Kentucky’s Senate Bill 6 (SB6) is one of several bills that has been introduced in state legislatures across the country that copycat Arizona’s anti-immigrant legislation SB1070 signed into law by Arizona’s Jan Brewer last spring.  The law legalizes unchecked racial profiling by police of anyone they “suspect” is undocumented.

“I’m just a concerned community member” was the message we heard from many of the more than 100 people who showed up at a called meeting in early January to discuss possible responses to Senate Bill 6 (SB6).  During that meeting, many ideas were brought forth, one of which was a lobby and rally day which hundreds of people participated in on February 8 in Frankfort. Folks from across the state showed up to show their opposition to this bill and to stand in solidarity with immigrant and migrant families throughout Kentucky. We know with the work being done to resist SB6–with so many new people emerging to be a part of these efforts– the opportunities to build on this energy

Continue reading We Are All Kentucky! Rally to Stop Anti-Immigrant SB6

Phoenix, Arizona.  This weekend 100,000 people marched six miles from Steele Indian School Park to the State Capitol to denounce SB1070 and demand President Obama intervene in the growing human rights crisis in Arizona.  We were joined by supporters ranging from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka to the voice of her people, Grammy Nominated Singer, Jenni Rivera, and attendees who drove from as far away as Boston to support the local people leading the effort to overturn SB 1070.

In a gathering Sunday morning, movement-building organizations from across the country share their commitments to bring the Arizona human rights crisis fight back to their communities. 

Participants heard from local leadership, national allies, and from veterans of the Mississippi Freedom Summer the urgency of a national response.  Organizations shared ways to connect their struggles, campaigns, and creativity in breakout sessions and committed to ongoing peaceful resistance.    A global call for escalating resistance

Continue reading Call for Peaceful Escalating Resistance to Arizona SB1070

Tens of thousands are mobilizing to Phoenix on May 29 to show the world that people from all backgrounds across the country are unified in denouncing SB1070.  From Seattle to Miami, the demands are clear, that President Obama needs to end the criminalization of people of color in the state of Arizona and stop SB1070.

Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, stated, “The eyes of the world are watching and President Obama must act.  SB1070 is where we draw the line and say enough is enough.  Enough of a disastrous and dangerous ‘enforcement first’ strategy to immigration reform.  Enough to the criminalization of workers and families.  We will escalate our struggle if the President does not act concretely and immediately to stop the implementation of SB1070.”

Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, Eliseo Medina, International Executive Vice President of SEIU, Luis Gutierrez (Illinois, D), Raul Grijalva (Arizona, D), and artists such as Alex Lora of El Tri and Jenni Rivera will all

Continue reading May 29 Mass Mobilization Against Arizona SB1070

Opinion

President Obama announced a decision to send 1,200 National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border.  Mr. Obama is trying to appeal to enforcement-first and enforcement-only activists in and out of Congress with this escalation, but Republicans continue to distance themselves from any measures that include a path to citizenship for those in the US without documents.

The President has also continued to expand Bush-era policies that promote or force cooperation between Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local law enforcement, like Secure Communities and 287(g).  Obama has offered mild criticism to Arizona’s S.B.1070, which forces police departments (often against their will) to demand papers from anyone who appears illegal, but his Administration’s own policies are moving the whole country in that direction. While DC Jobs with Justice was able to stop Secure Communities from coming to the nation’s capitol, efforts in other places, like San Francisco, have encountered roadblocks in fighting the program.

By expanding enforcement, the President opens the door to laws like Arizona’s and copy-cat bills across the country and promotes a

Continue reading A Climate of Fear

As a catastrophe unfolds in Arizona, people across the country are preparing to defend their communities against the racist immigrant policies being implemented under the banner of “secured communities” in America.

Arizona has been in the forefront of the most deplorable immigrant enforcement tactics, with Sheriff Joe Arpio‘s shameful treatment of undocumented workers,  the signing of the  SB1070 bill by Governor Jan Brewer that will lead to racial profiling and distrust between the police and immigrant communities, and today the passage of a ban on ethnic studies programs.

These despicable actions in Arizona have led to organizing and involvement of all sectors of the community to show their disgust against these policies and remind elected officials, especially Arizona’s governor, that their actions will lead to massive mobilization at the polls.  As one good friend said “Justice delayed, election denied”

Many people across the country are fighting to keep their communities safe from these xenophobic policies and are creating safe communities for

Continue reading Standing Up to Arizona’s Racist Immigration Law

The Arizona State Legislature just passed a law (SB1070) that legalizes unchecked racial profiling by police of anyone they “suspect” is undocumented. It would criminalize all undocumented immigrants as “trespassers” and subject them to misdemeanor, or in some cases, felony charges for a new “trespass” crime.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is expected to sign the bill into law any day now. Tell Governor Brewer to stand up for human and civil rights and veto this anti-immigrant, racial profiling bill.  If this bill is signed into law, your state could be next.

SB 1070 would force police officers to arrest and detain people based on a “reasonable suspicion” that they are undocumented. It’s not surprising that news of this bill has shocked the nation. There is no such thing as looking American or undocumented, and mandating police officers to racially profile sets this country back to a shameful time in its history where racial segregation was the law of the land. The state of Arizona has become home to experimental laws that use immigration as

Continue reading Urgent: Stop Racial Profiling and Criminalization of Immigrant Communities