Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

Immigrant Rights

By Jacob Flom

May Day 2010 March in Milwaukee

Milwaukee, WI – 65,000 marched through Milwaukee May 1 for immigrant and worker rights. The annual march doubled in size from last year. Marchers demanded immediate immigration reform and an end to the racist laws in Arizona. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA) mobilized a loud student contingent.

#MilwaukeeWI #internationalWorkersDay #May1 #SB1070

By staff

May 1, 2010 march in Chicago

Chicago, IL – 100,000 came out in force to march from Union Park to Daley Plaza in the Loop. Speaker after speaker denounced the apartheid-type legislation in Arizona. Youth were a major part of this demonstration.

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By Brad Sigal

_Marchers demand legalization and equality, express outrage at Arizona's racist anti-immigrant law _

Minneapolis May Day march for immigrant rights

Minneapolis, MN – On May 1, about 4,000 people marched in the streets of Minneapolis for immigrant and workers rights. One march started from Martin Luther King Park in South Minneapolis and marched up Nicollet Avenue toward downtown. As the march passed through largely-Latino neighborhoods, more people joined the march on each block.

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By Masao Suzuki

Marchers in San Francisco on May Day.

San Francisco, CA – On May 1, thousands of people gathered in San Francisco’s Latino community in the Mission and marched to the Civic Center. A common theme was opposition to Arizona’s new law, SB1070.

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By Eric Gardner

250,000 immigrant workers and allies marched for immigrant rights here today, denouncing Arizona’s racist SB1070 law and demanding “Legalization now!” The march on International Workers’ Day demanded that the Democratic Party and President Obama live up to their election campaign promise to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

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By James Jordan

Protestor holding sign "A better world is possible"

Tucson, AZ – Around 15,000 people took to the streets here May 1 to celebrate May Day and to demand an end to racist anti-immigrant attacks at all levels of government, including an end to the hated SB1070 (the harshest anti-immigrant law in the nation), an end to border militarization and in support of immigration reform that is humanitarian rather than punitive.

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By James Jordan

MEChA students protesting outside a school

Tucson, AZ – “This law is unwise. This law is stupid, and it’s racist. It’s a national embarrassment…if I were a Hispanic person in the state, I would be humiliated and angered.”

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By staff

_“Make UC a Sanctuary!” _

Berkeley students protest new racist anti-immigrant law in Arizona

Berkeley, CA – University of California (UC) students here took to the streets to protest the state law passed in Arizona that legalizes racial profiling of Latinos and Native Americans. Several hundred people, mainly Chicano and Latino, blockaded the historic Sproul Gate while Aztec dancers and drummers performed for the lunchtime crowds. Afterwards, the protesters marched to the intersection of Bancroft and Telegraph Avenues and sat down, blocking traffic to observe a minute of silence for immigrant communities being targeted by ICE raids and deportations. Then the march resumed down Bancroft, chanting, “Boycott Arizona!” and “Make UC a sanctuary!” Students vow further actions.

#BerkeleyCA #StudentMovement #SB1070 #Arizona

By Freedom Road Socialist Organization

Young protestor against SB1070

On Friday, April 23rd, Republican Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona signed SB1070. This law makes it a crime to be an undocumented immigrant and requires police to stop and arrest people who they suspect of being undocumented. While the law will not go into effect for more than three months, some police and sheriffs in Arizona are already stopping and arresting Latinos, including native-born citizens.

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By Brad Sigal

Minneapolis protest against Arizona's new anti-immigrant law

Minneapolis, MN – On April 26, 100 supporters of immigrant rights gathered at an emergency protest in downtown Minneapolis. They came together to voice outrage at the new anti-immigrant law passed in Arizona. Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer signed into law the most extreme anti-immigrant legislation in the country, (SB-1070) on April 23, provoking large protests in Arizona and outrage around the country.

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is making available the video Arizona Resiste, which shows some of the inspiring struggles that took place in Arizona before the anti-immigrant Jim Crow type bill SB1070, was signed into law.

#Arizona #AZ #ChicanoLatino #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #SB1070

By James Jordan

Tucson, AZ – Arizona’s Apartheid bill, SB1070, was signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer, April 23. The law gives local and state police the authority to stop anyone, anywhere, to demand proof of citizenship based only on “reasonable suspicion.” In Arizona, “reasonable suspicion” of being an undocumented immigrant means being Latino and speaking Spanish. The bill also lets citizens sue government institutions for not enforcing immigration law aggressively enough.

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By Kosta Harlan

Chapel Hill, NC – At a press conference here on April 21, students expressed their outrage that the racist ex-congressperson, Tom Tancredo, has been invited to return to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill campus for a speaking event on April 26, hosted by a right-wing youth organization.

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By James Jordan

Tucson, AZ – “They have every right to be here. This is about civil rights. And the youth are leading the way.” Those were the words of Pima County Board of Supervisors Chair Richard Elias as we talked across the street from where over 100 students had gathered to protest Arizona’s SB1070 – the harshest, most anti-immigrant legislation in the country.

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By Redacción

Minneapolis, MN – La Coalición para los Derechos de los Inmigrantes en Minnesota (MIRAc, por sus siglas en ingles) tiene un nuevo video para ganar fuerza para la marcha del 1 de mayo, Día Internacional de los Trabajadores, en Minneapolis. La marcha se enfoca en los derechos de los trabajadores y los inmigrantes, con los temas principales de 'igualdad para todos' y 'legalización para todos'. El video nuevo incluye entrevistas con personas en la calle expresando su apoyo para la marcha y promoviéndola. La marcha del 1 de mayo en Minneapolis empezara a las 2:00 p.m. en el parque Martin Luther King en la Avenida Nicollet y calle 41. Más que 25 organizaciones han dado su apoyo a la marcha, y la coalición sigue creciendo.

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By James Jordan

Police-state laws pending

Protester holding a sign that says "Ya basta!"

Tucson, AZ – “Tucson today is the moral equivalent of Birmingham, Alabama in 1961,” said Mike Wilson, border rights activist and Tohono ‘O’odham tribal member, at a rally at the Federal Building here, April 15. The rally was held in response series of raids that took place the same day in Phoenix, Tucson, Rio Rico and Nogales, and in the Mexican city of Nogales, Sonora. The raids targeted people traveling on shuttle services, but whole neighborhoods were affected, with traffic brought to a virtual standstill while agents occupied urban areas in the biggest such operation in the seven-year history of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE).

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN – The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition (MIRAc) has released a new video in Spanish to build momentum for the march in Minneapolis on May 1, International Workers Day. The march will focus on workers' rights and immigrant rights, with the themes “Equal rights for all” and “Legalization for all.” The video features interviews with people on the street expressing support for the march and encouraging others to attend. The Minneapolis May 1 march will begin at 2:00 p.m. in Martin Luther King Park on Nicollet Avenues and 41st Street. More than 25 organizations have endorsed the march, and the coalition continues to grow.

#MinneapolisMN #Labor #MIRAc

By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Network for Economic Justice.

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By staff

_Interview with Carlos Montes _

Carlos Montes

Fight Back! interviewed Carlos Montes, a veteran of the Chicano liberation struggle and a leader of the immigrant rights movement.

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By Anh Pham

Flyer for May 1, 2010 march in Minneapolis

Minneapolis, MN – On April 2, immigrant rights activists here announced plans for a big march on May 1, International Workers Day. The march will start at 2:00 p.m. in Martin Luther King Park at 41st Street and Nicollet Avenue.

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