independent mass movement for legalization. It will take huge mobilizations and strikes like those that took place in the spring of 2006 to force the ruling elite to grant our just demands.

We must champion the DREAMers movement -- that is, a real DREAM Act without any militaristic strings attached -- while also calling for:

- No to the militarization of the border; tear down the Wall of Shame!
- Stop the raids and deportations!
- No to the E-Verify Law and to the criminalization of immigrant workers!
- No to Guest Worker Programs!
- No to the separation of immigrant families!
- Repeal the "Free Trade" and Military pacts in Latin America (including the dismantling of all U.S. military bases in the region)!

As immigrant rights activist Raul Al-qaraz Ochoa aptly wrote, "Strong movements that achieve greater victories are those that stand in solidarity with all oppressed people of the world."

EL ORGANIZADOR
P.O. Box 40009
San Francisco, CA 94140
Tel. 415-641-8616
Email: elorganizador@earthlink.net

Letter to the DREAM Movement: My Painful Withdrawal of Support for the DREAM Act

2010-09-21T10:17:00.002-06:00

Septiembre 18, 2010
by Raúl Al-qaraz Ochoa

I have supported the DREAM Act, despite my critiques and concerns over the military service component. In fact, I was one of the arrestees at the sit-in at John McCain's office in Tucson, AZ; an act of civil disobedience where four brave undocumented students risked deportation and put the DREAM Movement back in the national political stage. I made peace with my participation because I felt I was supporting the self-determination of a movement led by undocumented youth and I felt we could subvert the component that was to feed undocumented youth into the military pipeline if we developed a plan to support youth to the college pathway.

First, let me say that I applaud and admire the tireless work you have all done for the past 10 years. Your commitment and dedication parallels giant student movements of the Civil Rights era. Your persistence in organizing even when the world turned their back on you is inspiring; your creativity in tactics, visuals and media strategy is amazing. Your movement gives hope to hundreds of students I have come across here in Arizona and beyond. It is because of your grassroots efforts-not the politicians' nor the national Hispanic organizations'-that the Dream is still alive and has come this far. As an organizer with permanent resident status privilege, let me assert that your cause for access to college and path to legalization is just. No one can tell you that what you are fighting for is wrong.

With that said, I want to share how I am deeply appalled and outraged at how Washington politics are manipulating and co-opting the dream. I understand that some folks may say, "we just want the DREAM Act to pass regardless", but it is critical to examine the political context surrounding DREAM in its current state. It is disturbing to see how Democrats are attaching our community's dreams for education/legalization to a defense appropriations bill. This is grotesque in a number of ways:

1) Democrats are using the DREAM Act as a political stunt to appeal to Latino voters for the November elections because it is seen as "less" threatening than a broad immigration reform. The Democrats have the political will to recently unite and pass a border militarization bill in a matter of hours ($600 million!), yet they won't pass a broader immigration reform? And now they are up for the DREAM Act? I'm glad they feel the pressure of the Latino voting bloc, but they obviously do not care about our lives, they only seek to secure their seats in November-which by the way look very jeopardized if they don't move quickly to energize their "base". They are also seeking to secure the gay vote with the gradual repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy as part of this same defense bill. All in all, insincere, token political gestures only serve to stall real justice.

2) Democrats are telling me that if I support access to education for all my people, I must also support the U.S. war machine with $670 billion for the Pentagon? Does this mean I have to support the military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan? By supporting the DREAM Act, does this mean I automatically give a green light for U.S. forces to continue invading, killing and raping innocent people all over the world? This is really unfair. Here in Arizona I struggle with a climate of fear and terror. Yet even though I am so far away, I hear the cries of Arab mothers who are losing their children in U.S. sponsored bombings and massacres. There's a knot in my throat because victims of U.S. aggression abroad look just like usŠ victims of U.S. aggression at home. This ugly and twisted political system is dividing us and coercing us into supporting the funding of more bloodshed and more destruction if we want the DREAM Act to pass. Does this mean that our dreams will rest upon the nightmares of people that suffer globally? Obviously, students that call their Senators are supporting their future NOT bloodshed abroad, but we have to be responsible to the larger political implications of this.

3) Democrats are vilifying and criminalizing our parents. A really insulting argument prominently used for passing the DREAM Act that I keep hearing over and over is that because undocumented students "didn't choose to come to the U.S. to break the laws of this country" you shouldn't have to pay for the "sins" or "illegal behavior" of your parents. Are they serious?!? It is not okay to allow legislation to pass that will stand on and disrespect the struggle, sacrifice and dignity of our parents. What about blaming U.S. led capitalist and imperialist policies as the reasons that create our "refugee" populations. Our parents' struggle is not for sale. We must not fall for or feed into the rhetoric that criminalizes us or our parents. We all want justice, but is it true justice if we have to sell out our own family members along the way?

Again, I support this fight-it's part of a larger community struggle. It's personal to all of us. Passage of the DREAM Act would definitely be a step forward in the struggle for Migrant Justice. Yet the politicians in Washington have hijacked this struggle from its original essence and turned dreams into ugly political nightmares. I refuse to be a part of anything that turns us into political pawns of dirty Washington politics. I want my people to be "legalized" but at what cost? We all want it bad. I hear it. I've lived it. but I think it's a matter of how much we're willing to compromise in order to win victories or crumbs.

This again proves how it is problematic to lobby the state and put all our efforts in legislation to pass. We should know that this political route is always filled with racism, opportunism, betrayals and nightmares. History repeats itself once again.

So if I support the DREAM Act, does this mean I am okay with our people being used as political pawns? Does this mean that my hands will be smeared with the same bloodshed the U.S. spills all over the world? Does this mean I am okay with blaming my mother and my father for migrating "illegally" to the U.S.? Am I willing to surrender to all that in exchange for a benefit? Maybe it's easier for me to say that "I can" because I have papers, right? I'd like to think that it's because my political principles will not allow me to do so, regardless of my citizenship status or personal benefit at stake. Strong movements that achieve greater victories are those that stand in solidarity with all oppressed people of the world and never gain access to rights at the expense of other oppressed groups.

I have come to a deeply painful decision: I can no longer in good political conscience support the DREAM Act because the essence of a beautiful dream has been detained by a colonial nightmare seeking to fund and fuel the U.S. empire machine.

I am so sorry and so enraged that this larger political context has deferred those dreams of justice and equality that we all share.

In tears, rage, love and sorrow,

-r

http://antifronteras.com/2010/09/18/letter-to-the-dream-movement-my-painful-withdrawal-of-support-for-the-dream-act/

AFSC & CFIR Film Screening: Borders Lifted, Voices Raised || THIS SATURDAY 3PM!

2010-09-17T17:19:00.002-06:00

Hope you can Join us the Saturday at 3 PM at the Starz!

“Ten stories by 6 immigrants and 4 allies from Denver combine narration, original art, music and images to share their experiences with immigration and creating community”
DATE: Saturday September 18th at 3:00 pm
LOCATION: Starz FilmCenter :: 900 Auraria Parkway, Denver, CO 80204
ADMISSION: $9.75
50% of the proceeds will benefit to AFSC
“Borders Lifted, Voices Raised” on

Purchase tickets 3 ways:
1. Buy it online here: http://www.denverfilm.org/filmcenter/detail.aspx?id=23411
2. Pay at the door
QUESTIONS + INFO: T: 303-623-3464 ext.3 E: jgarcia@afsc.org W: http://coloradansforimmigrantrights.blogspot.com
Special Thanks: Center for Digital Story Telling

Papaturro, El Salvador, 10 August 2010

2010-08-27T14:49:00.001-06:00

Dear Family and Friends:

A week ago Monday I got up at 4:45 am to catch the 5:10 am bus (one of three buses daily that makes it down to Papaturro). Destination: Suchitoto for our Annual Evaluation of our Microlending Projects. The 20-minute ride up to the main road was routine, making it easy to daydream as I looked out the window bouncing along the sometime cobblestone road with short stretches of cement (the rest of the time: dirt, mud, and one-foot deep ruts), the dawn breaking on the eastern horizon—cloud-capped mountains and long-dormant volcanoes in the distance, and corn fields for miles around. El Salvador makes me a morning person (not my normal state in the US), one of her many gifts to me.

The morning bus ride ended up being the first and last thing that was normal about this day. We got to the main road to find out that there was a transportation strike on the route that runs from the capital of San Salvador to the colonial pueblo of Suchitoto where we were headed. Not exactly music to my ears in light of the fact that we were planning to bring together 100 women for our annual evaluation in two hours. So, I got on my pre-paid Salvadoran cell phone and started calling around. There were other people waiting up the road, including one of the project coordinators. We made a couple more calls and found out that the buses were running from the western part of the province, and that (hopefully) the only folks stranded were our three groups out on the eastern highway. Our only option was to get one of the drivers from Papaturro to round up the women who were attending from our community and come in his truck and pick up all of us waiting on the highway. Twenty minutes later it was all set up, and a half hour after that, we were on our way to town!

Amazingly, 90 women made it to the meeting, transportation strike and all. And we had a very fruitful morning of reflection and sharing on this important work of empowerment of women. In the words of Candelaria, one of the project coordinators, “These funds are not a donation, they are a tool for organization. We must claim each project as our own and make it work for our community, providing women with the opportunity for economic independence AND strengthening the organization of women throughout our zone. Through Project Salvador we are becoming creators of our own future.” From our humble beginnings in 2003 with a $1000 donation that I brought to the Women’s Committee in Papaturro, we now have microlending funds in 19 communities in north central El Salvador, available to 2400 families. In the past six years over 600 women have received almost 1300 loans of $50-$300. And our board decided this year to expand to five more, bringing the total number of communities to twenty-four. It is quite inspiring!

Juxtapose the euphoria of this day, with the reality that the transportation strike was in response to the latest extortion demand of one of the Salvadoran gangs who are charging monthly payments from the bus owners. The co-op of buses that do the San Salvador-Suchitoto Route 129 were paying $300 per month. They were told by the gang leaders that they had to start paying twice that amount. The Coop board met and decided to call the transportation strike in protest! A very bold move, likely to result in more than one death--the way the gangs pressure businesspeople into paying up is by killing those who don’t. My ride back home on the back of the truck was tempered by this sobering reality, as we watched the streets emptied of the primary source of transportation for the poor majority in El Salvador.

A driver on a different route was actually killed the morning of the strike, for not paying the fee. The death toll for the year just in the transportation sector was already at 71 when I was here earlier in May. It is likely well over 100 by now. The Route 129 drivers were to be spared this time, as the Coop board paid the $600 extortion fee and the buses were up and running again the next day.

My time in El Salvador is full of these kinds of dichotomies: the artisans we work with continue to seek ways to earn a just wage, as they have been for 20 years now with Project Salvador; the youth ecology committee in Papaturro is organically developing a community-wide social consciousness around the environment, appropriate technology and conservation—with resounding success; the Project Salvador board has decided to walk with Sr. Isabel in metro San Salvador supporting her dreams of a youth center to address the gang violence in the parish of Plan del Pino; and the PICO Central America leaders from El Salvador and now Guatemala are seeing the results of effective community organizing as they celebrate the significant gains in creating a public dialogue around community safety in this violence-ridden land. I am deeply blessed and privileged to witness all this work firsthand and I could go on for a long time, telling stories of ordinary (“marginalized, poor, uneducated”) people doing extraordinary things. I am constantly learning, and in awe.

Meanwhile, at a national level, things are grim. Much like the rest of the world, the economy here has gone completely down the tubes. Most things cost as much here as in the states—food items, clothing, shoes. Rent is somewhat cheaper, gasoline is more expensive, medical care is pretty low-cost if you are willing to wait, but medicines are not easy to come by in the public health care system and not cheap in the provate sector. The minimum wage here is about $200 per month in the city and less than $150 in rural areas. Unemployment is 30%, underemployment another 30-40% (unless you can call selling candies or fruit or pupusas or hair accessories on the bus a real job.) Most of the people I know are subsistence farmers. They would keel over and think they had gone to heaven if they saw $150 a month. A struggling economy, rampant gang violence, surely it is not a wonder that Salvadorans, especially the youth, continue to head to the States. The going rate now is $7000 for a long (15- to 30-day) exhausting, dangerous trip al norte.

I was blessed during a morning of visits to microlending projects to learn Candelaria’s story. It came out slowly; as I drove, she spoke: A victim of sexual abuse at a young age, she left her mother’s home when she was nine to escape the abuse. She remembers sitting out in the cold, by the side of the cowpath that lead to her now-abandoned home, ready to kill herself by taking rat poison (she had heard on the radio that someone had killed himself that way); her brother, who had followed her when she snuck out of the house, talked her out of it. (Her eyes welled with tears as she recounted his own suicide a few years later, by the same means, with no one there to help him see the value in living as he had for her.) She ended up being taken in by her older sister where she was again victimized. She fled at 17 by moving in with her boyfriend and was a mother within a year. Now, at 25, she and her partner have both gone through a transformation, as she has come to understand her power as a woman, to name and stop the abuse, to believe in herself and her capacity to shape her own future. Much of this has come about because of her involvement with women’s organizing in her community and now at a regional level as a young leader. Her partner has benefited from similar work with men that looks at oppression and machismo and how to relate to women—in public and in personal relationships— in a way that is mutually respectful and empowering. Candelaria would like to continue her education (she finished high school a few years ago) and be able to model for her daughter the endless possibilities that exist for women in El Salvador today. I believe she will!

There are the comical/dramatic moments as well—The winner this year was definitely the ride home on the back of the 8-ton farming truck with 3 newly acquired cows, one of whom decided to pee and then poo right next to one of our visitors, Michelle, who had “won” a week-stay at our house at a silent auction fundraiser in Denver. She was not a happy camper to say the least. Driving a truck over the washed out bridge at Agua Caliente was a close second, and then making it up an incline that was clearly not ever meant to be a road (Marleni reminded me after we arrived that last year the driver had left the car down at the main road…); we somehow made it to our meeting with the microlending group in Pepeishtenango, and back to Suchitoto, gracias a dios.

And there’s been plenty of play time, too: With two sets of visitors here (all silent auction winners!), I got to do two more tours through the Mayan ruins at Joya de Ceren and I am as in love with them as ever. Buried under volcanic ash over 1500 years ago, they are the only ruins in Mesoamerica of peasant dwellings-a unique window into the daily life of the native people who farmed this land so long ago; they are now on the not-to-be-missed list for visitors here. Wish I had discovered them sooner, but sie la vie.

Tom was here for ten days, and fit right in to life in the campo. We spent our first three days in the eastern part of the country seeing firsthand the flood recovery efforts in Tierra Blanca where my dear friend Elena Jaramillo has lived since 1988. We spent the rest of the time in Papaturro, which gave me a chance to relax in my hammock, catch up with friends and enjoy our incredible garden—including a new (volunteer) papaya tree by the compost pile and zinnias galore (thanks to my daughter Silvia)—which means the butterflies are back in full force—beautiful beyond words.

My two-and-a-half-year-old grandson Angelito was here for most of the month of May as my daughter, Susana & son-in-law, Neris, and I played tag team so we could all spend time with 88-year-old Teresa, my kids’ Salvadoran grandmother, who fell at the end of April and broke her leg at the hip. She is recovering as well as could be expected and we are hopeful she will walk again someday. Meanwhile, Angelito is very comfortable in Papaturro. He enjoys all the animals, the freedom to run and play, being with all his friends and relatives—especially his grandparents, aunt Silvia and cousin Tatiana. It is truly a gift to be able to share this life with him, and all my grandkids—number seven, Anthony Rodrigo, is due in November (to Tony and Isabel)!

Silvia got her nose pierced (the first in Papaturro!), her daughter Tatiana lost both her front teeth this summer, Lidia and Regina each had a baby, we did two HARD jigsaw puzzles this year (we usually just do one), made it to the Children’s Museum, the bookstore at the Jesuit University and the Shicali ceramics co-op (providing dignified employment to disabled people in San Salvador), saw two movies and had lunch at Pizza Hut (three times!), did an overnight excursion to the beach— jumping to our heart’s content in the warm Salvadoran surf, and I read five books— The Life of Pi, Three Cups of Tea, Isabel Allende, Ursula Hegli and Tony Hillerman—yes, some parts of life are universal, wherever you are.

I found countless images running through my mind this year as I traipsed through the countryside—all the years I have been coming to El Salvador, the hundreds of stories I have heard, the people I have known, the experiences that marked me and my children’s lives forever. I wish I had the time to start to write it all down. Could be an interesting tale…Maybe during my sabbatical in 2011!?!

My time here is drawing quickly to a close. I leave on Sunday, August 15, a quick 3-day stop in Denver, and then I am off with Tom for a 9-day trip up to southwestern Idaho for five days of rafting on the Lower Salmon River. My summer break ends on August 29 and then it’s back to reality? Or is it? Something to ponder.

Off this goes, then, into the cyber waves, with warmest greetings to each of you and blessings always, patty

Breaking of the Fast Ritual

2010-08-03T15:25:00.002-06:00

We’re here to end our time of physical vigil and fast in solidarity with those inside this detention center, knowing that we will continue to hold constant vigil in our hearts until no person is detained here.
May we have the perseverance to continue to strive for a community where no one is detained or separated from those they love, and where the humanity of all is reclaimed.
We’re here because workers – those who contribute to the creative fabric of our community, those who build the infrastructure of our society, and those who contribute their strength to making this world a more livable place for all – are imprisoned here.
May we continue to contribute our creativity, work, and strength to making this a community where everyone’s labor is valued and honored.
We’re here to honor and remember the fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, partners, neighbors, and friends detained here. We stand in resistance today of initiatives that rip our families and neighborhoods apart.
May we honor all of the relationships in our lives that sustain us, nurture us, and support us in creating a better world.
We’re here because we believe that our community can be something different and something better than this broken system of detainment has to offer us. We’re here because we vision a world where borders, barbed-wire, and fences do not control our human relationships.
May we consider the ways we perpetuate a spirit of detainment and control in our lives and strive to dismantle the spirit of enforcement everywhere in our world.
We’re here because we are thankful – for the earth’s ability to produce food for us, for the hands that sow seeds and harvest produce, for the people who transport food to our local area, and for all those whose hands have touched this bread along the way.
May we honor them in the way we share and eat this meal and remember the ways every action we do affects many others in our world.

We will now break bread together in order to break our fast as a symbol of the ways we nourish each other, the goal of sharing community together, and the desire for every member of our community to be offered a place at the same table of fellowship.
As you receive the bread, please find someone who you do not know, or don’t know very well, exchange names with them, and then offer them bread saying:
“With this bread I offer you nourishment, acceptance, and love as a member of my community.”

InterMountain Yearly Meeting Minute on Recent Immigration Legislation and Comprehensive Immigration Reform

2010-07-22T11:02:00.001-06:00

June 2010

As a faith community committed to welcoming the stranger, we are dismayed and saddened by the failure to find a way forward to craft an immigration system that respects the fundamental rights and dignity of all. We recognize that inaction at the national level has created a vacuum into which states have stepped to create their own immigration laws.

As Friends, we believe that there is that of God in everyone, regardless of citizenship or legal status. Our testimony of community challenges us to live with all of our neighbors in a way that encourages trust, love, and security. Our testimony of equality leads us to value each person as an individual and to respect the human rights and dignity of all persons. Our testimony of peace guides us to take nonviolent action to resolve conflicts in a way that brings us together and promotes justice.

Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and similar proposed legislation in other states divides our communities and criminalizes immigrants. These kinds of unjust laws create a climate of fear for those whose area of residence, line of work, complexion, spoken language or accent is deemed suspicious, even if they are citizens or legal foreign residents or visitors. When state legislation is passed that compels people to hide their identity from authorities, they must live in fear that they will be separated from their families, that they will become victims of crime, that they and their children will not receive an education, and that they will lose their livelihoods and their homes.

We bear witness to our friends and neighbors in our community who suffer division of their families, exploitation in the workplace, and the daily fear of deportation. We bear witness to the thousands of deaths on the border and the destruction of border communities and the environment. The estimated twelve million persons living and working in the United States without papers are essential parts of our communities and economy, yet the system for regularizing their status is woefully insufficient. Criminalizing immigrants and those who care for them, as in Arizona Senate Bill 1070, does not address the real challenges our country faces with immigration reform and resolution of the humanitarian crisis that results from the broken system.

We, as people of faith, are called not only to resist unjust laws and to work to change them, but to take the initiative to act in accordance with higher laws. We call upon Friends everywhere to urge our elected representatives to immediate action on humane immigration reform. We call upon ourselves to act with integrity in response to these challenges and we rededicate ourselves to loving our neighbors, to doing justice, and to walking humbly in the spirit of love.

(Please see http://www.imym.org/ for more information.)

Fasting 'Cause We're Hungry for Justice!

2010-07-13T12:34:00.000-06:00

Join us 5:00 – 7:00 PM, TONIGHT Tuesday, July 13th, 2010!
Fasting 'Cause We're Hungry for Justice!
... and activities for Non Fasters, too!
At the end of this month, we’ll be hosting at 3 Day Fast for Immigrant Justice. We’re excited to have you over, talk about the details and really discuss what a meaningful and perhaps transformational experience around fasting can look like. It might look different for everyone, and we’re interested in all of them. We’ll talk about being healthy as we fast, taking time to think about where our food comes from and explore a little bit of the history around fasting. We’ll share and swap ideas for how to make this fasting experience unique and compelling. Whether you join us for the breaking of the fast on August 2nd or you fast for the whole week, we are committed to having a shared experience that is unforgettable.

Meet us at the AFSC office, 901 W. 14th Ave, Suite #7, Denver, CO, for some SNACKS and a skill share, learn how further support the human rights of immigrants!

Solidarity for a Different Future!
No more detentions! No more deportations! No more oppressive laws!
24-hour fast, community visioning & vigil
'Cause We're Hungry for Justice!
Join us, in solidarity with the people of Arizona and those unjustly detained in our own state, for
24 hours of fasting, reflection, workshops, prayer and protest.
Beginning: Sunday, August 1st at 6:00pm
30th & Peoria, Aurora, CO
We'll set up camp overnight outside the GEO Immigrant Detention
Center, making our presence known to our community on the other side of the walls.
The following 24 hours we'll have ongoing educational opportunities, time for deeper reflection on solidarity
and visioning of the world we will create.
And always time for healing song, prayer and protest!
Join us for all or part, whether or not you choose to fast!
Breaking of the Fast: Monday, August 2nd at 6:00pm
30th & Peoria, Aurora, CO
We'll break our fast together in front of the GEO Immigrant Detention Center.
On July 29th, Arizona's anti-immigrant law SB 1070 is set to go into
effect. For the week of July 25th-August 2nd communities around the
country will be fasting to declare their opposition to oppressive laws
like SB 1070, laws which separate families and terrorize workers,
neighbors and friends who are caught in a broken system. You can join
in showing that it is Justice for which we hunger, not greater
repression nor a continued status quo which denies immigrants their
human rights.
Ways to participate:
• Join us for part or all of the 24-hour solidarity vigil and fast outside the detention
center and come to the breaking of the fast the next day.
• Sign up to fast for the entire week, 3 days or 24 hours Send your name and commitment to jpiper@afsc.org .
• Support the 24 hour vigil and fast: offer workshops, testimony, songs or prayer
during the 24 hours at the detention center.
• Offer to bring food for the breaking of the fast.
* In spite of the absolute safety and benefits of fasting, there are
certain persons who should NEVER fast without professional
supervision. For example:
• Persons who are physically too thin or emaciated.
• Those who suffer weakness or anemia.
• Persons who have tumors, bleeding ulcers, cancer, blood diseases, or
who have heart disease.
• Persons who are prone to anorexia or bulimia
• Those who suffer chronic problems with kidneys, liver, lungs, heart,
or other important organs.
• Individuals who take insulin for diabetes, or suffer any other blood
sugar problem such as hyperglycemia.
• Women who are pregnant or nursing.
There are plenty of ways to engage in meaningful time for reflection if fasting isn’t a good fit for you.

"Our visions begin with our desires." Audre Lorde...

2010-06-17T15:56:00.000-06:00

In 2004, my parents and my two little siblings were detained in California. I was left behind, here in Colorado. I remembered that it was summer time, hot like today. I recalled my mother's sad, muffled, yet thinly hopeful voice on the telephone. Our conversations were clipped by tears and sobs. I recalled this very sharp, eery sensation in my stomach every time I got the phone call. Every time I begun hearing her voice. Only her voice.

All the missing parts, combined with the uncertainty were the most painful.

I thought of my mom, my little brother and my little sister not knowing where exactly my dad was. They were separated from the beginning. I never heard from my dad during that time, because he used his phone card only to call the attorney. My mom tried to assuage me by saying that he was in a nice facility where he could go out to the yard, read magazines and watched TV.

On the contrary, my mom and my siblings were in the shitty center in LA, where during day they only eat the same cafeteria hamburgers, where they had to sit inside a communal jail cell for ten hours to watch the corner TV and to watch other detainees coming and going. They were not even allowed to get out to the yard. If there was one. She tried to reassure me that at night they get to sleep in a comfy room at motel six, where they had nicer beds than they had at home, where they had cable TV and the freedom to choose the TV channel, all while being supervised inside their room by two rotating armed guards.

During one of the phone calls, I told her how i missed her cooking so much and how i was tired of the ramen noodles and eggs for dinner each night. Ironically that was what they'd been having for dinner also. She told me how frustrating it was not knowing how to get a hold of my dad. But then she said she was lucky that she at least had my little siblings to cuddle with, whereas my dad had no one. I asked how my brother and sister were doing, and she answered me with this respond that was soon to be my crystallizing image for the entire experience. She said that they were playing cards with the armed guards. A game of go-fish, she said.

I was struck by the absurdity of this image. Two kids, age 10 and 13, sitting around a small table playing card games with the guards who were in charge of detaining them. I don't know if they set bets before hand, and my little siblings happened to place a wager for their release. Surprisingly, they won. Well, they were lucky. They were detained for two months, then...released.

But our luck took us only so far. As soon as my parents were released, they had to work overtime. Yet they had their wages garnished because they were in debt to the their employers for bailing them out and for paying the attorney fees. Then the economic crisis cut down their work hours so much they could no longer afford the mortgage payment. We soon lost our house.

But still, we were the few lucky ones. What about the unlucky ones?

What about those who are completely alone? who came here without anybody, knowing nobody, whose bodies were only valued by low wages and abused by hard labor, who are now being systematically lined up in front of aloof bureaucrats and waiting to be so easily tossed back, tossed away?

What about the parents who didn't get to see their children when they were captured, let alone cuddled with them? those who only heard their children's tears as their last frozen memories?

What about lovers who only got to see each other through glass walls? Only hearing each other's distorted voices, and see the lips that can't be kissed, the hairs that can't be felt. Those who could only smell the emptiness of cold air that robbed them from a loved one's familiar scents, those whose most sensible goodbyes are forced by unjust laws, set within tough walls and lit by harsh florescent lights...

What about the trans lovers and the same gender lovin' lovers, who not only were told that they were in a wrong country, that they were on the wrong side of the border, speaking the wrong language, eating the wrong the foods, but also, were told that they were loving the wrong bodies, loving the wrong sex?

I guess it is unlucky to be gay in such a homophobic world
it is unlucky to be a migrant in a xenophobic world
it is unlucky to be black, or brown, in a white man's world
just as it is unlucky to be poor in a rich man's world

But who deals these unlucky cards we get? Who sets the rules of the game? If we're losing, then who's winning? who is collecting our bets?

Our bodies should not be bargaining chips to be wagered against, neither should be our sweat, nor our loves...

However many unfortunate losses we've had...those we must keep near. Our deferred dreams, our unfair debts, our wasted sweats, our abused and tired legs, our lost embrace, our abrupt partings... those we must collect in a tank until the pressures of life squeeze them so hard that oil comes out, or rather something like volatile desires.

Breathing While Undocumented

2010-04-27T12:19:00.001-06:00

By LINDA GREENHOUSE
I’m glad I’ve already seen the Grand Canyon.
Because I’m not going back to Arizona as long as it remains a police state, which is what the appalling anti-immigrant bill that Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law last week has turned it into.
What would Arizona’s revered libertarian icon, Barry Goldwater, say about a law that requires the police to demand proof of legal residency from any person with whom they have made “any lawful contact” and about whom they have “reasonable suspicion” that “the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States?” Wasn’t the system of internal passports one of the most distasteful features of life in the Soviet Union and apartheid-era South Africa?
And in case the phrase “lawful contact” makes it appear as if the police are authorized to act only if they observe an undocumented-looking person actually committing a crime, another section strips the statute of even that fig leaf of reassurance. “A person is guilty of trespassing,” the law provides, by being “present on any public or private land in this state” while lacking authorization to be in the United States — a new crime of breathing while undocumented. The intent, according to the State Legislature, is “attrition through enforcement.”
Representative Raúl M. Grijalva, a Democrat from Tucson, has already called on the nation’s business community to protest the law by withholding its convention business. Such boycotts can be effective, as demonstrated in the late-1980s when the loss not only of convention business but of — horrors! — the Super Bowl prompted Arizona voters to reinstate a Martin Luther King holiday in the state.
But a boycott is a blunt instrument that can hurt innocent business owners and their employees. So I will stick to my own personal protest without presuming to urge anyone else to follow my example.
Rather, I’ll offer a reflection on how, a generation ago, another of the country’s periodic anti-immigrant spasms was handled by the Supreme Court. In 1975, Texas passed a law to deprive undocumented immigrant children of a free public education. Many thousands of children — a good number of whom were on the road to eventual citizenship under immigration laws that were notably less harsh back then — faced being thrown out of school and deprived of a future.
The law was challenged in federal court, with the Carter administration supporting the plaintiffs. By the time the case, Plyler v. Doe, reached the Supreme Court, Ronald Reagan was president, and there was a major debate within his administration over whether to change sides. Rex E. Lee, the admirable solicitor general, refused to do so.
In June 1982, by a vote of 5 to 4, the Supreme Court struck down the Texas law. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote for the majority that the constitutional guarantee of equal protection prohibited the state from imposing “a lifetime hardship on a discrete class of children not accountable for their disabling status.” Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr., a Nixon appointee and the swing justice of his day, provided the fifth vote. The law “threatens the creation of an underclass of future citizens and residents,” he wrote.
I have no doubt that but for that ruling, public school systems all over the country would be checking papers and tossing away their undocumented students like so much playground litter. Blocked from that approach, local governments now try others. The city of Hazleton, Pa., passed a law that made it a crime for a landlord to rent an apartment to an undocumented immigrant. A federal district judge struck down the law on the ground that immigration is the business of the federal government, not of Hazleton, Pa.
Indeed, federal pre-emption would appear to be the most promising route for attacking the Arizona law. Supreme Court precedents make clear that immigration is a federal matter and that the Constitution does not authorize the states to conduct their own foreign policies.
My confidence about the law’s fate in the court’s hands is not boundless, however. In 1982, hours after the court decided the Texas case, a young assistant to Attorney General William French Smith analyzed the decision and complained in a memo: “This is a case in which our supposed litigation program to encourage judicial restraint did not get off the ground, and should have.” That memo’s author was John G. Roberts Jr.
So what to do in the meantime? Here’s a modest proposal. Everyone remembers the wartime Danish king who drove through Copenhagen wearing a Star of David in support of his Jewish subjects. It’s an apocryphal story, actually, but an inspiring one. Let the good people of Arizona — and anyone passing through — walk the streets of Tucson and Phoenix wearing buttons that say: I Could Be Illegal.

Yesterday's Press Conf & Rally Report Back! & ACTION ALERT: VETO SB 1070!

2010-04-20T10:43:00.003-06:00

The American Friends Service Committee, Faith and Immigrant Rights Groups to Decry Arizona Bill and Draconian ICE Action
Say to President Obama Stop Separating Our Families
The Arizona state legislature recently passed Senate Bill 1070 which would institutionalize racial profiling and the division of families. Thursday, around 1,000 law enforcement agents aggressively descended upon Arizona communities from Phoenix to Tucson, creating extreme panic. On the heels of a yet to be signed SB 1070, this raid further terrorized community members and left them wondering if they are now living in a police state. ICE claimed to be targeting a smuggling ring. While only 47 people were arrested, the impacts were felt throughout Tucson, Phoenix, Nogales as ICE vehicles and masked agents roamed the streets.
As part of a national response to these brutal actions, the American Friends Service Committee held a press conference in Denver today at El Centro Humanitario para Los Trabajadores in solidarity with the communities of Arizona resisting fear and repression.
Dr. Phil Campbell from the Iliff School of Theology, led the crowd in prayer to open the conference, while more than 60 people listened with head bowed.
People traveled from Boulder, Longmont and Greeley to the rally. “This bill is so hateful. I can’t believe I live in a time where people are asked for their papers based on what they look like, like Nazi Germany. I had to come out and show my support for Arizona communities and to stand against this kind of bill” stated Bob Norris.
Jennifer Piper, from the American Friends Service Committee spoke next, “The actions by the Arizona senate and ICE this past week do not recognize the contributions of immigrants and divide our communities. The truth is that immigrants are intricately part of our community, anything you do to them; you do to all of us. We reject this bill. We reject the raids and heightened enforcement of the Obama administration, which deported more people last year than the Bush administration did. We call on President Obama to stop the raids and put energy into passing just and humane immigration reform this year”.
Jenny, a mom and leader with Rights for All People, spoke about how dangerous legislation like this is saying “This legislation forces law enforcement to spend more time acting as ICE agents and spend less time on community safety. Victims and witnesses of crime will be even more afraid to call the police for help.” Jenny called for people to contact Arizona Governor Brewer and ask her to veto the bill.
“Already, pastors across Arizona are receiving panicked and fearful calls from their communities asking what will happen to them now” said Jeff Johnsen of Mile High Ministries “This type of legislation divides our community and puts families under greater threat. I believe in the rule of law, but I also believe as Christians we have to advocate for just laws.”
Alec, of Centro Humanitario added that workers rights are impacted by raids and enforcement resulting in bad actor employers being able to take further advantage of their employees. “We need immigration reform, not the enforcement of broken laws. I challenge the community to do more than just come to this press conference, more than just march on May 1st, get involved with a group and make your voice heard”, said Alec.
In addition to the humanitarian and community safety reasons for opposing the bill, many law enforcement groups in Arizona opposed the bill based on cost. According to the Arizona newspaper Phoenix New Times, Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden said “that his county would have to pick up the tab for training costs related to the legislation, and the cost of holding more inmates on state charges in his facilities. "We don't have enough people to be doing what we're supposed to be doing anyway. But you have to prioritize. And if you start spending less time on property crimes and personal crimes, you don't want to do that." Secretary Napolitano, in response to letters from law enforcement opposing SB1070, came out against the bill in March saying it took away law enforcement’s ability to prioritize.
Adding insult to injury, ICE conducted massive visible raids on Thursday in Tucson and Phoenix in “Operation Plain Sight”. More than 1,000 heavily armed law enforcement officials descended into local communities, many of them wearing masks. In a press release from an Arizona, Kat Rodriguez of Derechos Humanos described ICE's chaos, "There was a massive show of force, with helicopters, dozens of agents, police vehicles, and weapons, assaulting our community in a fashion never seen before." She continued, "This raid marks a new low in the Obama Administration's lack of accountability".
Reverend Woodliff-Stanley, board member of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado closed asking “Who is important in our community?” The crowd answered “Everyone!” Rev. Woodliff-Stanley ended by saying “The timing and scope of these raids almost seem designed to maximize fear in the community. We are all one community, one human family, and we all deserve respect and to have our inherent dignity recognized”.
For Immediate Release: Monday, April 19, 2010
Contact: Jennifer Piper, jpiper@afsc.org , 720-301-1858 or Jordan Garcia, jgarcia@afsc.org 303.919.8798

At Coloradans For Immigrant Rights, we KNOW that the immigrant communities of Arizona are often a testing ground for anti immigrant legislation that will then permeate the rest of the nation. As neighbors to Arizona, let’s stand in solidarity with communities resisting repression!
Sabemos que las comunidades inmigrantes de Arizona muchas veces son usadas como lugar de prueba para legislación anti-inmigrante que después inponen por el resto del país. Siendo vecino de Arizona, penémonos en solidaridad con las comunidades resistiendo represión.
Para leer esta mensaje en español, clic aquí
We Are All Arizona/Todas y Todos Somos Arizona
Stop the Criminalization of Immigrants, End Racial Profiling!
Demand that Governor Brewer Veto SB 1070
This week, Arizona could make history and protect human rights by VETOING one of the worst anti-immigrant and racially targeted laws our nation has seen in decades.
SB 1070 was passed by the Arizona state legislature and awaits the signature of Governor Jan Brewer.
Raise your voice now for justice & equality: We are all Arizona
Click here to read and sign the petition to tell Governor Brewer to VETO SB 1070.
In no small coincidence, on Thursday, April 15,the Department of Homeland Security carried out multiple massive raids in Arizona, terrorizing hundreds of workers, families, and children. Over 800 ICE agents were joined by U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement, causing fear and panic across several Arizona communities while the state legislature passed SB 1070, which permanently criminalizes the immigrant community.
With one click, help our sister communities in Arizona to stop DHS attacks on our rights and the new Arizona law. Click here to tell Gov. Brewer to veto SB 1070, the anti-immigrant racial profiling law.
If signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer, SB 1070 would:
• Criminalize all undocumented immigrants as "trespassers" in the state of Arizona. SB 1070 would subject all undocumented workers and their families to arrest and conviction for misdemeanors, and in some cases felony charges for the new crime of "trespass" (reminiscent of HR 4437, the 2005 'Sensenbrenner bill').
• Legalize unchecked racial profiling by police of anyone they "suspect" is undocumented.
• Give police the authority to enforce federal immigration law and arrest people who cannot produce identification proving their legal residency in the U.S.
• Give police the power to investigate and entrap employers for hiring undocumented workers.
• Make seeking work illegal for day laborers and force all individuals, regardless of immigration status or citizenship, to carry identification papers or be subjected to detention and even deportation. Public agencies and service providers would have authority to demand identification documents from any person.
We are ALL Arizona
The repercussions of such a law will be devastating for immigrants and all communities of color in Arizona. Moreover, SB 1070 will have dangerous consequences, setting a national precedent for states and federal law, permanently criminalizing immigrants.
The DHS raid and SB 1070 law in Arizona are a turning point in our fight for socially just immigration reforms. The "immigration blueprint" announced by Senators Schumer and Graham last month is a proposal that allows such criminalization of immigrants. It promises to "fill gaps in apprehension capabilities" that will likely lead to the use of local police nationally to terrorize immigrant communities.
The VETO of SB 1070 will send a historic signal to Congress, the Obama Administration and the country that the further criminalization of immigrant workers, families and communities will not solve the problem.
Tell Gov. Brewer to VETO SB 1070 and raise your voice for socially just immigration reforms that uplift human rights and dignity.
Thanks to folks at presente.org for their support of the petition process.
________________________________________
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

Human Rights and Immigration Reform- AFSC Denver Post Guest Commentary

2010-03-29T15:20:00.008-06:00

By Jennifer Piper, Jordan T. Garcia and Gabriela Flora

Reforming our obsolete immigration system is a human rights issue that can no longer wait. Our nation needs a clear and workable path toward legal residency for the millions of undocumented workers and families living in this country.

Some proposals, such as the immigration-reform blueprint that Senators Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham are spearheading, will only create the needed path after creating a more militarized southern border. Border communities along the U.S.-Mexico border have for generations demanded accountability and respect for their quality of life, not more of the same failed policies.

Adding more patrols, or high-tech surveillance systems, to "secure the borders" does not make us more secure. The tragic deaths of at least 6,000 migrants attempting to cross the U.S. - Mexico border since the mid 1990s are a stark reminder that border control policies have only perpetuated suffering. Migrants are 17 times more likely to die today while crossing the border than they were in 1998.

But, we hear from lawmakers that trumpeting border security is necessary to make immigration reform possible. Then where is the clear proof that the multimillion-dollar wall along the U.S. - Mexico border has curbed migration? Economists say the recession of the past two years has had more of an impact.

Stepping up ineffective border patrols, filling more detention jails like the one in Aurora, and more wholesale deportations would only aggravate the climate of fear and uncertainty under which millions of families live. In fact, the Obama administration deported more undocumented migrants in its first year in office than in George W. Bush's last year in the White House, based on the Department of Homeland Security's own reports.

That is why eighty people from Colorado are traveling via bus, van and plane to Washington D.C. and why tens of thousands of immigrant rights supporters are preparing to converge on the streets of Denver, Washington D.C. and across the country, this weekend to call for just and humane immigration reform, not policies that would expand the current ineffective, overzealous enforcement system.

They and millions of others are calling for an end to policies that split families apart and the beginnings of policies that provide safe and swift paths to legalization. We believe the seven core principles the American Friends Service Committee have proposed in A New Path Toward Humane Immigration Policy will help achieve that goal quickly, fairly and humanely.

These principles are: create justice with humane economic policies, protect the labor rights of all workers, develop a clear path to permanent residence, respect the civil and human rights of immigrants, demilitarize the U.S.-Mexico border, make family reunification a top priority, and ensure that immigrants and refugees have access to services.

As a nation, we should reject appeals to tie the future of millions of families to a broken, unjust system of enforcement. Instead we should respect the human rights and dignity of immigrants through humane and fair immigration policies.

Jennifer Piper, Jordan T. Garcia and Gabriela Flora are with the Colorado office of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker peace and justice organization. To access A New Path Toward Humane Immigration Policy go to http://www.afsc.org/newpath.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_14764341#ixzz0jbSLX69V

Photos from 800 person Denver rally for immigration reform on March 21 (by Gabriela Flora)

Monseñor Romero’s Legacy Lives On

2010-03-24T09:07:00.023-06:00

By: Gabriela Flora, AFSC
Today Salvadorans and people across the world will commemorate the life and legacy of Monseñor Romero on the 30th anniversary of his assassination as we did last night during a snow storm here in Denver.

Many priests (in addition to thousands of civilians) were murdered in El Salvador by the military government funded and trained by the United States. Romero stands out because he was part of the oligarchy, entrenched in the power of the church and state. He was chosen as archbishop of San Salvador in 1977 because it was believed that he would tout the conservative government line, rein in the priests supportive of the working class, and turn a blind eye to the violence in the name of “fighting communism”. Romero’s career was taking off in the conservative hierarchy of the church. But the injustice of what he witnessed led him to risk it all to the point of death to speak out against inequality, exploitation, injustice and extreme violence.

I had the privilege this past January to spend eleven days in El Salvador with students from the Romero House at Regis University. The trip was a pilgrimage exploring the life and legacy of Archbishop Romero, the reality of military rule and support of the U.S. in the devastation and the current reality of an FMLN president and hope for a better future. Woven into all of this was the underlying current of immigration.

Beginning with a visit to Divina Providencia, Archbishop Romero’s home and church where he was assassinated to the site of his tomb, Romero’s spirit accompanied us as we met the Salvadoran people and learned of their experiences in the war and have they have coped since the peace accords.

Monseñor Romero’s spirit is a transformative one. The final act that led Archbishop Romero to no longer accept the justification and rhetoric of the government and military was the assassination of his dear friend Father Rutilio Grande, a priest who lived amongst the people and supported them in their daily struggles against violence, both economic and physical (as the two were intimately tied together). After Father Grande’s murder, Romero refused to turn a blind eyeto the violent realities in Salvadoran poor communities; he refused to officiate at any government sanctioned event and became a spokesperson of what the people were witnessing in their communities. On his weekly radio program he described the atrocities experienced by his parishioners and name the murderers; a powerful act in a country where all media was controlled by the economic elite.

Romero’s transformation is central to his legacy. He was a man whose eyes were opened and vowed to give voice to what he saw. The elite tried to dismiss his voice, but the people strengthened their power through his radio programs and outreach to communities and he supported their organizing through communidades de base. While trained and inducted into a very hierarchical perspective on the church, he was transformed by the Salvadoran people and their struggle and came to believe in the walking church- that God rests not in a vested few, but rather in the actions, beliefs and struggles of the common people, that God’s work is not in preparing for heaven, but in ending poverty and working for justice in this life.

During my time in El Salvador I saw Romero’s compassion and grace in the eyes of Jonathan, Rogelio and Angélica among many others. Jonathan went to the mountains at the age of 12 to join the guerillas after his brother was disappeared. He shared how, after the peace accords he worked with all those who disarmed (FMLN and military) to obtain training and access to services. When I asked him if it was hard to work with the former rank and file military men, he said it was at first, but then he realized they were poor like him and in the same situation (although the former military were given prime land and easier access to credit than former FMLN).
Rogelio was nine years old when his whole community was massacre. We sat at the site of his former community and Rogelio shared the horrors he experienced and saw when the Atalcatl brigade trained at the School of the Americas killed 150 people including all his immediate family in front of his eyes. His humble expression of the atrocities was beyond words. Our time at the site ended by holding hands in a circle and praying for peace.

Angelica, our host at the home we stayed at in Papaturro told of why she and her community had to flee to refugee camps in Honduras. She told of the fear they lived in… how a military soldier chased her when she was eight months pregnant, how that same soldier later came to her house and demanded to know if she was feeding the guerrillas. “Yes, I feed the guerrillas” she responded. Continuing she said, “and I feed the soldiers too, God said feed the hungry, cloth the naked, house the homeless, he did not say kill and slaughter your neighbor.”

Commemorating Romero’s assassination and more importantly his life, is not just to remember the terrible injustices in El Salvador and role the US played, but to carry Romero’s spirit with us as we work to change the current policies, beliefs and institutions that maintain countries like El Salvador at levels of inequality similar to pre-war numbers. Part of what draws me to AFSC, is that our work is based in an understanding that economic injustice is at the root of most violence in our world today and that peace is not the absence of war, but rather is rooted in economic justice and the full respect of all people’s human rights. I am proud to be part of an organization that carries on Romero’s spirit.

The Romero Theater Troupe performing scenes from Archbishop Romero's life at the Denver 30th Anniversary Commemoration of Oscar Romero's Life and Death in Denver on March 23. The event was sponsored by: American Friends Service Committee, Denver Catholic Worker, Denver Justice and Peace Committee, Loretto Community, Project Salvador, and Spirit of Christ Catholic Church.

Listen to an interview with Gabriela Flora and Jim Walsh (Gabriela's husband and founder of the Romero Troupe) on KGOAT radio this past Saturday Experiences in El Salvador Shed Light on the Root Causes of Immigration http://www.kygt.org/audio/Jerry/2010/Jerry%203-20-10.mp3
Listen to yesterday's KGNU interview on Romero's life, death and the current situation in El Salvador with Gabriela Flora, Jim Walsh, Arnie Carter (member of Romero Troupe and AFSC's Area Program Committee) and Christina Stimson (program manager for Project Salvador).

Two good Senators

2010-03-23T16:04:00.001-06:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

I read with interest the “framework” on immigration reform submitted by New York Senator Charles Schumer and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Once again, I thought my hopes for true immigration reform were about to become a reality.

We have seen other hopeful pieces of federal legislation that had been proposed in the past, only to read in the details that little were being proposed in terms of how the legislation would affect the undocumented masses. There was plenty in the past pieces of legislation on how to do everything except deal humanely with the people most affected by the legislation. The framework provided by these two good senators is no different.

Again we have little in terms of federal legislation trying to be passed on as “comprehensive immigration reform.” While both senators agree “our immigration system is badly broken,” they also expressed their “belief that America’s security and economic well-being depend on enacting sensible immigration policies.”

Sounds a lot like the same ole, same ole baloney from the past.

So now, both senators are only proposing “draft framework for action on immigration,” not even a full proposal, much less anything to propose to the Congress. Even President Obama agreed that the Schumer/Graham proposal was a good idea, probably because it didn’t commit him to anything.

You will notice that Senator Schumer, the real chief of the “guidelines,” and the “draft framework for action on immigration,” really has nothing to propose at all. It is the same old “secure the borders and make sure we supply enough low paying jobs to the economy.” Nothing in their guidelines to address the injustice and job robbery we have committed against undocumented immigrants in the past.

In essence here is their plan. “Our plan has four pillars: requiring biometric Social Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get jobs; fulfilling and strengthening our commitments on border security and interior enforcement; creating a process for admitting temporary workers; and implementing a tough but fair path to legalization for those already here.”

Do you see anything new here? The “biometric Social Security card” proposal is nothing more than a national ID card pipe dream. The Homeland Security Department has tried different ways to impose a national ID card on Americans. Now they think they have a way around our strong objections to a national ID card.

A “biometric Social Security card” has nothing to do with immigration reform, only as a means by which the Federal Government can track workers.. Much like the question recently sent to you by the Census Bureau asking if you own or rent your home. Whose business is that in the Federal Government?? How does that relate to “the count required every ten years by the government?”

We have heard so much good news on how the E-Verify Employee tracking system is working. Wrong, we have heard how the E-Very employee tracking system has not been very reliable and how hard working individuals are being denied good employment because some federal tracking plan is not very reliable or can actually track who should or should not be working in country. Now we are going to be given a “new biometric Social Security card” that is going to be one of the pillars for comprehensive reform.

The two good senators also expect that “fulfilling and strengthening our commitments on border security and interior enforcement” will be key in their immigration proposal. That doesn’t sound very original either.

What these two senators are proposing is ridiculous and only means increasing ICE type enforcement in our country. “Interior enforcement?” What does that mean? It sounds like they are going to continue to separate and destroy families by increased detention and deportations and do it legally under a new comprehensive immigration law.

Our government already detains over 34,000 undocumented immigrants in detentions every single day. Our government continues to contract with private prison vendors to build and manage these jails we have built claiming they will provide us security and safety by eliminating the criminal elements associated with illegal immigration

The Obama Administration in its first year has already deported more than 120,000 fathers, mothers, and children than the Bush Administration did in it last year in power. And now our good senators want tougher “interior enforcement”? Is that something you really want? Do you really think all the people in immigration detention are the bad criminals ICE says they are?

I am not so sure I like the way the two good senators propose fixing the border issues. After spending billions of dollars on a border fence that only covers about half of the 2000 mile border with Mexico, our two good senators want to continue to pour billions more on border security. They propose, “We would bolster recent efforts to secure our borders by increasing the Border Patrol's staffing and funding for infrastructure and technology. More personnel would be deployed to the border immediately to fill gaps in apprehension capabilities.”

Where have these two good senators been for the last ten years? The Bush Administration added thousands of Border Patrol agents to the border. He even assigned thousands of National Guard troops to the border, along with his hundreds of volunteer border vigilantes who stood guard on the border. Now these two good senators feel the billions spent on the Bush border wall was a waste of money and we need to spend more money on border security that only bleeds more illicit drugs and gang violence into our country?

Even I know the tactical strategy for fighting the drug war along our southern border with Mexico should be different than trying to run down undocumented immigrants who come here for a better job. We are facing two different entry strategies – one with good consequences, and the other that has created a violent war zone between Mexico and the United States over illicit drugs.

Applying the same amount of federal dollars “securing our border” should have different distinct strategies trying to prevent the hard working immigrant from crossing the border, and preventing the Mexican cartels from delivering billions of dollars in drugs to the American consumer. Maybe better interior enforcement of selling illicit drugs and human trafficking would solve a big part of the criminal element the two good senators want to capture?

I wonder if the two good senators have ever heard of the “system of supply and demand.” The only reason these drug cartels are killing innocent men, women, and children is for the right to export illicit drugs to the American consumer. Yes indeed, the user who lives in the belt way, the high end condos and apartments, the rich neighborhoods, and who have the billions to spend on drug related trips away from reality?

While I may partly agree with the zero tolerance strategy to capture, detain, and deport criminals, we have seen how this policy has not worked very well under the Obama Administration. In fact, interior enforcement is stronger today than under President Bush. It is just good politicking to be for “zero tolerance.”

Our two good senators are trying to sell this “new enforcement strategy” under the guise of a new proposal on immigration reform. Here is what they propose, as a way of securing “our interior.” “Other steps include expanding domestic enforcement to better apprehend and deport those who commit crimes and completing an entry-exit system that tracks people who enter the United States on legal visas and reports those who overstay their visas to law enforcement databases.”

Did you know that over 50% of the undocumented immigrants in our country over stay their legal visa? It is not the scene ICE likes to paint. ICE likes to portray their job as tracking down hundreds of thousands crossing the border every day and thus the need for more Border Patrol agents, more high tech surveillance, and miles more of a fence proven to be inadequate for the job.

Most of the people who fall into the category of “illegal alien,” and “overstay their visas” are good people who want a new life here. They are not criminals as the two good senators would have you believe. We all are for “a zero-tolerance policy for gang members, smugglers, terrorists and those who commit other felonies after coming here illegally.” The problem is the agencies involved in enforcement cannot tell the difference between “gang member, smugglers, and terrorists who commit other felonies after coming here illegally.”

You have heard the expression, “Well, they all look alike.” So under that false premise, ICE fills the detention centers with “criminals,” in other words, just using a criminal and racial profiling kit to detain and deport hundreds of good fathers, mothers, and families under a zero tolerance that does not allow for questioning who ICE may have in their jails. I would challenge you to see what the “criminal profile” looks like in your local ICE and privately contracted detention center.

If they intend is to track down people who overstay their legal visas, and create a new “entry-exit system that tracks people who enter the United States on legal visas and reports those who overstay their visas to law enforcement databases,” then look out for the need for more privately controlled detention centers that have forgotten the United States Constitution is still the law of the land.

Then look for more enforcement raids at the homes of people who have overstayed their visas. Look for local enforcement to bemoan the fact that they must now stop, detain, and report to ICE any good hard working individual because they may have overstayed their visas.

Please stop and consider for a moment. More momentum being built by the “framework or guidelines” for immigration control by these two good senators is only going to create a more suspicious and hate filled political environment in our country. Now everyone will be suspect….and trust me, this will only give law enforcement a free rein on racial profiling.

Their proposal to create a new process for allowing low income workers, I mean temporary workers, into the country, means a “new Bracero problem, I mean program.” We have seen how manufacturing, farming, and the service industry have treated temporary workers. By providing a new process for allowing these low income workers in the country, will that include protections against abuse, robbery, housing, and assurances of a living wage? Or does this new process just mean more of the same?

Read the incentive for doing a good job, “Our framework would facilitate this desired circular migration by allowing employers to hire immigrants if they can show they were unsuccessful in recruiting an American to fill an open position; allowing more lower-skilled immigrants to come here when our economy is creating jobs and fewer in a recession; and permitting workers who have succeeded in the workplace, and contributed to their communities over many years, the chance to earn a green card .”

I must admit I find it humorous that the two good senators would propose a “tough but fair path forward” for the 11 million undocumented immigrants still in our country. They are quick to show that 1 million have left the country in the last year, but can’t conduct an American census without first overspending more than 14 million dollars so far (and still don’t have a reliable count).

The undocumented immigrants would have to admit they are criminals for crossing the border. They would have to pay back taxes, which I thought millions were already doing, and still not being able to apply for medical or social needs?

They would have to perform hundreds of hours of community service, or just another way to allow them to continue to work for free or low end wages.

But wait; here is what really shows me these two good senators have no grasp of reality. They propose, “These people would be required to pass background checks and be proficient in English before going to the back of the line of prospective immigrants to earn the opportunity to work toward lawful permanent residence.”

They must pass a background check, after spending years in the United States doing whatever was necessary to destroy any documents or evidence they were living in the shadows of America illegally.

Must be proficient in English? Does that mean being able to say, “Wait a minute? I worked 56 hours this week, and you owe me for 56 hours of work?” “Or you promised to pay me $12 an hour to do this work, now you want to pay me $8 because you think I will not report you to the authorities? Or probably the most classic question being asked today, “What do you mean you are not going to pay me for the work I did for you because you know I am undocumented immigrant?”

If the two good senators added up all the work not paid or underpaid to today’s hard working undocumented workers, they would be adding to their framework proposal for repayment to undocumented immigrants for work well done, not more community service or more in “back taxes.”

I trust our Latino Evangelical leaders will not fall in the false trap of “immigration is at hand.” It is not, if we are to follow the two good senators “framework for immigration reform.”

As far as I am concerned, the proof is in the details. I have seen no reason to celebrate a proposed guideline for reform, one from a New York Senator, and the other from a Republican Senator. Show me the money should be our cry. Show me the details.

If our Evangelical leadership does not stand up against this false pretense that immigration is at hand, and condemn the lies of this Administration and United States Representatives and Senators, they please don’t show up on the stage on Sunday, March 21st and claim immigration reform is at hand. Please don’t join the liars from the government. And yes, we will be watching and listening to your speeches. Be fair, but don't lie about immigration reform being at hand, because it is not!

You know what the facts are back home in the barrio, in the local Evangelical church, in the schools back home, or on the job situation. Reading the guidelines proposed by Senators Graham & Schumer, and supported by President Obama should be enough to call for the immigration reform train to stop right now.

We will not accept your piecemeal approach to comprehensive immigration reform. We do not accept your premise that our people are bad people and thus must pay fines, do community service, and deny their culture by making them stop using Spanish to become American citizens.

I suppose if we closed the southern border tight, and allowed immigrants seeking a better life to pass by the Statue of Liberty, they would be worthy to be American citizens. Then they too could say, “¡Gloria a Dios! Hemos llegado a la tierra donde fluyen leche y miel. Siento un inmenso orgullo y es un grab honor estar aquí. Me siento como un ciudadano estadounidense, muy orgulloso. Nuestro hogar está ahora en la tierra de la tranquilidad, la justicia y la paz.”

( "Glory to God, we have arrived to the land of milk and honey. I am so full of pride and honor to be here. I feel like an American citizen...so proud. We are home to a land of tranquility, justice, and peace." )

Blessings/Bendiciones,
Butch Montoya

Please Join Us: Commemoration of Archbishop Oscar Romero's Life and Death in Denver, March 23

2010-03-22T14:06:00.011-06:00

“… may my blood be the seed of liberty and the sign that hope will soon be a reality.”

Archbishop Oscar Romero
Assassinated March 24, 1980

Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador was gunned down as he celebrated the Eucharist. One day before, in an impassioned plea, he called on soldiers and members of the security forces to obey their consciences and the law of God that says, “Do not kill!” and to end the repression.

30th ANNIVERSARY

COMMEMORATION OF OSCAR ROMERO’S LIFE & DEATH

TUESDAY, MARCH 23RD AT 7:30 PM

AT ST. DOMINIC’S CHURCH 29TH and FEDERAL

LITANY PRAYER REMEMBERANCE, SHORT SKIT BY ROMERO TROUPE

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS, CRAFTS FROM EL SALVADOR & MUSIC

Sponsored by: American Friends Service Committee, Denver Catholic Worker, Denver Justice and Peace Committee, Loretto Community, Project Salvador, and Spirit of Christ Catholic Church.

Contact person – Anna Koop 303 296 6390 or akoopsl@juno.com

St. Patrick's Day:

2010-03-17T16:32:00.012-06:00

As a descendant of Irish immigrants, I always wonder how many of the people dressed in green and drinking beer today have ever looked at the history of Irish emigration. Irish people were driven out of their homeland by the English colonization of Ireland, subsequent linguistic and religious persection, the famine, and poverty.

Once in the US, some small number of these Irish immigrants made a choice based on their faith and their love for justice, not on nationality. I thought I'd share a story of common cause and allyship, the story of Saint Patrick's Brigade.

Saint Patrick's Battalion: Tyranny, Treason and the American Mexican War

Many Irish immigrants faced discrimination in the United States of the mid to late 1800s. Signs of the time stated "No Irish or Dogs", we were seen as less than human, uneducated, dirty and prone to being disloyal due to our "allegiance" to the Pope.

The US government began to recruit and forcibly conscript recently arrived immigrants into the US army as the American-Mexican War began to heat up. As the recent immigrants marched upon Mexico with the US army they were treated poorly by the citizen members of the army and they began to discuss amongst themselves whether they belonged on the American or Mexican side of the war. They noticed some common cause with the Mexicans they met:

Anglo Saxon Protestant controlled countries attacking Catholic countries in order to gain their land

The mistreatment by the US and English armies of the Irish and Mexican populaces post-victory

Shared cultural alienation

Over 200 of them deserted the US army, formed St. Patrick's Brigade and enlisted with the Mexican Army. Joining them were also handfuls of Canadians, English, French, Italians, Poles, Scots, Spaniards, Swiss and African Americans who had escaped slavery. Not being able to directly battle the oppression these groups suffered in their homelands, they joined with the Mexican cause to battle a similar oppression here.

The story of Saint Patrick's Brigade is unsung here in the US, where they were considered traitors and those which were caught, were hung. In Mexico, the story is more well-known.

A New York Times Editorial today marks their story. And these two YouTube videos do the same:

Over 200 organizations appeal to President Obama and the Department of Homeland Security to Suspend Immigration Enforcement Activities for Census 2010

2010-03-09T13:16:00.001-07:00

Encouraging hard-to-count populations to participate in the Census means reducing the climate of fear and distrust in immigrant communities
Oakland, CA: As Census 2010 gears up to count all residents in the United States, immigrants are at risk of being undercounted due to the climate of fear and distrust stemming from immigration raids and other enforcement actions. With Census forms due to arrive in all households in the coming week, more than 200 concerned organizations nationwide have joined with the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights to ask President Obama and Secretary Janet Napolitano to halt enforcement activities for the Census. Not only are many immigrants not familiar with the Census, but many households will be reluctant to return their Census forms or talk with outreach workers for fear of detection if they or someone in their home is undocumented.
The letter asks the Administration to "follow precedent" to suspend enforcement activities, including the "287g" program that facilitates local police involvement in immigration enforcement. In 1990 and 2000, steps were taken to suspend numerous enforcement actions. However, with the peak activities for the Census just around the corner, the Administration has not yet announced any significant action.
While the purpose of the census is to count everyone residing in the United States, immigrants, along with a number of other population groups, have been historically undercounted. However, with the distribution of some $400 billion in federal funds at stake to support infrastructure and services based on population, an inaccurate count of immigrants will have an impact on all areas of the country.
The letter cites more than a dozen immigration enforcement programs. " As you know, enforcement activities have reached an unprecedented breadth and depth, resulting in higher numbers of detentions and deportations than even the past Administration, and utilizing strategies that are less visible than raids but well known and feared in immigrant communities throughout the country."
According to NNIRR Executive Director Catherine Tactaquin, "While many community-based organizations are working to support the Census effort, we are genuinely concerned that the climate of fear will seriously impact the census form return rate of immigrant households -- and if people do not return the form, they will be reluctant to open the door to a follow-up visit from a Census worker." She continued, "We believe it is the right of every person to be counted in the Census, but we really need the leadership of the Administration right now to make a difference in the success of the Census among our diverse immigrant populations."
Despite the benefits being counted brings to communities, immigrants are among several communities known to be significantly undercounted by the Census; in New York City, heavily-immigrant areas have had less than a 40 percent census response rate, compared to the citywide average response of 65 percent.
The letter also notes that, "Numerous officials have themselves expressed grave concerns about the challenges faced in convincing immigrants to participate due to persistent enforcement activity by the same government now seeking their information. Immigrants have raised doubts about the confidentiality of the Census. While officials have repeatedly stated that the information obtained will not be shared with other departments, immigrants well recall similar assurances about the Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service; today, the data obtained from these agencies has provided the fuel for many of this Administration's enforcement operations. "

For a copy of the full letter to President Obama and DHS, please go to: www.nnirr.org/resources/docs/CensusLetterFinal3.9.103.pdf
For more detailed information and resources please go to NNIRR's We ALL Count - Census 2010 Campaign www.nnirr.org

Jardin de Rosas

2010-02-22T13:35:00.011-07:00

The Jardín de Rosas is in a quiet corner of the University of Central America’s (UCA) campus. In the back of a two- story office building turned educational center the garden itself is roped off.

The flowers bloom and sway on stems, reaching up and out as if ready to ask you a question.

It is hard to imagine such a tranquil place filled with the six bodies of Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter. But the photo albums in the building bellow give witness to the horrors that occurred here 20 years ago.

On the last day of a 10-day trip I took to El Salvador with my school we visited the Jardin de Rosas. For several years Regis University has been sending a delegation of students and faculty to El Salvador to learn about the culture and the impact of the civil war. While we had visited massacre sites and heard the stories of guerrillas that had been detained and tortured by the government, this was by far the hardest and most graphic experience of the trip.

During the civil war in El Salvador (1980-1992) the Jesuits, especially those on the UCA campus, were thought to be safe from the violence of the conflict. The students who attended the school were from affluent families and much of the violence, so common everywhere else in the country, had yet to reach these halls.

But thoughts are a dangerous weapon, more so when you speak them aloud and they become down right lethal when you have an audience. The Jesuits who were killed here taught their students to think critically about the war and the role both sides were playing. Who had the power, who was committing war crimes, who was right and what should they, the people of El Salvador, do about it?

When the army came and killed the priests, they cut open their heads and scattered their brains next to their bodies.

The message was clear- don’t think. Don’t question the government. Don’t speak up.

Looking at these pictures was hard. Very hard. I had heard the story of the Jesuit martyrs before and had created pictures in my head, but nothing can compare to a five by seven color photograph of a man with his head beaten in.

My horror towards the event of that day, and the war itself, it compounded and magnified by the fact that many of the soldiers sent to kill these priests were trained in the United States. Our very own Fort Benning, Georgia is home to a training school for Latin American military where they are taught, among other things, how to use torture and intimidation to control the peoples of their home countries.

Last November I also participated in a school trip to protest this school. I have been there several years in a row now and the experience is always a reminder to be conscious and present to what our government is doing with our tax money. We do not support a school for assassins. When we protest the school, we are also protesting the murder of social activists in Latin American countries. At the school I see one half of a violent equation, that of the military. In El Salvador, I see the other half, the people and places where the combat training is used to wreck havoc.

Finding this connection between a school in the US and a school in El Salvador has got me thinking about our government and our role in the world. I start to ask the same questions that were so important 20 years ago to the 6 Jesuit martyrs, and find they are still relevant today. I ask: who has the power, who is committing war crimes, who is right and what should we, the people of the United States, do about it?

Rose Aspholm is a resident of the Romero House at Regis University. She has been interning for the AFSC since September.

Thank you all for Sharing the LOVE!

2010-02-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

We’ve received 75 more valentines from folks all over the state!
Ft. Collins, Boulder, Aurora, THANK YOU!
Last week over 100 hundred people gathered at the Aurora Detention Center to make our voices heard…
Love Knows NO Borders, NO Walls!
We sang Volver, Volver and the women & men unjustly detained inside sang back.
You can continue to share the love by making MORE Valentines..
This February CFIR will send each of the 400 immigrant detainees:
One special hand made by YOU Valentine AND a stamped postcard that can be sent to a loved one on Valentine’s day!
Thanks to the beautiful people who made the first 250!
We need 150 MORE thoughtfully crafted Valentines!
A great activity for youth groups, book clubs, etc. Let us know if you need crafting supplies, we can share ours!
Please make 5-10 Valentines & send them to the AFSC:
Valentine c/o Jordan T Garcia
901 W. 14th Ave, Suite #7 Denver, CO 80204
Questions? call 303-623-3464
Also, if you are able to contribute funds to help us buy stamps for detainees, that would be great!
You could write:
Dear Valentine, You are not alone. I hold you in my heart, thoughts and prayers. Love knows no borders or walls and together we can share each other’s strength and
courage. I am with you in spirit on this Valentine’s Day.
No estas sol@. Est@s presente en mi corazón, mis pensamientos y mis oraciones. El amor no reconoce fronteras ni muros. Juntos podemos compartir nuestr@ fuerza y valor. Mi espíritu está contigo en este Día de San Valentín.

Pregnant and Shackled: Hard Labor for Arizona's Immigrants

2010-02-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

New America Media, News Feature, Valeria Fernández
PHOENIX, Ariz.— Miriam Mendiola-Martinez, an undocumented immigrant charged with using someone else’s identity to work, gave birth to a boy on Dec. 21 at Maricopa Medical Center. After her C-section, she was shackled for two days to her hospital bed. She was not allowed to nurse her baby. And when guards walked her out of the hospital in shackles, she had no idea what officials had done with her child.

Martinez family Like Mendiola-Martinez, pregnant inmates in Maricopa County Jail are routinely denied bond because they are undocumented immigrants. That means they can’t get out of jail for their childbirth, even if they are awaiting trial for a minor offense.

In some cases, undocumented immigrants are shackled as they are transported to the jail-contracted hospital, and shackled during and after childbirth.

Hospital authorities don't control this practice and medical personnel involved in these cases declined to be interviewed.

All hospitalized inmates are treated in the same manner as Mendiola-Martinez, according to Lt. Brain Lee, a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. He said she had a “soft restraint” attached on one leg to her bed to prevent escape.

That soft restraint was a 12-foot-long chain.

“I could barely walk, I don’t think I could have escaped or even dared to run. I don’t think there was a need for them to do that,” said 34-year-old Mendiola-Martinez.

She says she was shackled during the two last months of her pregnancy too. Every time she had a pre-natal appointment, she waited in a small un-ventilated room with 20 other women. She had to sit in the floor. The chains were heavy and hurt her waist. Mendiola-Martinez often wept. She feared that her sadness could hurt the baby.

Unequal Justice

Mendiola’s story would have been different if she hadn’t been undocumented. She would have been released on bond before her baby was born because she had committed a non-violent crime, according to David Black, a criminal defense attorney who took her case pro-bono.

But in November 2006, Arizona voters approved a law that denies undocumented immigrants the right to post bail. Proposition 100 was authored by Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, as a way to keep undocumented immigrants who had been charged with “serious crimes” from being released.

The Arizona legislature included among those accusations minor offenses like possession of false documents, which undocumented immigrants frequently use to obtain employment.

The law, which is unique in the nation, is being challenged in the U.S. District Court of Arizona by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on the basis that it violates the Constitution by unjustly denying a select group of people a fair hearing. The lawsuit, however, doesn’t include the cases of pregnant women.

“I think Prop. 100 puts migrant women at a disadvantage and treats them unfairly,” said Bob McWhirter, a senior attorney with the Maricopa Legal Defender’s office.

About 1,500 pregnant women come through the Maricopa County Estrella jail every year. In 2009, 35 of them gave birth while in custody, according to Maricopa Medical Center records. More than 70 percent of the women detained in Maricopa County jails are accused of non-violent crimes and haven’t been sentenced yet. About 11 percent of them are undocumented immigrants. Health and county authorities say they don’t keep records on the immigration status or ethnicity of the women who give birth.

In October 2008, a federal judge ruled that conditions at the Maricopa County Jail, overseen by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, were unconstitutional and jeopardized the health and safety of the prisoners. The judge ordered jail officials to ensure that detainees received proper medical care, medicine and food that complied with federal standards. That same year, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care said the county’s jails did not comply with federal standards due to their failure to submit reports on jail conditions.

More Shackling Cases

Although Mendiola-Martinez’s story is not unique, it is difficult to track how many other women have shared her experience because most of them have been deported. Yet other detainees attest to the poor treatment of pregnant immigrants inside the county jails.

In October 2008, Alma Chacón, an undocumented immigrant arrested during a traffic stop for having outstanding unpaid tickets, delivered her baby in a “forensic restraint,” according to hospital records. Chacón said detention officers shackled her hands and legs during childbirth. She couldn’t nurse or hold her baby until she was released from immigration custody almost 70 days later.

Chacón’s case caught the attention of the federal Department of Justice, which is currently conducting a civil rights investigation into Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office.

The sheriff’s office says it doesn’t have a policy regarding the shackling of pregnant women. Spokesperson Aaron Douglas said they had no intention of changing the practice. But when questioned directly by New America Media about these cases, Arpaio said that everything was done “legally.” Yet, he added, he may consider reviewing the practice.

Still, critics point out that pregnant inmates who have been sentenced to state prison are treated better than inmates who are awaiting their sentencing in Maricopa County jails.

The Arizona Department of Corrections, which oversees state prison inmates, initiated a policy in 2003 that states: “A pregnant women will not be restrained in any manner while in labor, while giving birth, or during the postpartum recovery period.”

In 2008, the Federal Bureau of Prisons barred the shackling of pregnant inmates in federal prisons except when it was necessary for security concerns. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) doesn’t have a specific policy prohibiting their use. But advocates at the Rebecca Project, which is part of a national anti-shackling coalition, said they are in conversation with ICE to put regulations in place.

The practice of shackling women during childbirth is frowned upon by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. They say that shackling women during labor, delivery and post-partum is dangerous to a woman’s health and that of her unborn child.

Maricopa County is not unique in the practice of shackling pregnant women. Only six states in the nation have laws regulating the use of restraints on pregnant inmates: California, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Texas and Vermont.

Advocates are hoping to include Arizona on the list.

Voces por la Vida, a pro-life group in Phoenix directed by Rosie Villegas-Smith, is leading the charge for anti-shackling legislation.

“Undocumented women are the most vulnerable here because they don’t have a right to be released on bond,” she said.

Villegas-Smith says Arizona lawmakers are endangering the health of women and children in the name of fighting illegal immigration.

“I think a distinction has to be made and some humanity brought into Maricopa County laws, to allow [undocumented] nursing mothers and pregnant women to have their children outside of detention,” said Delia Salvatierra, Mendiola’s immigration attorney.

When contacted by New America Media, Rep. Martha Garcia, D-Phoenix, said she would try to introduce a bill to ban the use of shackling.

“My main concern is that women are traumatized by being shackled and what this does to their babies, too,” said the legislator, who is involved in the public health outreach program Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies.

“It makes me really angry that this is happening in the state of Arizona, because I believe the treatment of immigrants is worse here than anywhere else,” Garcia added.

The issue will be hard to push in the Arizona state legislature. Over the last five years, conservative Republicans have supported a series of anti-immigrant laws, aimed at creating a hostile environment in the state to push migrants out.

The most recently enacted law, House Bill 2008, requires state employees to report immigrants who apply for public benefits to ICE. The law, sponsored by Republican leadership as part of a special session budget package, is causing pregnant immigrant women to be afraid of requesting free pre-natal services and health care.

Humanitarian Release

On Dec. 24, the date of her sentencing, Mendiola-Martinez was brought into the courtroom in a wheel chair, her hands and legs shackled.

“It was never my intention to hurt the victim. Please forgive me and let me go back to my children,” she told the judge. She was sentenced to time served and two years of probation. ICE didn’t take her into custody after her release from jail for “humanitarian reasons,” according to Vincent Piccard, a spokesperson for that agency.

Mendiola-Martinez was able to hold her baby again on Christmas Day. She takes joy in being with him and smiles when she watches him sleep. Secretly, though, she searches his face for any sign that her depression in jail might have had a negative effect on him while he was in her womb. Her children are U.S. citizens, but her future in the country where she’s lived for the past 15 years is still uncertain.

“I wish they would change things,” she said of current immigration laws. “Because when they do this to us, they do it to our children.”