Following in the footsteps of states like Arizona, Georgia, Utah, and Indiana, Alabama has become the fifth state to pass harsh anti-immigrant laws within the last year. HB 56, also known as the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, was passed into law on June 9. However, Alabama is the first state where some … Continue reading Alabama passes harsh law restricting immigrant rights
Category: Immigration
MN Immigrant Rights Activists Protest “Secure Communities” Bill
Gunfire in Tucson
by George ShriverTUCSON, Ariz. —This state has become a symbol of hatred, intolerance, bigotry, and violence—especially after the signing of the Arizona Senate Bill SB 1070 last April, which in effect authorized racial profiling. That law is now going through a lengthy process of court challenges and appeals. And harsh new laws are being prepared … Continue reading Gunfire in Tucson
March 21, 2010 – Grassroots Immigrant Justice Network
Open Letter on Immigrant Rights
To: The Obama Administration LET’S HAVE A DEBATE ABOUT IMMIGRATION REFORM An Open LetterThis letter was initiated by the Grassroots Immigrant Justice Network, a group which was recently formed by leaders in the immigrant rights and labor movements across the country. Initial members include Isabel Garcia, David Silva Villalobos, Carlos Arango, Juan Jose Bocanegra, Nativo … Continue reading Open Letter on Immigrant Rights
Democrats play ‘soft cop’ on immigration reforms
Democrats play ‘soft cop’ on immigration reformsFrom the April issue of Socialist Action newspaperBy MARC ROME and JAMES FRICKEYWhen Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano recently called off a raid on 100 immigrant workers in a Chicago factory, her move was hailed as a significant shift away from the anti-immigrant repression of the Bush years. Less … Continue reading Democrats play ‘soft cop’ on immigration reforms
What’s San Francisco Bay Area SA up to?
By Marc Rome, March 9, 2009Last night I attended a meeting, organized by the Democrats and local pastors, at St. Anthony's church in the heart of San Francisco's Latino community. It featured Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Nancy Pelosi. It was part of Gutierrez's 17 city "Family Unity" tour that is intended to garner support … Continue reading What’s San Francisco Bay Area SA up to?
Interview with Roger Calero Part I
Interview with Roger Calero Part II
Workers Overcome Divisions After Mississippi Raid
by David Bacon/TruthoutLaurel, Mississippi - In the recent raid of the Howard Industries electrical plant in Laurel, Mississippi, 481 workers have been detained for almost two weeks in Jena, Louisiana. Neither they nor their attorneys know when they will be formally charged, deported or released, and Barbara Gonzalez, spokesperson for the Bureau of Immigration and … Continue reading Workers Overcome Divisions After Mississippi Raid
ICE: Nearly 600 detained in Mississippi plant raid
[by Holbrook Mohr/AP]LAUREL, Miss. — The largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history has caused panic among Hispanic families in this small southern Mississippi town, where federal agents rounded up nearly 600 plant workers suspected of being in the country illegally.One worker caught in Monday's sweep at the Howard Industries transformer plant said fellow workers … Continue reading ICE: Nearly 600 detained in Mississippi plant raid
Slavery
Immigrant Rights Are Labor Rights
by Peter Rachleff*Today's critical labor struggles revolve around immigrants' rights, while today's struggles over immigrants' rights are grounded in workplace and labor organizing. Global, national, and local histories have woven these issues tightly together. In the U.S. we are seeing the beginnings of a multifaceted movement which engages these dynamically linked histories.Twenty-five years ago, U.S. … Continue reading Immigrant Rights Are Labor Rights
Mass Upsurge Exposes the Crisis in Leadership in the Immigrant Rights Movement
by James FrickeyDANBURY, Conn.—The lights in Main Street storefronts are back on. The boycott is over. The roar of street protest has diminished to an anxious silence. Nothing is resolved.A month ago, a crowd of 8000 people—almost all immigrant workers from Danbury—surrounded City Hall here to oppose a motion to deputize police as local proxies … Continue reading Mass Upsurge Exposes the Crisis in Leadership in the Immigrant Rights Movement
Feb. 6 Immigrant Rights Protest in Danbury, CT
Why Mass Action?
The broad outlines of Socialist Action's views on the centrality of mass mobilizations in building an irresistible antiwar movement have been published in previous issues of this newspaper (see Jeff Mackler's article in our November 2007 issue). But some additional elaboration can be helpful at a time when activists are today discussing concrete measures to … Continue reading Why Mass Action?
Public Enemy Video: “By the Time I Get to Arizona”
Homeland Security Operates Sting Against Migrant Workers
DANBURY, Conn.—The U.S. Department of Homeland Security snatched 11 Ecuadorian day laborers from a public park here in a sting operation on Sept. 19. An agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), posing as a construction contractor, lured the day laborers into an unmarked van with the promise of work. He then drove them instead … Continue reading Homeland Security Operates Sting Against Migrant Workers
Hundreds Meet to Launch New Immigrant Rights Alliance
By Jason Cain & Wayne McElyea / September 2006 issue of Socialist Action The biggest and most authoritative assembly yet of immigrant rights activists debated strategy and tactics, and launched a new organization—the National Alliance for Immigrant Rights (NAIR)—at the National Immigrant Rights Strategy Convention, held in suburban Chicago Aug. 11-13. Such a gathering was … Continue reading Hundreds Meet to Launch New Immigrant Rights Alliance
ICE Steps Up Immigrant Raids
September 2006 issue of Socialist Action newspaper The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is cooperating to an unprecedented degree with local and state police across the country to apprehend undocumented workers. The pretext is often a manhunt for an immigrant with felony convictions. Anecdotal evidence shows that ICE raids may also be targeting prominent activists … Continue reading ICE Steps Up Immigrant Raids
The Basic Contradiction of U.S. Immigration Policy
by James Frickey / June 2006 issue Socialist Action For the past 20 years, the U.S. has sought in earnest to remove its southern border as a barrier to foreign trade and investment, while continuously reinforcing it as a barrier to the free movement of workers. Over the years, the Mexican peasantry has been uprooted, … Continue reading The Basic Contradiction of U.S. Immigration Policy
Congress Debates ‘Reform’ Bill on Immigrant Rights
by James Frickey / June 2006 issue Socialist Action Andrew Stern, president of the 1.7-million-member Service Employees International Union, once likened the leadership of a mass movement to the crew on a sailboat. What matters is the wind in the sails, he said, not the fight over who steers. The wind behind the movement for … Continue reading Congress Debates ‘Reform’ Bill on Immigrant Rights
A Chicana Activist Speaks Out on Immigrant Rights
by Mark Ostapiak / June 2006 issue of Socialist Action Newspaper The May 1 demonstrations that rocked the nation with a political strike and economic boycott saw immigrant workers—largely Latino—bring back the true character of international workers day, begun by immigrants in the United States in 1886: relying on working-class mass action in the streets … Continue reading A Chicana Activist Speaks Out on Immigrant Rights
New York’s Governor Betrays Immigrants
by Marty Goodman / November 2007 issue of Socialist Action newspaper NEW YORK—In a reversal of his campaign promises, Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) announced on Oct. 27 a new driver’s license just for “illegal” immigrants. Spitzer earlier had promised a single license for all New York drivers. The new Spitzer plan is part of a … Continue reading New York’s Governor Betrays Immigrants
Solidarity actions in Mexico
May 2006 issue of Socialist Action newspaper Workers throughout Latin America watched the build-up to May Day closely, nowhere more so than in Mexico. Unions raised slogans at May Day rallies in Mexico City in solidarity with immigrant workers in the United States. A call also went out to boycott all U.S. products and U.S.-owned … Continue reading Solidarity actions in Mexico