By Fernanda Santos and Charlie Savage, New York Times
May 10, 2012
PHOENIX — A federal lawsuit asserting a “pattern of unlawful discrimination” by law enforcement officials here claims that Latinos at the county jail were often referred to as “stupid” or addressed with a coarse ethnic slur. It also says that an e-mail circulated among jail officers contained a photograph of a Chihuahua in a swimsuit, over the words, “A rare photo of a Mexican Navy Seal.”
On the streets, Latino drivers were five to nine times more likely than their non-Latino counterparts to be stopped or searched, the suit asserts, for appearing disheveled or dirty or if it was deemed that too many people were in the back seat. Some were detained because they were said to have looked nervous or avoided eye contact. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/us/justice-department-sues-arizona-sheriff-joe-arpaio.html
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
ICE's Collateral Damage in an Ironic Sex Trafficking Raid
By Subhash Kateel, The Huffington Post
May 4, 2012
An article in this week's Miami Herald brought me back to November 2008, when I was an immigrant rights organizer in South Florida. It turns out that two men from Guatemala, Adolfo García and Julio Díaz, are set to be deported by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on May 18. How they got picked up and why they shouldn't be deported is the subject of my flashback.
It all started with a November 21, 2008 press release authored by the former U.S. Attorney for South Florida Alex Acosta (now the Dean of the FIU law school) and the former ICE Special Agent-in Charge of all investigations for the Miami field office, Anthony Mangione, announcing that they had broken up a South Florida sex trafficking ring involving Central American immigrants in Palm Beach, Broward county and Homestead, a small rural-esque city in south Miami Dade county. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/subhash-kateel/ices-collateral-damage_b_1477871.html
Sign a petition telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton to stop the deportation of Adolfo Garcia and Julio Diaz:
http://www.change.org/petitions/immigration-and-customs-enforcement-director-john-morton-stop-the-deportation-of-adolfo-garcia-and-julio-diaz?
May 4, 2012
An article in this week's Miami Herald brought me back to November 2008, when I was an immigrant rights organizer in South Florida. It turns out that two men from Guatemala, Adolfo García and Julio Díaz, are set to be deported by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on May 18. How they got picked up and why they shouldn't be deported is the subject of my flashback.
It all started with a November 21, 2008 press release authored by the former U.S. Attorney for South Florida Alex Acosta (now the Dean of the FIU law school) and the former ICE Special Agent-in Charge of all investigations for the Miami field office, Anthony Mangione, announcing that they had broken up a South Florida sex trafficking ring involving Central American immigrants in Palm Beach, Broward county and Homestead, a small rural-esque city in south Miami Dade county. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/subhash-kateel/ices-collateral-damage_b_1477871.html
Sign a petition telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton to stop the deportation of Adolfo Garcia and Julio Diaz:
http://www.change.org/petitions/immigration-and-customs-enforcement-director-john-morton-stop-the-deportation-of-adolfo-garcia-and-julio-diaz?
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
U.S. Border Patrol Increases Use Of Unmanned Drones For Surveillance
By Cristina Costantini, The Huffington Post
May 1, 2012
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency is ramping up its use of fancy technology to monitor the nation's borders again -- this time by opening up Washington's airspace to two unmanned Predator drones.
The announcement comes as part of the Department of Homeland Security's six year effort to build the nation's largest fleet of domestic surveillance drones. The program carries a $250 million pricetag and has produced mixed results, according to the Los Angeles Times. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/us-border-patrol-increase_n_1467196.html
May 1, 2012
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency is ramping up its use of fancy technology to monitor the nation's borders again -- this time by opening up Washington's airspace to two unmanned Predator drones.
The announcement comes as part of the Department of Homeland Security's six year effort to build the nation's largest fleet of domestic surveillance drones. The program carries a $250 million pricetag and has produced mixed results, according to the Los Angeles Times. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/us-border-patrol-increase_n_1467196.html
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Immigrant Workers Win in Struggle Against New York Food Manufacturer
A note from Daniel Gross of Brandworkers
May 7, 2012
Dear Focus Friends,
We are overjoyed to announce the biggest victory yet from Focus on the Food Chain! Workers at Flaum Appetizing, with your unwavering support, have won their campaign with an exemplary global agreement. Our members have recovered $577,000 in unpaid wages and compensation for retaliation along with a binding code of conduct ensuring Flaum comports with all workplace rights going forward including anti-discrimination and health & safety protections.
You can check out some of the press coverage on today's victory:
New York Times: Kosher-Food Manufacturer to Pay $577,000 in Settlement
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/kosher-food-manufacturer-to-pay-577000-in-settlement/
Crain's New York: Settlement paves way for end of hummus boycott
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120507/LABOR_UNIONS/120509918
Jewish Daily Forward: Uri L'Tzedek Celebrates Flaums Victory
http://blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the-carrot/155863/uri-ltzedek-celebrates-flaums-victory/
For over a decade, workers at Flaum Appetizing worked grueling sixty to eighty hour work weeks without overtime pay and sometimes not even the minimum wage. Latino workers were subjected to constant verbal harassment and forced to work at unsafe speeds. Focus on the Food Chain, a joint project of Brandworkers and the NYC IWW, helped the workers launch a powerful campaign that persuaded over 120 grocery store locations to remove Flaum products from their shelves and convinced the world's largest kosher cheese company to stop using Flaum as a distributor until workers' rights were respected. In the process, Flaum workers won a precedent-setting victory at the Labor Board in D.C. helping workers nationwide fend off unfounded allegations into their immigration status.
This global agreement, including over half a million dollars in recovered wealth, would not have been possible without your support. The Flaum workers have proven that all working people have the power to get organized, build their own campaigns, and successfully fight for dignity at work. Thank you for your solidarity and we look forward to continue working with you to create a sustainable food system that respects workers' human rights.
In Solidarity,
Daniel Gross
Executive Director
Brandworkers
New York's main Spanish language newspaper, El Diario-La Prensa, also covered the story:
Trabajadores latinos recuperan salarios
http://www.eldiariony.com/Trabajadores_latinos_recuperan_salarios
May 7, 2012
Dear Focus Friends,
We are overjoyed to announce the biggest victory yet from Focus on the Food Chain! Workers at Flaum Appetizing, with your unwavering support, have won their campaign with an exemplary global agreement. Our members have recovered $577,000 in unpaid wages and compensation for retaliation along with a binding code of conduct ensuring Flaum comports with all workplace rights going forward including anti-discrimination and health & safety protections.
You can check out some of the press coverage on today's victory:
New York Times: Kosher-Food Manufacturer to Pay $577,000 in Settlement
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/kosher-food-manufacturer-to-pay-577000-in-settlement/
Crain's New York: Settlement paves way for end of hummus boycott
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120507/LABOR_UNIONS/120509918
Jewish Daily Forward: Uri L'Tzedek Celebrates Flaums Victory
http://blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the-carrot/155863/uri-ltzedek-celebrates-flaums-victory/
For over a decade, workers at Flaum Appetizing worked grueling sixty to eighty hour work weeks without overtime pay and sometimes not even the minimum wage. Latino workers were subjected to constant verbal harassment and forced to work at unsafe speeds. Focus on the Food Chain, a joint project of Brandworkers and the NYC IWW, helped the workers launch a powerful campaign that persuaded over 120 grocery store locations to remove Flaum products from their shelves and convinced the world's largest kosher cheese company to stop using Flaum as a distributor until workers' rights were respected. In the process, Flaum workers won a precedent-setting victory at the Labor Board in D.C. helping workers nationwide fend off unfounded allegations into their immigration status.
This global agreement, including over half a million dollars in recovered wealth, would not have been possible without your support. The Flaum workers have proven that all working people have the power to get organized, build their own campaigns, and successfully fight for dignity at work. Thank you for your solidarity and we look forward to continue working with you to create a sustainable food system that respects workers' human rights.
In Solidarity,
Daniel Gross
Executive Director
Brandworkers
New York's main Spanish language newspaper, El Diario-La Prensa, also covered the story:
Trabajadores latinos recuperan salarios
http://www.eldiariony.com/Trabajadores_latinos_recuperan_salarios
Monday, May 7, 2012
George Zimmerman’s Disparaging Remarks About Mexicans on MySpace
"I dont miss driving around scared to hit mexicans walkin on the side of the street, soft ass wanna be thugs messin with peoples cars when they aint around."
By Jennifer Preston, The Lede (NY Times blog)
May 2, 2023
As George Zimmerman’s legal team began a new social media presence for him this week, one of its first challenges on the new Facebook page has been responding to questions about an old MySpace account, where he made disparaging remarks about Mexicans.
The Miami Herald reported that Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’Mara, has confirmed that the abandoned 2005 account belonged to his client. On the MySpace page, Mr. Zimmerman calls himself “Joe G.” and is pictured holding a small child. [...]
Read the full article:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/george-zimmermans-disparaging-remarks-about-mexicans-on-myspace/?ref=us
By Jennifer Preston, The Lede (NY Times blog)
May 2, 2023
As George Zimmerman’s legal team began a new social media presence for him this week, one of its first challenges on the new Facebook page has been responding to questions about an old MySpace account, where he made disparaging remarks about Mexicans.
The Miami Herald reported that Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’Mara, has confirmed that the abandoned 2005 account belonged to his client. On the MySpace page, Mr. Zimmerman calls himself “Joe G.” and is pictured holding a small child. [...]
Read the full article:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/george-zimmermans-disparaging-remarks-about-mexicans-on-myspace/?ref=us
Sunday, May 6, 2012
The Winds of May Day: 2006-2012
By Kent Paterson, Frontera NorteSur News
May 2, 2012
Revived in the United States on a mass scale by the immigrant rights movement six years ago, the annual commemoration of International Workers’ Day is fast becoming an established tradition across the country. And if anything captured the essence of the 2012 celebrations, it was the convergence of issues popularized by Occupy Wall Street-influenced movements with demands for justice long pushed by immigrant community organizations. Held on a balmy spring day, a rally and march in Albuquerque, New Mexico, gave a glimpse of movements that could continue to reshape U. S. and world politics in future years. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.grass-roots-press.com/2012/05/02/the-winds-of-may-day-2006-2012/
May 2, 2012
Revived in the United States on a mass scale by the immigrant rights movement six years ago, the annual commemoration of International Workers’ Day is fast becoming an established tradition across the country. And if anything captured the essence of the 2012 celebrations, it was the convergence of issues popularized by Occupy Wall Street-influenced movements with demands for justice long pushed by immigrant community organizations. Held on a balmy spring day, a rally and march in Albuquerque, New Mexico, gave a glimpse of movements that could continue to reshape U. S. and world politics in future years. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.grass-roots-press.com/2012/05/02/the-winds-of-may-day-2006-2012/
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Another Mass Murder by an Anti-Immigrant Vigilante
According to the local authorities, Arizona racist leader J.T. Ready slaughtered four people, including a toddler, before killing himself on May 2, almost exactly four years after another anti-immigrant vigilante, Shawna Forde, murdered a nine-year-old girl and her father. Ready's "U.S. Border Guard" group says it will continue its anti-immigrant activities.Gilbert mass shooting: White supremacist J.T. Ready left tracks in politics
by Gary Nelson, Tucson Citizen
May 02, 2012
J.T. Ready, the avowed White supremacist and militant critic of illegal immigration who authorities believe was the gunman in Wednesday’s multiple murder-suicide in Gilbert, cut a swath through Arizona politics before — and after — it became apparent he represented the far-right fringe of the political spectrum. [...]
Read the full article:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2012/05/02/gilbert-mass-shooting-white-supremacist-j-t-ready-left-tracks-in-politics/
Leader dead, but group says border patrol to go on
By Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press
May 5, 2012
PHOENIX—The death of a former neo-Nazi whose group patrols Arizona's desert near the Mexican border for illegal immigrants and drug smugglers is raising questions about his organization's future.
Friends of Jason Todd "JT" Ready vowed Friday that U.S. Border Guard's armed patrols will continue, but monitoring groups doubted the operations could be sustained. [...]
Read the full article:
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