Vigilantes Terrorize Immigrants Along California's Border

BAY AREA COMMUNITIES JOIN STATEWIDE ACTIONS TO REJECT VIGILANTE VIOLENCE
VIGIL AND PROCESSION FOR PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

WHAT: Bay Area communities will hold a vigil and press conference to remember those who have lost their lives crossing the US-Mexico border, denounce growing vigilante violence and call for comprehensive immigration reform. The vigil comes on the eve of the arrival of Arizonan vigilantes to California’s border region.

WHO: The vigil and press conference is sponsored by the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition (BAIRC), La Lucha Unida de los Jornaleros (Day Laborer’s United Struggle), and Mujeres Unidas y Activas (Women United and Active). BAIRC has long served as a unified voice for immigrant communities seeking dignity, respect, and human rights.

WHERE: Vigil starts outside the offices of Centro Legal de la Raza - 1001 Fruitvale Ave # 2, Oakland, CA - with procession to the office of Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) - 2647 International Blvd., Suite 108, Oakland, CA. Press conference will be held at MUA.

WHEN: Thursday, September 15, 2005, 5:00 PM vigil and procession, 6:00 PM press conference.

WHY: “Communities up and down the state of California are coming together to denounce vigilantism and call for real solutions to our nation’s broken immigration system,” said Sheila Chung, director of BAIRC. Arizonan vigilantes known as the Minutemen are poised to arrive in California on Friday, September 16 to patrol the California/Mexico border, and to “promote a hate-filled, white supremacist agenda,” said Maria Poblet of St. Peter’s Housing whose organization recently sent a Bay Area delegation to protest vigilante activities in Arizona. Research by the Center for New Communities and the Anti-Defamation League reveals Minutemen ties to white supremacist groups such as the National Alliance and Council of Conservative Citizens. In border states, these vigilantes have threatened the safety of immigrants and local communities, and violated the rights of border residents through illegal arrests. “When people take the law into their own hands it threatens public safety for all,” explained Juana Flores of Mujeres Unidas y Activas, a member organization of BAIRC. “In a state where immigrants make up a quarter of our population and contribute both their talents and tax dollars, Californians will not stand for anti-immigrant violence and hate.”

MEDIA VISUALS: Candles; posters with “stop vigilantism” and “real reform needed” messages; white crosses commemorating those that have died at the border; procession of immigrant communities through Oakland’s Fruitvale district.

STATEWIDE ACTIONS:

Oakland, CA
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Vigil for Peace and Human Rights for Immigrants
5:00 PM vigil and procession, 6:00 PM press conference
Contact: Margaret Zaknoen, BAIRC, (510) 839-7598 work, (510) 334-8687 cell
Andrea Cristina Mercado, MUA (415) 626-2128, ext. 301, (510) 205-3684 cell
Christopher Punongbayan, Filipinos for Affirmative Action (510) 465-9876, ext. 304 work

Sacramento, CA
Friday, September 16, 2005
From the Border to the Capitol
10:00AM Rally in front of State Capitol Building, March to the Department of Justice
Contact: Luis Herrera, St. Peter’s Housing, (415) 487-9203

San Diego, CA
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Shout of Independence Event
5:30PM at Chicano Park (Logan neighborhood), San Diego
Contact: Raza Rights Coalition, (619) 696-9224

Friday, September 16, 2005
Corner of Resistance Against the Vigilantes
6:00PM at the following street corners: 25th and Imperial, Sherman; 30th and Oceanview Blvd., Logan; San Ysidro Blvd. and 805, San Ysidro
Contact: Raza Rights Coalition, (619) 696-9224

San Jose, CA
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Press conference sponsored by immigrant & civil rights groups, faith-based organizations and labor
12:00PM at the Santa Clara County Building, 70 West Hedding Street, San Jose
Contact: Larisa Casillas, SIREN, (408) 453-3003, ext. 102 or (415) 640-4557 (cell)