Australia: Solidarity actions with the Villawood detainees

This is one reportback about a series of actions that took place in various parts of Sydney today in solidarity with the detainees at Villawood detention center - who were occupying the roof there in an act of defiance at their own incarceration and out of respect for Josefa Rauluni who had committed suicide there yesterday morning.

Today afternoon a group occupied the foyer of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIC) and locked themselves to the front counter. This action was undertaken with the direct purpose that it could affect the outcome of the protest taken by detainees at Villawood who were saying they would be forced to jump from the roof if no-one from DIC would speak to them regarding their cases. By occupying and refusing to leave the DIC office we intended to apply some more force upon these faceless officials to actually respond to the desperation of those occupying the roof.

The action was also taken because it had become clear that the militancy of those incarcerated within these detention centers was far outstripping that of anyone outside. We hoped to raise the level of solidarity with those inside beyond passively pleading to some higher authority to be 'more humane'.

After gaining entry and occupying, the group asserted they would not leave until things were sorted out on the roof at Villawood. Management at DIC refused to accept any responsibility for the situation there, typically trying to pass the buck like the faceless bureaucrats they are. Eventually they expectedly passed the buck right on to the police, who were happy to threaten all with arrest.

Inspite of the intimidation tactics of the police, stalling tactics allowed the protesters to stay in a fair bit longer. All the while, we were in contact with those on the roof at Villawood, expressing our solidarity and finding out how they thought negotiations were going. By the time police rescue arrived to cut free those locked on at DIC it was becoming clear that there was a chance of a resolution out at Villawood that was at least satifactory enough to make the detainees on the roof not jump off.

By this point however, the police were determined to harass, intimidate and make arrests and so 2 of the protesters inside DIC were arrested and held for a number of hours and charged with trespass. A number of people gathered outside the police station where those arrested were being held in an act of defiance and solidarity. Due to further police provocation and harassment a further arrest was made at this stage.

In solidarity with all those incarcerated in prisons, detention centers or whatever name they are given we scream...
"Our passion for freedom is stronger than their prisons."

The Villawood detainees that had occupied the roof eventually came off not because of any discussions with the pathetic officials from the Immigration Department, but because of some significant, but only intermediary assurances from UNHCR.

It is also worth pointing out there were 2 other equally significant actions undertaken in solidarity with those on the roof today. One involved a few hundred people heading out to Villawood so that they could be visible and heard by detainees in a strong and direct show of support. The other was the taking over of a public square in Newtown by 30 or so people who hung banners and handed out flyers during peak hour.

The following is a text that was being distributed by those who were involved in the occupation at DIC...

Solidarity with Villawood Detainees

“It has come to this because we have seen life lost and we believe we have to do this in order to protect our lives” – detainees in Villawood

Early yesterday morning, Josefa Rauluni committed suicide in Villawood detention center. He was to be deported that day. This death rests in the hands of Australia’s paranoid and racist border policy.

Other detainees immediately responded to show respect for Josefa and express their anger at their own detention. 11 people have occupied the roof of Villawood and many more have been on hunger strike for over 20 hours.

The events of yesterday demonstrate the desperate situation in the detention centres and the brutality that underpins border control. Deportations and invisible queues have claimed more lives than we will ever know. The experience of living under this oppression cannot be measured.

The rooftop protest of several detainees is part of a growing militancy amongst those incarcerated in detention centres. In the past months we’ve seen hunger strikes, breakouts, roof occupations and self harm. The present protest in Villawood is an expression of rage by people whose control over their own lives has been taken away by the Australian Government. It acutely expresses how fortress Australia takes lives.

Yesterday there were protests on both sides of the fences in Villawood. We must continue to take action in solidarity with the struggles occurring from within the detention centres. Our actions must reflect the urgency of the situation as the government amps up its racist, anti-migrant rhetoric and implements harsher policies that cost people’s lives.

We struggle against the policing of peoples movement and micro-control of peoples lives at the borders (and in detention) not because of humanitarian concern, but because their struggle is also ours. We have more in common with these people than with the bosses and the politicians who make the decisions that affect all our lives.

We struggle against all borders because no death as a result of border protection brings us more freedom.

We tear down all cages because peoples’ desire to move will never be caged.

http://indymedia.org.au/2010/09/22/solidarity-actions-with-the-villawood-detainees

Prison Industry Funnels Donations To State Lawmakers Introducing SB1070-Like Bills Around The Country

In December 2009, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — a powerful front group that helps corporate representatives craft template legislation for state lawmakers, funded partially by the private prison industry — hosted Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce (R) and began debate on legislation that would provide broad powers to local police to arrest anyone who might look like an immigrant. ALEC then distributed the template legislation to its members. The January/February 2010 edition of ALEC’s magazine highlights the draft version of SB1070 — the “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act” — as model legislation.

In April of this year, Pearce then introduced ALEC’s template as the infamous SB1070 law. Notably, the ALEC task force which helped Pearce devise his racial profiling law included Laurie Shanblum, a lobbyist from the mega-private prison corporation Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) which previously played a role in privatizing many of Texas’ prisons. An investigation from Arizona’s KPHO-TV found more ties between SB1070 and the private prison industry: Paul Senseman, Gov. Janet Brewer’s (R-AZ) deputy chief of staff was a former lobbyist for CCA (his wife is still a lobbyist for CCA) and Chuck Coughlin, Brewer’s campaign chairman, runs the lobbying firm in Arizona that represents CCA. In These Times reporter Beau Hodai, who also reported much of SB1070’s connections to the private prison industry, has a chart to explain the relationship.

CCA is set to receive well over $74 million in tax dollars in FY2010 for running immigration detention centers. In a presentation given earlier this year, Pershing Square Capital, a hedge fund with a large financial stake in CCA, suggested that CCA’s profitability depends on increasing numbers of immigrants sent to prison. Many of the legislators helping to earn CCA more profits with radical anti-immigrant bills mirroring SB1070 have been recipients of private prison industry cash or have worked closely with the CCA-funded ALEC organization:

– TENNESSEE: Earlier this year, legislators in Tennessee passed an immigration bill with provisions “similar to, but less harsh than, those of SB 1070, including requiring city and county jails in the state to report any person who may be in violation of immigration laws to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” But that wasn’t enough: right-wing local lawmakers also passed a resolution honoring Arizona’s SB1070, and a delegation of state lawmakers promised to introduce an anti-immigrant bill even “broader” than SB1070 in 2011. Many of the leading local lawmakers who voted for the anti-immigrant bill and resolution received thousands of dollars from CCA’s political action committee in the past two years, including State Reps. Gerald McCormick ($250), Barrett Rich ($500), Eric Watson ($250) and State Sens. Bill Ketron ($1,000), Jim Tracy ($500), Dolores Gresham ($1,000), Bo Watson ($500), and Jack Johnson ($500). Tracy, who sponsored the resolution honoring Arizona’s SB1070, also received $2,000 directly from CCA founder Tom Beasley, reports the Nashville City Paper. CCA retains five lobbyists in the state and spent at least $50,000 this year to lobby on immigration and other issues.

– OKLAHOMA: Rep. Mary Fallin (R-OK), who won her party’s nomination to run for governor this year, received the maximum donation permitted by law from CCA. State Rep. Randy Terrill (R-OK), who announced that he was planning an “Arizona-Plus” immigration bill that would be harsher than SB1070, is a proud member of the CCA-funded American Legislative Exchange Council.

– COLORADO: A group of Republican lawmakers in Colorado, after a research trip to Arizona this summer, have stated that they plan on passing a SB1070 law in Colorado next year. CCA’s lobbyists in Colorado have raised funds for many of the lawmakers in the group. CCA lobbyist Margy Christiansen raised $400 State Rep. Randy Baumgardner, one of the leaders of Colorado’s Arizona expedition, and CCA lobbyist Jason Dunn raised $150 for State Sen. Mike Kopp, the Republican minority leader who is promising to promote an SB1070 bill next session.

– FLORIDA: During the gubernatorial primary campaign between disgraced businessman Rick Scott and Attorney General Bill McCollum (R-FL), the prospect of importing Arizona’s SB1070 became a prominent issue in the race, with both candidates promising to bring a version of the law to the state. While many Florida Republicans recoiled at the idea, which stands to alienate many Hispanic voters, a cadre of state lawmakers and candidates for the state legislature, most funded by the prison industry, announced their support for an SB1070-type law. State Rep. Bill Snyder, who has received $500 from CCA, pledged to introduce a bill more draconian than SB1070. State House candidate Ben Albritton, another outspoken supporter of SB1070, took $500 from CCA, and State Rep. Joe Negron, who has been working with Snyder to sponsor the bill, received $1,000 from the Geo Group, another major private prison contractor which operates immigrant detention centers. Overall, the Republican Party of Florida has been the biggest recipient of prison industry cash in the past two years: $37,000 from CCA and $145,000 from the Geo Group.

– PENNSYLVANIA: In the Key State, State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-PA) introduced the ALEC-drafted “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” one month before State Sen. Russell Pearce (R-AZ) introduced his version of the bill in Arizona. Metcalfe is a highly active member of ALEC. He was paid $1,500 by ALEC just to attend its meetings with CCA lobbyists on how to draft the law.

In Tennessee, the average daily number of immigration detainees sank to 40 in FY2009, down from 95 in FY2008. This may change with CCA’s aggressive lobbying for more laws encouraging aggressive arrests of immigrants or people who look like immigrants. Charles Maldonado, who has reported on CCA’s corrupting influence at the Nashville City Paper, notes that CCA may see new business at its West Tennessee Detention Facility with the passage of more SB1070-related laws.

ALEC, with funds from several private prison companies, helped sponsor “truth-in-sentencing” and “three-strikes-you’re-out” laws all over the country for the past two decades. These laws have greatly increased incarceration rates, and have contributed to America’s distinction of having the largest prison population in the world.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/09/16/sb1070-prison-lobby/

Tucson Group “Polices” the Police on Immigration

TUCSON, Ariz.— A coalition of community groups in Tuscon is using video to show how readily police are cooperating with Border Patrol, despite local law enforcement’s stated opposition to Arizona’s new immigration law before it took effect.

The “Yo Soy Testigo” ("I’m a witness") campaign, launched by Tucson-based Coalición Derechos Humanos, seeks to shine a light on the practice of police cooperation with Border Patrol in the city.

The group, in partnership with PanLeft Productions and Migra Patrol CopWatch, has been using video cameras to document just how often police officers are detaining Latinos—with or without documents—and turning them over to immigration authorities. The group hopes that the videos will increase community awareness of how police are really treating Latinos, despite their supposed opposition to SB1070, and will pressure law enforcement to change its policies.

“We want to expose this reality and for people in the community to take responsibility,” said Isabel Garcia, director of Coalición de Derechos Humanos. She urges people to call the Yo Soy Testigo hotline to report any incidents so they can be videotaped and documented.

Prior to SB 1070, local police departments and other state agencies already had their own policies to detain undocumented immigrants on a discretionary basis. Had a court allowed the new law to take full effect, such detentions would have become mandatory throughout Arizona.

But the mandatory detention provision of SB 1070 provoked a strong outcry from the state's local law officers.

“We are not interested in enforcing federal immigration law,” said Captain Michael Gillooly, the Tucson Police Department's chief of staff. “The problem with SB 1070 is that it mandated we did that.”

In an interview with the Arizona Daily Star in July, Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor said: “Although illegal immigration has undeniable impacts on Arizona, requiring local police already strapped for resources to act as immigration agents is not the answer.”

The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the South Tucson Police Department also opposed SB 1070.

But despite such widespread opposition, videos captured by Jason Aragon of PanLeft and Migra Patrol Copwatch show a different picture.

A recent video posted online, titled “SB 1070 is in full effect,” shows a woman detained by Tucson police and then shortly after taken away by Border Patrol.

Lynda Cruz, a volunteer with Migra Patrol CopWatch, was present that day, and said the woman was pulled over for a minor infraction. The woman, a legal resident, had forgotten her wallet at home and didn’t have any identification, Cruz says.

Volunteers like Cruz advise people who are detained to refuse to speak with their captors and to request the presence of their attorney.

When New America Media asked about this incident, Gillooly said the Tucson Police Department was confident that the officer acted appropriately and was following department policy.

“Our investigation of that revealed that when the Border Patrol arrived, that female refused to answer any questions,” Gillooly said. He said the federal agent was forced to take her to the station to check whether she was an undocumented immigrant.

When asked why the police detained this woman and called the Border Patrol, Gillooly said he wouldn’t provide any more information.

Cruz said similar incidents have occurred in South Tucson, an area that is predominantly Hispanic.

Gillooly said the department has not seen an increase in complaints from community members about possible racial profiling or police abuse.

“People don’t complain? How are they going to complain if they are the ones retaliated against?” responded Garcia of the Coalición de Derechos Humanos.

The situation in Tucson hasn’t attracted nearly as much media attention as the controversial immigration raids in Latino neighborhoods in Phoenix by Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies. But, in many ways, the dynamics at play in Tucson are creating heightened tensions.

About 40 percent of the city’s half-million residents are Latinos. Tucson, located less than two hours from the Mexican border, is also home to a Border Patrol station, which facilitates more direct cooperation between police and U.S. immigration authorities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has 3,300 Border Patrol agents dedicated to the Tucson sector of the border.

In the past five years, the Border Patrol added 1,000 agents as part of a federal effort to escalate border security.

Unlike Phoenix, it is not uncommon to see Border Patrol cars driving through Tucson. Many of those who work at the Border Patrol station live in the community.

“People are divided over this issue,” said Alex González, a volunteer [or “promotoras”] with Coalición de Derechos Humanos. “Even families are divided on this.”

She said the new “Yo Soy Testigo” hotline has been flooded with calls denouncing police detentions and cooperation with Border Patrol.

One of the calls she took last week came from Gerardo Robles, a heartbroken undocumented immigrant, who sobbed over the phone in desperation. His wife, who was also undocumented, was pulled over by a Tucson police officer in a traffic stop. The officer called the Border Patrol, and now his wife is in a detention center.

Robles and his family have been living in Tucson for six years. He said they considered leaving the state because of SB 1070 but had been hoping for the best— in the past, police had stopped him on several occasions but had never called the Border Patrol. The politics behind SB 1070 might have changed things, he said.

“A criminal that traffics with drugs—those people are in the streets,” he said. “They are the ones that are free. My wife was coming back from work to feed our two children.”

http://newamericamedia.org/2010/09/tucson-group-polices-the-police.php

BOAF Art Auction

Join us for an excessively fun time. The Boxing Gym(no, it's not a boxing gym anymore) is located in Barrio Anita near the Southwest corner of I-10 and Speedway Blvd. Check out the Art page to see some of the art that's already come in.

Border Opposition Action Fund: Call to Artists!

BOAF is hosting an Art Auction on Saturday, Oct. 9. Details of the event will be posted soon. Money raised at this event will go to O'odham VOICE Against the Wall, O'odham Solidarity Across Borders and those who locked down at the Border Patrol Headquarters in Tucson, Az in May. The basics of art submissions are as follows.
Any medium is welcome.
Content does not have to be border related.
We are asking for submissions or their photos by Fri., Sept. 24. Photos with artist information will be posted.
We are asking for submissions by Fri., Oct 1.

O'odham Ofelia Rivas to National Guard: 'We do not want you on our lands'

Ofelia Rivas, traditional O'odham living on the border, released a statement to the National Guard, who are to arrive on the US/Mexico border in Arizona on Monday.

To the United States National Guard arriving in O'odham Lands,

We are not compliant people, we are people with great dignity and confidence. We are a people of endurance and have a long survival history. We are people that have lived here for thousands of years. We have our own language, we have our own culture and traditions.

You are coming to my land, you may find me walking on my land, sitting on my land and just going about my daily life. I might be sitting on the mountain top, do not disturb me, I am praying the way my ancestors did for thousands of years. I might be out collecting what may be strange to you but it might be food to me or medicine for me.

Sometimes I am going to the city to get a burger or watch a movie or just to resupply my kitchen and refrigerator. Some of us live very much like you do and some of us live very simple lives. Some of may not have computers or scanners or televisions or a vehicle but some of us do.

The other thing is that some of us are light-skinned O'odham and some of us are darker-skinned O'odham. Some of us spend a lot of time indoors or outdoors. Sometimes my mother might be of a different Nation (refers to different tribal Nation) or sometimes our father is Spanish or we may have some European grandmother or grandfather.

If you want to question who we are, we all have learned to carry our Tohono O'odham Nation Tribal I.D. Card. It is a federally-issued card which is recognized by the federal government which is your boss. This card identifies us and by law this is the only requirement needed to prove who we are. We do not have United States passports because most of us were born at home and do not have documents, but that does not make us "undocumented people." Your boss, the Department of Homeland Security, and the government of the Tohono O'odham Nation have negotiated an agreement which is, our tribal I.D. card is our identification card and no other document is required.

The O'odham, (the People) as we call ourselves, have been here to witness the eruption of volcanoes that formed the lands we live on. We have special places that hold our great-great-great-great-great great grandparents remains, our lands are a special and holy place to us. Some of us still make journeys to these places to pray. Some of these places hold holy objects that maintain specific parts of our beliefs. When you see us out on the land do not assume we are in the drug business or human smuggling business. Sometimes we are out on the land hunting for rabbits or deer or javelina to feed our families. We may be carrying a hunting weapon please do not harm me, my family loves me and depends on me.
When you are out on our land, be mindful that you are visitor on our lands, be respectful, be courteous and do not harm anything.

Sometimes you may see us gather all night long, dancing and sometimes we are crying loudly, do not approach us or disturb us in anyway, we are honoring a dead relative and preparing them for burial. Sometimes we are conducting a healing ceremony out on the land, do not approach us or disturb us. Sometimes we may be singing and dancing all night long, these are our ceremonies that we have conducted for thousands of years. We are not behaving in a suspicious nature, this is our way of life.

As original people of the lands we honor everything on our lands and we regard all as a part of our sacred lives, do not kill any plants and animals or people on our lands. Do not litter our lands with your trash. When we visit other peoples lands and cities and homes we do not litter or leave behind trash.

We might be driving our cars, sometimes old, sometimes very new, do not try to run us off the roads or tailgate me. I value my life and my family, I might have a newborn in my car or my grandmother or my mother and father, my brothers and sister or my aunts and uncles or my friends. These are all important people to me and I do not want to see them hurt or dead.

If I seem like I do not understand what you are saying, please call the Tohono O'odham Police and ask for an O'odham speaking officer to come and assist you. I might be laughing at you if you talk to me in English, I don't know what you are saying and I am laughing out of nervousness and fear because you are armed.

If you are afraid of us and draw your weapons on me, I am more afraid of you because I am unarmed and my family is in the vehicle with me or they are in my house when you come into my house. Sometimes my house might be in poor condition but it is my home, it is my sanctuary, be respectful. Sometime there are elders in my house that are already afraid of armed people in our communities such as the border patrol and other federal agents.

There are some people that do drug business or human smuggling business but we are not all doing that, we are not all criminals. Do not treat us like criminals.

We might call you killers and murderers as you just came from killing people. To the O'odham you are a dangerous person, to walk onto our lands bringing fresh death on your person is very destructive to us as a people. You may have diseases we do not know, illnesses of your mind that you might inflict on us. Please do not approach us if you are afflicted with fresh death.

Remember we do not want you on our lands, we did not invite you to our lands.

Do remember that we have invited allies that will be witnessing your conduct on our lands and how you treat our people.

From the the O'odham Lands
Ofelia Rivas

Originally posted at Censored Blog:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

33 charged with blocking L.A. city streets during immigration protests

Los Angeles prosecutors have charged 33 immigration activists with a variety of misdemeanor crimes related to three protests beginning in May that blocked city streets.

The protesters face charges, such as remaining at an unlawful assembly, resisting, delaying or obstructing an officer and blocking the sidewalk or street.

Those facing resisting-arrest charges face up to year in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted. Those charged with unlawful assembly face up to six months in jail if found guilty, a spokesman for the city attorney's office said.

In the first incident May 6, eight women and six men participated in a protest against the new Arizona immigration law by blocking an intersection near the federal courthouse on Alameda Street with their hands locked together inside tube devices.

Prosecutors claim it took officers several hours to remove the protesters, who are to be arraigned Sept. 22.

Later in the month, California Highway Patrol officers arrested nine immigration protesters in front of the West Los Angeles Federal Building. The suspects sat in the street, locking their hands together and causing a massive traffic jam for several blocks.

On July 29, protesters blocked the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Highland Avenue by putting their hands together in a locking device and refusing to move.

Officers had to physically carry the demonstrators and used specialized equipment to remove the elaborate tube and chain locking systems connecting the protesters' arms.

-- Richard Winton

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/33-charged-with-blocking-la-city-streets-during-immigration-protests.html

Noise Demonstration at Santa Cruz County Jail

“Bunch of overgrown boy scouts/but it’s us against them ‘til they let every one of my boys out” –Unalike, A-Alikes

On Friday evening, August 6, we gathered outside the Santa Cruz County Jail to demonstrate our solidarity with the people locked up inside and express our hatred of imprisonment. About 30-40 of us stood in the middle of Blaine Street, next to both the main County Jail (where 336 people are locked up) and the Women’s Facility (21 people). We banged on drums made from 55-gallon barrels with the intention of creating as much noise as possible to breach the prison walls. Our portable sound system blasted insurgent hip-hop, including N.W.A’s “Fuck the Police” and the Geto Boys’ “G-Code.” We carried two banners stating, “Free All Prisoners” and “Chinga la Migra/Fuck I.C.E.”

Chants included “We Are All Illegal, Todos Somos Ilegales,” “Chinga la Migra, Y La Policia,” and “Revolt on the Outside, Revolt on the Inside!” We also told jokes at the expense of cops and jail guards. At one point, as the jail guards stood on the roof of the jail watching us, people started chanting “Jump! Jump! Jump!” We also used a megaphone to attempt to speak directly to the prisoners and let them know that they are not forgotten and that they have support from the outside.

One of the main reasons we were there was to express our rage at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (AKA La Migra). We despise the very existence of I.C.E. and borders, but we’re specifically pissed off about a program (named “Secure Communities” by some twisted bureaucrat) that is going to be implemented in the local jail starting August 10. "Secure Communities" mandates that every person booked into jail will have their fingerprints run through an I.C.E./Department of Homeland Security database. Currently there are 25 people on I.C.E. hold in the County jail system, meaning that they will be held an extra 48 hours after they should be released, so that I.C.E. can kidnap them. The new program, funded by Obama, will lead to even more people being detained and deported. Also, earlier this year, the city decided to hire eight more cops, and the police’s gang unit has started working directly with I.C.E.

The apartment complex next to the jail has similar architectural features—isolated units surrounded by high walls and a metal fence. Some of the neighbors came outside and spoke with participants in the demo. Generally, they seemed supportive; one young girl even joined in briefly by playing a drum. We also passed out a pamphlet containing our analysis in hopes of spreading a critical dialogue about I.C.E. and imprisonment. The demo was an attempt at breaking out of our own isolation and communicating with others, both the prisoners and the neighbors. In some ways, we were successful, but we have much to learn. It was an empowering event for participants and some passersby, though we haven’t yet heard what the prisoners’ reactions were. In a heartbreaking moment as we were leaving, we exchanged glances with a woman in the Blaine St. Facility standing at the window. The grim reality of confinement was unavoidable as we departed and she remained.

REVOLT AGAINST ALL PRISONS.

On ICE, Imprisonment, and White Supremacy

This is a pamphlet that was passed out at the Friday noise demonstration outside the Water St. Jail. We hope to radicalize the dialogue about immigration, and draw lines between the criminalization of migrants and and other marginalized people.

Social Control In Santa Cruz:
ICE, Imprisonment, and White Supremacy

August 2010

In our midst there are humans living in cages: tucked between the San Lorenzo River and Ocean Street over 300 people sit behind bars, serving sentences or awaiting trial. From the drunks in their stupor, caught up on yet another DUI, to the gang members arrested for having the wrong family or tattoos, to the gun-toting killer: our crimes are a product of our society, a response to the everyday violence that capitalism inflicts upon our lives and bodies by the mechanisms of poverty, by the police’s baton, the pesticides in the field and the “accidents” in the factory. Crime and criminals only exist because the law exists to categorize people as such, just like illegal immigration is only a phenomenon because of the existence of nations and borders. To escape the situation we are in we must step back and examine it clearly, and look at the real functions of imprisonment in our society.

Some residents of Santa Cruz have been in an uproar about the supposed crime problem: “Our town is being taken over by illegals!” “If we know who these people are, can’t we just go in their houses and get them?” “How would those anarchists like it if we threw a rock through their windows?” Since the killings of Tyler Tenorio, Carl Reimer, and the May Day property destruction, the police and their allies have needed a scapegoat for their failure to control Santa Cruz and keep out the riff-raff. Of course, the obvious choices were those who the police already wanted locked up: people of color and anarchists. The Santa Cruz Sentinel has only contributed to the hysteria and witchhunt-like atmosphere by publishing misleading articles and pictures of SubRosa collective members. While the death threats seem to be over, the city council has used the riot and recent violence as a justification to fill eight vacant positions in the police force, as well as to begin working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

With neo-nazi and fascist activity in our country on the upswing, we must fight any ICE presence in our area. Immigration control and the militarization of the border are but one more way to divide and conquer the lower classes: racism and fascism go hand in hand. In the guise of national security, the federal government is establishing a system which gives them the ability to detain people of color at will, indefinitely, without access to legal help or medical care. A 2009 article in The Nation reported that ICE has 186 unmarked and unlisted offices they use to detain people, incommunicado. 107 people have died in ICE custody between 2003 and 2009. But we don’t need this proof to know that the whole project of immigration control is fucked. We know it’s just another tool of a white supremacist power structure, another method to control us and keep us in line. We see the effects in our communities, we feel the terror of the situation when ICE is knocking at the doors of friends and family.

Regarding our local situation, it would help us to look at the recent past. In 1982, the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service, ICE’s predecessor) raided the Beach Flats and took kids out of class at Bay View Elementary School. In 1984 INS did sweeps of the Beach Flats twice, snatching 22 people from their homes, a soup kitchen line and the street. Even though the City Council declared Santa Cruz a “sanctuary city”, meaning city employees can’t inquire about or report on someone’s immigration status, the INS raided Beach Flats again in 1993, arresting 6 people. In Watsonville, there were ICE raids in 2006 and 2008, both part of regional sweeps. 107 people were arrested in the 2006 raids, and even though only 19 had warrants for arrest, 90 were swiftly deported. Watsonville also calls itself a sanctuary city: it’s plain to see how meaningless this is.

Now Santa Cruz is taking part in a national Department of Homeland Security program called Secure Communities, or S-Comm. The State of California has agreed to participate in the program, and although technically counties can opt out of the program, California Attorney General Brown denied San Francisco County’s request to opt out. In effect, the program provides funding for local jails to check the immigration status of anyone who is booked into the jail, whether or not they are convicted of a crime. This means police could arrest anyone they think might not be a citizen, for something as petty as jaywalking, take them to jail, and have them deported. This is what’s happening in Phoenix, Arizona right now, under the direction of Sheriff Joe Arpaio. S-Comm is Obama’s version of SB 1070. In Santa Cruz, S-Comm is scheduled to go into effect on August 10th.

This plan plays perfectly into what Santa Cruz has been trying to do for years. Though the city council has opposed S-Comm, they haven’t challenged ICE’s partnership with the SCPD. Besides that, their anti-homeless laws and destruction of community space in favor of creating a sanitized downtown shopping district prove whose side they’re on. The lines are being drawn, clearly. Groups like Take Back Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Neighbors, functioning as eyes and ears for the police, would like to whitewash our town. But there are many more of us, even if it may not seem so. Despite our racial, cultural, and class divides, all who are persecuted and marginalized by the law have some common cause. Some of us are forced into conflict with this society, and some of us have chosen to struggle. Either way, those of us who aren’t directly affected by ICE should do whatever is in our power to resist and show solidarity with affected individuals and communities.

But what we need isn’t immigration reform, it’s the destruction of all borders and detention centers. The first step is kicking ICE out of Santa Cruz, but this isn’t the end. Santa Cruz’ neo-colonial relationship to Watsonville and the other nearby Hispanic populations needs to be challenged also: it’s just one node of the economic system that coerces people into picking strawberries to support a family back home or working in the dining halls at UCSC. While of course immigration reforms make a huge difference in the lives of families and workers across the country, we can’t stop there. The roots of the problem lie much deeper.

To challenge imprisonment in general, we can start with the specific facts. Santa Cruz’ downtown jail is already 114% over capacity, and the minimum security wing of the Rountree Lane Facility outside Watsonville was recently closed due to budget constraints. On July 21st the downtown jail had two fights in one day, to which Sheriff’s Office Lt. Shea Johnson responded with an apt criticism of incarceration: “I don’t know what the fight was over. No one’s talking, but when you have people locked up in a facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there’s tension sometimes.” Whatever the conditions may be, imprisonment is unacceptable, and won’t solve our society’s problems. The law doesn’t provide justice or safety for everyone: rather, it maintains the current order and hierarchy, enforcing our social roles and defending the moneyed classes. Prisons are a huge source of profit: especially ICE detention centers, which are run by private corporations such as the Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO Group (which Wells Fargo Bank is invested in). While Santa Cruz may not see the effects as clearly as, say, Oakland, police repression and violence still reverberate in our communities. The same system that kills and imprisons black youth in the ghetto also raids the homes of Central American immigrants and tears apart families, the same mechanisms that allow suburban white kids to attend a UC and get a respectable job force others to sell drugs or their bodies to survive.

Those who want to defend capitalism and white supremacy in Santa Cruz are getting organized: so should we. While some talk to their neighbors to support police power, we can talk to our neighbors to subvert their power.

Spread information, show up in the streets, find each other and build collective power. Resistance is gathering around the country. Along with many other actions on July 29th in Arizona, when SB 1070 went into effect, protestors blocked the entrance to the Maricopa County Jail, delaying Sherrif Arpaio’s immigration sweep. If we struggle together we stand a better chance than if we let each group, culture or demonized minority get repressed individually. California is headed down the same path as Arizona, and our position as immigrants, workers and dissidents gets more precarious every day. The net of social control is drawn tighter with each new law, budget cut and layoff, and only we can choose what our response will be.

yours truly,
some local anarchists

comments, critique, or ideas? email serfcityrevolt@gawab.com

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/08/07/18655578.php

Demonstrators use noise to break down barriers; anarchist march held at County Jail in solidarity with prisoners

SANTA CRUZ - A group of about 40 people stood behind the County Jail for more than an hour Friday night banging on large drums, empty water jugs and other noise makers in a demonstration to show support for prisoners in jail "with or without papers."

Around 6:30 p.m., the group of self-proclaimed anarchists and their supporters marched from San Lorenzo Park to the County Jail in protest of ICE's presence in Santa Cruz and the controversial federal program that checks the immigration status of anyone booked on criminal charges set to launch at the County Jail on Tuesday.

As many as eight sheriff's deputies stood on the jail roof to monitor and film the protesters, but did not interfere with the protest.

The event had a personal connection for Watsonville resident Nayeli Gil, who said she watched a cooperative effort between police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest and deport her undocumented brother seven days ago.

Gil, who was born in Tijuana, said living in the U.S. has delivered an opportunity for a higher education for her. She said her brother was trying better himself as well.

"What they are doing is disrespecting people's rights; it's rude and unfair," Gil said. "It's frustrating. He was trying to work for his family. They're making our lives miserable."

The noise drew neighbors outside to the street to investigate. Many stood on the sidewalk and watched.

"I'm over it, I think immigration should be here; this is getting outrageous," said Blaine Street resident Frankie Daly. "There is too much gang violence in Santa Cruz. This is a beach town, not a gang town."

Visiting Santa Cruz from Florida, Paula Lalinde said the demonstration was impressive.

"It's a creative way to deliver their message," Lalinde said. "There is something very basic about it and natural, using [noise] to stand up for basic human rights. It breaks through the walls."

Neighbors who had questions about the noise were handed a pamphlet put together by "some local anarchists."

"Despite our racial, cultural and class divides, all who are persecuted and marginalized by the law have some common cause," the flier read. "Those of us who aren't directly affected by ICE should do whatever is in our power to resist and show solidarity with affected individuals and communities. But what we need isn't immigration reform, it's the destruction of all borders and detention centers.

"The first step is kicking ICE out of Santa Cruz, but this isn't the end."

The flier also points the finger at the media and neighborhood organizations for an increased awareness of crime in the city and efforts aimed at increased police presence.

Around 8 p.m., protestors marched down the street and dispersed quietly.

Jail Commander Lt. Bob Pursley said there is always a concern when the focus of a protest is the jail and internal security measures were put in place, although he would not say what those were.

"We're happy it ended the way it did," Pursley said. "They were able to get their point out and did it in a peaceful manner, which is always a good thing.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_15697532

"UA Against SB1070" asks the Regents to take a stand

Glen Grunberger and Daniela Ugaz from UA Against SB1070 addressed the Arizona Board of Regents today during the call to the public.

The grad students both urged the board to take a stand against SB1070.

Ugaz said the regents should publicly decry SB1070 to promise to students that they stand for diversity.

Grunberger said that fear, hatred and devisiveness are at the root of the law, and said those are contrary to university ideals of free expression, free thought and diversity.

If that didn't get a rise out of them, he added: "This state has become a net importer of Nazis."

Update at 5pm:

Regents chairwoman Anne Mariucci said she thinks SB1070 is worthy of discussion and public comment by the regents, and she said the topic could be on a future regents agenda.

http://azstarnet.com/news/blogs/campus-correspondent/article_dc34a69e-a0d2-11df-96bb-001cc4c002e0.html

Anti-SB1070 graffiti popping up in downtown Phoenix

PHOENIX - Arizona's border battle is leaving its mark on downtown Phoenix, but not in a good way.

"Usually people, when they see graffiti, they think of crime or a run down area," said Manager of Alta Phoenix Lofts Chiara Elie.

Within the last week, downtown Phoenix has become a spot for anti SB 1070 tagging, which has residents in Alta Phoenix Lofts upset.

"What's terrible is that we're really trying to bring up this community, not just this property but the neighboring businesses and the last thing we need is graffiti," said Elie.

The messages are showing up on everything from stop signs to a mural on the side of a building.

Within a few blocks there are eight different anti-SB1070 messages.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/central_phoenix/tagging-an-anti-sb-1070-message-in-phoenix

12 arrested in protest outside Phoenix jail

Twelve protesters were arrested Friday afternoon after allegedly blocking access to the Lower Buckeye Jail near 35th Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road in Phoenix, authorities said.

The protesters, who have been vocal in their opposition to Arizona's immigration law, were reportedly trying to stop a crime-suppression sweep run by Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said.

The road was cleared as of 4:45 p.m., officials said.

Salvador Reza, the leader of a group called Puente, was among those arrested, according to Puente spokeswoman Opal Tometi.

On Thursday, at least 50 protesters were arrested after allegedly blocking a public thoroughfare at Fourth Avenue Jail in Phoenix. Reza was arrested at Thursday's protest as well.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/07/30/20100730phoenix-arpaio-sweep-protesters-arrested-abrk.html

Phoenix police trained for immigration protests

The officers sat in the cool of the Phoenix Municipal Court basement watching DVDs on laptop computers, reading books and dozing off with their riot helmets as pillows, waiting patiently for the protesters to arrive.

As the crowd swelled near Phoenix City Hall, the officers moved in formation to clear the street of protesters and journalists amid chants denouncing Senate Bill 1070.

Phoenix deployed several hundred police along Washington Street and other busy downtown streets on Thursday, led by a core group of about 150 crowd-control officers carrying detailed protest plans.

By midday, more than 20 protesters were in custody, including women and youngsters who linked arms in solidarity before they were led off the street.

A mile away from the action, operation chiefs were calling shots from the second-floor of a Phoenix Fire Department administration building as part of a coordinated effort spanning multiple law-enforcement agencies. Police leaders said they aim to overstaff security for large-scale protests and other major events to ensure backup for officers on the front lines.

Thursday morning's march and protests were mostly peaceful, though tactically trained officers know that any major event can turn violent quickly.

"It can go from peaceful to riotous in a second," Phoenix police Sgt. Ed DeCastro said. "It just takes one sentence or a bottle being thrown."

Phoenix trained additional precinct patrol officers in crowd-control tactics after April's protests in downtown and near the Capitol, in which high-school students funneled unexpectedly into the area en mass.

Phoenix police Lt. Jeff Lazell, who oversees tactical-response teams through the Phoenix Police Downtown Operations Unit, said the goal was to prepare officers citywide in case of any unexpected violence that would force them into critical supporting roles downtown. Training included tactics on forming "skirmish-lines" to safety disperse unruly crowds.

"We trained about 1,200 officers in 10 days," Lazell said. "To coordinate that kind of training is an undertaking."

Command-center operations began at 6 a.m. Staff wore headsets tuned to a secure radio frequency for event communications and kept watch over video screens showing live feed from SB 1070 hot spots: the federal courthouse, Wells Fargo building, Cesar Chavez Plaza, Maricopa County Fourth Avenue Jail, and a building housing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Lt. Brian Lee, operations chief, said street activity was fairly quiet for much of the morning; most police activity was limited to assisting a group of 150 to 200 demonstrators safely wind their way through the streets.

"As far as expectations, it's really kind of hard to tell with this group," Lee said. "We have people coming in from out of state; we have other people that aren't part of our local community. We try to get as much information as we can on what their intentions are, but a lot of it is reactionary because we just don't know what they plan to do."

Radio traffic started to pick up about 9 a.m., as demonstrators began to swarm around First Avenue and Washington Street. Images of the group flashed from flat-screen TVs hanging overhead in the four corners of the room, each tuned to local and national news stations.

At 9:06 a.m., a voice crackled over the command radio channel.

"We've got 150 or so people at Washington," the voice said above a din of crowd activity. "Game plan is they're supposed to come over at 10 or 10:30. We'll have some issues at that time."

Command-center staff gathered around the live feed as, like clockwork, people began to flood Washington Street at 10 a.m., blocking in westbound vehicles.

At 10:15 a.m., another voice came over the command channel: "Be advised, we have initiated our first warnings" for pedestrians to get out of the street. "We're going to issue second warnings. In 10, we'll start issuing number ones," or arrests.

Twelve minutes later, another voice: "OK, we're going to go ahead, start making our first arrests. Arrest the gentleman in the gray hat."

Within seconds, live TV feed showed four officers closing in to cuff the man and lead him away to a white van. One by one, the command was issued to arrest four people who had been standing in a line next to the man in the gray hat.

And one by one, they were led away.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/07/30/20100730arizona-immigration-law-police-training.html

Arizona's New Immigration Law: Cops vs. CopWatchers

Arizona's SB1070 is now law but, gutted of the provisions that made it a national controversy, it is a remarkably toothless instrument for policing, despite the huff and guff of anti-illegal-immigration hardliners like Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County (which includes Phoenix), who did not postpone scheduled sweeps through Latino communities. Indeed, for all the hype of Arpaio's "Crime Suppression/Illegal Immigration Operation" on Thursday, the day the law went into effect, he and his deputies arrested only three undocumented people. By contrast, on Wednesday nearly 90 illegal immigrants were arrested in a two-part sweep in Virginia and Washington, D.C.

What vaporized from Arizona's new immigration law were stipulations that law enforcement could require proof of immigration status from people they have stopped for questioning. The original version would have made it a state crime not to carry documentation; and it would have let police arrest undocumented immigrants if they were found seeking employment in a public space. If Arpaio were armed with all of that, the likelihood is that he would have detained a large number of people. In his 16 prior operations, nearly 1,000 suspected violators were arrested, 60% of whom were undocumented immigrants. This time, out of about 40 people the Sheriff's office apprehended Thursday, only a handful — just 7% — were illegal immigrants.

But there may have been other reasons the numbers were low, apart from the temporary injunction blocking the most contentious parts of the law. Some officers said the desert monsoon weather dampened the operation. Another factor may well have been Lydia Guzman, a prominent Hispanic activist, who, along with a group called CopWatch, designed a detailed messaging system to warn the Phoenix Valley of immigration sweeps. Guzman sent an initial text blast to 100 rapid response teams of business owners, Spanish radio stations, pastors and teachers, each of whom messaged their respective networks. At the same time, Guzman contacted lawyers, social workers and elected officials to be at the ready to help. "It spiderwebs out," she says. "Before you know it my text tree spreads out to thousands of people."

Sheriff Arpaio has called her out for undermining his work. "The Sheriff has even accused me of putting coyotes [the popular name for operators of people smuggling rings] on text tree," she told TIME. "But number one, they don't live here and, number two, a lot of smugglers are the ones we want put away. They are the ones who hurt our people."

In addition to Guzman's tweets, CopWatch visibly tails police operations. On Thursday, in one small West Phoenix mobile command center, members of CopWatch monitored police communications. "They just said '294 King' — that means immigration. Let's go," cried one member listening to the police scanners. And with that CopWatch activists grabbed cameras, lawyer contacts and car keys to follow Arpaio's sweep.

Sheriff Arpaio has been tweeting as well. A few messages sent to his followers and the press from Thursday: "Just got a report that protesters are now trying to block my downtown jail sallyport and are chaining themselves to the jail"; "Just finished up with protesters at the jail, we will now resume our operation"; then immediately after, "I'm heading over to 4th Ave Jail to see what's going on w/ protesters around the jail."

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office arranged for nearly 45 media crews to trail along with the patrols. Sometimes, it seemed that Arpaio's media strategy got in the way of his own operation: his deputies had to delay the crime sweep to enable Arpaio to give a press conference at the jail where protesters chained themselves across the main booking entrance. "He can't stay away from the camera," says CopWatch activist Dennis Gilman. "We successfully disrupted his sweep, because all his deputies were down there dealing with the protesters."

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2007858,00.html

Immigration protesters try to close Tucson freeway with tar, tires, glass

Traffic on Interstate 19 was briefly disrupted south of Ajo Way this morning after a group of protesters placed tar and tires on the highway.

A group calling itself "Freedom for Arizona" said it planned to cover the southbound lanes of I-19 with tires covered in tar and broken glass to shut down "the very road that is used to deport people deemed 'illegal' as well as a direct disruption of the flow of capital," the group said in a news release.

Law enforcement officials have cleaned up the tires and reopened the interstate, according to the Department of Public Safety.

There were no reports of injuries.

Andres Chavez was arriving home from school and saw the whole incident. He said two trucks driving parallel on southbound Intestate-19 between Ajo and Valencia stopped and threw tires connected by rope from the truck beds.

The 8-12 men in the trucks then threw brown paint, broken glass and a sign over the tires. The sign read: "Stop the militirazation on the border." Then, they drove away, Chavez said.

"They halted traffic completely and almost got rear-ended by cars behind them," Chavez said.

Chavez pulled the 15-20 tires off the road because he was worried about wrecks.

"I have no problem with people protesting or whatever, but they were putting people's lives at risk," said Chavez, a 23-year-old University of Arizona journalism student. "There could have been a multi-car pile up there."

He described the tire-throwers as men between the ages of 20-25 who wore regular regular clothes.

In its news release, a group claiming responsibility said: "Neither SB 1070 nor the deployment of National Guard troops to the border do anything to address the root causes as to why people migrate.

"U.S. economic policies and wars have displaced and impoverished millions of people all over the world. Capital-driven policies, such as NAFTA, create poverty. These policies and laws not only consume and exploit land and people, but they also displace us from our homes, forcing us to migrate in order to survive."

Downtown protest

Meanwhile in downtown Tucson there were mostly peaceful protests in front of the state building at Congress and Granada.

One man, who supported SB1070, was arrested on suspicion of the threats and intimidation after he continued agitating those opposed to the law, and threatening two people, said Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

Officers had asked him to calm down before the arrest. He was removed from the protest area and taken to the Tucson police west side substation. The man was cited and released.

That was the only arrest at the Tucson events.

Several hundred people with signs, bull horns and drums demonstrated Thursday morning, most of whom oppose the law. Most said they were pleased with the ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton that blocked key provisions in the law but that they still had concerns about the remaining provisions that went into effect.

"I'm pleased but not satisfied," said Lino Vasquez, a 25-year-old college student.

"It was a small stepping stone," said Angelina Castrillo-Sereno, who brought her two children with her to the rally.

There was also supporters of SB1070 who were unhappy with the judge's decision.

"I'm very disappointed," said Renee Allison, of Tucson. "It's a very sad day. It's sad that people don't support the law."

By 11 a.m., the number of protesters had decreased substantially.

Phoenix Arrests

Opponents of Arizona's immigration crackdown went ahead with protests Thursday in Phoenix despite a judge's ruling that delayed enforcement of most the law, and dozens of people in Phoenix were arrested after peacefully confronting officers in riot gear.

Outside the state Capitol, hundreds of protesters began marching at dawn, gathering in front of the federal courthouse where Bolton issued her ruling on Wednesday. They marched on to the office of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has made a crackdown on illegal immigration one of his signature issues.

At least eight protesters approached a police line and allowed themselves to be arrested. A group of about two dozen protesters then sat down in the middle of the street or refused to leave, and police arrested them as well.

Earlier, three people were detained at the courthouse after apparently entering a closed-off area. Former state Sen. Alfredo Gutierrez, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002, was among them.

Marchers chanted "Sheriff Joe, we are here, we will not live in fear," and among the crowd was a drummer wearing a papier-mache Sheriff Joe head and dressed in prison garb.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

Arizona immigration law protesters arrested after blocking street

Hundreds of activists marched on downtown Phoenix in protest of Senate Bill 1070 Thursday, participating in mass acts of civil disobedience, prayer vigils and other rallies.

Dozens were arrested at various locations, including members of the media who were covering the event.

The protests were peaceful, but disruptive. Opponents of the tough new immigration law blocked Washington Street near Phoenix City Hall for nearly an hour Thursday morning, snarling traffic and light-rail service.

At least two dozen were arrested at that location, after linking arms and lying down in the street, said Sgt. Tommy Thompson, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department.

They were charged with obstructing a public thoroughfare, which is a misdemeanor, Thompson said.

By noon, the bulk of the activity was centered on the 4th Avenue Jail, a primary booking location for felony arrests in Maricopa County.

Several hundred people had converged on that location, and six people were arrested after chaining themselves to the building; about 10 others were taken into custody by deputies dressed in riot gear after they blocked the jail's driveway and refused to move.

In total, about 30 people were arrested for blocking a public thoroughfare, including some members of the press. Law enforcement officials said the members of the media were given the same warning as the activists before being taken into custody.

Protesters at the jail blocked the entrance at 3rd Avenue and Madison, chanting, "No Justice, no peace, no racist police," and "Arrest Arpaio, not the people." At least one squad car from Goodyear turned a way and had to find a different entrance. "We're not trying to get arrested, we are trying to make a point," said Ruben Lucio, 21, of Phoenix. Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Phoenix, said she came to the jail because "I am standing for human rights. Not one more person, not one more mother, not one more grandfather will be taken from their family."

Even though a federal judge on Wednesday blocked key provisions of the state's tough new immigration law, rallies, protests, prayer vigils and acts of civil disobedience were held throughout the morning.

The provisions of the law that were not blocked took effect at 12:01 a.m.; Gov. Jan Brewer's legal team is expected to file an expedited appeal of the judge's order with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals within the hour.

Thursday morning's protests started quietly with an early morning prayer vigil and march from the state Capitol to the Trinity Cathedral in downtown Phoenix. Only about 100 people attended that demonstration, but the protestors have steadily picked up steam since then.

About 400 people attended the service at the Trinity Cathedral, and then demonstrators marched toward the federal courthouse. Three people, including former state legislator and activist Alfredo Gutierrez were arrested there around 8:30 a.m.

The other individuals who were taken into custody identified themselves as Dan O'Neal and Doris Perez.

"The injunction did not go far enough," O'Neal moments before getting arrested. "This movement is about more than 1070."

After that, several activist groups converged on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's offices near the Wells Fargo building in downtown Phoenix. Arpaio, who planned one of his immigration sweeps Thursday, was one of the primary targets of demonstrators' ire.

The groups that joined up outside his offices eventually led to the multiple arrests on Washington Street.

From there, the activists moved on to the 4th Avenue Jail, where where the scene grew increasingly rowdy and intense before organizers started calming protestors down and moving them away. One protestor chained himself to what appeared to be an emergency exit, saying Wednesday's court ruling didn't go far enough. "It's a small victory," said Devin Fleenor, of Phoenix. "We need to have a lot more change, than just a temporary injunction on SB 1070."

At about 12:30 p.m., Sheriff Joe Arpaio re-deployed a dozen deputies armed in riot gear to the location.

The deputies were supposed to be part of a crime sweep operation planned for early afternoon. The sweep has now been postponed until at least 4 p.m.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/07/29/20100729arizona-immigration-law-protest-0729.html

Arpaio's crime sweep delayed by protest

Sheriff Joe Arpaio postponed a crime sweep Thursday after diverting resources to the Fourth Avenue Jail, were a protest was to be held this afternoon.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said the sweep would still take place, probably about 4 p.m.

During a news conference attended by a throng of international, national and local media outlets, he wouldn't say exactly where the sweeps were taking place.

"I'm not trying to get into any judge's face (with this operation)," he said. "But I'm trying to let the public know: we enforce human smuggling (laws), we enforce employer sanctions (laws)."

Arpaio said they are going to divert resources from the sweep to the Fourth Avenue Jail, where a protest is expect to draw busloads of people who oppose the state's immigration law.

"I got a gut feeling we will not be arresting any illegal aliens with all this hype going on," he said.

Arpaio has said frequently that he doesn't need the law, which created a misdemeanor offense in Arizona for immigrants who fail to carry registration documents, and his track record backs him up.

Thursday's operation would mark the 17th time Arpaio has deployed hundreds of deputies and volunteer posse members in an area of the Valley to root out illegal immigrants. Deputies typically take a "zero tolerance" approach to traffic offenses and then check the criminal history of the motorists. Some of Arpaio's deputies who were trained to enforce federal immigration law used to be able to conduct roadside immigration screenings, but the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement stripped deputies of that authority last year, forcing sheriff's deputies to wait until they bring suspects to jail to determine immigration status.

If the deputies come across residents who admit to being in the country illegally but who have not committed a state crime, the deputies typically coordinate with local ICE officials to transfer custody of those suspects.

A key piece of the law that Bolton blocked on Wednesday would have allowed deputies to arrest some of those suspects for violating the new law if they weren't carrying registration documents.

"That would have been a nice little extra twist if we could have locked them up instead of handing them over to ICE," Arpaio said Wednesday after Bolton's ruling.

The size and scope of the sweeps have varied since Arpaio launched the efforts in 2008 near 32nd Street and Thomas Road.

A three-day sweep in Mesa last summer paid 83 deputies and supervisors to arrest 59 people at a cost of $38,387. A two-day operation in Fountain Hills in May 2008 used 13 deputies, cost $3,947 and resulted in 20 arrests.

The Sheriff's Office pays for the operations through its general fund, state funding and grants. Arpaio is not concerned about the expense, saying the deputies in those operations would be working anyway -- it is just a matter of when and where.

Advocates of the sweeps say their value is largely in discouraging illegal immigrants from remaining in the community.

However, critics suggest they simply scare legal and illegal immigrants alike and drive a wedge between members of the community and law enforcement.

While Arpaio's past 16 crime-suppression operations have captured a variety of criminals, the majority of offenders were booked for relatively minor offenses, an Arizona Republic review of crime data shows. For example, an April sweep caught 93 people, most of whom were snared either solely for immigration violations or for minor offenses. Only two violent offenders were arrested.

Arpaio's deputies have arrested 932 people in their operations dating back to March 2008. Of those, 708 were suspected of being in the country illegally, according to the Sheriff's Office.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2010/07/29/20100729joe-arpaio-immigration-sweep.html

Communique: Tucson Interstate Temporarily Blocked!

Sigue en español abajo:
DIRECT ACTION DISRUPTS ARIZONA RACISM!

Partial justice is no justice at all! Despite Judge ruling to block parts of SB 1070, racial-profiling, raids, deportations and the militarization of the border will continue unchallenged. This is why today we shut down Interstate 19 (I-19)

July 29, 2010 Tucson, AZ—On the morning that SB1070 is scheduled to take effect in the state of Arizona and three days before Obama deploys 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, a group of concerned community members blocked traffic on I-19 south of Ajo Rd. in Tucson, AZ. A blockade of tires covered in tar and broken glass were placed across both southbound lanes along with a banner reading “Stop All Militarization! The Border is Illegal!” This blockade is a temporary shutdown of the very road that is used to deport people deemed “illegal” as well as a direct disruption of the flow of capital. By blocking I-19 we have halted the transportation of migrants and the profits Whack-n-hut and Corrections Corporation of Amerikkka make by these inhumane acts of separating families, communities and loved ones. This morning we interrupt the privatization of the criminalization of people of color.

The State of Arizona ruthlessly disrupts and terrorizes the lives of non-white communities on a daily basis. SB 1070 is yet another example of how migrants and people of color are criminalized. Today’s action is a declaration of resistance to the criminalization of affected communities and the militarization of indigenous land.

Neither SB 1070 nor the deployment of National Guard troops to the border do anything to address the root causes as to why people migrate. U.S. economic policies and wars have displaced and impoverished millions of people all over the world. Capital-driven policies, such as NAFTA, create poverty. These policies and laws not only consume and exploit land and people, but they also displace us from our homes, forcing us to migrate in order to survive. If policymakers were serious about stopping “illegal immigration,” they would end these capitalist exploitations and stop their military invasions abroad.

We want an end to the militarization of indigenous land, I.C.E. raids, deportations, the attacks on ethnic studies, violence against women and queer people, the expansion of prisons and immigration detention centers, empire, the border wall and the genocide at the Arizona-Sonora border that has claimed the lives of over 153 people during the first 8 months of this fiscal year alone.

Today we interrupt the flow of Arizona’s traffic to bring attention to the following points:


ABOLISH ALL OF SB 1070 AND OTHER ANTI-MIGRANT LAWS.

STOP ALL MILITARIZATION. NO NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS ON INDIGENOUS LAND.

BORDERS AND THE ARIZONA GOVERNMENT ARE ILLEGITIMATE.

NO HUMAN BEING IS ILLEGAL—THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM IS TO BLAME.

WE WANT RESPECT AND JUSTICE FOR ALL PEOPLE.


We affirm our dignity and promote the well-being of all people. We stand for solidarity, peace, self-determination and autonomy. We assert the rights of all people everywhere to feel safe and live free of oppression and state violence.


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ACCIÓN DIRECTA INTERRUMPE EL RACISMO DE ARIZONA!
A pesar de la decisión de la Juez de bloquear componentes polémicos de la medida SB 1070, el perfil racial, las redadas, deportaciones y la militarización de la frontera continuaran sin ser desafiadas. Es por eso que hoy bloqueo la Interestatal 19 (I-19).

29 de Julio 2010 Tucson, AZ—En la mañana que la SB 1070 esta programada para entrar en vigor en el estado de Arizona y tres días antes de que Obama desplegue a 1,200 tropas de la Guardia Nacional, un grupo de miembros comunitarios bloquearon el tráfico hacia en la I-19, sur de La Calle Ajo en Tucson, AZ. Un bloqueo de llantas cubiertas con alquitrán y vidrio quebrado fueron colocadas en los dos carriles que van hacia el sur. En la carretera se ubicó un cartelón que declara “¡Alto a toda la Militarización! ¡La Frontera es Ilegal!” Este bloqueo es un paro temporal de la misma carretera que es usada para deportar a personas consideradas “ilegales”, al igual que es una interrupción directa del flujo de los productos y mercancía. Al interrumpir el tráfico de la I-19 hemos logrado suspender el transporte de migrantes y las ganancias que empresas como Wackenhut y Corrections Corporation of Amerikkka ganan al cumplir actos inhumanos como separar a nuestras familias. Esta mañana nosotr@s interrumpimos la privatización de la criminalización de las comunidades de color.
El Estado de Arizona sin piedad perturba y aterroriza a diario la vida ñde nuestras comunidades. La SB 1070 es otro ejemplo de cómo los migrantes y las personas de color somños criminalizadas. La acción de hoy es una declaración de resistencia a la criminalización de nuestras comunidades y la militarización de tierras indígenas.
Ni la SB 1070, ni el desplegue de tropas de la Guardia Nacional hacen nada para combatir las causas de por qué la gente emigra. Las guerras y las pólizas económicas de los EE.UU. han desplazado y empobrecido a millones de personas en todo el mundo. Pólizas impulsadas por ganancias, como el Tratado de Libre Comercio, causan la pobreza. Estas políticas y leyes no sólo consumen y explotan la tierra y la gente, pero también nos desplazan de nuestros hogares, obligándonos a emigrar para sobrevivir. Si los políticos tuvieran la seriedad de frenar la "inmigración ilegal", pondrían fin a su sistema económico que empobrece al mundo y acabarían con sus invasiones militares en el extranjero.
Queremos poner un fin a la militarización de tierras indígenas, redadas, deportaciones, los ataques a los estudios étnicos, la violencia contra las mujeres y gente gay, lesbiana, bisexual, transgenero, la expansión de las cárceles, los centros de detención, el imperio, el muro fronterizo y el genocidio en la frontera entre Arizona y Sonora, que ha cobrado la vida de más de 153 personas durante los primeros ocho meses de este año fiscal. Hoy interrumpimos el flujo del tráfico de Arizona para llamar a la atención los siguientes puntos:
SUPRIMIR COMPLETAMENTE LA SB 1070 Y OTRAS LEYES ANTI-MIGRANTES.
FRENAR TODO LA MILITARIZACIÓN. FUERA TROPAS DE LA FRONTERA.
LAS FRONTERAS Y EL GOBIERNO ARIZONENSE SON ILEGITIMOS.
NINGUN SER HUMANO ES ILEGAL—ESTE SISTEMA ECONÓMICO ES EL PROBLEMA.
QUEREMOS RESPETO Y JUSTICIA PARA TODAS LAS PERSONAS.
Afirmamos nuestra dignidad y promovemos el bienestar de todas las personas. Estamos a favor de la solidaridad, la paz, la auto-determinación y la autonomía. Afirmamos el derecho de todos los pueblos del mundo a sentirse seguros y vivir libres de la opresión y libres de la violencia estatal.

Joe Arpaio's Deputies Faced Down by Anti-SB 1070 Protesters in Guadalupe

Demonstrators await the MCSO's response last night in Guadalupe

Chanting, "We will not comply," and, "Whose streets? Our streets," a group of about 70 protesters took over one of the entrances to the square-mile town of Guadalupe Wednesday night, facing down Maricopa County sheriff's deputies in a tense standoff that lasted a little over an hour.

From 11:45 p.m. till a little past 1 a.m., demonstrators blocked traffic going into or out of Guadalupe via Avenida del Yaqui, not far from Arizona Mills Mall. City buses and other vehicles were forced to turn back or take a route around the line of Guadalupe residents and other activists.

MCSO deputies, befuddled by the late night protest

The protesters said they were against the enactment of SB 1070 and opposed to the abuses of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose deputies are contracted by the town for law enforcement services.

Early Wednesday, federal Judge Susan R. Bolton enjoined the most significant provisions of SB 1070, leaving other aspects of it to take effect today, July 29. But the protesters insisted this was not enough.

"We do understand that not all of SB 1070 was passed," said Guadalupe resident Diane Sanchez-Alvarado. "But that doesn't mean it's all right. Regardless of what the law says, we're all human beings. We shouldn't be treated as something else."

"We will not comply," the theme of the event

Regarding Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his boys in beige, who have patrolled the town for years, Sanchez-Alvarado and others complained of a litany of abuses perpetrated by the MCSO in the town, which is half Mexican-American, and half Yaqui Indian.

"We're always being harassed by him," Sanchez-Alvarado said of Arpaio. "He thinks he can do whatever he wants with us."

The postage-stamp size municipality has been the subject of numerous complaints by residents who say they are routinely harassed by MCSO officers. Guadalupanos report that deputies unnecessarily pull guns on them and enter their homes without warrants.

Guadalupe residents Veronica Vargas (left) and Diane Sanchez-Alvarado

In 2008, Arpaio conducted one of his controversial anti-immigrant sweeps of the town, terrorizing people whose families have lived in Guadalupe for generations. Relations between the MCSO and residents have been especially strained since then.

Of the sheriff's deputies, Sanchez-Alvarado stated, "They're vicious with us. They're what we would consider savages."

Savages or not, last night, Arpaio's minions seemed perplexed by the situation, and unsure of what to do.

Around eight MCSO patrol cars responded to the scene, and deputies with the MCSO's gang unit stood around being taunted by the protesters as they contemplated a response.

Andrew Sanchez, organizer of the midnight demonstration

"You're the real gang here," protesters yelled at them.

Eventually one of the deputies approached the double-line of demonstrators, some of them activists from nearby Tempe and Phoenix. Members of a local anarchist group also reinforced the crowd.

The deputy, who declined comment to reporters, asked the demonstrators to leave the street. He was met with stony silence from protesters who had locked arms in preparation for a showdown. Many had stated earlier that they were willing to be arrested.

It seemed as if the protesters and the deputies were fated to butt heads. But a little after 1 a.m., protest organizer Andrew Sanchez told the crowd that he'd spoken with the mayor of Guadalupe and that they'd made their point about MCSO police abuses and SB 1070.

Demonstrators withdrew to the sidewalks, and the deputies drove away to the cheers of those present.

"It was peaceful, it was successful, and we managed to get the cops' attention," Sanchez told me afterward. "We had said previously that we were only going to hold the street for an hour, and we did."

The MCSO was outnumbered last night, and deputies looked worried at the prospect of having to wade in to the crowd and arrest people. The issue now will be, what sort of retaliation, if any, Guadalupe residents will endure from the MCSO.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2010/07/anti-sb_1070_protesters_face_d.php