Wednesday, June 30, 2010

By The Time I Get to Arizona

مرحبا بكم في ولاية أريزونا promo from viejas del mercado on Vimeo.



THE HARDEST BUTTON TO BUTTON

By David Cotner

Immigration in America is today's hot-button issue -- and by "hot-button" I mean "press here for nukes." By The Time I Get to Arizona, a new exhibition about the recent Arizona immigration laws -- Senate Bill 1070 in particular, ranking in notoriety with Prop. 187 or AB 7734 -- includes a video installation by guerrilla artist The Phantom, taped surreptitiously along the U.S.-Mexico border, exposing everything from coyotes and black helicopters to the desolate wasteland that faces immigrant hopefuls trying to make it into the U.S. Featured in the exhibition: multimedia artworks by Acamonchi, Dabs & Myla, Dash 2000 Fidel, El Mac, Estevan Oriol, Jaime Germs Zacarias, and Ritzy Periwinkle. Curated by in-house artist collective Viejas Del Mercado and sponsored by shoemaker Puma, it's your chance to see the latest avant-garde street art that tackles today's issues in a relevant way -- and it's not for nothing that the avant-garde are always the ones who get shot at first.


Sunday, June 27, 2010

Tucson: Anti-borders/SB 1070 banners dropped

On the morning of June 25, 2010 two banners were hung on the 22nd St. overpass for commuters heading NW on Aviation Parkway in Tucson, Az.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Chandler: Coalition asks city to oppose implementation of SB 1070

A group that calls itself Coalition for Immigration Reform - East Valley asked the Chandler City Council to pass a resolution opposing Senate Bill B1070 and vowed to take the campaign to Mesa, Tempe and Gilbert.

But after the council's brief response to their plea Thursday night, members said they were not hopeful that a resolution would ever come up for a vote.

"I didn't see any great openness on their faces. It's not in their political interest," said retired teacher and longtime Chandler resident Brian Barabe, who made the presentation.

SB 1070 takes effect July 29 and makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. Barabe argued that enforcement will be a financial burden. "Has the city calculated the losses to tax-paying constituents in terms of lost rentals, lost mortgage payments and lost sales in general as breadwinners are arrested or families flee the city out of fear of arrest," he asked the council.

Two other members of the group said even though they are longtime Chandler residents and U.S. citizens, their Hispanic heritage and appearance makes them fearful. "I still remember what happened in 1997; I was here," said Ana Cabrera.

Chandler drew widespread criticism for a roundup of suspected illegal immigrants in 1997. For four days police and federal agents set out to arrest undocumented immigrants in downtown neighborhoods, and they arrested 340. But some of those taken into custody were legal residents, and Hispanic community leaders were outraged. The city was sued and paid more than $500,000 in out-of-court settlements.

Raquel Leyva serves on a city commission but said she is worried what would happen to her adult mentally disabled son if he is confronted by police. He carries no identification and is fearful of strangers, she said.

After the three spoke, Mayor Boyd Dunn said Chandler will make certain the law is followed carefully and without racial profiling. Councilwoman Trinity Donovan encouraged them to meet with the city's Human Relations Commission. Neither addressed the request for a resolution.

Police Chief Sherry Kiyler told the speakers outside the meeting that officers would not engage in racial profiling and police departments across the Valley are working to understand the law and how to enforce it. "I think the fear is greater than the reality," she said.

Barabe said his organization is an informal group of about 30 longtime friends and many are supporters of local Latino arts and culture. They will appear before the other East Valley city councils and meet with municipal officials in coming weeks, arguing the economic bill's negative economic impacts, he said.

Barabe, a former high school Spanish and English teacher, questioned whether enough of the city's police officers can are fluent enough in Spanish to make arrests and read suspects their Miranda warnings.

"Have the city and police department calculated the human costs with an eye toward the distrust of police and damage to the spirit of cooperation with police in the Latino community that will result from enforcement of this law?" Barabe asked the council. "Has the police department been able to assure the council that racial profiling will not occur during traffic stops and criminal investigations?"

Earlier this month in Tempe an activist group pushed that city to defy the state's new immigration law, but municipal spokesman Nikki Ripley said the city will enforce the law when it goes into effect next month.

Refusing to enforce the state law could subject a city to lawsuits, said Paul Bender, an Arizona State University law professor.

Tolleson, Flagstaff, San Luis and Somerton have joined a lawsuit to block the bill from taking effect.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2010/06/25/20100625chandler-coalition-resolution-against-immigration-law.html

Nogales: Laborers in limbo as SB 1070 nears


As Nogales’ Friday morning bustle begins amid the sound of chirping birds and the rumble of a nearby garbage truck, a tan-colored pickup pulls up slowly to the strip of Grand Avenue in front of the Pimeria Alta Museum.

The driver, a smiling, wrinkled man honks twice as men dressed in denim, work boots and baseball caps hold up fingers in a gesture to ask how many workers he needs.

The truck, its bed loaded to the brim with wood, pulls in to the parking lot behind the museum and two men jump in.

Meanwhile, just up the street, a group of crisply dressed women sit anxiously on benches, clutching their purses. One stands up and waves at a blonde-haired woman, who greets her in broken Spanish before the two continue down the sidewalk.

One-by-one, the other women follow suit, climbing into cars or walking away with a newfound employer.

The day has begun for Nogales’ day laborers – men who do yard and construction work, and women who clean houses or nanny children. Some are out-of-work Americans, while others are unemployed Mexicans who cross legally into the U.S. as tourists, but try instead to find an informal day’s work.

The architects of SB 1070, Arizona’s tough new immigration law, hope that life for these folks gets a lot tougher on July 29 when the measure comes into effect. Under the law, people who hire day laborers can be charged with a class 1 misdemeanor.

No distinction

Francisco Castillo, who patrols the lot behind the museum for neighboring Bank of America, said it’s typical to see men sitting under the billboard in the lot each weekday morning.

“It’s become a custom,” Castillo said. “The museum is somewhat of a reunion point for people without work.”

And in Santa Cruz County, there are a lot of people without work. According to May figures from the Arizona Department of Commerce, the county jobless rate remains around 18 percent – which hit a decade high in March.

Jesus Gutierrez, a Rio Rico resident who said he was laid off from jobs at Wal-Mart, Zulas Papachoris’ Restaurant, and Jack-In-The-Box because of the recession, now seeks work as a day laborer.

“I hope to find yard work, or whatever I can get,” Gutierrez said, as he sat in the shade of a ramada across the train tracks from the museum.

He said he hasn’t found work in the past few weeks and he said he thinks enforcement of SB 1070 will help him, since people tend to hire day laborers from Mexico who work for less.

However, the law does not distinguish between a person who hires Gutierrez, who lives legally in the U.S., and someone who hires Martin, Hector or Leonel – three day laborers who didn’t want to reveal their last names because they live in Mexico and lack U.S. work visas.

As a blue sedan with a rolled-down window slowed near the museum, Martin held up three fingers and shouted, “How many do you need? We do yard work and tiling.”

But the car sped off and Martin turned to Hector and Leonel and said, “Well, looks like we’re not going to be working today.”

Martin, who crosses in from Nogales, Sonora five days a week, said he finds work about two days a week – usually in Rio Rico.

He said there is less work now than before and he said he thinks it’s because people have less money to pay workers. Or perhaps they’re fearful to hire day laborers because of the new law, he said.

Enforcement

Castillo said he thinks many of the day laborers are undocumented, and he expects to see big declines in their numbers come July 29.

Lt. Octavio Gradillas of the Nogales Police Department disagrees.

“When they’re so visibly out in public like that, I think they’re legal,” Gradillas said. “Especially with so many border agents downtown I don’t think they’d risk being caught.”

Yet even with Border Patrol agents whizzing by on a bike every few minutes, or a Border Patrol helicopter hovering above the museum, Martin, Hector and Leonel say law enforcement officials rarely – if ever – approach them.

Gradillas said it’s only a police matter if NPD receives a complaint, like the time museum staff complained that the congregated laborers were blocking pedestrian access.

When asked about the day laborers near the museum, Mario Escalante, spokesman for the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, said he had heard of the group, but that to his knowledge, the agency has not received any requests to verify the workers’ legality.

Gradillas said since a lot is still up in the air regarding the role of the police in enforcing SB1070, he has no idea how – or if – the law will affect NPD’s responsibility for cracking down on day laborers.

Martin, the undocumented laborer, said he’d be under the billboard on July 29 to see how it all shakes out.

“I’m still going to come,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

http://www.nogalesinternational.com/articles/2010/06/25/news/doc4c24caad7d6db972255565.txt

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

LAPD Wants To Break City’s Arizona Boycott

http://www.racewire.org/archives/2010/06/lapd_wants_10-month_break_from_arizona_boycott.html#more

Los Angeles police are looking for an okay from the city council to extend a contract with an Arizona-based company, in violation of the city’s boycott against the state over its anti-immigrant law, SB 1070. The LAPD’s request is the most significant test yet to the crop of municipal boycotts that have popped up since Arizona passed SB 1070—and the boycott isn’t likely to hold.

The L.A. Times reports that Arizona Travel Solutions supplies cameras at 32 intersections around the L.A. to catch red-light runners. The city council’s public safety committee said the camera contract should be exempt from the boycott because they ensure public safety.

Most cities that have passed boycott resolutions have not been tested this way—or been so open about their business dealings. Los Angeles’ troubles provide a glimpse into how far a city will go to honor its political position; most of the dozen-plus cities who’ve passed boycott resolutions have purposely included lenient language that “recommends” a city consider pulling out of contracts with Arizona-based companies or “cautions against” doing new business. Most city resolutions are also non-binding, symbolic agreements.

When Los Angeles passed its boycott resolution on May 12, it strongly condemned the Arizona law, cautioned against entering into new contracts with the state and forbade city employees to travel there. It remains the largest city to boycott Arizona over SB 1070, which empowers law enforcement officials to detain and investigate the immigration status of anyone they think might be in the state without papers.

Last week the LAPD canceled a training trip for several officers that was scheduled before the boycott took effect. Police Chief Charlie Beck said he pulled his officers out of that training to respect the boycott, though others weren't so happy.

"I think it's a huge mistake," Paul Weber, head of LAPD's professional league told the L.A. Times. "When the department decided a few months ago to send these officers to this training, they obviously saw the value in it. Public safety shouldn't be sacrificed just because Arizona's become a political football."

According to the L.A. Times, the city council is expected to grant LAPD's request today.

Oakland has also violated its own boycott by renewing a $1 mllion contract with the corporate advertising company, Clear Channel, which is based in Arizona. The New York Times reports that both Berkeley and San Francisco continue to do business with the state despite passing their own generously worded boycott resolutions.

Most of the economic pressure on Arizona has come in the form of hotel and conference cancellations in the Phoenix metro area, to the tune of about $10 million so far, according to Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. Elsewhere, the economic and locality-based boycotts of Arizona continue on a much quieter scale. But like Lawrence Glickman, a labor historian at the University of South Carolina told ColorLines: Boycotts are very easy to start, but much harder to finish.

Photo: Getty Images/David McNew

Se suma México a demanda contra ley Arizona

Se suma México a demanda contra ley Arizona

La SRE informó que el gobierno mexicano se adhirió a la denuncia presentada por un grupo de organizaciones civiles. En ella solicitó a una corte federal se declare inconstitucional dicha norma, en pro de los derechos humanos.


http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2010/06/22/formaliza-mexico-demandas-contra-ley-arizona

La Jornada en línea
Publicado: 22/06/2010 14:26

México, DF. México presentó formalmente ante una Corte Federal en Arizona su solicitud para acompañar una demanda contra la Ley SB1070.

La Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) informó que el gobierno mexicano se sumó formalmente bajo la figura de Amicus Curiae “Amigo de la Corte” a la causa denominada “Frendly House, et al. Vs Michael B. Whiting, et al”.

Bajo tal figura, el gobierno de México apoya la demanda entablada por un grupo de organizaciones civiles, incluyendo el Fondo México-Americano de Defensa Legal y Educativa (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund: MALDEF), el Centro Nacional de Derecho Migratorio (National Immigration Law Center: NILC) y la Unión Americana de Libertades Civiles (American Civil Liberties Union: ACLU) para impugnar dicha ley aprobada recientemente.

A través del escrito, informa la SRE a través de un boletín, México podrá dotar de información al juez de la causa con el propósito de enriquecer su criterio.

En su demanda, México solicitó a la Corte Federal se declare la inconstitucionalidad de la Ley SB1070 y se impida su entrada en vigor, ya que "es fundamental e imperativo que a sus ciudadanos se les reconozcan sus derechos humanos y civiles cuando se encuentren presentes en Arizona o en cualquier otra entidad de Estados Unidos".

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Costa Mesa action against the "Rule of Law"

June 15, 2010 — The City of Costa Mesa passed a resolution labeling itself a "Rule of Law City" against the undocumented immigrants! Costa Mesa has declared war on our community! The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has provided the city an ICE agent in their local jail to deport anyone without the "proper documentation". How can we help the police if we don't trust them? Our families will be torn apart and we cannot let that happen! The city has no jurisdiction on laws related to immigration, but yet the City Council has made of its city a smaller version of Arizona with the same harmful consequences on the people of Costa Mesa! *** This protest was organized by the people of Costa Mesa

Monday, June 21, 2010

Phoenix: La Comunidad Resiste Contra SB 1070


Gathering + Demonstration

Games+Music (Haymarket Squares and Others to be announced!)+Speakers+Rally

Food Not Bombs will be providing things to fill your bellies!

Bring: Games, Beverages, Blankets, Chairs, Chairs, Instruments, Crafts, Art Supplies, Friends, Literature, Things for Shade, and anything else you might like!!

Date:
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Time:
7:00pm - 11:30pm
Location:
Civic Space Park

Chuck D calls Jan Brewer 'a Hitler'


Public Enemy's Chuck D has released another song condemning Arizona nearly 20 years after the incendiary "By the Time I Get to Arizona," in which he blasted Gov. Evan Mecham as a racist "cracker" over his refusal to recognize Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a holiday.


The track, which starts off sampling "By the Time," as you may have guessed, is more concerned with the relative merits of SB 1070.

The track is called "Tear Down That Wall," and the rapper told Billboard he wrote it because "the governor is a Hitler," adding that "Tear Down That Wall" is "something that has its own life. It's not that you're doing anything to be opportunistic. I talked about the wall not only just dividing the U.S. and Mexico but the states of California, New Mexico and Texas. But Arizona, it's like, come on. Now they're going to enforce a law that talks about basically racial profiling."

SB 1070 makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally. It states that an officer engaged in a lawful stop, detention or arrest shall, when practicable, ask about a person's legal status when reasonable suspicion exists that the person is in the U.S. illegally.

Chuck D has also issued a statement that reads, in part, "Jan Brewer's decision to sign the Arizona immigration bill into law is racist, deceitful, and reflects some of the most mean-spirited politics against immigrants that the country has ever seen. The power that this law gives to police, to detain people that they suspect to be undocumented, brings racial profiling to a new low. Brewer's actions and those of Joe Arpaio, Russell Pearce, the Arizona State Senate are despicable, inexcusable, and endorse the all-out hate campaign that Joe Arpaio, Russell Pearce, and others have perpetrated upon immigrants for years. The people of Arizona who voted for this bill, as well as those who crafted it, demonstrate no regard for the humanity or contributions of Latino people. And for all of those who have chosen not to speak up, shame on you for silently endorsing this legislated hate."

The track is currently available at slamjamz.com and will appear on his Chuck D solo effort at a later date.

Los Lobos, Hall and Oates, Conjunto Primavera, Cypress Hill and Pitbull are among the artists that have canceled Arizona shows in protest. Artists speaking out against the law include Shakira, Willie Nelson, Carlos Santana and members of Rage Against the Machine, who formed the Sound Strike, a coalition of musical artists opposed to the bill, including Kanye West, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, Sonic Youth, Tenacious D., Joe Satriani, Cypress Hill, the Coup and Rise Against.


http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/music/articles/2010/06/21/20100621chuckd-arizona-immigration-law-hitler.html

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Raúl: A Call to Dream; a Call to Action and Rebellion

By Raúl Alcaraz (on Tohono O’odham lands)
www.antifronteras.com

Currently the DREAM Act Movement is being trashed by both the conservative and leftist tendencies within the Migrant Rights Movement. Reform Immigration for America (RIFA), a right-wing tendency within the movement supportive of an enforcement and militarization approach to Immigration Reform, has reportedly asked that the Senate not move forward with the DREAM Act. While on the other side, radical/revolutionary-minded folks are also critiquing the DREAM Act Movement for not being radical at all and for supporting legislation that feeds into the military industrial complex and the academic industrial complex.

So where does this leave the Dreamers?

To share a little bit about myself, I myself was an arrestee in the sit-in that took place in Senator John McCain’s office on May 17th in Tucson, Arizona to push for the passage of the DREAM Act. I chose to participate despite my own critiques of the DREAM Act. After meeting with the Dreamers and hearing their powerful life stories and listening to their plans of getting arrested despite the risk of deportation, I was deeply moved and compelled to participate. Their conviction, passion and willingness to sacrifice and push the envelope is admirable. It’s good to have constructive critiques, definitely. However, we have to check our privilege and recognize that this is undocumented youth determining their fight and making themselves the subjects not the objects of debate; they are putting themselves at the forefront of a struggle essentially for equal access to education. (It is important to point out the demographics of the DREAM Act 5: None us were U.S. citizens, 3 were womyn and most of us queer.) Yes, the DREAM Act is reformist. And yes, the DREAM Act is problematic for feeding into the military industrial complex. But regardless of our feelings on the DREAM Act, it is undeniable that the DREAM Movement has emerged as the most organized, “radical”, concrete and viable alternative defying the enforcement approach proposed by right-wing pro-Immigration Reform organizations like RIFA. As a recent article’s title suggests, the most visible forces within our movement can be simplified to “RIFA versus the DREAM Movement”.

So where does this leave the radical/revolutionary tendency of our movement?

Since SB 1070 blew up nationally, there have been a series of nonviolent civil disobedience actions across the country which have tended to be more militant in analysis and demands than the DREAM Movement. Beginning with the Capitol 9 in Phoenix and subsequent actions in Los Angeles, Tucson, New York City, Santa Ana and other places, there’s huge revolutionary potential here yet low capacity for long-term massive coordination and sustainability of direct action mobilizing. These actions seem to be sporadic and disconnected with no clear strategy in sight.

This is at a time when our community is the most radicalized and militant it has ever been, yet the most visible/radical element getting all the attention in the mainstream media is the DREAM Movement?! Dang. This begs the question: What’s wrong with the Left? What are we doing wrong? Instead of just critiquing the DREAM, why don’t we ask ourselves why we are allowing this NIGHTMARE called Amerikkka to continue unchallenged? Why are we allowing Border Patrol Pigs to taser, torture, terrorize and assassinate our people? How could it be that we idly sit by continuing our everyday lives uninterrupted as 7 year-old Brisenia Flores and her father are shot to death by White supremacists in Arizona or 14 year-old Sergio Adrian Hernandez is shot in the head by an agent in El Paso, Texas??? Why do we allow Arizona to be ground zero for police brutality against Latinos and the site of a quiet GENOCIDE against thousands of our sisters and brothers that have lost their lives crossing the desert—year after year after year??? How could we let this government get away with genocide and terrorism? What’s going on with our movement? Our strategy? Our tactics? Why are we letting this once in a lifetime opportunity to push our revolutionary visions to the forefront of the movement slip through our fingers? Where have our clenched fists gone? Why are we hiding behind our comfort? Where’s our dignity? Where’s our courage? Where is our commitment to our families and our visions of freedom? Whether it’s the DREAM Act or Immigration Reform, WE CANNOT depend or place our hopes on politicians of either party to be persuaded to side with justice or morality. If this is our strategy we will be waiting for a very long time and have lost from the very beginning.

Have we forgotten about the legacies of Harriet Tubman? Ricardo Flores Magon? Reies Lopez Tijerina? Assata Shakur? Robert F. Williams? Malcolm X? The Black Panther Party? Loilta Lebron? Silvia Rivera? Comandanta Ramona? If there was ever a moment to build on their legacies, it is now. Lobbying, voter registration drives, vigils and marches are obviously not gonna get us anywhere except backwards… nonviolent civil disobedience actions must continue, but that ain’t gonna get us much further either; not in violent Nazi-zona, not in violent Amerikkka.

So where does that leave you?

What are you doing as an organizer or activist fighting for the liberation of our people? What are you proposing? What are you doing? How are you taking things to the next level? Are you being creative? Are you pushing the envelope? What are you scared of? Are you being revolutionary to your fullest potential? Are you sacrificing yourself and your lifestyle like the Dreamers did? The Dreamers quit their jobs. They left their families, cities and communities. They came to Arizona and not just for a day or for a march. They got one-way tickets to support movement-building in Arizona and got arrested and are now facing possible deportation. If you were born with the privilege of having U.S. citizenship and claim to be radical or revolutionary or supportive of that in any way, I ask “how are you challenging your comfort and privilege to achieve visions of social justice?” Furthermore, I ask all people: “what are you doing to build upon the militant/revolutionary herstory of our ancestors whom resisted colonization by any and all means necessary?” Only by reflecting on these questions will we get to formulating concrete next steps that will truly cause an impact on this decadent political, economic, social system we live in. It is not acceptable to be racially-profiled. It is not acceptable to get separated from our families. It is not acceptable for massacres to take place because of U.S. border policies. It is not acceptable for us to get raided, deported and assassinated. So why are we living like it is okay for these things to happen daily? Ethnic cleansing and genocide are at our doorstep. How do we plan to adequately respond to this grim reality?

Beyond a call to DREAM, this is a call for all of us to step it up, to walk the walk, to seize the moment, resist and struggle for the LIBERATION of all people.

Beyond a call to DREAM, this is a call for ACTION, REBELLION and REVOLUTION.

It’s now or never.

For our dreams to become reality it’s up to you, it’s up to us to make it happen.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Calm Before the Storm….An Anarchist Perspective on Challenging the Violence of SB 1070.

The Calm Before the Storm….An Anarchist Perspective on Challenging the Violence of SB 1070.

A flock of racists slowly approach us on the wing of Arizona’s future. They are prepared to land on occupied Akimel O’odham Pi-Posh land (Phoenix). Like vultures they circle above us waiting for SB 1070 to go into effect. Spectators throughout the world wait eyes to the sky, ear to the ground for them to land. Unfortunately no one has stepped up to shoot them outta the sky just yet.

However a few warning shots have been fired in the air by radicals, some of them being, the march of black flags that busted through the seams of Phoenix’s business district hurling news-boxes in the street, the lock-down inside the Tucson Border Patrol Headquarters and the revolutionizing of everyday day life in Tempe through door-to-door organizing and demanding that the city council take a stance on racism in the form of SB 1070. We do recognize that for outsiders looking in it may appear as though things are much quieter than they are. The silence has only been due to the amount of much needed attention, intention and passion being poured into our vision for long-term resistance within the places we love and fight for. We promise you that without a doubt, a storm of insurrection approaches.

For radicals within the many occupied territories of Arizona our past months have consisted of day-to-day pondering on how to respond to the casualties of the US/Mexico border (reported deaths usually surpass 200 and often sit just beneath 300). Our nights are filled with starlit walks that spill into chatters of resistance welcomed by the sunrise of another day we fight together. These talks are the culmination of years of planning for so many of us. We pick up where the anti-minutemen meetings in San Diego left off. We are the reawakening of the energy within the 2007 No Borders Camp and expanding it to be as large as the international No Borders Movement erupting in one place. The student walkouts and riots within the mid-2000’s in response to HR4437. Are you getting the idea yet? Regardless of how the state feeds it’s vultures with SB 1070 we plan to unfurl our attack and make them pay! Regardless.

The Recent Bills and State Lead Attacks Within Arizona

Many of us have witnessed SB1070 transforming into the heaviest of rains in a continuous downpour of state sponsored racism. It trickles down the same path of other oppressive laws such as HB 2008 (a bill limiting the benefits undocumented families can receive from the government) and HB 2281 (A bill that explicitly prohibits classes that “advocate ethnic solidarity”). The introduction of each of these laws continues the institutionalized attack on the safety and mental well being of families and communities throughout Arizona.

As anarchists we unabashedly oppose all laws. The reality of the interconnectedness of these laws to the further exploitation of people through institutionalized capitalism is a grim truth Anarchists have always known. We also hear the call for solidarity from those that are indigenous to this land. We answer it with urgency and vigor.

We aim for our attack to be one that could trump the negativity to follow the instituting of SB 1070. We strive for our messaging to rise into a clear non-rhetorical context; One that provides a way to connect the dots between actions and targets. With that in mind, we also recognize the need for our actions to uncover the exploitative nature of capitalism and colonization. Between the diminishing economy and the blinding spectatorial spotlight covering Arizona’s politics the time to attack has never seemed riper.

Pushing our ability to both critically and creatively develop actions that are inclusive and within an accessible social context is a must. The fear and disruption that Arizona is forcing onto peoples lives is unacceptable. It is also something that would not be hard to recreate and throw back into the states face. This should be a goal of those orchestrating responses to SB 1070.

A common shortcoming within a majority of popular North American anarchist organizing is the inability to connect our actions to larger community experiences. With Arizona attacking it’s people from so many socially disruptive angles we are provided with a monumental context for our actions to play into.

Taking a glance at a few of the recent ripples the state of Arizona have sent into peoples lives provides a little insight into our motives for yearning to disrupt the lives of those in power. In the first weeks of June 2010, in Tempe, AZ The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office raided Arizona Mills Mall. They separated shoppers from employees and according to one employee they were also flashin guns at people. An employee, told a television station,

“They show me the gun and tell me I have to walk to the freakin’ break room.”

Weeks later Arpiao’s sheriffs raided two restaurants that they have been investigating for more than a year. In a statement following the raid Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the following:

“This is another example of a case where desperately needed jobs are being occupied by illegal aliens who have disregarded our laws and our borders,”

These borders and the laws that accompany them establish an almost impossible amount of silent borders in the everyday life of those they target.

In the fields of California’s Central Valley, a wall is placed in the lives of the farm workers that are repeatedly sprayed with pesticides and can’t seek medical help due to the fear of their deportation. Within the maquiladoras of Central and Southern America the health risks that the workers face are literally life threatening. Women working at these factories have been exposed to such high amounts of chemicals at the workplace that they often experience difficulties when going into labor. Many of their children are born with extreme cases of birth defects. The same companies often fire women immediately after discovering women are pregnant. What is mentioned is barely a fraction of the violence these workers face. Due to the amount of loopholes in capitalism no one is ever held accountable for these fucked up conditions. When families are torn apart through raids and deportations they are literally separated and often from there main source of income. While living in a constant fear of deportation a barrier is literally placed on families between them and their communities. A news report from Rio Rico, AZ reported that About 70 parents usually attend monthly parent-teacher meetings at their Pena Blanca Elementary School. In April of 2010, at the last meeting of this school year, only 20 showed up.

Connecting Indigenous Resistance and Addressing Colonization

“One of the central messages of colonization is the assertion that we are not entitled to autonomy over our own bodies—they are simply machines to be used in sweatshops, prisons and farms. Devoid of our own self-determination regarding sexuality and gender, we are as disposable as any other piece of equipment that has lost its use.” —Trishala Deb and Rafael Mutis of the Audre Lorde Project Conquest By Andrea Smith

Addressing the militarization of the O’odham border has become one of Arizona Anarchists main focuses this year. From the forming of the Diné, O’odham, anarchist/anti-authoritarian Bloc, to the recent Border Patrol lock-down we refuse to allow the invisibleness of Indigenous issue to continue. As you read this you can know for sure that there is a BP officer on the Tohono O’odham reservation looking for someone or something to target. The Tohono O’odham often have their houses raided by masked BP and homeland security agents. BP harasses elders travelling to sacred ceremonies and school children going to class; they steal the O’odhams horses and have even recently killed an O’odham youth. One of the most appalling facts that cease to see the light of day is how the building of the border literally dug up the bodies of O’odham ancestors. All this recent colonization comes on the back of 500+ years of Indigenous people being under attack. We say fuck that! It’s time to attack.

Reflecting on the Zapatistas struggle to the south of us we see one of the most obvious places to attack; that being any of the larger systems of infrastructure. Everyday, the results of NAFTA and “Free” Trade are felt in the bones of the people affected most by those policies.

“And it is clear that in the colonial countries the peasants alone are revolutionary, for they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The starving peasant, outside the class system is the first among the exploited to discover that only violence pays. For them there is no compromise, no possible coming to terms; colonization and decolonization are simply a question of relative strength.”
— Frantz Fanon (The Wretched of the Earth)

Borders are strung together through intricate webs of capitalism. Their purpose, to protect capital. That is why attacking everything that resembles capital to those in power is an obvious target. The racist legislation we are up against is part of the same stranglehold that capitalism strong-arms people with all across the world. The unapologetic rate of Arizona’s—current institutionalized racism is still a bit alarming. Connecting the current state-sponsored abuse, international colonization and flexing of white supremacy based policies and that of similar occurrences within the recent past provides a clearer picture of our enemy rises.

We see the violence of the state suffocating our communities. We prepare today for the fights of years to come!

“The government has failed us you can’t deny that!” “Stop singin and start swingin!”

—Malcom X

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Group attacks border fence in protest of border patrol shooting





A group of young people demonstrated on the Rio Grande near the Santa Fe bridge Saturday to protest the fatal shooting Monday of a 15-year-old Juárez boy a U.S. Border Patrol agent. The demonstrators appeared to have crossed the Rio Grande and attacked the international fence on the U.S. side of the border. The demonstrators also cut a hole in the fence.

The protest was staged after the shooting death of Sergio Adrian Hernández Guereca, who was killed by a Border Patrol agent trying to make an arrest during a rock-throwing incident near the Paso del Norte Bridge in Downtown El Paso.

Officials said the agent was defending himself when he fired his weapon three times. The FBI has opened a civil rights investigation in the case.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_15284326?source=most_viewed

Friday, June 11, 2010

Tierra Y Libertad Organization - TYLO FREEDOM SUMMER

TYLO FREEDOM SUMMER 2010

Come support and learn how to get involved with TYLO in Collaboration with No More Deaths

Rechazamos El Racismo! We Reject Racism! Campaign Launch

When: This Saturday, June 12. 6:30 - 8:00 PM

Where: At the Sustainability Garden at Toltecalli Academy
On the southeast corner of Liberty Ave. and Irvington Rd.

What:
- Come hear from youth about the TYLO Freedom Summer Youth Community Organizer Training
- Join us as Tierra Y Libertad Organization and No More Deaths launch the We Reject Racism / Rechazamos el Racismo Campaign against SB1070
- Learn about TYLO's community organizing work in the Barrio to build grassroots resistance against SB1070 and racism
- Learn about the campaign and sign up to volunteer
- Pick up a yard sign: Show your resistance against SB1070 and racism at your home or business

We will have refreshments, yard signs and Nopal Books will be tabling.

For more information about the launch event, please contact:
imeldac.tylo@gmail.com or (520) 481-2559



-----

WANT TO GET INVOLVED? Join the We Reject Racism! Rechazmos El Racismo Campaign!


Callout for volunteers:

Join Tierra y Libertad Organization - TYLO and No More Deaths:


WE REJECT RACISM/RECHAZAMOS EL RACISMO Campaign

- Fight SB1070 and Racism

- Support visible resistance and the creation of safe spaces

- Build resources and networks of support for families and individuals affected by SB1070

- Help to build a sustainable grassroots movement for the rights of all people that builds power from the ground up and impacts politics in Arizona.

- Fight militarization of the border and our communities


We Reject Racism! Rechazamos El Racismo! Campaign Volunteers will participate by:

- Distributing yard and business signs that show resistance against SB1070 and racism and promote space spaces for all;

- Working with others in your neighborhood to build relationships with neighbors house-by-house

- Organizing within your own neighborhood or church/synagogue/mosque to host educational events and create a plan for supporting neighbors/church members affected by SB1070

- Help to shape the campaign and the movement against SB1070 and Racism


You can sign up at Saturday's launch to get involved, OR email us at: werejectracism@gmail.com

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Two people killed at the border by Border Patrol

http://blogs.wsj.com/photojournal/2010/06/09/conflicting-reports-over-border-death/

Two people killed at the border:

Anastasio Hernandez was shocked to death by U.S. Border Patrol Agents in San Diego he was 42 yearsl old

Sergio Adrian Hernández, 15 years old, was shot in El Paso Texas by U.S. Border Patrol Agents
...
Death to Amerikkka!!!!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Local couple encourages protest against Arizona's immigration law with $10,000 song contest

by Brian New / KENS 5

Posted on June 8, 2010 at 5:41 PM

Tired of what he said is the inexcusable silence of San Antonio leaders, local advocate Paul Ruiz is putting up $10,000 of his own money for those willing to speak-put against Arizona’s new immigration law.

Ruiz and his wife, Margaret Ruiz, called on local artists Tuesday to write and produce an original song protesting Arizona’s law. The San Antonio couple will be awarding $10,000 to the best songs.

Ruiz said he’s been bothered by the silence in San Antonio on this issue.

“Why such silence in San Antonio?" he said. “We had less than 500 show-up in Milam Park (for a protest) in a city of more than a half of a million Chicanos. Explain that to me."

Ruiz said, with the exception of Police Chief William McManus and Mayor Julian Castro, few local leaders have spoken-out publicly against the law.

"We found it incomprehensible that the council hasn't spoken out,” he said. “We found the business community not speaking out. We found the priests and the minister not speaking out."

Ruiz made the announcement about the singing competition Tuesday at the Guadalupe Theater with more than a dozen local and international performing artists on hand, including Tejano star Little Joe.

For more information on the contest contact Ruiz at margaret-ruiz@sbcglobal.net.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Tempe march against immigration law set for Saturday

Members of a local community group opposed to Arizona's new immigration law are calling for Tempe city council members to publicly defy the state with a declaration of non-compliance.

The group plans to march along Mill Avenue Saturday in an attempt to pressure city officials to publicly reject the law. A declaration of non-compliance would keep city officials and law enforcement officers from enforcing SB 1070, essentially making Tempe a "1070-free zone," said Alysse Chinnock, a 22-year-old Arizona State University student and community activist.

Organizers say they want to see Tempe follow the cities of Flagstaff and Tucson in publicly condemning the law. Elected officials in both cities voted to pursue legal action against the state last month, citing concerns over potential rights violations and boycotts by other cities and organizations.

Many of the protesters are ASU students who organized themselves on the Facebook group "No to SB 1070 in Tempe," which has 128 members. Group members said they are concerned about the effect of the law on the university, which has many international students and faculty members.

"There is a challenge for a lot of non-English speakers in explaining their immigration status to officers," said Chinnock, who works as an administrative assistant in ASU's ESL office. "It's making ASU a scary place to live."

Nikki Ripley, a spokeswoman for the city of Tempe, said the city plans to comply with the controversial new immigration law.

"It is our job as a city to comply with state laws," Ripley said in an e-mail.

The legislation allows citizens to challenge state, county and local officials who enact any policy "that limit or restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent." The city attorney's office declined to comment on the potential consequences of non-compliance with state law.

The protest is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at Clark Park, on 15th Street between Hardy Drive and Mill Avenue. Participants plan to march from the park to the intersection of University Drive and Mill Avenue.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2010/06/04/20100604arizona-immigration-law-tempe-march.html

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Protesters chain themselves at Santa Ana federal building to protest Arizona law


LA Times

Eight people who chained themselves together outside the federal building in Santa Ana were arrested during a noisy noontime protest Thursday.

The protesters, most of whom dispersed after police shut down Santa Ana Boulevard, had gathered to protest Arizona’s recent immigration legislation and to call on Santa Ana to declare itself a sanctuary city.

Eight of the protesters had chained themselves together with lock boxes and stood at the driveway of the federal detention center.

“We want an end to racist anti-migrant laws,” said Anna Vilchis, 22, a recent UC Berkeley graduate who lives in Santa Ana. “Undocumented people are human beings, we’re not criminals.”

Police successfully dispersed dozens of protesters who were standing in the area and at noon had given a final warning to the chained protesters to disperse before beginning arrests, said police spokesman Anthony Bertagna.

Bertagna said those arrested were taken to the city jail and will be cited and released. He said the protesters did not advise police about the protest, making it difficult for them to prepare. "This type of event drains our resources," he said.

The protesters said they were part of a loosely affiliated group calling itself “We are Arizona.”

-- Paloma Esquivel from Santa Ana

UFW Will Challenge Arizona Officers

KCBA

Salinas, Calif.- United Farm Worker leaders are saying no to SB1070. They say it is racist and it targets Latinos unfairly.

" Here are all my documents. We leave with nothing, "said Efren Barajas the Vice President of UFW. Barajas and board members may return to the Central Coast with a criminal record. " We won't take licenses, citizenship and green cards,"said Barajas.

The group is joining protestors from across California, Texas, Oregon and Washington State on July 29. They're challenging police in Arizona to arrest them when the new immigration law starts next month. " Challenge Arizona police to arrest us for being Latinos, for being suspicious and not having documents,"said Barajas.

If police stop them for any reason and suspect they're in the country illegally,officers can ask about their immigration status. If they can't provide documents, they go to jail. " I'm pretty sure this is going to make an impact. Its one of the first steps in order to get immigration reform,"said Sergio Guzman.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Department said it's training deputies to spot illegal immigrants. And will prove the new law does not encourage racial profiling.

Direct Action at Santa Ana Federal Building


Students from Santa Ana are locked down in front of Santa Ana federal prison to oppose racist laws in Orange County--Costa Mesa, Yorba Linda, . . . and Arizona. Please come support. They are locked down. They may be there for a long while, which means that they will need our support.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Anarchists attack ICE facility in Loveland, Colorado

ICE Facility Attacked in Loveland

Over the weekend of the 15th of May, an ICE field office in Loveland, Colorado was attacked. Every window and door was shattered, totaling around twelve panes in all.

The unmarked facility is one of many such hidden ICE buildings in the U.S. that attempt to operate in secrecy. One tactic used by ICE to maintain this secrecy is to take people from their homes in the middle of the night to be "processed" before taken to privately-owned ICE prisons.

By operating in secrecy, ICE is able to maintain this particular sub-station within a shopping and residential district without revealing the repression used to create and sustain borders.

This action was taken in the climate typified by SB1070 in Arizona and local anti-immigrant sentiment. However, the ICE office would have been targeted regardless of legislation.

Resistance and attacks against manifestations of borders, prison and power will continue as long as families are separated and people are imprisoned, deported, and harassed.

As others have said-

NO DEPORTATIONS!!! NO BORDERS!!

Solidarity means attack,
some anarchists

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Mexican man dies after being stun-gunned at border

SAN DIEGO — A Mexican man who was shot with a Taser stun gun during an altercation with federal border officers has died, authorities said Tuesday.

Anastacio Hernandez Rojas, 32, was declared dead Saturday at a local hospital, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

San Diego police, who are investigating the death, said Hernandez Rojas and his brother were arrested by Border Patrol agents about 7:20 p.m. Friday on suspicion of illegally crossing the border.

The men were going to be turned over to Mexican officials at the San Ysidro border crossing when Hernandez Rojas became “violent” after agents removed his handcuffs, police said.

He and the agents fell to the ground during the struggle, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers were called for help. A baton was also used to no effect at some point during the fight, police said. A customs agent shot him in the back with a Taser, and he stopped breathing shortly afterward, police said.

Officers administered CPR before paramedics took him to a hospital.

Authorities are awaiting autopsy results to determine what role, if any, the Taser may have played in the death.

San Diego police Capt. Jim Collins said drugs or mental disorders are frequently contributing factors in Taser death cases. There was no obvious indication at the time of arrest that Hernandez Rojas was under the influence, Collins said.

Police are investigating the incident and documenting the amount of force used by officers before submitting the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for review.

Federal officials have declined to release the names of the officers involved.

In a statement released Tuesday, Mexico’s Department of Exterior Relations condemned the use of the Taser and stated that the Mexican government will press for a full investigation. Alberto Diaz Gonzalez, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in San Diego, said the consulate was still waiting for a report of the incident from investigators.

Last year, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International amended its user manual to recommend that officers avoid hitting the chest, neck and head area due to a low risk of cardiac arrest — and to prevent lawsuits.

Amnesty International claims that about 350 people died after being shocked by Tasers between 2001 and 2008.

Staff writer Leslie Berestein contributed to this report.

Kristina Davis: (619) 542-4591; kristina.davis@uniontrib.com

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jun/01/man-who-was-shot-with-taser-at-border-dies/