Feature Archives

October 31st Update: One of three people arrested at Saturday's demonstration will be arraigned in Sacramento Superior Court on Tuesday, at 1:30 pm in Department 63. Supporters and attorneys will hold a press conference before the hearing. Read more

The Bay Area Coalition to Fight the Minutemen called for an action to oppose the Minutemen Project's rally to gather public support for their attempts to harass poor, undocumented border-crossers and to announce their support of a new initiative that would establish a state border police in addition to the existing federal border patrol.

There was a rally on the West Capitol steps in Sacramento on Saturday October 29th. It featured the founder of the Minutemen Project, Jim Gilchrist, and the legislative sponsors of the California Border Police Initiative, amongst others. About 600 people representing anti-racist groups throughout California arrived at the Capitol in busses and carpools from the Bay Area and the Central Valley to confront the Minutemen. Among those attending the protest against the vigilantes were Mexican American Political Association National President Nativo Lopez, former Green Party gubernatorial candidate Peter Camejo, and representatives from Bay Area Coalition to Fight the Minutemen, Deport the Migra Coalition, Zapatista Solidarity Coalition, Brown Syndicate and other statewide organizations. Three people were arrested Saturday at an anti Minuteman rally at the State Capitol, and two were treated for injuries. Photos: 1 | 2 | Press Release on Arrrests | San Diego Indymedia Coverage

The demonstration was sponsored by the Bay Area Coalition to Fight the Minutemen, the “Deport the Migra” Coalition, the Zapatista Solidarity Coalition, the Mexican American Political Association, the Brown Syndicate, and other groups statewide. Read more

Volante en Español | Flyer in English

A weekend of No Border actions in San Diego confronted the racist groups attempting to mount vigilante border patrols in California. On 9/17, a group of around 50 demonstrators interrupted a "Friends of the Border Patrol" training session, tore down the registration table and flag and entered the hall chanting "No Borders, No Racists, No Borders, No Nations" and "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us." On 9/18, a No Border March converged on the border from both north and south at Calexico, about two hours east of San Diego.

The protests to date have been so effective that the Friends of the Border Patrol has been nearly sent into hiding, with signs at their training indentifying it as a bird watching group. Minutemen volunteers, who sported t-shirts reading "Undocumented Border Patrol," reacted violently towards protesters, even tackling and jumping on one demonstrator. The California Minuteman group has now reportedly delayed its planned border patrols due to low turnout and "safety" concerns.

Meanwhile, on 9/16, a bay area coalition called "Deporten a La Migra" headed to Sacramento to march on the State Capitol and Attorney General's office, condemning the racist vigilantes terrorizing the border. St. Peters' Housing Committee, SF Day Labor Program, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, CARECEN, Heads Up Collective, CISPES, and Just Cause Oakland all sent delegations to present their demands to Schwarzenegger and Lockyer. Report and Photos from Bay Area Coalition to Fight the Minutemen | Reflections by a bay area no-borders activist | Report from Deporten a La Migra | Coverage at San Diego Indymedia

Beginning on September 16th, people will converge on the San Diego/Tijuana region and the Mexicali/Calexico region of the Mexico/US border "to stop the vigilante operation being planned there by the Friends of the Border Patrol." The call to action encourages people who cannot make it to the border to organize solidarity actions in their home towns, rejecting "the Minutemen, Borders and the racist ideologies that Borders are built on." Read more

Organizers' goal for September 16th-18th is to take action and directly shut down the Minutemen operations. The o.r.g.a.n.i.c. Collective, Anarchist Action San Francisco, and the San Francisco Bay Area Anti-Minutemen Coalition are seeking additional endorsers to the call to action.

Delete the Border | Organic Collective

A (no)Border Encuentro is scheduled for August 27th and 28th in San Diego. A bus to San Diego will leave San Francisco at 10pm on Friday night. For those who are unable to go to San Diego, the CELLspace Film Cluster and the Borderland Film Collective will present a screening of border-related films at Cell Space at 7pm on Sunday, August 28th.

As millions of people are forced to live underground, more than 3200 are dead, and tens of thousands more are incapacitated crossing the border, racist paramilitaries are openly organizing across the US and finding partners in politicians and corporate media outlets alike. There is a great deal of organizing around border and immigration issues. One "small contribution to this struggle for liberation and dignity, (is) the (no)border encuentro in San Diego." Organizers hope that it will "truly be an encounter, with many people sharing space, dreams, ideas and strategies." They ask that people who plan to attend the (no)Border Encuentro RSVP so they know who and how many poeple are coming.

The weekend will include a Maquiladora/Border Tour, a benefit concert with the Bay Area's Entartete Kunst as well as Southern California hip hop and break-beat dj's, a Café Anarquista, a workshop about the history of the border, direct action training, an anti-minutemen training session, and more. Read more

Delete the Border.org | Organic Collective | San Diego Indymedia | Arizona Indymedia | Tijuana BorderHack, Sept 2-4

Community groups from Northern California and allies came together on Wednesday, August 17th to have an action to send a message to legislators in Sacramento that immigrants have a right to an unmarked driver's license, and to respond to the Governor's open invitation to the vigilante group the "Minutemen."

The protest gathered at 24th and Mission Streets at 9:00am on Wednesday, August 17th for a rally, and then formed a human chain down to Cesar Chavez Street. Read more This event will took place at the same time as a press conference in Sacramento held by representatives from various Northern California communities.

During the week of July 16th in Campo, east of San Diego on the U.S.-Mexico border, a Strategy Campout was established by Gente Unida and local activists participated in disrupting the activities of the Border Patrol Auxiliary, a spin-off of the racist vigilante group the Minuteman Project, which had set up shop in town for the weekend. Anti-racists used high-power spotlights and spoke to the vigilantes through sound systems in order to advertise their location and prevent their snipers from hearing the movement of migrants. San Diego anti-racism groups are mobilizing people around the country to head to San Diego to stop the larger Minuteman operation on Sept. 16th, coinciding with Mexican Independence Day. Full report | San Diego Indymedia

7/10/2005: Over 200 immigrants and supporters convened on the State Capitol on Wednesday (July 6, 2005) to demand drivers licenses without special markings to undocumented residents and to oppose border vigilantes in California.

Over 200 immigrants and supporters convened on the State Capitol to demand drivers licenses without special markings to undocumented residents and to oppose border vigilantes in California. They met inside with State Senator Gil Cedillo to demand no special markings on the licenses, and then held a press conference at the steps of the Capitol while a group of up to ten citizens practiced civil disobedience at the Governor’s office.

Two buses of immigrants from San Francisco and dozens more from the Northern California area met with State Senator Cedillo in a crowded meeting room inside the Capitol to talk about the driver license legislature. In this session immigrant workers and families expressed their strong opposition to the proposed markings on the drivers licenses to undocumented residents. “We do not want markings, we are not animals,” chanted a day laborer from San Francisco. Senator Cedillo seemed to agree but could not guarantee passage of the driver license legislature without such marking. Similar legislature has been vetoed by Governor Schwarznegger once already, and he is expected to do so again if the marking isn’t included. The State Bill SB60, introduced by Cedillo, awaits a hearing later this summer.

See the full story HERE | Radio interview