Feature Archives

Just 10 days before Christmas, the Woodfin Suites hotel in Emeryville fired 21 immigrant workers who have been involved in a campaign to enforce the city's living wage law. On Friday, December 15th, Woodfin management placed the workers on two weeks suspension with pay and terminated them effective December 29th due to Social Security "no-matches".

On December 18th, dozens of community organizations joined with the workers to announce a boycott of the Woodfin Suites. Photos The workers are seeking an injunction to stop the retaliatory firings. A hearing is scheduled on Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court.

At least 1,280 workers have been arrested in a series of immigration raids targeting six Swift & Co. meatpacking plants. The raids took place in Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Iowa and Minnesota It marks the largest sweep of its kind ever against a single company. Local Spanish radio host, Antonio Medina, describes the immigration raid as aggressive and ugly. “I went to the plant to see what was happening, but because I’m Latino they immediately asked me for my papers,” said Medina.

On Monday, November 13th hotel workers and their supporters gathered for an evening rally against threatened mass firings at the Woodfin Hotel in Emeryville. Audio Report Woodfin Hotel workers are still demanding what is owed to them under the new living wage law in Emeryville, Measure C, which took effect last December. After the passage of Measure C, the Woodfin Hotel bosses began to claim that many of the workers' social security numbers are "incorrect," and are threatening to fire the workers unless they fix their alleged, unproved worker authorization problems.

Emergency Action: Thurs. Oct. 5th, 7–9 a.m. at Woodfin Suites Hotel, 5800 Shellmound, Emeryville.
On Friday morning, September 29, community members including faith-based leaders, local union members and residents demonstrated their support for immigrant workers at the Woodfin Suites in Emeryville. Carrying mops, brooms, drums, and noise makers, protesters demanded "Woodfin Clean-Up your Act" and "Worker Rights Now!" as workers waved bedsheets from the windows. Photos

On Monday, September 25, federal authorities asserted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have arrested 109 people on suspected immigration violations, throughout the Sacramento area, including 12 in Lodi. The raids were part of the government’s “Operation Return to Sender” campaign of cracking down on undocumented immigrants. The raids are strikingly similar to the recent roundups in Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Hollister on September 7th and 8th, where 107 were arrested by ICE officials in a move that infuriated the community.
Condemnation of the raids

On September 7th and 8th, the communities of Watsonville, Santa Cruz, and Hollister woke up to attacks (arrests & deportations) from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE, formerly INS). The ICE told local media that they targeted undocumented people with prior warrants, but of the 107 arrested, only 19 had warrants for arrest, and up to 90 were immediately deported without an opportunity to see an immigration judge or receive any kind of legal advice. It was reported that the ICE told the victims that they were either police or school officials. Once in the house, they questioned all people living there about their immigration status. Children were left without their parents, husbands without their wives, and wives without their husbands. Read more

A protest against "Operation Return To Sender" took place in the Watsonville Plaza on September 24th. Cars honked in support as people lined Main Street holding signs calling for a world without borders, dignity for workers, black and brown unity and solidarity with immigrants. A circle was formed and people from Watsonville discussed how their community has been affected by immigrantion raids. Read more and view photos || photos and comments || photos contra la migra

Audio: FSRN: Watsonville Rally Denounces Immigration Raids || revolutionary sister drops knowledge || voices contra la migra watson

see also: The 13th Annual Peace and Unity March on October 7th

According to media reports, 107 people from Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Hollister have been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in a sweep over September 7th and 8th. Of the immigrants, mostly from Mexico, but also from El Salvador, Guatemala and India, 44 have already been deported without prior access to lawyers. The rest are currently being held in custody at an undisclosed location. Many of those arrested in "Operation Return to Sender" have lived in the United States for the majority of their lives, and have homes and U.S.-born children.