Salt Lake City, UT – Taylorsville Park became the site of heated exchange between the right-wing Patrick Henry Caucus picnic and a wide coalition of progressive organizations protesting them, June 4. Gregory Lucero from the Revolutionary Students Union coordinated the protest along with the Autonomous Brown Berets of Salt Lake City. They targeted the Patrick Henry Caucus because it supports bringing the Arizona apartheid immigration bill SB1070 to Utah.
Minneapolis, MN – One June 14, about 30 immigrants and immigrant rights supporters picketed outside of Jimmy Johns sandwich shop at Block E in downtown Minneapolis. Jimmy Johns is one of the companies targeted in the national boycott against Arizona in response to SB1070, the racist anti-immigrant law Arizona passed in April. The protest demanded that Jimmy Johns founder James ‘Jimmy John’ Liautaud stop supporting anti-immigrant politicians in Arizona such as Joe Arpaio and John McCain.
Chicago, IL – Organizers stood proudly, with their fists up, behind the Immigrant Youth Justice League's new banner as they launched the Equal Rights Campaign on the University of Chicago quad May 20. The incredible eight schools represented, and many others already on board, reported in their speeches how the demands had been delivered to college and university presidents across the city.
Claremont, CA – On May 16, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano faced protests here, challenging the ongoing Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) raids, detentions and deportations of undocumented workers. The protesters also condemned the racist Arizona law, SB1070, that criminalizes the undocumented and increases harassment and discrimination against Chicanos.
_Undocumented students arrested in McCain’s office, held for deportation _
Tucson, AZ – Arizona has seen an explosion of Chicano and Mexicano led student resistance to racist laws and in defense of the right to a quality education. Nowhere is this more evident than in the city of Tucson, which is singled out for attack by racist elements of state government. The struggle has attracted attention across the nation. Since the state House and Senate adopted the anti-immigrant and anti-Latino law, SB1070, thousands of students have walked out of school in protest and there has been a wave of youth-led direct actions.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles City council passed a motion to officially boycott the State of Arizona. Arizona’s new racist law SB1070 targets Mexican, Chicano, and Native American people for harassment. From California, right across the country, many people are outraged. Under the new Arizona law, local police will have the power to harass and arrest people based on immigration status. This will increase the already existing racist harassment and arrest of Mexican, Chicano, and Native American people. Many police, including the police chief of Tucson, AZ, publicly oppose the law because of the burden it places on them and because it promotes racial profiling.
Corvallis, OR – Over 300 students, campus workers, professors and community members rallied at Oregon State University on May 12, to protest the racist SB 1070 law in Arizona. Chanting “The people of Arizona are under attack, what do we do, stand up fight back!” the demonstrators marched from the Centro Cultural César Chávez to the center of campus, with banners and brightly-colored signs denouncing SB 1070, as well as another racist bill, HB 2281, which bans schools in Arizona from teaching ethnic studies.
Emmer dijo que ley anti-inmigrante SB1070 en Arizona es “maravillosa”
San Pablo, MN – En el desfile del Cinco de Mayo en San Pablo, el candidato Republicano para el gobernador Tom Emmer recibió una reacción no esperada — rechazo. El rechazo fue debido a su apoyo por la nueva ley anti-inmigrante en Arizona, SB1070. En un programa de radio en MPR, Señor Emmer calificó la nueva ley como una cosa “maravillosa”. Muchas personas han comparado la ley SB1070 de Arizona con las leyes racistas que existían en el sur de los Estados Unidos en contra de los Afro-Americanos hasta las victorias del movimiento para los derechos civiles en los años 1960.
Dallas, TX – More than 20,000 people marched and rallied here on May 1. Protesters marched for legalization and against the racist Arizona law that targets Mexicans, Chicanos and other Latinos. The new Arizona law criminalizes the undocumented, requiring police to demand papers concerning a person’s status. A Chicano truck driver was already jailed in Arizona until his wife produced his California birth certificate hours later. The new law targets Chicanos born in their own homeland and Mexican immigrants because of their nationality.
St. Paul, MN – On May 6, Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Wabasha) introduced a bill in the Minnesota House of Representatives that would bring Arizona's new racist anti-immigrant law SB 1070 to Minnesota. This comes on the heels of Minnesota Republican Gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer saying he thinks Arizona's racist law is “wonderful”.
