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On Mother’s Day, Migrant Community Speaks Out Against Family Separation
‘We All Belong With Our Children; Free the Victims of the Sportex Raid,’ Mothers Demand
What: Mother’s Day Speak-out and Vigil in honor of all mothers and demanding release of 13 Sportex Raid victims currently in immigrant detention
Where: ICE Central Office, 2035 N Central Ave.
When: 4pm, Today, Friday, May 10– Mother’s Day in Mexico
Who: Puente Arizona
Visuals: Monument of flowers, photos, gifts for mothers will be built
Today, on Mexican Mother’s Day, Puente Arizona and supporters will gather at ICE to raise their voices against family separation. In honor of Mother’s Day, they will demand an end to deportations, and that ICE immediately release the 13 mothers and grandmothers being detained as a result of Arpaio’s workplace raid at Sportex Apparel in February.
Natally Cruz, mother and organizer with Puente Arizona, says, “No child should ever have to suffer from family separation. Today, we honor all the mothers in our community, and demand an end to the deportations and out-of-control immigration enforcement that separates us from our families.”
Puente Movement Says Stopping Deportations Top Priority As Debate Moves Forward
President Obama Cannot Continue to Deport 1400 People a Day, Collude with Arpaio, while Claiming to Support Comprehensive Reform
04.18.2013 – Phoenix, AZ
The day after the Senate ‘Gang of 8′ introduced their immigration reform proposal, immigrant groups around the country are calling on the President to stop deportations. The Puente Movement also demands that Sheriff Arpaio be immediately brought to justice, stopping him from workplace and neighborhood raids that set up thousands of Arizonans to be ineligible for any reform that comes to pass.
As the President of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, said in a press conference yesterday,
“We also want to emphasize that while we are making progress in Washington, there is an accelerating crisis of deportations in America…. We know that there will be a roadmap to citizenship soon, but not soon enough for hundreds of thousands of hard working people…
We call on the administration to cease deportations of people who will soon be eligible for a long overdue roadmap to citizenship so the legislative process can proceed without prolonging the crisis. That is the sensible and humane thing to do. When a war is about to end, it makes sense to reach a cease-fire rather than extend the suffering needlessly.”
Carlos Garcia of the Puente Movement explained, “We want our loved ones to still be here when the path to citizenship opens, without felony charges that make them ineligible just because they were working to feed their families. The President can’t be the champion of reform and the deporter-in-chief at the same time. He can start the reform process now by extending the same relief he gave Dreamers to our entire community and bringing Arpaio to justice as a necessary step for any possible reform to be inclusive and truly comprehensive.”
Puente Movement with partners in Phoenix and across the country will be organizing immigrant communities and educating legislators to move the President to repair the damage of his current policies and push for a bill that stops deportations, protects workers’ rights, and includes all 11 million.
Raid Victims Face Montgomery’s Elevated Charges in Court Today
Migrant Families Demand that Charges Be Dropped, an End to Unjust Raids
What: Court Hearing for 23 Sportex Raid Victims, followed by March to Bill Montgomery’s Office to request that he meet raided families and drop all charges stemming from Arpaio’s Raids
When: Court starts at 8:30; March arriving at Montgomery’s Office at 10:30
Where: Superior Courthouse, 175 W Madison St. March to Montgomery’s Office at 301 W Jefferson St.
Who: Families of Raid Victims and Puente Arizona
Today, Monday April 15, family members of those detained in Arpaio’s latest raid and community supporters will pack the courtroom in support of the raid victims and to demand that all charges be dropped. The outcome of this court hearing will determine the raid victims’ ability to fight their deportation cases, and so is a critical moment in mounting pressure on County Attorney Bill Montgomery. All 23 are being offered a plea deal, which if they accept means near-certain deportation.
Carlos Garcia with Puente Arizona says, “Montgomery has already lowered the charges he is pressing against undocumented workers, showing that our community’s pressure is working. However, the charges they are facing would still make them ineligible for bond, and set them up for near-certain deportation, all for working and attempting to feed their families. We are asking Montgomery to recognize the illegality of Arpaio’s workplace raids and to drop all criminal charges against workers arrested in these raids.”
Follow @puenteaz for live updates.
Carlos Garcia, Community Organizer with the Puente Movement, says, “We know that Arpaio is a racist bigot who intentionally terrorizes our community. With his prosecutorial decisions, Montgomery is actively colluding with him. The time has come for Montgomery to choose which side of history he wants to be on. Montgomery has the power to stop these unjust workplace raids and drop all charges against Arpaio’s victims. Montgomery, our families are being separated every day: will you take action to alleviate our suffering?”
When: Today, Monday, March 18 at 10am
Where: ICE Offices at 2035 N Central Ave, Phoenix
Who: Ivon Díaz and her family, Puente Arizona, community supporters
Today, Ivon Díaz will reject ICE’s request that she sign a voluntary departure and leave her family behind. She was arrested when Arpaio raided her workplace the day before her wedding two years ago. Now the mother of a beautiful baby girl and married to the love of her life, Ivon would be eligible for a Deferred Action for Dream Act eligible youth Work permit, except for her felony charge stemming from Arpaio’s raid.
Carlos Garcia, lead organizer with Puente Arizona, says, “Ivon is just one of many whose lives have been destroyed by out-of-control immigration enforcement in Arizona. She has been victimized by Arpaio’s unjust workplace raids and Montgomery’s choice to follow ICE’s roadmap for securing deportations by charging undocumented workers with the maximum possible penalty. However, Ivon has her community behind her and she knows that she belongs here, with her husband and daughter in the country that they have made their home. Together, we will stop this family from being separated by the actions of Montgomery and Arpaio.”
Video of Ivon Telling Her Story
Petition Demanding to ICE Director John Morton demanding that Ivon Díaz’s voluntary departure order be vacated, and that she be granted deferred action : http://bit.ly/az-bride
Families of Montgomery’s and Arpaio’s Victims March Against Deportations and Workplace Raids
Workers and Families Rally, ‘Working is not a Crime, Separating Families is!’
What: March Against Deportation, Family Separation, and Workplace Raids
Where: From Indian Steele Park (3rd St and Indian School) to ICE Headquarters (2035 N. Central Avenue) to Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery’s Office (301 W Jefferson), Phoenix AZ
When: Leaving 8:00 am TODAY Monday, March 11th, 2013, arriving at Montgomery’s office at 11am
Who: Family members of Arpaio’s and Montgomery’s victims, concerned community and Puente Arizona
While immigration reform is debated in Washington, D.C., family members of Arpaio’s victims and concerned community members demand an end to family separation. Today, Puente Arizona and the affected families march to ICE Headquarters and Montgomery’s offices, highlighting the link between family separation and the county attorney’s decision to maximize charges against Arpaio’s victims, following ICE’s roadmap for securing deportations.
Julia Ojeda, whose husband is still in custody after being arrested at Arpaio’s recent raid at Sportex Apparel, says, “My children ask me where their father is and I don’t know what to tell them. I feel deceived because supposedly this country is for opportunity, so we came here to work for a better life for our children. Now we will fight for our rights until all the charges are dropped against my husband and the others, just for working.”
Carlos Garcia says, “We need immediate relief for our entire community. Montgomery is turning working into a crime by choosing high-level charges instead of using his discretion to allow our families to stay together. With Arpaio’s racist raids and Montgomery’s decision to prosecute undocumented workers with the maximum penalty, and President Obama’s deportation quotas, immigration reform will come too late for many if it doesn’t start with an end to deportations.”
Follow @puenteaz for live updates.
Carlos Garcia, Executive Director of the Puente Human Rights Movement, says, “The releases show us that those detained never needed to be behind bars. We have always known that detention is punitive, keeping families apart while people fight their civil immigration cases. Now ICE has shown us that there is no reason for people to be detained while they fight their cases. They shouldn’t stop at releasing hundreds. They should close the entire unnecessary immigration detention system.”
When: Today, Thursday February 14th at 12:00 noon
Where: Outside of Superior Courthouse, 222 E Javelina Ave, Mesa
Who: Family members of those arrested in workplace raid last Friday
While in Washington DC, politicians debate the latest round of immigration reform legislation, in Maricopa County, families are being torn apart every day. 27 immigrants, mostly older women with medical conditions, will all appear in court today after being arrested during a workplace raid orchestrated by Sheriff Arpaio at Sportex Apparel in Tempe last Friday, February 8.
Families of those detained will speak about the suffering caused by these raids and the threatened deportations of their loved ones, demanding that President Obama take immediate action to relieve their pain by stopping all deportations.
“We will not allow one more member of our community to be torn away from their family,” says Jovana Renteria, Community Organizer with the Puente Movement. “We need Congress to take action for our entire community, but that will take time. Today, we need President Obama to end all deportations, to alleviate the suffering of these 27 families and the thousands of others threatened with separation this very minute.”
Phoenix To March Against Family Separation and SB1070
We Unite to Demand the End of S-COMM in AZ, say Migrant Families and Allies
Who: Puente Human Rights Movement
What: March for Dignity
Where: Rally at Indian Steel Park, Indian School and 3rd St., and marching to ICE headquarters (2035 N Central Ave)
When: Saturday, July 28th at 9 am
On Saturday July 28th, Puente Arizona and concerned community members will march to demand dignity and an end to family separation. In light of the recent Supreme Court decision that upheld the racial profiling provision of SB1070, migrant communities and their allies are demanding that President Obama stop the deportation of SB1070’s victims by ending Arizona’s access to federal deportation program Secure Communities.
Carlos Garcia of the Puente Human Rights Movement says, “Every day, our families are torn apart because ICE collaborates with SB1070 and Arpaio and we are not going to stand for it any longer. President Obama has the power to stop the human rights crisis in Arizona in its tracks. We march on July 28th to show him that our communities are stronger than hate.”
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Online Petition demanding that President Obama stop SB1070 by refusing to deport its victims: http://bit.ly/potus1070
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Video Call to Action: http://bit.ly/1070calltoaction
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