redlightpolitics:

I am a Non Western, South American immigrant in a society that is increasingly determined to get rid of those like me. Media constantly reminds me that we are practically non human. That our rights should be eroded further in the name of safety. Politicians build careers using the rhetoric of hatred against those like me. I was punched in the face, I was elbowed in the stomach on two different occasions by two White Supremacists who objected to my looks and my speaking another language with a friend. Racial slurs were hurled. And still, I know I don’t have it as bad as others. In the grand scheme of things, my life is privileged. I am a documented resident. At least, I am not one of the thousands currently in detention camps awaiting deportation. Then my life would be under the control of a corporation that actually makes a profit out off the lives of those who are dehumanized the most.

Out of everything I’ve written in the past year, this one piece is probably the one I am the proudest. Not because it is particularly well written (I wouldn’t make such claim), but because I have spent days researching the subject. I have come across so, so many documented abuses across different continents, different countries, seemingly disparate environments. However, all of them had one thing in common: they were perpetrated by the one corporation who profits from the business of undocumented immigrants. In fact, I found so many that I was forced to edit most of them out. What ended up in this piece is just the tip of one dehumanizing, terrifying iceberg.

And this, all of this, is supposedly done in the name of our safety.

A valedictorian. A volunteer tutor. A Harvard biology student.

What do these talented young students living in the US have in common? The US government has sought to have them deported — despite their outstanding contributions to their communities — just because their parents brought them as children to the US without legal permission.

Amnesty International can’t let the dreams of these young students die, but we can’t succeed if individuals like you don’t take action. Lead a delegation of fellow activists in your home state during the weeks of Oct. 24 to Nov. 6, asking your Senators and Representatives to cosponsor and pass the DREAM Act.

2.1 million undocumented minors in the US who arrived here as children, have grown up here, and consider the US home are at risk as more and more states enact draconian anti-immigrant legislation. The DREAM Act focuses specifically on these young immigrants (DREAMers), providing them conditional legal status and an opportunity to permanently legalize their status in the US if they prove to have good moral character and complete two years of higher education or uniformed service, among other criteria.

This is not an “open door” — it’s simply doing what’s right. Your elected officials of all political stripes need to know that you and other Amnesty International activists like you are standing up for the rights of DREAMers. All individuals have the human right to due process before deportation and cannot be arbitrarily separated from their families.

Last year, with your help, the DREAM Act nearly became law, and was only narrowly defeated in the Senate. This year, we believe that your in-person meetings with your legislators — with you asking them to do their job and represent your views as a constituent — will help us achieve a critical human rights victory for millions of young people in the US. 

Leading an in-person delegation of activists to speak with your elected officials may sound daunting, but we will support you every step of the way with training, key points to address, and tips to be effective. And you won’t be alone — we’ll be mobilizing in districts all throughout the country, working in a powerful coalition of other groups looking to make the DREAM Act a reality.

You have the power to influence decision makers to pass the DREAM Act! A generation of talented DREAMers — and the communities throughout the US that they have touched — will thank you.

For a bright future,

Chris McGraw 
Grassroots Advocacy Program Director
Amnesty International USA 

KENNEWICK, Wash. — A city council candidate in Kennewick has advanced to the general election on a platform that includes calling for illegal immigrants to be executed if they refuse to leave town.

Loren Nichols collected nearly 400 votes in his ward - that’s about 26 percent of Tuesday’s primary vote. He’ll face the city councilman who also serves as Kennewick’s mayor, Steve Young, in the citywide general election this fall.

Nichols says that if illegal immigrants are seen entering the country illegally they should be shot on sight, and he says any that refuse an ultimatum to leave Kennewick they should also face the death penalty.

Young says he’s not surprised Nichols advanced to the general election because the candidate who finished third, William Miller, didn’t campaign at all or make any public statements about his positions.

After months of advocacy from San Jose immigrant advocacy organizations, civil rights groups, and service agencies — the San Jose police is withdrawing their participation from the controversial Homeland Security/ICE program called “Operation Community Shield.” Initial news of the program drew a widespread backlash from immigrant communities who said placing two ICE agents within the SJPD would cause waves of distrust in local law enforcement. Groups such as Sacred Heart Community Services, SIREN, PACT, and De-Bug organized public community responses to share their message that community trust is an important feature of a smart public safety framework. Today, the SJPD sent out the following press release.

PHOENIX — A judge on Tuesday sentenced more than a dozen immigrant rights advocates to one day in jail stemming from a protest last year over Arizona’s controversial immigration law, but they got credit for the day they spent behind bars at the time of their arrest.

Justice of the Peace David Seyer handed down the sentence about three weeks after finding the group of protesters guilty of a misdemeanor charge of disobeying police orders. They had faced up to four months in jail and a maximum $700 fine.

The group was arrested July 29, 2010, when dozens of protesters took to Phoenix streets on the day Arizona’s new immigration law was set to take effect. They also were speaking out against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who organized an immigration patrol the day the law took effect.

The protesters massed outside one of Arpaio’s jails, beating on a metal door and forcing sheriff’s deputies to call for backup. Officers in riot gear opened the doors, waded into the crowd and hauled off those who didn’t move.

A judge ended up putting the most contentious parts of the law on hold. The dispute over the law will likely end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Among the protesters was the Rev. Peter Morales, president of the Boston-based Unitarian Universalist Association. Morales lives in Arvada, Colo., and Salem, Mass., and was elected as the first Latino president of the association in 2009.

“The sentence was as lenient as it could be without dismissing the charges,” Morales told The Associated Press from Arvada after attending the hearing by phone. “So I believe that the judge was clearly moved and affected by the character and the idealism and the comportment of the defendants.”

Arpaio said regardless of the length of the sentence, he’s happy the judge found the demonstrators guilty.

“I’m not going to criticize the judge,” he said. “Let’s just say it’s a conviction and it sends a message out that anybody that violates a law is going to be arrested and go to jail.”

The sheriff said Morales and the other protesters are welcome to sit down with him in his office anytime to discuss illegal immigration.

But, Arpaio said, “If he violates the law, he will be arrested. Period.”

Morales said he had no immediate plans to return to Phoenix for a protest, but he said the Unitarian Universalist Association was holding its general assembly in Phoenix next June and will hold an immigration protest at that time.

“Joe Arpaio hasn’t seen anything yet,” Morales said. “We will make our disagreement and displeasure known.”

He said the protest likely wouldn’t involve the kind of civil disobedience that led to his arrest last year.

socialismartnature:

The racism of some American bigots literally knows no bounds, even going so far as to broach the surreal and chimerical.

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John McCain (R-AZ) says undocumented immigrants are to blame for the massive wildfires that have ravaged Arizona.

“There is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally,” McCain, said at a press conference Saturday after touring the Wallow fire, which began on May 29 and has burned over 500,000 acres to date.

“They have set fires because they signal others, they have set fires to keep warm, and they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement agents and agencies from them,” McCain said. “The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border.”

McCain did not provide any evidence to support his claim, however.

On Sunday, Tom Berglund, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman, told ABC News that there is no evidence that undocumented immigrants had caused the Wallow fire. “Absolutely not, at this level,” Berglund said. “There’s no evidence that I’m aware, no evidence that’s been public, indicating such a thing.”

Latino groups sharply criticized McCain for his remarks. “With the lack of evidence, he might as well also blame aliens from outer space for the fires,” Angelo Falcon, the president of the National Institute for Latino Policy, told CNN. Randy Parraz, whose organization Citizens for a Better Arizona, is trying to recall the senator who sponsored the state’s controversial anti-illegal immigration law, called McCain’s remarks “careless and reckless.”

“It’s easier to fan the flames of intolerance, especially in Arizona,” he said.

It’s a pretty thin line between being bigoted and delusional.

- Dyne

weexist-weresist:

but they were more amusing than anything else. i wrote a letter to the editor as part of a campaign my immigrant coalition is doing and it got published- along with my email address…..

here are some. warning: slurs, very anti immigrant, racist etc

email 1:

et me ask you a simple question:…