Feature Archives

On April 17th and 18th, a California delegation of immigrant rights and human rights activists was in Douglas, Arizona to respond to the presence of vigilantes on the US/México border, and to their hate messages. This group of 15 activists, along with allies in Arizona, planned to "counter the national media coverage and international attention that the 'Minutemen' have received with our message: We will not tolerate vigilanteism against immigrant communities! Immigrant rights are human rights!" Video of Friday's "Despedida" Press Conference

Organizers of the delegation include La Raza Centro Legal, St. Peter's Housing Committee, Heads Up Collective, PODER, SF Day Labor Program, Women's Collective, Padres Unidos. More info about the delegation's plans

The Minuteman Project is an event planned for the month of April, that has invited up to 1000 critics of U.S. immigration policy to Arizona for the stated purpose of protesting the alleged lack of enforcement at the U.S.- Mexico Border.

Critics of the Minuteman Project say that it helps to fuel anti-immigrant bias, and interferes with the work of law enforcement and border patrol agencies. The Border Patrol has denounced the MinuteMan project, voicing concern that untrained civilians “could cause more trouble than they prevent.” For example, volunteers have disturbed the footprints agents use to track immigrants and set off carefully placed sensors along the border. Read more The ACLU of Arizona is providing legal observers at the Minuteman Project's site this month.

Border Action Network/Accion Fronteriza | U.S. Customs and Border Protection | Border Security Website | Border Patrol Website | Ongoing US Indymedia Coverage

4/3/2005: Today was the annual Cesar Chavez Holiday Parade in San Francisco. A similar event takes place every year in celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Cesar Chavez, the late labor activist. The parade was led by local politicians and activists, and it included contingents representing unions and other local organizations. The largest float was an advertisement for Safeway and there were many local radio stations handing out promotional stickers.
San Francisco Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | April 2 in Fresno: 1 | Salinas on April 2-3

2004 Coverage | 2001 Coverage | SF State's Viva Cesar E. Chavez Site | United Farmworkers' "The Story of Cesar Chavez"

A vigil was held Monday, March 21st, at the home of Senator Diane Feinstein. People gathered at 4:00 pm at Centro del Pueblo (474 Valencia Street at 16th). They planned to carpool to the vigil at Diane Feinstein's house, which is located at 30 Presidio Terrace, near Arguello. The vigil included speakers, music, candles, and a public display of driver's licenses on Feinstein's front lawn.

People who are in favor of the issuance of driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants planned to express their intolerance of Feinstein's support for the Real ID Act (HR 418). If this bill becomes law, it will be impossible for undocumented immigrants in California to drive legally. Protest organizers say that Senator Diane Feinstein came out in favor the Real ID Act, which, among other things, would deny undocumented immigrants driver's licenses at a national level. If this law passes (it has already passed the US House of Representatives and will be considered by the US Senate in the next few weeks), it will destroy our efforts to obtain driver's licenses for immigrants here in California..." Read more

Video of March 5th Fresno Protest Against HR 418 | Past Indybay Coverage of the Real ID Act

Xxxxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx reports that her husband, Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx, was arrested on July 28, 2004, charged with making a false claim of being a U.S. citizen on a loan application (at that time he had a Green Card) - this was apparently a computer error, not the fault of Mr. Xxxxxx. His legal team found out that the way that the government had done its investigation was by cross referencing with Homeland Security or Immigration records to identify the citizenship of all persons who received these SBA (Small Business Association) Loans.

As a result of Mr. Xxxxxx not pleading guilty to False Claim of Citizenship and being automatically deported, the prosecutor has charged him with Bank Fraud. Since the charge of False Claim of Citizenship was not a strong case, because Hafeez provided a copy to the bank of his social security card which clearly states Not Authorized to work without INS approval, the federal prosecutor has charged him with Bank Fraud.

Ms. Xxxxxx says, "This is the result of how the government is using criminal courts alongside of immigration enforcement to target, prosecute and uproot Muslim families, deporting them... My husband's only crime is being born in Pakistan and being Muslim. I am a born white American and his children are american/pakistani. My father fought in Viet Nam. This is not what I feel they are or were fighting for, to victimize people. I feel I have no choice but to turn to the citizens and beg for his mercy for a innocent mistake in not reading every single page (of the loan application)....Let me again remind you that this investigation did not start by Bank Fraud investigation, terrorism or money laundering. However it was started off by cross referencing Nationality and Citizenship...What a big price to pay for coming to America. Here America claims Pakistan is our Allies, but yet this is how Pakistanis are being treated, unlike the British?"

The trial is set to begin on March 21st at the Harris County Federal Courthouse, at 515 Rusk, in Houston, Texas. The Judge is Mrs. Nancy Atlas. Read more

February 20th, 2005 marked the 4th National Day of Solidarity with Muslim, Arab and South Asian Immigrants, as is called for by the Blue Triangle Network. Samina Faheem is the founding Executive Director of the American Muslim Voice, and Co-founder of Fear To Friendship, a group that dedicated to subsiding the fear after 9/11 by forming life long friendships. She invited the community to a Day Of Solidarity Open House in Palo Alto on Saturday, Feb 26th, 2005.

"While our current administration and some of our fellow Americans are trying to divide us by creating a culture of fear, suspicion and anxiety between us they are simultaneously destroying faith in humanity. We need to replace this mistrust with a culture of understanding, mutual respect, friendship, faith, peace and harmony in our world and hope for a better future. On behalf of the targeted community American Muslim Voice would like to thank all of our fellow Americans who have been standing by us since 9/11 by holding an open house. Lunch will be provided. No forums, no teach-ins, no lectures and no speeches - just family and friends having lunch and fun together." (From an American Muslim Voice Statement)

Blue Triangle Network | American Muslim Voice

On Saturday, February 26th, there was a Symposium on the Deportation of Southeast Asian Refugees, titled Exiled Once Again. This annual event examined "US Immigration Law, its impact on the Southeast Asian community, and the pending deportations of more than 1,500 Southeast Asian refugees." The Symposium was organized by Boalt Hall's Asian Law Journal. One panel discussed the political and historical contexts of deportation policy in the U.S., and another addressed issues related to community activism and education. The day's events included a short clip of the film "Sentenced Home", which follows Cambodian-Americans as they are deported back to Cambodia; discussion, lunch, and a reception after the event. Flyer | Read more

February 11, 2005: The United States House of Representatives voted yesterday to approve H.R. 418, which would "establish and rapidly implement regulations for State driver's license and identification document security standards, to prevent terrorists from abusing the asylum laws of the United States, to unify terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal, and to ensure expeditious construction of the San Diego border fence." It would make states verify that they're not giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and it would grant judges broader power to deport political asylum seekers they suspect may be terrorists. H.R. 418 also would waive environmental hurdles in order to allow the completion of a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border south of San Diego. The legislation, which was called the Real ID Act by its sponsor, Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), passed by a 261-161 vote and next it must be passed by the Senate.

States would have three years to comply with the new federal standards dictating what features driver's licenses must have. They could still issue special driving permits to illegal aliens, but those permits would not be recognized as identities for boarding airlines or allowing entry to federal buildings. A number of nasty amerndments were added to the bill. Republicans said the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers had multiple driver's licenses that enabled them to slip through security and board the planes they flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and that crashed into the ground in Pennsylvania. However, not of their driver's licenses were falsified, nor were the men were all in the country legally. Opponents to the legislation, who include a broad coalition of groups supporting immigrant rights, civil rights and states' rights and environmentalists, say the bill would drive the country's 8 million to 12 million undocumented immigrants further underground, deprive legitimate asylum seekers of protection and gut environmental laws and endanger illegal immigrants' lives by allowing border fence construction.

Articles about the bill Organizations such as the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund (NALEO) have written to President Bush to ask him to oppose the Real ID Act and to work towards immigration reform.