NO PAPERS, NO FEAR: SB1070 is here.

 Driving without an AZ license is apparently cause to suspect one is in the country illegally. 

Funny how mine just got lost.

---------this in today from my friends at PUENTE---------

Today, SB1070 goes into effect.  The courts have failed us, allowing racial profiling to be made law.  Here in Maricopa County, we already live 1070 every day under Arpaio.  According to the Department of Justice, he enacts the 'worst case of racial profiling' they have ever seen.  Judge Bolton's recent ruling, to allow section 2b to take effect today, will only expand the human rights crisis in Arizona.  The police can no longer protect and serve our communities, but only racially profile us.

Ahora la SB1070 entro en efecto. Las cortes nos han fallado, dejando que el perfil racial se haga ley. Aquí en el condado deMaricopa, ya vivimos con la SB1070 todo los días con Arpaio. Como el Departamento de Justicia a dicho ‘ Arpaio a cometido el peor caso de perfil racial’ que han visto. Hoy la juez Bolton a dejado que la sección 2b entre en efecto, esto solo incrementara la crisis de derechos humanos en Arizona. La policía ya no nos puede proteger y servir, solo detenernos por perfil racial.

We will remember today as not only the day that 1070 went into effect, threatening to separate our families and communities.  We will also remember today as the birth of a new era of the struggle for human rights, justice, and dignity in Arizona, a struggle that will not stop until we win.  We have seen that we can depend on no one but ourselves to turn the tide from hate to human rights.  We know that building our community's power is the way we will stop deportations and family separation.  We know that together we are strong and that together, we can overcome Arpaio, 1070, and police-ICE collaboration.  When we unite and take brave action, we are unstoppable.

Recordaremos este día no solo como el día que la SB1070 entro en efecto amenazando a separar nuestras familias ycomunidades. También recordaremos este día como el día que a nacido una nueva época de lucha por derechos humanos, justicia y dignidad en Arizona, una lucha que no parrara hasta que ganaremos. Hemos visto que no podemos depender en nadie mas que en nosotros para cambiar de odio a derechos humanos. Sabemos que construyendo el poder de nuestra comunidad es como pararemos las deportaciones y la separación de familias. Sabemos que juntos somos mas fuertes y podemos vencer a, SB1070, Arpaio, y la cooperación de policía e inmigración. Cuando nos unimos y tomamos acciones de valentía somos imparables.

So today, more than ever, we need you to join us in the struggle for human rights and dignity that is happening right now in Arizona.  As many before us have said, and as we know now is true, when injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.  This is the moment we fulfill our duty by organizing and growing the grassroots movement against hate, racism, and deportations.

Ahora mas que nunca necesitamos que nos acompañen en la lucha por los derechos humanos y la dignidad que esta pasando en Arizona. Como muchos antes de nosotros han dicho, y ahora sabemos que es verdad, cuando la injusticia se hace ley, la rebeldía se hace obligación. Este es el momento que efectuamos nuestra obligación en organizarnos y crecer el movimiento del pueblo contra el odio, racismo y las deportaciones.

Call to Struggle/Llamado a La Lucha:

1. WE FIGHT FEAR: We continue to organize our community  as we know that the way we will stop hate is by building a movement based on the power that already exists in our own families, neighborhoods, and communities.  As our members who travelled with the No Papers, No Fear Ride for Justice doing civil disobedience here and at the Democratic National Convention showed us, we are safer when we organize and come out of the shadows.  We have learned how to organize to stop deportations and family separation through know your rights trainings and by building peaceful neighborhood defense networks.   Send us an email at info@puenteaz.org to join our next Curso de Defensa, or to help us organize one in your neighborhood.  

1. LUCHAMOS CONTRA EL MIEDO: Organizando a nuestra comunidad, ya sabemos que pararemos el odio creando un movimiento basado en el poder que ya existe en nuestras familias, barrios y comunidades, como los que han viajado en la caravana Sin Papeles Sin Miedo nos han mostrado hacienda desobediencia civil aquí y en Carolina del Norte, estamos mas seguros cuando nos organizamos y salimos de las sombras. Sabemos organizar para parrar deportaciones y la separación de familias, ensenando los derechos y creando bases de redes de protección. Mándenos un mensaje 
a info@puenteaz.org para involucrarse en nuestro próximos curso de defensa.

2. WE FIGHT HATE:  SB1070 poses a moral dilemma that everyone must answer: will you comply with hate or will you side with the struggle for human rights and dignity?  We demand that every city, every police department, every school, and every institution in Arizona refuse to comply with SB1070 by not allowing their officers to racially profile.  To businesses, we ask your support in not complying with 1070 by becoming Human Rights Zones.  Those that do not we will boycott.

 2. LUCHAMOS CONTRA EL ODIO: La SB1070 crea un dilema moral que todos tendrán que contestar: cumplirás con el odio o estarás de el lado de los derechos humanos y la dignidad? Le pedimos a todas la ciudades, municipios, departamentos de policía, escuelas, o cualquier otra institución en Arizona que NO cumpla con la SB1070, no dejando que sus oficiales cometan violaciones de perfil racial a nuestra comunidad. A negocios les pedimos su apoyo al igual no cumplir con la ley y a negocios que estén al favor les haremos boicot.

3. WE FIGHT DEPORTATIONS: We know that Arizona cannot deport people on its own. President Obama can follow the brave example that undocumented people have set by taking immediate action to stop deporting Arpaio and 1070's victims by ending Secure Communities in Arizona.  Sign the petition at bit.ly/potus1070.

3. LUCHAMOS CONTRA LAS DEPORTACIONES:

Sabemos que Arizona no puede deportar a personas solo. El presidente Obama puede seguir la valentía que la gente indocumentada a mostrado y tomar acción inmediata y parar las deportaciones de las victimas de la SB1070 y Arpaio, con solo terminar el programa de comunidades seguras en Arizona firma la petición aquí bit.ly/potus1070.
  

How you can get involved/Para involucrarte:

Tell your story: Share your experience of racial profiling.  The more we go public with what is happening to our community, the safer we are.  Contact us for support at info@puenteaz.org.

Cuenta tu historia: Comparte tu experiencia de perfil racial.  Lo mas que hablamos en publico sobre lo que pasa en nuestra comunidad, lo mas seguro estamos.  Escribenos por apoyo a info@puenteaz.org.

Stay informed: Follow us on Twitter @puenteaz and Like us on Facebook

Quedate informad@: Siguenos en Twitter @puenteaz y da nos Like en Facebook.

Share our updates: Spread the word on the human rights crisis happening in Arizona and the powerful ways we are fighting back

Comparte nuestros datos: Corre la voz sobre la crisis de derechos humanos pasando en Arizona, y las maneras poderosas que luchamos y resistimos.

Volunteer with the Puente Movement: There are so many ways to get involved in the struggle for human rights, from canvassing local businesses as part of our Human Rights Zone campaign, to fundraising, to teaching English classes, and so much more.  Email volunteer@puenteaz.org to get involved!

Ser Voluntari@ con el Movimiento Puente: Hay tantas maneras de involucrarte con la lucha por los derechos humanos, desde pedir negocios locales ser parte de nuestra campana de Zonas De Derechos Humanos, a recaudar fondos, a ensenar clases de Ingles, y mucho mas!  Mandanos un email a volunteer@puenteaz.ogr para involucrarte!

Donate: Help us sustain and grow our movement.  

Donate at puenteaz.org.

In struggle,

Puente Arizona 

SB 1070: Show me your papers stands.

Fuck their papers; I'm not carrying mine anymore. They can either give me a ticket or run me in for not showing my driver's license - my bet is that they won't accuse me of being an undocumented immigrant, though. If they don't try to verify my citizenship, I think I should sue them for failing to enforce the law...

Phoenix, AZ 

(July 2012)

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

Provision that Makes It a Crime to Harbor Undocumented Immigrants is Enjoined; ACLU Reacts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 5, 2012

Contact: ACLU Media, 212-549-2666; media@aclu.org

 

PHOENIX -- A federal district judge today blocked the "harboring" provision of Arizona's SB 1070 anti-immigrant law but refused to issue a new injunction on the law's most controversial remaining section.

 

However, the so-called show-me-your-papers provision will not go into effect for at least 10 days, because additional procedures must be followed before the existing injunction in the federal government's challenge to SB 1070 can be lifted.

 

"The district court was correct in blocking Arizona's harboring statute, which criminalized many everyday interactions with unauthorized immigrants. Unfortunately, the district court's ruling let the 'show me your papers' law stand, without addressing significant new evidence that it was passed with a discriminatory motive and will result in illegal detentions," said Cecillia Wang, director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. "The ruling puts an enormous burden on the countless Arizona residents who will be victims of racial profiling and illegal detentions because of this law. We remain committed to fighting what is left of SB 1070 and defending the rights of all Arizonans to be free from this unjust law."

 

The ACLU is part of a coalition of civil rights groups that are challenging SB 1070 in the courts. The groups, which include the National Immigration Law Center and MALDEF, argued that Arizona lacks authority to enact the state harboring prohibition. They also argued that SB 1070 will cause people to be detained while their immigration status is checked even though the Supreme Court recently made clear that such detention is unconstitutional; and that it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because discrimination against Latinos, who make up one-third of Arizona's population, was a motivation behind the law's passage.

Resisting SB1070, Tent City, and White History's Lies

 

Excellent reflection below by the director of Puente Arizona on the immigrant rights movement this eve of the decision about SB 1070 from the US Supreme Court. 

Signs of resistance by Peggy Plews. 

 

Please come out to this weekend's:

  Rally and Vigil to Shut Down Tent City 

Saturday, April 23, 2012 at 8pm. 

2939 W. Durango Street

"Imagine no prisons..."

maricopa county jail: tent city

phoenix AZ april 2011

----------------as posted at POLITIC365.com----------------------

Arizona, Arpaio and SB1070 Spur Crusade for Immigrant Rights

BY CARLOS GARCIA

The migrant rights movement in this country is about to enter a new phase and every person, no matter their position, will have to decide how they will relate to it.

While many are waiting to see the decision of the Supreme Court related to the Department of Justice’s SB1070 case, a human rights crisis of epic proportions is already roiling in Arizona.

The status quo we face now and the results of even the best possible decision from the Supreme Court still represent a steady march toward anti-immigrant attrition that the state has constructed over years. First we faced efforts to restrict our ability to function in society: drivers’ license bans, denial of social services, and English only rules. Then they built ways to humiliate and dehumanize us through Sheriff Arpaio’s outdoor jails and Florence’s expanding penal colonies.

From 2007 to 2010, even before SB1070 was introduced, our community faced checkpoints, bore witness to women forced to give birth in shackles, and traveled to work and school on a daily basis already wondering if we would reunite with our families and loved ones at the end of each day. In 2010, Arizona sought to erase us from history with a ban on ethnic studies and remove us altogether through SB1070.

In what amounts to a state of war by attrition on our community, it could get worse this summer as we expect that the injunction will be lifted on some of the remaining portions of SB1070. Further criminalization and tools demanding all law enforcement to investigate and deport in massive numbers is set to become law.

But that will not be our future. We are on the move, and we’re not going anywhere. We’re not running away as the authors of SB1070 had hoped, we’re moving our communities forward, and we will not let the last violent gasps of a dying generation’s prejudice stop us.

This struggle has both destroyed parts of our community and made us stronger. In the past years, we have learned important lessons and developed new ways to fight. The name ‘Arizona’ currently is a mark of embarrassment that makes people think of bigotry. But in the not too distant future, people will think of the birthplace of a new human rights movement when they hear talk about the state.

For more than a decade, we petitioned Congress for immigration reform only to be kicked around as a political football by both parties. We hoped things would change with President Obama but instead of feeling our pain, he caused more of it. Instead of executive action to grant us relief, he gave us record deportations and unprecedented quotas. When all else failed, we looked at the courts but even they seem ready to deny us our humanity.

Since Governor Brewer signed the bill meant to send us running, migrant communities have responded by losing our fear and peacefully defending ourselves. By learning our rights and more importantly, how to defend them when law enforcement tries to ignore them, we have created networks of protection that are prepared for the raids and the wrongful arrests. We have deepened our culture and celebrated our vision for a world without hate. People who before hid in our homes for fear of being picked up by police now are leading marches and supporting neighbors in efforts to keep our families together.

If Arpaio wants to find us, we will instead find him because we have learned that we are safer coming out of the shadows than living in them. When undocumented people confront the system, it crumbles and it becomes clear that they are more afraid of us than we are of them.

If undocumented people are willing to risk everything by confronting Sheriff Joe Arpaio, what are other supporters, allies, and family members willing to do?

As more of SB1070 is poised to go into effect and federal policies spread the same nation-wide, what will you do as we learn to defend our neighborhoods?

We have declared that we will not comply with hate. Every single person and institution must make the same evaluation. Will the federal government willingly deport Sheriff Arpaio’s victims when he hands over those caught in his raids? Will school districts agree to ask kindergarteners for the documents? Will neighbors draw the shades when checkpoints go up on their block?

Or will we refuse to comply and as a result prevent SB1070’s strategy from working?

 

SB1070 signs of resistance

AZ State Capitol, PHX

June 22, 2012

If they are coming for us now, they will be coming for you next. Immigrants are today’s scapegoats but there will be someone next to blame and fill the private prisons.

As undocumented people fill the vacuum of leadership on these issues and demonstrate real courage, all of us are called to follow their example.

The truth is that the suffering in Arizona isn’t caused by the cold hearts and bigoted minds of our adversaries. It is the apathetic souls of those who look upon Arizona and stand idly by. Perhaps people hear ‘immigrant’ and believe it does not apply to them or that we somehow deserve the treatment we receive.

White fear of the re-browning of this continent and general worry over unemployment and economic security has turned many against migrants as an easy scapegoat. But if we look deeply enough, we see that we hold in common both the cause of our troubles and the solution to our suffering. Around the world, people are toppling those who have ruled by broken promises and brutal policies. Arizona and the US will be no exception.

Change has always come when people challenged and broke unjust laws. Nonviolent civil disobedience has been used to historically to challenge racism and inequality from factory floors to lunch counters and buses.

And so, this is a call to action whether you are a community member directly affected, consider yourself an ally, or someone who up until now has been a bystander in the immigration battles. The undocumented youth movement has set an example of what it is to be unafraid, and the bravery they display far outweighs the courage elected officials lack. They have proven that the safest place for anyone targeted by these laws is out, proud, and part of an organized community.

As the migrant rights movement steps into this new phase, we do not do it alone. Allies can harbor anyone targeted, hire anyone fired, and refuse to allow Arizona or Arpaio to become the new normal. At the end of June, we will rally together in Phoenix at Sheriff Arpaio’s self-described ‘concentration camp,’ tent city and begin a summer of resistance in the state and across the country where these laws and their champions are calling for a challenge.

The present may feel heavy but the future is bright. Because love always overcomes hate. Our numbers are on our side. The truth is on our side. With or without those in power, history is on our side. We just have to put our shoulders to the gears of history and push.

Carlos Garcia is the director of Puente Arizona, a Phoenix-based human rights organization dedicated to empowering migrant communities.

 -----------------

Freewayblogging the SB1070 Resistance

Phoenix, AZ (July 28, 2010)

Copwatch and Anarchists help bring down Sheriff Joe; Homeland Security finally ends 287g with MCSO

My earlier post was critical that the US Department of Justice hasn't gone far enough to prosecute Joe Arpaio, but my Spacebook community reminds me that a lot of people helped move the feds to act as they did today, and that was no small piece of ground we just took. It led to the decision by Homeland Security to finally cancel the 287g agreement they have with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO), as noted below by Janet Napolitano. 

Without the work as well as the sacrifice of a lot of people - folks who don't put on body armor and guns, but have taken great personal risk nonetheless to document and fight our dear sheriff's crimes - today's DOJ ultimatum to Maricopa County never would have come. So, while I wish we were getting more from the feds (and sooner), I'm grateful to all those in this community that helped get us this far. 

Much of the evidence the DOJ and ACLU have against the MCSO - particularly in regards to their practice of racial profiling - was provided by people like Dennis Gilman and a fleet of observers with camcorders (organized by everyone from the unions to PUENTE) trained by Phoenix Copwatch (full of anarchists).  Props to the undocumented targets of racism, the UUs and black bloc(kers) alike who turned out for the protests when they were both big and small, to keep Arpaio's criminality and his incompetence in the public eye. Finally, thanks to all those journalists, (left and center) and bloggers who have helped amplify the voice of resistance out here, too, rather than just echo what comes out of the MCSO's propaganda machine.

So, relish this day and what comes of it; let's just not forget that the bigger picture without this one man - the capitalist, white supremacist patriarchy and prison industrial complex that have devastated so many lives and communities - will continue to exist long after he's history. Remember, too, that the DOJ is part of perpetuating tyranny as well...

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

Statement by Secretary Napolitano on DOJ’s Findings of Discriminatory Policing in Maricopa County

Release Date: December 15, 2011
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is troubled by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) findings of discriminatory policing practices within the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).   Discrimination undermines law enforcement and erodes the public trust.  DHS will not be a party to such practices. Accordingly, and effective immediately, DHS is terminating MCSO’s 287(g) jail model agreement and is restricting the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office access to the Secure Communities program.  DHS will utilize federal resources for the purpose of identifying and detaining those individuals who meet U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) immigration enforcement priorities.  The Department will continue to enforce federal immigration laws in Maricopa County in smart, effective ways that focus our resources on criminal aliens, recent border crossers, repeat and egregious immigration law violators and employers who knowingly hire illegal labor.”

ARPAIO and the DOJ: We want a perp walk.

The DOJ just released a 22-page letter of findings, concluding that the practices of Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office violate the 1st, 4th, and 14th Amendments to the US Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and Section 14141 of the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act. The feds threaten a civil suit to convince him to change his ways. It's just a letter, though, not an indictment - never mind the blood dripping from Joe Arpaio's hands. 

People have been harassed, detained, arrested, abused, and neglected to death in Arpaio's custody, and yet his treatment of them doesn't appear to be a criminal case - not yet, anyway. I "loitered" in a public park after the posted hours at a protest, though, and immediately did 18 hours in Arpaio's jail. I may face more time yet for my graffiti and activism on behalf of human rights, and he's taking campaign donations as if he's running for office again. Texas Governor Rick Perry even courted good old Sheriff Joe's endorsement for the 2012 Republican presidential ticket...that sure says a lot about Perry's character, doesn't it?

I assume that the letter of the DOJ's findings is addressed to Bill Montgomery, Maricopa County Attorney, because his office will represent the county against any suit the DOJ actually brings (Arpaio's office has a private attorney) - all parties will fight at our expense, of course. Then there are the individual civil suits against the county and Arpaio that will all be bolstered by this finding; And there's the $99 million that he "misappropriated"; this man is costing American taxpayers a fortune. 

What Arpaio's term in office has cost us, though, far exceeds the expense involved in both prosecuting and defending him - he also cost the public our safety through his harassment and by clearing real crimes by "exceptional" means. He pursued his racist agenda and employed discriminatory tactics chasing down "aliens" at the expense of solving child sexual abuse cases, rapes and homicides - is it any wonder that so many of the victims his office ignored were children of undocumented latinos?

For the harm he's perpetrated all of our communities - flagrantly violating human and constitutional rights in the process - I want to see that man prosecuted. He owes hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution to his victims and has done violence to people's lives, as far as I'm concerned, but right now the DOJ is just talking about "reform" and "remediation". Someday I hope we have no prisons, but until we come up with a better way to protect the public from racist, abusive and dangerous people, I want to see Joe Arpaio locked away by the feds, not put into outpatient rehab. We have far too many people locked up on drug charges to be squandering resources rehabilitating him. It's time to indict this Criminal Joe - and let our people go.

4th Avenue Jail, Phoenix
Chalk the Police Day 2011

-----from the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division------

Investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

In June 2008, the Civil Rights Division opened an investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) pursuant to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Following a comprehensive investigation, on December 15, 2011, the Justice Department announced its findings that MCSO has engaged in a pattern or practice of misconduct that violates the Constitution and federal law. The documents on this page provide more information about the investigation, the Justice Department's findings, and next steps.

Findings Letter:

English   |   Spanish

the Desaparecidos of 9/11: Immigrants died there, too.

A memorial re-post from last year...

Gee Vaucher

A friend passed these lyrics on to me today in remembrance of those most forgotten from the tragedy on 9/11/2001. Grief was spoken in our country in many languages that day - and it was silenced by fear. Still is.

This is for the families of the Desaparecidos everywhere. May you someday safely bring your loved ones into our light.

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

If I Give Your Name
by Emmas Revolution


Mi esposa, my wife, worked on the 80th floor
The company had hired illegals before
She got the job by word of mouth
That’s the way in the north when you’re from the south
They say 3,000 but the counting’s not done
Mi esposa está muerta
Three thousand and one


I have no papers, I have no rights
All my days end in sleepless nights
Missing you, silently
If I give your name
Will they come after me?


Mi hermano, my brother, the elevator man
A doctor in our country but you take what you can
I saw the photos in Union Square
But I could not leave his picture there
They say 3,000 but that’s not true
Mi hermano no volverá
Three thousand and two


Mi hija, my daughter, went in early that day
She had always been that way
Her daughter asks, "Where did she go?"
How to tell her, I don’t know
They say 3,000 but that can’t be
Perdí a mi hija
Three thousand and three


Mi padre, my father, I have no words
I tried to find you when I heard
They gave some ashes to families
But I’ll only have the ones I breathe
They say 3,000 there’s so many more
Desaparecidos
Three thousand and four


Mi esposa, my wife. Will they come after me?
Mi hermano, my brother. Will they come after me?
Mi hija, my daughter. Will they come after me?
Mi padre, my father. If I give your name,
Will they come after me?

Mercenaries in the AZ Desert: Chinga La Migra

Interesting, and not very surprising, unfortunately. Please follow the link for the full article. Brenda Norrell is the best journalist I've seen report on issues related to the indigenous and the border, and she dug into all those Chinga La Migra files herself...

--------------------from Censored News----------------

Hacked police data: Assassins plan special ops team on Arizona border

originally posted: Tuesday, July 5, 2011

UPDATED: Hacked Arizona police files describe mercenary-type patrols on the Arizona border. However, one of those armed men at the border, responding to the leaked report, said some of the armed patrols are there to halt drug cartels, not to hunt migrants

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Updated July 17, 2011

SASABE, Ariz. -- In the leaked files of Chinga La Migra, a police report describes an encounter with a heavily-armed man at Sasabe and states there is a "mercenary-type" action planned for this area. It is the second time that e-mails leaked by hackers in the Chinga La Migra data revealed heavily-armed mercenary types here at Sasabe, southwest of Tucson. In the first police e-mail leaked, off-duty Marines were exposed patrolling with assault weapons.

In this second e-mail from police files, agents working in the town of Sasabe in March said they were approached by a man who engaged in a conversation with agents.

The agents said they immediately noticed that the man had a Glock pistol holstered on his right hip. The man also retrieved a Saiga shotgun, along with a 10 round magazine and a 20 round drum magazine from his truck and showed the agents.

“He stated that he is soon to receive funding in the amount of $350,000.00 from what he described as ‘Concerned citizens’ and that he planned to use this funding to bring up to five men into the area," the police report states.

The heavily-armed man “went on to describe these men, as well as himself, as prior military, all with extensive experience such as Recon, Sniper and Ranger Training, etc., and plans to conduct mercenary type operations in both the Sasabe, Arizona and Sasabe, Sonora border area," the police report states.

The police report states that he admitted having "Improvised Explosive Devices" deployed in the desert near Sasabe.

Agents were urged to take extreme caution while working in the area near Sasabe. In April, after the man was seen in Sasabe, there was a five hour police search of the area with a bomb crew.

Response: Some armed patrols on the border target drug cartels, not hunting migrants

One person who says he is armed at the Arizona border responded to the original article published here by Censored News, and the data from the Arizona police files.

Responding, the man said he is armed and at the Arizona border, but he is not part of the Minutemen or Blue Lights patrols. Instead, he said he is there to halt the armed cartel drug runners coming north, weapons going south, and for the protection of the communities.

He said the cartel escorts accompanying the drug loads are armed with AK47s. Some of the cartel lookouts on this side of the border are also armed with AK47s. Since it is very desolate country, any help is usually about an hour away, if any help comes at all. So to go out there unarmed is suicide, he said.

He points out that there are corrupt Border Patrol agents on the border and they report people with false information, if they get in the corrupt agents' way.

The corruption within the Border Patrol was the subject of testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, on June 9, 2011 in Washington. Officials testified that 127 Border Patrol agents have been arrested and hundreds more are now under investigation, for corruption, including drug smuggling and accepting bribes from drug runners.

Responding to Censored News, the person who is armed at the border said he is there to halt drug cartels from coming in, prevent weapons from going south into Mexico and to protect the local area. He said there are good people on the other side of the border in Mexico and they do not deserve to be slaughtered by the drug cartels.

But he said he is not there to hunt migrants. He said he even carries extra water and food for migrants that are left stranded.

He points out that the U.S. government has supplied the cartels with over 2,500 AK/47s.

This fact was revealed in the recent testimony, and news reports, of the ATF Fast and Furious operation. Those ATF weapons in the operation, which the ATF claims were part of a sting operation, are being used on both sides of the border. These weapons that the US was allowing to "walk" across the border were proven to be used in the murder of two US agents, including one agent near Nogales, Ariz.

The Los Angeles Times points out that not only did 2,500 weapons wind up in the hands of the cartels, but the DEA and FBI were paying the same cartel members as informants. “The official said at least half a dozen cartel figures were being paid by one U.S. law enforcement agency while they were being targeted by another.” http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cartel-guns-20110717,0,6972222.story

Further, responding to Censored News, the armed man patrolling the Arizona border says that Wells Fargo/Wachovia was caught laundering $378 billion of cartel drug money over a period of 4 years, over 90 billion a year. He pointed out that not one criminal charge was brought against them. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/03/us-bank-mexico-drug-gangs

Further, the man patrolling the Arizona border said the intent of the government is not to stop this drug running, but it is to keep it going so there are more people in this country "doped up who can't think straight and will obey whatever they are told." Referring to the US military and drug running, he said: Why do you think we are in Afghanistan?

He said it is because 90 percent of the world’s opium comes from there.

He said by patrolling the mountains at the Arizona border, he is trying to stop the drug trade and not only put a crimp on the cartel cash flow, but also on the U.S. government cash flow and corruption...

for the rest, hit: http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/07/hacked-police-data-assassins-plan.html

Arizona's tax base eroded by anti-immigrant legislation.

Even the cookie monster says: "STOP SB1070"
Resistance Alley, Phoenix (June 4, 2011)

Apparently, America's undocumented immigrants paid $11 billion in taxes last year, while the multinational GE paid NOTHING. No wonder Arizona's economy is still in the gutter - we chased away all the honest, hard-working taxpayers, while cutting extra breaks to freeloading, exploitative corporations...So, thanks a lot SB1070, ALEC, Russ Pearce, and Jan Brewer - and all the idiots who voted for the right wing last election thinking they were protecting their own interests. You screwed us all.

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Unauthorized Immigrants pay taxes too.

Immigration Policy Center

April 18, 2011

Estimates of the State and Local Taxes Paid by Unauthorized Immigrant Households

Tax Day is an appropriate time to underscore the often-overlooked fact that unauthorized immigrants pay taxes. The unauthorized, like everyone else in the United States, pay sales taxes. They also pay property taxes—even if they rent. At least half of unauthorized immigrants pay income taxes. Add this all up and it amounts to billions in revenue to state and local governments. The Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) has estimated the state and local taxes paid in 2010 by households that are headed by unauthorized immigrants.

These households may include members who are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants. Collectively, these households paid $11.2 billion in state and local taxes. That included $1.2 billion in personal income taxes, $1.6 billion in property taxes, and $8.4 billion in sales taxes. The states receiving the most tax revenue from households headed by unauthorized immigrants were California ($2.7 billion), Texas ($1.6 billion), Florida ($806.8 million), New York ($662.4 million), and Illinois ($499.2 million) {See Figure 1 and Table 1}. These figures should be kept in mind as politicians and commentators continue with the seemingly endless debate over what to do with unauthorized immigrants already living in the United States. In spite of the fact that they lack legal status, these immigrants—and their family members—are adding value to the U.S. economy; not only as taxpayers, but as workers, consumers, and entrepreneurs as well.

O'odham Solidarity: Border Patrol Lockdowners Not Guilty

I can't begin to articulate how proud I am to call these people my friends and comrades...

love and power to you all.


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Border Patrol Headquarters Occupation Protesters Found Not Guilty-Reaffirms Call to End Border Militarization

by Alex Soto on Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 2:34am

NEWS RELEASE

DATE: Thursday June 29, 2011

Contact: Alex Soto

Phone: 602-881-6027

Email: stopbordermilitarization@gmail.com

Border Patrol Headquarters Occupation Protesters Found Not Guilty

Reaffirms Call to End Border Militarization

Chuckson (Tucson), AZ - The six protesters who locked-down and occupied the United

States Border Patrol (BP) – Tucson Headquarters on May 21, 2010 were found not guilty on the remaining count of a disorderly conduct "with serious disruptive behavior” charge.

The legal defense, William G. Walker and Jeffrey J. Rogers, argued that the remaining charge of disorderly conduct did not apply because it did not meet any of the statutes of the charge. After three hours of deliberation, the judge found the six not guilty.

The city prosecutor had attempted to re-introduce the previously misfiled criminal trespassing as a misdemeanor charge, but this charge was dismissed after the first trial date for the occupiers in February. After an objection by the defense, the state’s motion was denied.

“Today’s not guilty verdict shows that we, as O’odham, are not the ones who are disorderly. It is the Border Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security, and the various levels of government that perpetrate the violence in our communities,” stated Alex Soto, Tohono O’odham, one of the protesters and member of O’odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective. “When will the institutions, whose conduct continues for more than 500 years of trespassing, that terrorize indigenous and migrants communities, be held accountable?”

“No state entity can deny peoples’ inherent right to freedom of movement," said Marisa Duarte, one of the protesters standing trial. "Borders are a colonial weapon used to continue the genocide of indigenous people and their culture. Through trade they exploit natural resources and use the profits to further the progress of neo-liberal infrastructure projects such as CANAMEX and NAFTA. This results in the criminalization of those who defy borders through living their lives traditionally. You see the forced relocation of families from borders all around the world. Today we say no more to this criminalization of people.”

O’odham Elders and community members attended the court proceedings to demonstrate their support.

“Today we celebrate our victory in court, but understand this is just one step in ending border militarization. We took action last May in order to directly confront the issues in our communities by physically intervening and occupying the Border Patrol station.

Since that time, many have answered the call to end border militarization, and victories like today have inspired more action,” said Franco Habre.

As the six waited for the state’s decision, 16 angry community members targeted the prison firm G4S (formally Wackenhut) and were cited criminal trespassing charges. The 16 declared in no uncertain terms their opposition to the company’s profiteering at the expense of immigrant communities in Tucson, across the nation and throughout the world. Their action, which was organized autonomously by Tucson community members, was carried out under the banner of Direct Action for Freedom of Movement

The six still stand firmly with their commitment and demands to end border militarization and their initial demands are listed below:

- Immediately withdraw National Guard Troops from the US/Mexico border

- Immediately halt development of the border wall

- Immediately remove drones and checkpoints

- Decommission all detention camps and release all presently held undocumented migrants

- Immediately honor Indigenous Peoples rights of self-determination

- Fully comply with the recently signed UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous

Peoples

- Respect Indigenous People's inherent right of migration

- End NAFTA, FTAA and other trade agreements

- Immediately end all CANAMEX/NAFTA Highway projects (such as the South

Mountain Freeway)

- Immediately repeal SB1070 and 287g

- End all racial profiling

- No BP encroachment/sweeps on sovereign Native land

- No raids and deportations

- Immediate and unconditional regularization (“legalization”) of all people

- Uphold human freedom and rights

- Uphold the rights of ALL Indigenous People - repeal HB 2281, support the UN

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

- Support dignity and respect

- Support and ensure freedom of movement for all people

Soto concluded, “This action was a prayer. We’d like to thank those who stood with us during this process and to all who firmly stand with us to end border militarization. The occupation of the Border Patrol station was never about any group/organization, or us, it was about directly confronting the terror that the state unleashes upon indigenous and migrant communities, so we can critically challenge border militarization. As an O’odham, I always think back to my grandparents’ teachings: We as O’odham people have always traveled freely, regardless of the border. It’s our land, who we are, and we will defend it.”

To view the occupation video and for additional resources please visit:

www.oodhamsolidarity.blogspot.com

www.survivalsolidarity.wordpress.com

ACLU-AZ: tasers, prisoner abuse, and juvenile diversion.

This is really exciting folks. Go to all if you can if for no other reason than to show them how many people out here care....

From: ACLU of Arizona [mailto:grassroots@acluaz.org]
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 2:53 PM
Subject: Location update: You bring your lunch. We'll bring the experts.

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All lectures will be held at 3707 N. 7th Street, Suite 100, Phoenix, AZ 85014

You are invited to the ACLU of Arizona's Summer 2011 Brown Bag Lecture Series!

Who says there is nothing to do during the summer in the Valley of the Sun?

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

In Their Own Words: Enduring Abuse in Arizona Immigration Detention Centers

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Protecting What Works: Juvenile Diversion in Maricopa County

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

A Force to Be Reckoned With: Taser Use in Arizona Police Departments

All brown bag lectures will be from noon to 1 p.m.

Free and open to the public. Drinks and desserts served.

Seating is limited, so please make reservations by calling Mary Hope Lee at 602-650-1854 ext. 100 or by emailing info@acluaz.org.

When education is under attack: FIGHT BACK!!!

These youth so ROCK!!!

Let's go support them today, folks!

Tuscon Unified School District's Board is meeting today at 5:30pm at TUSD HQ!

TUSD's ethnic studies meeting changed again

Reporter: Steve Nunez
Web Producer: David Rush

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - KGUN9 News has learned TUSD will hold a special meeting to consider a controversial ethnic studies proposal on Tuesday. And it will be held 5:30pm at district headquarters.

9 On Your Side reporter Steve Nunez was at the board's agenda committee meeting today where the decision was made to change the meeting for the second time.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Tuesday this week. But moments before the start, protestors stormed the board room. Some chained themselves to board members' chairs and refused to leave. TUSD Superintendent Dr. John Pedicone then canceled the meeting.

Board members re-scheduled the meeting for Thursday May 5 at the Catalina High School auditorium. But the agenda committee changed its mind and moved it two days earlier and back to district headquarters.

Board members said they were concerned over security at Catalina High. They said security will be beefed up inside the board room, in the hallway and outside the building. In addition, when the board room fills up, authorities will lock the doors and won't allow anybody else in.

Doctor Pedicone told KGUN9 News he was upset at the student's actions Tuesday night and vowed to keep them from holding back the democratic process.

Ethnic studies supporters were demonstrating over a proposal by Dr. Mark Stegeman that would make most ethnic studies courses electives. Currently students have a choice of taking U.S. history or Mexican American studies to graduate.

Biking Beyond Bigotry: Rusty Spoke Collective.

From our friends at Rusty Spoke Bicycle Collective...come support anti-racism!

Border Patrol and the Fallen Father of Three...

They say he just "fell down".

Follow the title link below for the video and original editorial, but ignore most of the comments that follow it - there are some ugly people living here. I wish being a decent human being was a stipulation for being an American citizen; it would solve most of the problems we have today...

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Did Border Patrol almost kill a father of 3 US born children in Arizona?
Tucson Citizen
by Three Sonorans on Apr. 09, 2011

Jose Gutierrez Guzman




Jose lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and has a wife with three US born children.

Jose was brought here as a little boy and has never returned to Mexico since then. Even though Jose is 42 years old, and has been here since he was a child, Jose is undocumented.

The father of three was deported to Mexico.

His daughter was really sick, so he tried to come back to be with his family in Phoenix. He crossed over at the San Luis border crossing just south of Yuma, Arizona and ran into Border Patrol.

He is now clinging to life, having almost died.

His wife is asking the Border Patrol what happened? They said “he fell down.”

The Border Patrol simply said Jose "fell down." Was that after a beating?

When they say he fell down, was that after being hit in the head?

Then it comes out that he was tazed also… and the story keeps changing.

What makes this whole story worse is that Jose is undocumented, and all the hospital has to do is stabilize him before dumping, I mean deporting, him back into Mexico, a country he does not know..

I bet Russell Pearce, Ron Gould, and the rest of the Republicans, who claim to be Christians also, are all giddy over this. First this father of US born children was deported.

Then beat up and left for dead.

And now he gets to be deported again and left for dead.

I bet Jesus is happy right now also, looking down on the man who he died for and saying “tough luck Jose. I can forgive all your mortal sins, but not having your papers… shame on you!”

As he says this He is clearing a spot for Russell Pearce and the Border Patrol agents who may have beat down Jose. Good job and eternal paradise for enforcing the law over having basic humanity.

Oh wait, Russell Pearce, high priest of the Mormon Church doesn’t go to heaven but gets to rule his own planet free of black and brown people. Well, according to his religion that is the case.

According to other religions, there’s a nice warm spot in hell waiting for Russell Pearce and his hatred of humanity in the name of stupid paperwork and man-made laws.

What part of Human is Human doesn’t he understand?

And what part of Illegal is Illegal does Russell Pearce with his Fiesta Bowl scandal not understand?

Hands across the border: Vigil remembering Carlos La Madrid

From Border Action Network:

Walk and Vigil in Memory of Carlos LaMadrid

Friday, April 1st, 2011

3 PM

Starting Point: McDonald's

Corner of 5th St and Pan American Ave.

Douglas, AZ

We will walk south on Pan American Ave, then east on International Ave to the point on the border wall where Carlos was shot (20-30 minute walk).

We will then have a vigil with our brothers and sisters on the other side in Agua Prieta, Sonora to unite both sides of a border divided by walls and by hate in the face of this tragedy.

Please bring flowers, candles, signs, or whatever you would like to leave on the “Wall of Shame” in memory of Carlos.

Pulsa aqui para ver esta información en Español

Carlos LaMadrid: another child murdered by US Border Patrol agent for throwing stones.

This sad story keeps repeating itself. Our heavily-militarized US Border Patrol is still gunning down children throwing rocks (though we are told the real threat are the drug cartels), while Joe Arpaio is gearing up his amateur posse pilots to identify "illegal activity" from the sky so the Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies can pick off fleeing "suspects" with automatic weapons.

The AZ governor, meanwhile, wants her own private army to call up for whatever she "considers to be necessary" - which I suspect would be used to put down domestic disturbances as the masses slip deeper into debt and poverty, not to protect us from the alien invasion, as she would have the people believe.

Americans are really a sorry bunch of people. We're the ones perpetrating the most border state violence, hands down. Neither Brewer nor Arpaio have suggested using any of those precious resources to rescue desert crossers with, of course - a record number of whom died in 2010, despite the drop in migration...

And so, here we are again. Last night was the first I heard of this youth. If a Border Patrol officer is murdered, it's the crime of the century. Governor Brewer exploits it as a chance to amp up the war on all brown people passing through the state - redirecting hundreds of millions of health care dollars towards criminalizing and incarcerating more immigrants - while Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano personally declares the guy a hero and swears she will stop at nothing to solve the crime. If a latino child is murdered by an officer, though, his family and community are met with either these lame justifications from the feds for why the agent felt threatened, and stone cold silence from everyone else.

------------------From Border Action Network--------------

*Pulsa aqui para leer este artículo en Español*

Carlos La Madrid was known as the teenager who always smiled, who loved to play soccer, guitar and was learning to work with solar energy. This week however, his family has been mourning his death. On March 21st, Carlos La Madrid was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents near the border wall separating Douglas, Arizona from Agua Prieta, Sonora. He was 19 years old.

This is the second incident to shock the Arizona border region so far this year in which teenagers have been shot and killed by border guards in alleged rock-versus-bullets incidents. In January, 17-year-old Ramses Barrón Torres was shot and killed in Douglas, Arizona. That case is still under investigation.

Family and friends of Carlos La Madrid gathered near the site of the shooting to demand justice as they hung two banners on the border wall, one depicting a smiling Carlos playing the accordion, the second commissioned by Carlos’ soccer team that read “You will always be in our team and in our hearts.”

Holding back tears outside the family home, Marta, Carlos’ younger sister, remembered her slain sibling: “He was a great brother, he was always smiling and loved to play soccer,” she told organizers with Border Action Network, a human rights organization in Arizona.

Although federal authorities have not released any information on the incident, Border Patrol claims its agents were confronted by rocks throwers who were standing on the Mexican side.

“Rock throwing is often the pretext to justify shooting and killing migrants crossing the US-Mexico border. In this case, Carlos was a 19-year- old U.S. citizen and hometown boy of Douglas, Arizona,” explained Jennifer Allen, Executive Director of Border Action Network and co-chair of the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC), a recently-formed border-wide coalition of over 60 entities. Allen continued, “The Border Patrol agents took the law into their own hands, and acted as judge, jury and executioner and shot a teenager.”

This incident has also had a chilling effect on communities along the international divide with Mexico.

“Border communities from San Diego to Brownsville are saying enough is enough,” explains Christian Ramirez, a San Diego-based National Coordinator with the American Friends Service Committee and SBCC co-chair. “The growing pattern of agents shooting first and asking questions later is a border-wide epidemic that is rapidly diminishing the quality of life of border communities and trampling on the dignity of the millions of people who call the US-Mexico border home.”

The SBCC and its Arizona members expect:

1. For the FBI and the Cochise County Attorney’s office to conduct thorough and swift investigations that include investigating civil rights violations;

2. For Customs and Border Protection to institute new training for agents to better assess levels of threat and determine appropriate non-lethal responses; and

3. For all agencies involved to provide copies of incident reports to the family, including one that explains the delayed paramedics’ transport to the local hospital.


To see more photos and videos of Carlos and his family, click here.