Feature Archives

Organizers in cities and towns around the U.S. are hoping to bring back the historical significance of May 1st in international labor and workers' struggles, and to reignite the labor movement by integrating recent undocumented workers' struggle for amnesty. Marches, rallies, and other gatherings on that date will focus on issues such as federal agencies and ending harassment by local police, raids, and the separation of families in immigrant communities; stopping the use of "no-match" letters to intimidate worker organizing efforts; holding elected officials accountable to supporting immigrant rights; funding human needs and services instead of militarism and war; and amnesty for those who do not have current documents.

anonymous anarchists write, "A Wells Fargo in downtown Santa Cruz was paintbombed during the night. Wells Fargo invests in the GEO Group, the contractor which runs the gulag in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In addition to running GTMO, the GEO Group is also contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to run its immigration detention facilities."

In the fall of 2007, workers at Lakeside Organics in Santa Cruz County filed numerous complaints against their employer, including denied breaks and unpaid overtime totaling more than $10,000, sexual and discriminatory harassment, unsafe working conditions, lack of medical compensation for job related injuries, and "dumping" injured workers. Long drawn-out legal efforts to hold Lakeside Organics accountable for its labor abuses have highlighted the discrepancy in legal resources between the laborers and the corporation. Traditional legal support systems for migrant laborers such as California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) have been systematically targeted and de-funded by corporate interests that the government has come to represent.

The international network demanding accountability for the murder of US journalist Brad Will released secret documents detailing proposed military support for Mexican security forces implicated in murder, torture and continuing arbitrary detentions.

On the evening of November 11th, Border Patrol officers attacked participants in the closing rally of a week-long bi-national camp in Calexico / Mexicali protesting borders. The rally took place on both sides of the fence just east of the pedestrian border crossing. Nearly 100 Border Patrol agents used pepper gas pellets and batons to assault demonstrators on the U.S side. One protestor is being charged with two counts of assaulting a federal officer.

Live radio streams from the No Borders Camp

During the week of November 7-11th, the first No Borders Camp is taking place on the US-Mexico border. Participants who want to see "a world without borders, where no one is illegal" are meeting on both sides of the border in Mexicali (MX) and Calexico (US) and will march on Wednesday, Nov. 7th to take the camp. Following the establishment of the camp there will be different days of action against capitalism, immigrant detentions and the separation wall.

Immigrant communities and their allies from around the Bay Area will come together for a vigil at 6:30pm at 24th and Mission Streets on Wednesday, September 12th. The St. Peters Housing Committee has called for the vigil to protest a variety of legal attacks against immigrants that have taken the form of raids, Social Security "No-Match Letters," English-only policies, increased fees for citizenship applications, and attempts to eliminate family-based immigration. After the vigil, participants will march to the HOMEY Mural at 24th and Capp Streets.