Viernes, el 26 de junio 2009 — RANCHO CUCAMONGA — La red de Justicia por los Inmigrantes, atenta a la ola de redadas de la patrulla fronteriza, estuvo presente en la esquina de los jornaleros (Arrow y Grove) en la ciudad de Rancho Cucamonga. Nos mobilizamos para estar presente en caso de cualquier abuso de los derechos de los jornaleros y para documentar cualquier enfrentamiento.

Friday, June 26, 2009 — RANCHO CUCAMONGA — The Inland Empire Justice for Immigrants network, aware of the increased presence of immigration enforcement, was present for a Border Patrol raid on the Rancho Cucamonga day labor corner at Arrow and Grove. We mobilized instantly to be present in case in human rights abuses occurred in order to document them. Most of the normal day laborers were not present, but a few were there.

Leer Mas / Read More by Rockero | VIDEO

Enrique Morones launches new caravan movement to raise awareness of humanitarian tragedies along the US-Mexico border.

On Saturday, February 2, Enrique Morones launched "Marcha Migrante III" from the US-Mexico Border in San Diego. Morones -- founder of the humanitarian group Border Angels -- brought together a coalition of groups supporting a caravan trip that heads from the southern border wall in San Diego to the Canadian Border. The caravan will take place from Feb. 2 through 17 and will make stops along the way to protest the horrific immigration policies that have led to deaths and terror among the Mexican and "Central American" community. Read full report with photos by Mexica Movement

SIMI VALLEY, California, Sunday, September 16, 2007: At 10 a.m., 40 pro-immigrant supporters and about 80 Minutemen and their supporters faced off on each side of the driveway leading to the parking lot of the United Church of Christ on Royal Avenue where Liliana has taken refuge from the Immigration Services.

During the protest, a small group of three Minutemen came on the pro-immigrant side apparently to provoke. Pro-immigrant supporters complained to the Simi Valley PD, but to no avail. Despite the angry protests of immigrant supporters, the police didn’t force the Minutemen to move, Half an hour later at 11: 12 a.m. a Minuteman pepper sprayed Naui Hutizilopochtli, an immigrant activist, so badly that he had to be taken to the hospital by paramedics. The protests went on until 1 p.m. without further incidents. From the Newswire: Minutemen Provoke, Pepper Spray, in Simi Valley by Marcus

LOS ANGELES, August 25, 2007 – A march and rally to protest the recent arrest and deportation of Elvira Arellano and the continuing ICE raids against immigrant communities was held downtown this Saturday. The estimated size of the march varies widely from a low of 600 to a high of 2,000. Reliable sources put the number somewhere in the middle.
From the Newswire: 12:20 pm - Protesters Gathering at Olympic & Broadway | | A United Rally for Immigrant Rights and Elvira Arellano in Los Angeles August 25, 2007 by Echo Park Community Coalition(EPCC)

LOS ANGELES, August 19, 2007 - Elvira Arellano, who, with her son Saul, has become a national symbol of the destruction of families by federal policy, was taken into immigration custody today in Los Angeles. There are calls for a nationwide protest and vigil in downtown LA and phone calls to ICE. Reports from the Newswire: 7/19 Emergency Alert! Immig Activist Elvira Arellano Arrested in Los Angeles! by Leslie | | 8/19 Emergency Alert! Immig Activist Elvira Arellano Arrested in Los Angeles! by Lee Siu Hin - Immigrant Solidarity Network | | Elvira Arellano Arrested! by Daniel Maldonado | | Emergency vigil for Elvira Arellano

UPDATE: San Diego Indymedia is reporting that Elvira has been deported, that she is free and now in Tijuana. Supporters are vowing to work to reunite her with family and son in the US. Also from the newswire: 8/20: Latest - Elvira Arellano Deported... by Lee Siu Hin

A handful of SOS and Minutemen faithful showed up on the corner of 7th and Atlantic in Long Beach to protest the sanctuary given to Liliana, a 29 year old immigrant from Mexico by St. Lukes Episcopal Church. The sun was hot in Long Beach but an anti-Minutemen protest at St. Luke’s was not. Tame by comparison to past anti-Minuteman actions in the past the gathering last Saturday lacked the usual “fire”. However the Minutemen and Save Our State were soundly beaten by numbers alone with the anti-immigrant protesters only being able to field about 40 members and pro-immigrant forces gathering to about 100 at the height of the event. Meant to be the start of an all out offensive on immigrant harboring churches this clear program of intimidation by Save Our State and The Minutemen Project was far less than successful. The SOS and Minutemen camp dwindled to about 15 or less before the end of the action. Full Story: by Carlos Cantu | Liliana’s Fight: Growing Church Sanctuary Movement Has A New Face by Mexica Movement

SANTA BARBARA June 28, 2007 - In a jarring reminder that the human rights of immigrants—the rights to work, move about, and live a life free from fear—are under constant threat of violation, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided three restaurants in downtown Santa Barbara this Thursday morning. At least thirty people have been detained, according to community activists. Full report: ICE raid detains 30 in Santa Barbara by Rockero

And in Santa Ana raids continue as the community rallies for a demonstration this Saturday to protest recent raids in Orange County. “They are taking parents walking kids home from school, women walking home from grocery store, workers at bus stops” Full report: ICE Takes no rest in Santa Ana--Only Prisoners by dl

UPDATE: ICE: The New Gestapo Terrorizing our Brown Communities? by D

More than three hundred Crenshaw District residents joined two hundred migrant rights' supporters and linked arms to keep the minutemen out of Leimert Park, the heart of Black Los Angeles.

Anti-minutemen protestors, called by the Mayday Defense Committee and Unión del Barrio, linked arms across the 43rd Place entrance to Leimert Park three lines deep to defend the park against the minutemen. Across the street, Choose Black America, a front group for the anti-immigrant march sponsors, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and Save Our State, a minuteman spin-off, fretted and stewed.

The LAPD, obviously sensing the determination of the people and reeling from the public outcry against their violence in MacArthur Park last month, kept the groups apart, eventually moving cruisers in front of the entrance to prevent a minuteman incursion, and rescinded the minuteman permit to enter the park. From the Newswre Black Americans Choose: Minutemen Go Home by Leslie Radford | | Hayes/Minuteman Rally Is A Flop by John Q. Public

LOS ANGELES, June 24, 2007 – A crowd of mostly immigrants marched through the heart of “tourist” Hollywood on Sunday to urge Congress to pass legislation that would expeditiously grant immigrants legal residency. Over and over marchers and speakers emphasized that undocumented immigrants have been working hard and mightily contributing to the U.S. economy for years and years, and only wished to be treated fairly, to be able to come out of the shadows and enjoy the basic human rights most of us take for granted. They say it is not acceptable, humane, or practical to wait another 10 years, as is proposed in the current legislation supported by Bush and most Democrats.
From the newswire: March and Fiesta in Hollywood by Cliff Olin | | June 24 March-Rally For Immigrants Rights in LA - A Success by Coalition In Defense of Immigrant Rights
More than 15,000 Immigrants March-Rallied June 24 & TAGUMPAY ANG MARTSA-RALI PARA SA MGA MIGRANTE SA LA! by AJLPP-USA

AJLPP-USA Mobilizes for June 24 Full Rights for All Immigrants March and Rally in Los Angeles.??Los Angeles – The Alliance-Philippines(AJLPP)-USA and the Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC) will mobilize upcoming June 24 Immigrant Rights March-Rally in Hollywood and Vine, Los Angeles.

The June 24th Hollywood march-rally will also demand a stop to the increase on exorbitant fees on citizenship and other documents for immigrants to be implemented by the DHS this July 30, 2007.

As the hopes for the proposed compromise bill on “Border Protection and Immigration Bill” also known as the “grand bargain” flickered, mass actions should be the order of the day.. The racist conservatives in the Lower House has just filed the “Border Protection First “ bill that elucidates their racist -anti immigrant bias
From the newswire: AJLPP-USA Mobilizes for June 24 Full Rights for All Immigrants March and Rally in Los Angeles by AJLPP | June 24 March and Rally in Los Angeles by The April 7th. Coalition | Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC) Mobilizes for June 24 Full Rights for All Immigrants by AJLPP | Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC) Supports Immigrant Rights Campaign by Echo Park Community Coalition(EPCC)

(LOS ANGELES) Immigration activist Roberto Lovato was there when the Los Angeles Police Department launched its brutal assault on a park full of migrant families with children last week in LA, and this is what he saw and understood. "I saw the LAPD," he wrote "dragging the immigrants and the entire country into dangerous terrain, a new threshold in the immigration war raging around the country."

What he saw was more than an Iraq-style surge; this was an all out escalation, a new strategic plateau in the U.S. government’s War on Migrants.

Javier Rodriguez, an immigration activist with L.A’s March 25th Coalition, called it a "political decision" to "dismantle this [immigrant rights] movement."

Last year, in 2006, millions of migrant and their allies – their familia – took the streets, giving birth to the most powerful mass movement in the U.S. since the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960s and 70s.

The new movement stunned the US ruling class, drove the deepest of wedges straight into the heart of a seemingly unstoppable neo–con drive toward fascism, exposed the essential brutality and racism at the core of the Republican, neo–con agenda, began the public unraveling of the Bush regime, and opened the door to the stunning exposure, repudiation and defeat of the neo-cons in the House and Senate, who had led the racist charge to make felons of all undocumented migrants – and of anyone who so much as gave a ride to someone undocumented.

And like their counterparts in the 60s era, the reactionaries of today saw the unmistakable outlines of the threat presented by brown resistance to their power and their drive toward a fascistic state. Like the reactionaries of that era, they moved to kill the movement with mass arrests and state intimidation. Only this time, it wasn’t the FBI, COINTELPRO, the murders or imprisonment of Black leaders, or the mass incarceration of Black and other peoples of color that the State relied on. This time, it was the department of Homeland Security, ICE, and a strategy of direct vengeance – the deliberate terrorization of the millions who had taken the streets and who had precipitated the collapse of the neo-fascist juggernaut.
More: Public Terror: Escalating the War on Migrants by Juan Santos and Leslie Radford
From the newswire: IMMIGRATION DEBATES UP IN THE US SENATE, NEW SANCTUARY MOVEMENT LAUNCHED IN THE U.S. by AJLPP | | AJLPP / CDIR Rejects New Immigration Proposals as Anti-Immigrant, Anti- Family Reunificat by Coalition In Defense of Immigrant Rights .

LOS ANGELES, May 22, 2007 – [LA-IMC Special Report] The LA Indymedia Editorial Collective has spoken to many eyewitnesses and reviewed hours of video footage, and has come to the conclusion that the police attack in Macarthur Park on Mayday was unprovoked. Police Chief Bratton's claim that the attack was a response to "agitators," remains unsubstantiated and is believed to be false.

There is mounting evidence that the police violence began when about a dozen police motorcycles drove into the ceremonial Aztec circle at the end of the march at 7th & Alvarado. Shortly thereafter, and without warning, the police fired rubber bullets and charged the crowd. Police then moved into formation along the East edge of the park and attacked without issuing an audible dispersal order. Most people had little to no warning that police were about to open fire into the crowd with rubber bullets and charge with batons. They then swept through the entire park firing and brutally beating nearly anyone remaining in their path

This version of events has been well substantiated by hundreds of eye-witnesses. It has also been captured on video and broadcast by local TV news. Yet in spite of this, three weeks after the attack corporate media is still repeating the line that “agitators” provoked the police. Fox news is repeating this lie even though their own anchorwoman and camerawoman were attacked and are now filing a lawsuit against LAPD.

To date there is no testimony or video to validate the police chief’s claims of “agitators”. Some videos do show a few, scattered incidents of plastic water bottles being thrown, a few of them once the police are already lined up in preparation for the attack, and more once the police line is advancing on people. These videos clearly demonstrate that the few objects thrown were not the 'cause' of the police attack. Much of the evidence that refutes Bratton’s story can be found online at sites such as this one. LA Indymedia would like to thank all those contributors to the newswire who have helped to shed light on what really happened on May 1, 2007 in MacArthur Park.

Selected reports from the newswire: LAPD Officers on motorcycles Drive Into Peaceful Crowd On Alvarado (across Metro Station) by Strange Fruit Media | | May Day 2007; A Report To Correct The Balance by Nick Napolitano | | Ernesto Arce KPFK Reporter Shot w/Rubber Bullet 5/1 Tells What Touched Off Assault | | Police Attack Peaceful May Day Rally

VIDEO Alvarado (between 7th & Wilshire) Video - Police Attack | | Video: Police Attack Fleeing Demonstrators on Alvarado May 1 | | Fósforo plays 'Guerra' at MacArthur Park as police riot against immigrant families by schock | | Police Attack Fleeing Demonstrators on Alvarado May 1 by Attacked by Police

MP3 AUDIO: MP3 Audio: Christina Navoa, eyewitness to police violence | | MP3 audio: Interview with an eyewitness to police attack on May Day. | | Police Radio Intercepted from MacArthur Park! Recordings of police radio communication reveal that even the LAPD didn't hear dispersal order by a | | MP3, en Espanol, Christina Navoa - Eye witness to police terror by A

Two weeks after the May 1st police attack on a peaceful event for immigrants rights in MacArthur Park the community is mobilizing for a return to the park. The planned procession and vigil this coming Thursday, May 17th has been called by the same coalition of immigrant rights organizations who organized the May 1st event. Organizers have stressed the need for people to get back in the streets and show that they will NOT be intimidated by police violence.

Unlike the May1 march, this event has been granted a street closure permit by the LAPD. However it remains to be seen if the police will honor the permit. The May 1st march was initially granted a street closure permit but it was revoked some days before May 1st leaving organizers little time to get the word out and develop new plans for a sidewalk march. Victims of police violence on May 1st have repeatedly stated that police harassment of the march began at the start of the march and escalated as the day progressed. The last minute revocation of the street closure permit is thought to be a contributing factor in the many things that went wrong that day.

There is growing suspicion that the police attack was not some procedural mistake by commanding officers but planned well in advance, perhaps even days in advance. Numerous eyewitness report seeing metro police deployment and practice drills in the area in the early morning hours of May 1st. There are also unconfirmed reports of known HLS agents observed with police. It is believed that police were under orders to provoke the demonstrators to create an excuse to disrupt the event. And it was only after these attempts failed to illicit a reaction from demonstrators that police opened fire and charged the crowd.

The original police cover story of “agitators” and youth throwing rocks and bottles at police officers has been discounted by most responsible media outlets. However there are still some large corporate media outlets that continue to repeat the police line.

The controversy caused by some of the May 1st organizers repeating the police cover story in interviews with the media appears to have been resolved. A delegation of groups accused by organizers of triggering the police violence has met with the coalition and reports are that the meeting was successful in preventing a rift within the local immigrant rights movement. No formal public apologies have been made but there does seem to be agreement on maintaining an alliance in the struggle for immigrant rights. All groups involved in the dispute plan to be marching together this coming Thursday, May 17th.

Details on the march: Our Voices Will Not Be Silenced! by schock
Other related links: NLG class action lawsuit | | YJC demands | | CSPG call for police brutality posters

Groups and individuals from the community had an opportunity to confront Police Chief Bratton and the Police Commission at Parker Center today regarding May Day attacks by the LAPD on thousands of peaceful demonstrators in MacArthur Park. Some of the groups represented included a recently formed group of community activists called The People’s Network in Defense of Human Rights, CopWatch, The Bus Rider’s Union, Chirla, Caracen, Miwon, Los Angeles Federation of Labor, the ACLU, the L.A. Community Action Network, the International Action Network, and others.

People were very united in their opinions and demands today even though there had been some initial discord among some of the groups. Seen as a huge problem by many is a statement made by some of the organizers that the youth and anarchists had been responsible for inciting the police at the event. Many feel that statements like this that demonize and hang the youth out to dry are extremely unfortunate; especially since many youth had been involved with the organizing and were some of the first to reach out to protect others, suffering hits by rubber bullets for their trouble. And even more important, pointing fingers at people from inside the movement takes the spotlight away from the real culprit, the LAPD. “We cannot be blamed for what the cops did”, said a member of CopWatch.

The LAPD are to blame, and they are the only ones to blame; was the overwhelming consensus at today’s hearing. According to the speakers, the police were aggressive from the start, and there were reports that they had been rehearsing maneuvers and drills hours before the marchers even arrived at the park.

Full report: COMMUNITY GROUPS CONFRONT LAPD AND CHIEF BRATTON ABOUT MAY DAY POLICE RIOT by Anna

Also from the newswire: Our Voices Will Not Be Silenced: May 17 March and vigil at MacArthur Park by schock | MIWON still covering for LAPD mayday attack by jubilee shine | Class action lawsuit filed against LAPD by national lawyers guild