Feature Archives

On September 27th, four windows, a glass door and an ATM were smashed out at the Wells Fargo on the corner of Soquel Drive and Thurber Lane in the unincorporated area of Santa Cruz. Wells Fargo is one of the largest single stockholders in the GEO Group, a private prison outfit with prisons and detention centers spread across the world. Among many others, the GEO Group runs the ICE (Immigrations & Customs Enforcement) Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA. The Geo Group also operates a Migrant Operations Center in Guantanamo Bay, on the grounds of the Naval Base, adjacent to the more infamous "Gitmo".

On Tuesday, September 2nd, Palestinian professor and activist Sami Al-Arian was released from prison after more than five-and-a-half years behind bars. Immigration authorities released him on bail after they failed to explain his continued detention pending a trial for refusing to testify before a grand jury about a cluster of Muslim organizations in northern Virginia. But while he is out of prison, Sami Al-Arian is not free. He must remain under house detention at his daughter Laila's residence in Virginia, pending trial.

On the heels of May Day marches for immigrant rights around the country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers conducted raids targeting El Balazo Taqueria chain in the Bay Area on May 2. ICE officers stormed 11 different chain locations in at least six cities. A forum took place on August 7th at the Beach Flats Community Center in Santa Cruz to hear El Balazo workers and movement activists talk about the impact of the raids and the progress of the defense campaign, and to discuss the way forward in the struggle for immigrant rights.

Over three hundred pro-immigrant demonstrators called for the reaffirmation of San Francisco's sanctuary program on the steps of City Hall on July 30th. They countered about a dozen anti-immigrant members of the Minutemen Project. During the rally Renee Saucedo, an attorney with La Raza Centro, spoke for many saying the city should affirm the sanctuary law and "call out these hatemongers," referring to the Minutemen Project.

On the July 25th indynewswire on Freak Radio, danielsan spoke with Carmina Eliason, curator of the multimedia exhibit Remembering the Struggle, opening August 1st in Watsonville, which showcases art and history about the Watsonville Cannery Strike of 1985-87.

On the July 18th indynewswire, danielsan of 101.1 FM Freak Radio Santa Cruz spoke with Julia Harumi Mass, staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC), to discuss a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed in an attempt to learn more about the Homeland Security agency ICE, or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE and its supporters consistently say that round-ups and raids are conducted for reasons of national security because they prioritize immigrants with criminal backgrounds. However as Mass explains, the reality is far different.

On the heels of the largest and most aggressive immigration raids in northern California to date, Santa Clara County supervisors voted to oppose a federal immigration measure that they say would affect all workers adversely.Provisions in the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act of 2007 would expand an electronic verification system that Santa Clara County supervisors say would adversely affect all workers.