Posts Tagged ‘Arizona’

National Days of Action to End “Operation Streamline”

No Comments | Share On Facebook| National Days of Action to End “Operation Streamline” Share/Save/Bookmark Feb 19, 2013

No More Deaths, the humanitarian aid ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson which goes out into the desert to save the lives of immigrants crossing the vast Arizona/Mexico border, is urging their supporters to act now to end” Operation Streamline” and other punitive border enforcement practices. No More Deaths is working with a coalition of local and national partners this week to urge members of Congress to end Operation Streamline and focus on real immigration reform.

Operation Streamline involves a series of Kafka-esque federal court proceedings held daily throughout the southern border states and criminalizes 70 immigrants per day in Tucson alone. A second border crossing results in a felony charge that can lead to up to twenty years in a federal prison. Often, these individuals are simply trying to provide for their families. You can watch a first person account of what the Operation Streamline system is like here.

As the Obama administration sets new records on deportations, an increasing number of individuals who are trying to rejoin family members settled in the United States have become wrapped up in Operation Streamline and other punitive border enforcement measures.

Streamline is also a key component of the administration’s policy of mass incarceration for tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants from all over the country, and part of a series of lucrative contracts with the private, for-profit prison industry. These corporations prey on undocumented immigrants by initiating anti-immigrant legislation in Arizona, Alabama, and many other states–guaranteeing that all their cells remain filled, while costing taxpayers billions of dollars for the unnecessary, long-term incarceration of nonviolent immigrants whose only “crime” is trying to feed their families.

You can help end Operation Streamline by taking action today! Use this form to write your members of Congress or these talking points to give their offices a call.

This post was written by Leila Pine, a No More Deaths volunteer and member of the UU Church of Tucson.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Justice for Nogales Teen Killed by Border Patrol

2 Comments | Share On Facebook| Justice for Nogales Teen Killed by Border Patrol Share/Save/Bookmark Nov 19, 2012

Memorial for José Antonio at a Day of the Dead Border Vigil in Nogales. (Credit: David Icely)

On the night of October 10, around 11:30 pm, José Antonio Elena Rodriguez, a 16-year-old resident of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, was shot dead by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on Mexican soil. This tragedy hit home for me because José Antonio was killed on a street I know well in the border community where I live. But this incident is not unique. There have been 18 violent killings by Border Patrol or Customs and Border Protection agents since 2010—including a similar one in Nogales in January 2011. To my shame, I failed to raise my voice then.

The known circumstances of these killings strongly suggest unnecessary or excessive use of force. Please join me in denouncing them and calling for action.

The agent that killed José Antonio fired on him from atop a 25-foot embankment and from behind a 20-foot-tall protective steel border wall. José Antonio was shot in the back 13 times, with two bullets found in his head. He was unarmed. He died only a couple blocks from his house. These facts leave me with no doubt that this was an unlawful killing.

Six weeks have passed. The FBI, tasked with investigating the incident, has released no official statements, and has neither identified nor arrested the agent involved. The identities of officers involved in shootings are public information, and many in this border community, where I and other No More Deaths volunteers live and work, see José Antonio’s death as a clear case of bloody murder.

Please join me in urging the Department of Justice and the FBI to act transparently and decisively to end this unnecessary violence.

The excessive use of force that resulted in the deaths of José Antonio and 17 others is not the action of isolated “bad apples.” Rather, it is a consequence of the Border Patrol’s militarized approach to border enforcement, and it shows a callousness that is consistent with the findings of No More Deaths’ 2011 report Culture of Cruelty, which documented 32,075 incidents of mistreatment of migrants in Border Patrol custody.

We seek justice for José Antonio’s family and an end to these killings. Please take action and make your voice heard.

For justice and for peace,

David Hill
No More Deaths volunteer

The message above went out on Monday, November 19, 2012 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

An Update From Arizona on SB1070

No Comments | Share On Facebook| An Update From Arizona on SB1070 Share/Save/Bookmark Jun 25, 2012

The message below went out on Monday, June 25, 2012 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.

On Saturday night, thousands of us showed up at tent city in our Love shirts to speak out against the inhumane treatment of immigrants in our country, especially in Arizona.

All over the world, media has taken notice of our message of justice, human rights, and love. You can read about our presence in the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/several-thousand-protesters-rally-outside-arizona-sheriffs-tent-city-jail-complex/2012/06/24/gJQA3MwkyV_story.html

Today, as you might have heard, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling on the constitutionality of Arizona’s SB1070. The court struck down several provisions of the law as unconstitutional. However, for now, the “show me papers” provision of the law, which will invariably lead to racial profiling and egregious civil right violations, remains in place.

“We never had faith in the Depart of Justice Supreme Court case,” says Puente, Arizona. “We have faith in our people. WE WILL NOT COMPLY!” Please watch this video:

While many of us who came to Phoenix will return to our daily lives, many of remain in Arizona in the struggle, and thousands of us have renewed our resolve to serve as moral voices and advocates for those who suffer under our nation’s broken immigration system. At a press conference in Phoenix today, UUA President Rev. Peter Morales joins our partners Puente Arizona NDLON and others in speaking out against the injustice that SB1070 represents. “Unitarian Universalists hold among our principles the affirmation of the inherent worth and dignity of every person,” says Rev. Morales. “People of faith cannot rest easy as long as any part of SB1070 continues to strip the worth and dignity from migrants and their families.”

No matter what the courts decide on SB1070, it is the people of Arizona who will have the last word. And our voices will be heard in support of dignity and fundamental fairness.

“I didn’t know what it would look like, but last night seeing you with all the candles, in the heat, all together… that’s what love looks like,” said Carlos Garcia, Director of Puente Arizona, referring to Saturday’s tent city vigil. “The people from our community couldn’t believe, as people just kept coming and coming.”

As we all know, this fundamental struggle for human rights continues. As people of faith and conscience, we must continue our acts of solidarity, our local advocacy, and our steadfast service as voices for justice.

In faith,

Dan Furmansky
Campaign Manager
Standing on the Side of Love

Tags: ,

Help Stop the Suffering in Maricopa County

1 Comment | Share On Facebook| Help Stop the Suffering in Maricopa County Share/Save/Bookmark Jun 23, 2012

The message below went out on Saturday, June 23, 2012 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.

“Is Sheriff Joe afraid that the Unitarian Universalists leading the demonstration will pray those jail doors open?”
–Stephen Lemons, writing for the Phoenix New Times

end-abuse-in-arpaio-tent-cityTonight: Tent City. Thousands strong, we will lift our voices against the inhumane conditions at this place that Sheriff Joe Arpaio himself calls a “concentration camp.” What is Sheriff Arpaio’s response to our peaceful candlelight vigil at Tent City? To put Maricopa County jails on lockdown, and prevent inmates from receiving visits from friends or family for 24 hours. Indeed, Arpaio plans to punish those who are already subjugated.

Friends—it’s time for us to raise our voices together, all across the country, and demand, unequivocally, that the federal government Shut Down Tent City! Tent City represents the worst of a culture of cruelty perpetrated in the name of the U.S. government and is a shameful component of the federal system of mass detention and deportation. Help us shine a light on these egregious human rights abuses here in Arizona and across the nation!

Please join us in calling on President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to end the culture of cruelty by placing the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office under receivership, closing of Tent City, and cutting off all ICE powers from Maricopa County.

Click here to send your message.

Today, UUA President Rev. Peter Morales will join a delegation that is touring Tent City—special guests of Sheriff Arpaio. I am not optimistic that any dialogue between human rights observers and Arpaio will lead to positive change, though I am glad for the opportunity our denomination and others have to bear witness, even if it is only one more “media hit” for the Sheriff.

No matter what—tonight, thousands of us will protest the grotesque, unconstitutional conditions at this jail that have been allowed to go unchecked for far too long. We will lift our voices and demand a cessation to the cruelty perpetuated in Maricopa County. Never was a truer rallying cry than Arrest Arpaio, Not the People!

Join us! Click here to send your message urging a shut-down of Tent City.

“They’re not going to stop me with their little demonstration,” Sheriff Arpaio told the Arizona media about our Puente-UUA demonstration at Tent City. Maybe not today, Sheriff. Maybe not tomorrow. But we will stop you. The bending arc of justice will stop accommodating you. People of conscience and good will expose you. We will replace your cruelty with calls for compassion, faith in a better America, family first, and freedom for all who seek basic life, liberty, and happiness.

May Justice Prevail.

Dan-Furmansky-cropped

Dan Furmansky
Campaign Manager
Standing on the Side of Love

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Powerful Insights from Puente’s Carlos Garcia

No Comments | Share On Facebook| Powerful Insights from Puente’s Carlos Garcia Share/Save/Bookmark Jun 20, 2012
carlos_garcia

Carlos Garcia (Photo credit: Univision)

AltnerNet has interviewed Puente’s Executive Director, Carlos Garcia, on a range of issues, and his insights are a must-read.  Hear what Carlos thinks about what it means to be an ally, why the Justice Dept.’s legal opposition to SB1070 misses the point, and why the situation on the ground in Arizona is much worse than many imagine, and where “ski masked check points that take away parents and leave children with police-issued stuffed animals in their place is tolerated.”

Here is just one quote from the interview about how allies can best serve the movement:

Allies are key in two ways. The first is in working from a place of true solidarity. That means letting undocumented people and migrants lead their own movement and taking cues from the ground-up as opposed to trying to manage the movement through intermediaries. The second is in finding ways to take as brave a stand possible as exemplified by the youth who have come out as undocumented and unafraid.

Click here to read to full interview.

Tags: , , , , ,

« Older Entries