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Indybay Feature

ICE kidnaps UC Berkeley employee

by Daria
ICE kidnapped Jesus Gutierrez, UC Berkeley Food Service worker, on April 29th.
(Español abajo.)

============================================
RELEASE JESUS GUTIERREZ FROM ICE CUSTODY!
CONDUCT AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO THE KIDNAPPING!
MAKE UC-BERKELEY A SANCTUARY CAMPUS!

PICKET AT JESÚS GUTIÉRREZ'S COURT HEARING in Oakland
8:30AM, Thursday, May 7th, at Oakland's Wiley Manuel Courthouse (661 Washington St.), Hearing will be in Dept. 104, UCB

============================================

At 4:30pm on Wednesday, April 29, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and another federal agent entered the Clark Kerr Campus Dining Commons. They spoke with a manager, who upon their request summoned Jesús Gutiérrez, a food service worker and AFSCME 3299 member, to his office and left him alone with the agents. (This same UCB manager, when approached by BAMN, denied knowing Jesús.) The agents arrested Jesús and have him under ICE custody at Santa Rita Jail. No decision of deportation has been made, and he will have a court hearing Thursday.

THIS IS CAUSE FOR ALARM! We must make clear that it is not acceptable for ICE to kidnap anyone from our campus. ICE wants to send a message to every immigrant student and worker that they are not welcome at UC-Berkeley or in America. We must make clear to them it is they who are not welcome on our campus or in our city. This overstepping by ICE means that, by making the fight here, we can serve as an example of how to fight and win against these racist kidnappers on any college campus in the country. To establish UC-Berkeley as a public university and an institution of enlightenment and intellectual honesty, we must defend the right of every student and worker to live, learn, and work without fear of being kidnapped by federal agents.

The ICE agent would not have known Jesús's name and when and where to find him, without the help of someone at the University. This individual (or individuals) responsible for this arrest must be fired. An independent investigation must be conducted to determine who assisted the kidnappers in this outrage.

We can win Jesús's release and make UCB a sanctuary campus if we take a stand now. At UCSB on May 24, 2007, Yoon Choi, a Korean student, was arrested and threatened with deportation. After UCSB negotiated with ICE, the government released the student four weeks later and she was able to complete her degree.

Chancellor Birgeneau must join students in demanding the release of Jesús Gutiérrez. Just as the City of Berkeley has a sanctuary policy that forbids its police and employees from assisting ICE, UCB must make clear, both in words and deeds, that it will not assist ICE in deporting its own students or workers in any way.

This must never happen here again. As students and workers, we have the power to shape the character of our education. It is the youth of America today who share the desire to live in an America free of racist prejudice and inequality, to live in an America of freedom and opportunity. We must take a stand! We can win!


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¡Dejen en libertad a el trabajador de Clark Kerr Dining ahora!
¡Conduzcan una investigación independiente del secuestro!
¡Hagamos a UCB un Campus Santuario!

PIQUETE antes de la VISTA DEL TRABAJADOR en Oakland
8:30AM, el jueves 7 de mayo, Wiley Manuel Courthouse (661 Washington St., Oakland), Dept. 104

============================================

A las 4:30pm el miércoles 29 de abril, un agente de ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) y otro agente federal entraron la cafeteria de Clark Kerr. Hablaron con un manager, quién según su pedido era llamar a Jesús Gutiérrez, un trabajador de la cafetería y miembro de AFSCME 3299. Cuando Jesús entró a la oficina, lo dejó solo con los agentes. (Este mismo manager de UCB, cuando BAMN le preguntó sobre Jesús, negó conocerlo.) Los agentes lo arrestaron, y ahora él está detenido por ICE en la Cárcel de Santa Rita esperando su día de corte. Ninguna decisión de deportación se ha tomado.

¡ESTO ES CAUSA PARA ALARMA! Debemos hacer claro que no es aceptable que ICE secuestre cualquier persona de nuestro campus. ICE quiere mandar un mensaje a cada estudiante y trabajador immigrante que no es bienvenido en UCB ni en América. Debemos hacerles claro que son ellos los que no son bienvenidos en nuestro campus ni en nuestra ciudad. Esta acción de sobrepasar significa que, por hacer la lucha aquí, podemos servir como el ejemplo de como luchar y ganar en contra de estos secuestradores racistas en cualquier colegio en este país. Para establecer UCB como una universidad pública y como una institución de aclaración y honestidad intelectual, debemos defender el derecho de cada estudiante y trabajador para vivir, aprender, y trabajar sin miedo de ser secuestrado.

El agente de ICE no hubiera sabido el nombre de Jesús ni cuando o donde podía encontrarlo, sin la ayuda de alguien en UCB. El individuo o los individuos responsables por este arresto deben ser despedidos. Una investigacion independiente debe ser conductada para determinar quen asistió a los secuestradores en esta injusticia.

Podemos ganar la puesta en libertad de Jesús y hacer a UC-Berkeley un campus santuario, si luchamos ahora. En UC-Santa Barbara el 24 de mayo 2007, Yoon Choi, una estudiante Koreana, fue arrestada en su dormitorio y detenida por ICE. Después de negociaciones entre la universidad y ICE, el gobierno la pusó en libertad cuatro semanas después y ella pudo acabar su título.

Chancellor Birgeneau tiene que unirse a los estudiantes demandando la liberación de Jesús Gutiérrez. Como la Ciudad de Berkeley tiene una política de ciudad santuario y prohibe a los policías de Berkeley y también a empleados que ayuden a ICE, UC-Berkeley debe de ser claro, por medio de palabras y acciones, no de ayudará ICE a deportar su propios estudiantes y trabajadores de cualquier manera.

Esto nunca debe ocurrir otra vez aquí. Como estudiantes y trabajadores, tenemos el poder para formar el character de la educación aquí. Es la juventud de América hoy que desea vivir en una América libre de prejuicio y desigualdad racista, vivir en una América de libertad y oportunidad. ¡Debemos luchar! ¡Podemos ganar!

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Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN)
http://www.bamn.com
california [at] bamn.com
(510) 501-2435
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Corporate America is the biggest perpetrator of identity theft and abuse, but the corporate CEO's are never prosecuted for their crimes that impact millions. The arrest of this activist is clear demonstration of ruling class warfare against working people.

See details of the article:

http://datacompromise.blogspot.com/
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