The U.S.Mexican Border- A constitution free zone

THE U.S./MEXICO BORDER - A CONSTITUTION-FREE ZONE By David Bacon Stand - ACLU Magazine, June 2014   Under the Fourth Amendment, the people of the United States are not supposed to be subject to random and arbitrary stops and searches. But within 100 miles of a U.S. border, these rules don't apply. Border Patrol agents park on a hilltop and watch anyone near the border wall.   Last July, a worker phoned Alejandro Valenzuela, a young staff member at the Southside Workers Center in Tucson, Arizona.  The police were at his home, the worker said, and were detaining him for deportation.  Valenzuela and a friend drove over to observe - "to make sure his rights were being respected."  Over the next half hour the police grew increasingly hostile, demanding identification from Valenzuela, despite the fact that he was not driving the car, which was parked at the curb.  They then detained Valenzuela and the worker.   Police then drove the two to Border Patrol headquarters.  Neither was ever arrested or accused of a crime.  Valenzuela was detained and intensively questioned for five hours, and finally released only when he could show he qualified for Deferred Action, which allows undocumented young people (DREAMers) to apply for deferred deportation and work authorization..  The worker was eventually deported.

Freedom Summer

Black Voters and the Future of Southern Politics Chris Kromm June 20, 2014 Facing South   The organizers of Freedom Summer did not just have a one-year plan. The summer of 1964 was always meant to be the beginnings of a multi-faceted, multi-year campaign. Any modern movement to build a more inclusive Black Belt needs to be seen as a generational battle.     Registering a new member of the Freedom Democratic Party in Mississippi during Freedom Summer in 1964., Facing South/Photo from the collection of Civil Rights Movement Veterans, hosted at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi.,     This month marks the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, the massive organizing project that brought more than 1,000 volunteers to Mississippi and drew national attention to the ongoing civil rights struggle in the South. Freedom Summer was launched as an assault on segregation and inequality on many fronts. Activists set up 30 Freedom Schools as an alternative to the state's underfunded and segregated education system. The Medical Committee for Human Rights offered free health clinics.

Destroy Their Economic Livelihoods, and They Will Come

El Rancho USD makes Ethnic Studies a graduation requirement

Migrant children in custody

Migrants flow into South Texas

Julia Preston. NYT. June 17, 2014.

McALLEN, Tex. — Exhausted and dazed, hundreds of Central American migrants, mainly women with small children, come to the bus station of this border city every day now, spilling into a church next door that has opened its doors. Having crossed into the United States illegally, the new arrivals are often grimy and famished. In the church, they eat, bathe and sleep, changing into donated shoes and clothes.

With no immigration detention site equipped for women with children in the area — the closest one, in Pennsylvania, is overbooked — they are freed by the Border Patrol with a bus ticket to travel to where they have relatives in this country, and an order to appear in immigration court in 30 days.

They are among at least 30,000 migrants released this year, border officials and federal lawmakers said, amid a surge of illegal crossings in the Rio Grande Valley.

Emergency refuge centers set up along border for children

Unprecedented Flood of Young Latino Immigrants (3108)

A new center in McAllen, Texas, is part of the Church response to the surge triggered by harsh conditions in Central America and changes in U.S. deportation policies.

by WAYNE LAUGESEN 06/13/2014 Comments (11)

Central American immigrants ride atop a freight train to Ixtepec, Mexico, on their way to the United States.

– John Moore/Getty Images

MCALLEN, Texas — Children from Mexico and Central America arrive at the bus station in tattered clothing they’ve worn for weeks. They’re unshowered, hungry and scared. Boys and girls as young as 3 cry out for Mommy, Daddy or Grandma.

Hundreds who arrive here each week have their immediate needs fulfilled by a new Catholic Charities center that opened June 11 near the McAllen bus station.

The children are part of a massive, unprecedented and unanticipated flood of young immigrants escaping treacherous conditions in Latin America, after President Barack Obama announced plans two years ago to stop deportations of child immigrants who meet certain criteria.

The Associated Press reported that authorities apprehended 47,017 unaccompanied children on the border from October through May, up 92% from the same period a year ago. Other news reports say the surge has overwhelmed federal border facilities that lack adequate food, beds and sanitary facilities.

The federal government is trying to hire temporary border agents to babysit the children, as the government determines one at a time whether to deport or connect individuals with family members in the States. Meanwhile, volunteers from religious communities are stepping in to help.

The days-old Catholic Charities facility in McAllen provides clothing, food and personal items as young children and teens wait for federal agents to open case files. Volunteers sing to the kids, assuring them they are loved by God and will be safe.

The center resulted after a handful of Catholic women took initiative to provide for the children’s immediate needs by showing up with supplies.

Sacramento Rally for Immigration Reform-Monday

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“DIA DE JUSTICIA PARA LOS JANITORS “                              “JUSTICE FOR JANITORS DAY”

QUE:       RALLY POR REFORMA DE  IMMIGRACION

DONDE:  EDIFICIO FEDERAL (650 Capitol Mall Sacramento CA 95814)

FECHA:    Lunes 16 de Junio de 2014

HORA:     11:00 a.m.     Trae a Familiares y Amigos!

A call to Action for Immigration Reform!

WHAT:    RALLY  Pro- Immigration Reform

DATE:      Monday June 16, 2014  TIME: 11:00 a.m.    

WHERE:   H.S. BUILDING

                650 CAPITOL MALL Sacramento CA 95814

Bring your Family and Friends!

                                                                                                                                                        Labor donated!