32,000 Migrant Political Prisoners in the U.S.A

By Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa // www.antifronteras.com

November 11, 2011

Cuba. Nigeria. Mexico. Panama. Guatemala. The Philippines. El Salvador. Honduras. Iran. Cameroon. India. Haiti. Colombia. Brazil. Fiji. Vietnam. Pakistan. Barbados. Ecuador. Ghana. Iraq. Guinea. Afghanistan.

These are some of the many countries of origin of the more than 32,000 migrants from all over the world held prisoners in immigration detention centers on any given day throughout the United States.

Their crime? Being born poor, wanting a better life and/or being political or economic refugees and asylum seekers. In many countries, the U.S. has caused either the political conditions that force people to migrate (such as Afghanistan or Haiti) or the economic policies that impoverish people in that country (such as Mexico or Honduras).

Many have been forced to migrate to the United States to improve their chances at survival and sustainability. Feeling the political threat of a migrant population, largely non-white, what does the U.S. government do?

The so-called ‘nation of immigrants’ spends billions of dollars criminalizing, persecuting, targeting, detaining, arresting and deporting the migrant population so highly regarded as a political threat to the national security of this state. Thus, the detention and deportation system is massive.

The ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detention system is made up of detention beds, located in about 350 facilities nationwide. Only a few facilities are operated by the Department of Homeland Security/I.C.E. Most are actually state and county lock-ups and for-profit prisons—like Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Geo Group—where migrants are detained under federal contracts.

Militarizing the border and persecuting and detaining migrants seem to be key national security priorities. The Homeland Security 2011 budget includes:

• $4.6 billion to support 20,000 Border Patrol agents and complete the first segment of Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) virtual border fence.
• Includes $94 million for 300 new CBP Officers for passenger and cargo screening at ports of entry as well as expansion of pre-screening operations at foreign airports and land ports of entry.
• More than $1.6 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement programs to expeditiously identify and remove from the United States undocumented people. Included in this total is continued support for the Secure Communities program.
• $137 million for enhancements and expansion of immigration related verification programs (E-Verify) at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

• In fiscal year 2011 over 396,906 people went through immigration custody and were eventually deported.
• Over 32,000 immigration detainees are in custody on any given day
• The ACLU and other national groups and reports have documented systematic cases of physical and sexual abuse and medical negligence, among other inhumane conditions, in detention centers. http://www.acluaz.org/detention-report-2011
• The immigration detention system costs taxpayers $166 per day, per detainee (that’s $60,590/year).

For fiscal year 2012, DHS proposes the following:

• Detention Beds: The FY 2012 Budget increases U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Custody Operations funding by $157.7 million to support 33,400 detention beds and remove more than 200,000 criminal aliens in FY 2012.

These statistics speak to how politically and financially invested the U.S. government is to detain and remove as many “removable aliens” as possible.

One point to make clear is that the 32,000 people incarcerated are not detainees. They are political prisoners.

According to Random House Word Menu, a political prisoner is “a person deemed politically dangerous by state and falsely imprisoned for supposed crimes.”

In the past I have had family members held in detention. My mom, dad and myself got a nice, big welcoming by Border Patrol agents–we were placed in detention. I was a baby. I was practically almost born in a detention custody. And currently I have friends in immigration detention. They are political prisoners because their very existence is considered subversive and a threat to the political and economic/capitalist structures of the U.S. nation state. Migrants, by in large, defy border lines, undermine legal structures, reject law enforcement authority, work outside the formal capitalist economy, rarely depend on state institutions, and are mostly non-traceable by the state. In short, migrants represent a defiance to U.S. power, authority and control.

Now a migrant coming to the U.S. to work to feed her family may or may not recognize her actions as political. But the U.S. views them as such and therefore politically imprisons hundreds of thousands (more like millions if you count the larger U.S. prison population). This is the basis of migrant imprisonment, even though it is masked in law and order rhetoric.

By regarding migrants in detention centers as political prisoners rather than detainees we in effect reject the legitimacy of their imprisonment and by extension the entire system of detention, deportation and incarceration.

Prior to 1890 there were no detention centers anywhere.

A world without detentions and prisons is possible.

Please check out the following links:

ACLU Report “In their Own Words” http://www.acluaz.org/detention-report-2011

“Immigration Detention: The Case for Abolition” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-guskin/immigration-detention-the_b_121374.html

Detention Watch Network http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/aboutdetention

Critical Resistance http://criticalresistance.org/

NMD Report: “A Culture of Cruelty” http://www.nomoredeaths.org/cultureofcruelty.html

The New Genocide: Immigration and the U.S.-Mexico Border
By Raúl Al-qaraz Ochoa // www.antifronteras.com
2 November 2011

On the eve of Dia de Los Muertos, local Tucson, AZ community members commemorated the lives of 183 people that died attempting to cross the Arizona-Sonora border this year alone.

White-painted crosses carried the names of each person deceased, most times there were no names to read, but rather a “desconocido” or the “desconocida” (unkown) because they were never identified and sometimes because their bodies were so decomposed that their gender identity was not identifiable.

This is the grim reality in the southwestern borderlands.

Two people die every day attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Over 8,000 mothers, fathers, children, tios and tias have perished in their attempt to seek better life opportunities or to reunite with other relatives since 1994.

These are not mere deaths, it is a new form of genocide.

When people hear the word genocide, Germany’s concentration camps or Rwanda’s killing fields may come to mind. But what if we used the word genocide to describe the United States and its treatment of Latinos? Would that be an exaggeration?

We live in a country where politicians and state legislatures (from Arizona to Alabama) and government agencies (from the Department of Homeland Security to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to U.S. Customs and Border Protection) themselves have publicly admitted their vision of lowering and eliminating the numbers of people of Mexican and Latino origin.

Of course, these goals are masked with law and order rhetoric, such as “Operation Endgame’s” end goal of “removing all removable illegal aliens by the year 2012.” Now, they don’t say they want to get rid of Latinos per se, but who are they kidding? They might as well.

As Michelle Alexander argues in “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”, the racial caste system in America never ended, it was simply re-designed. The same applies with what we know of genocide today–it has transformed.

Today we are seeing that genocide is taking new form and has evolved into a more institutionalized and sophisticated effort. Through U.S. and state policies, directly and indirectly, people of a particular ethnicity are targeted for elimination (both physical and mental).

According to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article II, adopted by the UN General Assembly:

“…any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, is genocide, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”

In 1996 Gregory Stanton, the president of Genocide Watch, presented a briefing paper called “The 8 Stages of Genocide” to the United States Department of State. In it he suggested that genocide develops in eight stages that are “predictable but not inexorable”.

Mind you, there are clear differences between genocide in Rwanda (‘high-intensity’ genocide) to the one taking place at the U.S.-Mexico border (‘low-intensity’ genocide).

Stage (in bold) Characteristics (follows) and how it relates to the border is in italics:

1.
Classification. People are divided into “us and them”.

 As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: People are divided between “legal” and “illegal”.

2.
Symbolization. “When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups…”

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: Skin color, language and physical appearance are symbols that single out Latinos, as legalized in laws in states like Arizona, Georgia and Alabama and the border line itself.

3.
Dehumanization. “One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases.”

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: Latinos are dehumanized where the media and political figures equating this population to vermin and disease invading the U.S. Dehumanization then leads to criminalization, where being ‘brown’ in America is tied to criminality and is subject to second-class status and punishment.

4.
Organization. “Genocide is always organized… Special army units or militias are often trained and armed…”

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: The U.S. has militarized the border with National Guard troops and states like California and Arizona have welcomed right-wing, white supremacist militias.

5.
Polarization. “Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda…”

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: Political speeches, mainstream media reports and policies and laws targeting migrant communities create a polarizing and hostile environment.

6.
Preparation. “Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity…”

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: People are identified and separated by I.C.E. and Border Patrol agents; people aren’t led to physical killing fields, instead they are detained in detention camps and eventually deported.

7.
Extermination. “It is “extermination” to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human.”

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: Once deported, many migrants attempt to cross back to the U.S. where they face border policies that facilitate death through a strategy called “prevention through deterrence” where urban areas are fortified while desert areas are left wide open for people to cross. Policymakers knew people would die and believed those deaths would deter further migration. Since 1994, over 8,000 ‘deaths’ and murders have taken place at the U.S.-Mexico border.

8.
Denial. “The perpetrators… deny that they committed any crimes…”

As it relates to the U.S.-Mexico border: This reality has been largely ignored by the mainstream media and political figures.

In short, we live in the epicenter of a humanitarian crisis, but few recognize it as such. Since there are no large killing fields or concentration camps (as of yet) where people are being slaughtered, the deaths continue uninterrupted with no national or international outrage. Yet people of a particular ethnicity and national origin are systematically targeted for death—through U.S. and international economic and political policies.

It’s a new form of genocide.

And for those that are not successfully eliminated, there are 5 tactics on how they are dealt with:

1. Attrition through Enforcement. This tactic is intended to make life impossible, through laws, cutting off access to basic needs such as public services (HB 2008), work (E-Verify, employer sanctions) or public safety (SB1070/Secure Communities/287g). The purpose is for migrants/Latinos to go to another state or they self-deport to their ‘place of origin’.

2. Brutality/Criminalization/Incarceration. Hate crimes and law enforcement brutality is on the rise. Murders by police and border patrol agents are common. And we have more than 32,000 political prisoners in immigration detention centers on any given day. The Latino population is becoming the fastest growing population in federal prisons.

3. Underclass Status. The capitalist state benefits from laws and policies of genocide because it dehumanizes and criminalizes workers, making it so that the Latino population is vulnerable to labor abuse and exploitation.

4. Cultural genocide. Laws such as HB 2281, the ban on Ethnic Studies or the ban on bilingual education attempt to cut the cultural and historical roots of those who have not been physically eliminated (either through deportation or death).

5. Maximize Profits. Here the capitalist, profit-motive looms just as large if not larger than the racist realities of these policies. For-profit prison contractors like GEO and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) continue bidding to build and run migrant detention centers at increasing levels. To no surprise, the militarization of the Southwest border is also generating profits for corporations such as Boeing and other companies providing the government technology, infrastructure and fencing of the border.

The current political and economic system is clearly applying full force a systematic plan of removing the un-assimilated Latino community (and other people of color) by any and all means necessary. Through deportations, imprisonment, police brutality, poverty, unemployment and lack of access to health care and education, Latinos are feeling the thorns of a horrifying strategy that intends to either eliminate this community through death, deportation or preserve them here as a permanent exploitable underclass subjected to violations of human, civil and labor rights.

Throughout history, we can see that the border is part of a larger cycle of violence. It is rooted in the ongoing genocide and colonization of indigenous land and peoples, imperialism, and global economic structures that continue to dominate our world.

It is critical to recognize how these physical borders permeate to all aspects of our lives where our intersecting identities are fenced in, criminalized and attacked not only for being people of color, but also for being poor, women, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer identified.

Knowing this comes with the responsibility not only to fight to stop this grim reality, but to also organize towards a world free of borders and genocide.

Take a stance and minimally, please refer to the deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border not as mere deaths, but rather as the symptoms of intentional U.S. policies of genocide.

Anti-immigrant forces from Norway to Arizona

By Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa / Originalmente publicado en ARIZONA BILINGUAL

The Norwegian attacks that took place Friday July 22 sent shockwaves throughout the world. Anders Behring Breivik, the gunman, said he killed 76 people to spark a “revolution” against the multiculturalism he believed was staining Europe’s heritage.

This act is part of the larger context of hateful, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim tensions growing in European politics. 

For example, as Greece faces a deep debt crisis, racial tensions have risen against the immigrant population. Immigrants from Afghanistan and other countries are blamed for the national crisis and have been the targets of mounting violence.

In Bulgaria, tensions have led to violence against Muslims. This Spring, supporters of the far-right Ataka Party threw stones at Muslims gathered for prayer.

Other patterns of strong anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies have been seen in France, Germany, Hungary,  the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

In light of the Friday attack, many leaders and political analysts are calling for public debate and civil discourse. They argue that if dialogue were to take place, the tragedy could have been avoided.

Living in anti-immigrant, anti-Latino Arizona, would greater public debate and dialogue help to change Jan Brewer’s xenophobia? Or the Minuteman’s white supremacy? What about Joe Arpaio’s terror in Maricopa county? Of course not.

Dialogue is impossible when there is an imbalance of power. How could we have civil discourse or public debate with racist political and economic forces that exercise their power regularly and systematically to create policies that attack and terrorize our humanity?

There is no short-cut to peace. If the world wants peace there has to be real equality and justice for all first.

The Norwegian gunman did literally what politicians and mainstream media in Europe and the U.S. do on a regular basis. The only difference between Jan Brewer and Anders is that Anders pulled the trigger, literally.

Whether in Norway or Arizona, bullets of terror continue to target immigrant and refugee communities. I wonder when the outrage and shock will take place internationally over our daily deaths.

Cronología de Resistencia Local de Jóvenes y Familias

Por Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa / Originalmente publicado en ARIZONA BILINGUAL

Tucson, AZ—Ante tanto ataque racista en el estado de Arizona, crece un movimiento de resistencia fuerte en Tucson. No es un movimiento electoral; no está basado en los partidos políticos; ni en la idea de tomar el poder. Es un movimiento de base liderado por aquellas y aquellos directamente afectados por los ataques del estado—los jóvenes y familias migrantes. Aquí esta una breve cronología de resistencia local a los ataques anti-migrantes y la HB 2281—ley que intenta eliminar a las clases de Estudios Étnicos donde jóvenes de Tucson aprenden sobre la historia y la cultura Mexicana-Chicana:

26 de Abril—En un levantamiento extraordinario en la junta del distrito escolar de Tucson, estudiantes del programa de Estudios Étnicos / Estudios México Americanos (MAS), se encadenaron a las sillas de los miembros del consejo interrumpiendo la junta donde iban a introducir una polémica resolución que habría sido un paso para terminar con las clases de Estudios Étnicos. “Nadie nos escucha, sobre todo el consejo del distrito escolar”, dijo Lisette Cota, recién graduada de Pueblo High School y organizadora del grupo juvenil UNIDOS. “Estábamos hartos. Pudo haber sido drástica [nuestra acción], pero la única manera de ser escuchados fue encadenarnos a sus sillas.”

3 de mayo –Después de que los jóvenes de UNIDOS detuvieron el voto que iba a desacreditar a sus clases, el concilio escolar tenía programado  votar de nuevo en contra del programa de Estudios Étnicos en la junta del distrito escolar del 3 de mayo. Pero esta vez la comunidad, miembros de distintas fes e iglesias, veteranas del movimiento y jóvenes pidieron ser escuchados por los miembros del concilio después de que el tiempo de comentarios de la audiencia terminó.

Siete mujeres, incluyendo la veterana del movimiento Chicano  Lupe Castillo y ex-alumnos de Estudios Étnicos -fueron detenidas por la policía por expresar su amor por el aclamado programa.

Alrededor de 300 manifestantes que no fueron permitidos entrar a la junta bloquearon las entradas de la sede del Distrito Escolar.

La policía comenzó a agredir y atacar a los manifestantes, hiriendo a madres y estudiantes.

Pero aun la comunidad canto pacíficamente “¡Estamos aquí para defender a nuestra Educación!”

Es importante enfatizar los grandes esfuerzos a través de los años que han mantenido una fuerte resistencia ante los ataques contra Estudios Étnicos como el Concilio Asesor de Estudios Mexico-Americanos, SES (Save Ethnic Studies) y los maestros y SJEP (Social Justice Education Project).

12 de Mayo—Grupos locales de derechos humanos y justicia migrante realizaron una manifestación enfocándose en lo que ellos ven como la raíz de las leyes anti-migrante del país: el dinero que están generando las empresas de las prisiones privadas. Rosita López, madre y organizadora del grupo comunitario Corazón de Tucson afirma, “somos una campaña coordinada a nivel nacional para presionar a empresas financieras que retiren su apoyo financiero de la industria carcelaria privada.” La campaña se enfoca en Wells Fargo por sus inversiones en las empresas de cárceles privadas Corrections Corporation of America y Geo Group, Inc.

La manifestación del 12 de mayo consistió en una conferencia de prensa de unos 50 miembros de la comunidad pertenecientes a diversos grupos de la comunidad local, incluyendo Corazón de Tucson, Coalición de Derechos Humanos, No Más Muertes / Rechazamos la Campaña contra el Racismo, Centro de Southside Trabajadores, Estudiantes por la Justicia en Palestina, Voz Judía por la Paz, UNIDOS y otros.

Karla Hernández, madre de dos hijos y organizadora de la campaña, expresó su grave preocupación por las empresas que se benefician de la separación de las familias y el encarcelamiento de miembros de la comunidad. “Hay inocentes y madres y padres trabajadores en estas prisiones”, afirmó. “Esto tenemos que parar.”

7 de Junio—Ante los ataques a Estudios Étnicos en las escuelas de Tucson, hay dos grupos que están tomando la educación en sus propias manos, independientemente de lo que diga la legislatura de Arizona. Durante los últimos seis años, el grupo comunitario Tierra y Libertad Organization (TYLO) ha tenido veranes de la escuela de libertad donde utilizan el modelo de educación popular para involucrar y desarrollar liderazgo juvenil. Según Hilda Cortez, 15, es importante este espacio porque “apoya a que los jóvenes como yo tengamos un mejor entendimiento sobre las realidades socio-económicas de nuestros barrios.”

Igualmente, el grupo de UNIDOS inició una escuela de verano donde pase lo que pase con sus clases, tendrán un espacio libre donde seguirán aprendiendo de su historia y en cómo organizar por sus comunidades. El Instituto de Estudios Étnicos correrá hasta el mes de Agosto.

14 de Junio—Los jóvenes de UNIDOS organizan, con el apoyo de maestros y miembros de la comunidad, una vigilia pacifica de toda la noche en frente de las oficinas del Distrito Escolar. “Organizamos esta vigilia para demostrar nuestro apoyo a nuestras clases de Estudios Étnicos y dejarle saber a la gente que aquí estamos, unidos y no nos daremos por vencidos”, dijó Mayra Feliciano, 18, organizadora juvenil de UNIDOS. El joven Santiago Celaya, 16, agrega “yo busco enterarme más sobre mi cultura y mis raíces.”

1ro de Julio—La comunidad de Tucson se levantará de nuevo para estar en solidaridad con el pueblo de Georgia, donde la HB 87, otra ley similar a la SB 1070 está programada para entrar en vigor. Se organizará una protesta, como parte del Día de Acción Nacional, en frente del banco de Wells Fargo para llamar atención a la corrupción de las prisiones privadas.

Los barrios de Tucson luchan por educación equitativa, acceso a su cultura, y por poner fin a las detenciones y deportaciones.

Tucson está presente, indudablemente,  ¡luchando por un pueblo digno y libre!

La Discriminación Contra Gays es Como la del Migrante
Por Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa / Originalmente publicado en ARIZONA BILINGUAL
 
Miles de partidarios del matrimonio gay salieron a las calles después de que Nueva York se convirtió en el sexto estado en los EE.UU. en legalizar el matrimonio gay.

Después de varios días de difíciles negociaciones y retrocesos de última hora por dos senadores republicanos, el proyecto fue aprobado, para respirarle vida a un movimiento nacional de derechos gay que se había estancado en un proyecto de ley casi idéntico hace dos años.

Aunque este logro demuestra un paso para adelante en la lucha por la igualdad, debemos seguir luchando por derrumbar la raíz de la homofobia y la discriminación social.

Vivimos en un país que nos discrimina y nos divide basado en nuestra raza, clase económica, género y orientación sexual. Muchas veces nos enfocamos en  luchar por la justicia de nuestra comunidad migrante, pero a veces nos olvidamos que otras comunidades también sufren.

Muchas veces discriminamos a personas de nuestra misma comunidad y nuestra propia familia porque son gay, lesbiana, bisexual, o transgénero. Pero no podemos ser hipócritas exigiendo justicia y reforma migratoria por nuestra comunidad indocumentada, cuando a la misma vez no sabemos valorar y respetar a personas que son gay.

La comunidad gay también vive indocumentada; con temor de revelar su estatus (de orientación sexual), vive en el closet con preocupaciones de ser discriminada y agredida, y también no tienen los mismos derechos ante leyes y pólizas porque la comunidad gay, como la comunidad migrante, es explotada y discriminada.

Es con mayor razón que estos dos grupos oprimidos—migrantes y personas gay—deben unirse y aceptarse como compañeros y compañeras en la misma lucha contra un opresor común. Esta lucha no se trata de solo lograr matrimonio gay o una reforma migratoria; se trata de cambiar este sistema que se beneficia de nuestra desunión. Mientras un grupo sea oprimido, el prójimo nunca será liberado.

Es por eso que luchamos, como el lema  Zapatista nos recuerda, “por un mundo donde muchos mundos quepan”.

R.I.P. CARLOS LAMADRID: BORDER/POLICE STATE TERROR MUST END – Speech

April 8, 2011

www.antifronteras.com

Tucson, AZ – Today I speak this—with the help of Malcolm X’s take on police brutality. I usually write my speeches in Spanish. But this time I want the echo of my rage to be heard and wound the ears of those deaf people sitting inside this federal building behind us.

We want an immediate end to the police brutality and terrorist acts perpetrated against our community. Yes, a complete end to the police brutality and terrorist acts that our people are confronted with every single day, every single week, every single month, every single year across the southwest and beyond.

Carlos Lamadrid, of Douglas, Arizona, was shot not by the KKK, not by the Minutemen, not by the Tea Party. He was shot 3 times through the back by a government-paid Border Patrol agent. Carlos was 19 years old.  Today the government government assassin is free, while our brother is buried, and his family today is in mourning.

Carlos is only the latest case in a long list of murders by border patrol agents. It’s not the exception, it’s the rule:

Francisco Javier Dominguez, shot execution style as he was going to his knees and surrendering when an agent fired. There were two federal trials resulting in hung juries. The jury was all white and today the government assassin is free, while our brother is buried, and his family still in mourning.

Sergio Adrian Hernández, jóven de 15 años asesinado por la patrulla fronteriza with a bullet to the head on Mexican territory in june 2010. Today the government assassin is free, while our brother is buried and his family still in mourning.

Ramses Barrón Torres, a 17-years-old youth was killed January of this year, shot by border patrol in the back of the right arm, with the bullet continuing into his chest cavity, puncturing a lung, and lodging in the left side of his ribcage. The government assassin is free, while our brother is buried and his family still in mourning.

We don’t ever forget. You don’t kill our brothers. You don’t shoot one of us and then grin in our faces. You don’t shoot one of us and then shake our hands and think we forget. You don’t shoot one of us and then ask us to vote for your one party-system. No! we never forget, we will never forget.

Someone will pay… Somewhere somehow someone will pay.

People today got the audacity to say this country is based on the principles of democracy, equality and justice.

Nah! This country is based on nothing but hypocrisy… this country is based on nothing but the right of policemen and politicians to mutilate and shoot down brown people.

This is the brutality we are talking about; this is the crime that we are talking about.

And the mainstream media is right:

We got violent abusers on a rampage.

We got cold-blooded killers on a rampage.

We got criminals on a rampage;

But it ain’t undocumented people, it ain’t our families and communities. And it ain’t our youth.

It’s them: this government, these laws, this police state terror is on the lose. Outright U.S. government-sponsored assassins on the loose. And we gotta stop them.

We won’t get justice in the courts.  People of color can’t get justice in the court system of amerika. The only way u get justice is in the street, the only way u get justice is on the sidewalk, the only way u get justice is when u make justice for urself. We will never get justice in their court system.

We want peace! we want justice! we want respect! we want to carry ourselves with dignity!

But we don’t want to walk around in a police state, giving people the right to think that they can take our life and that’s all that’s gonna happen from it.

So I’m telling u, don’t u ever expect justice from amerika. Don’t u ever expect a just immigration reform from this system. Don’t u ever expect liberation and freedom and democracy from this system.

This country was built on bloodshed, and it continues to give us bloodshed.

This country was built on war and violence, and it continues to give us war and violence.

So today we are here to condemn state violence.

These border policies of profit and control and genocide have intentionally killed over 153 people in Arizona last year alone. This quiet genocide, that goes unnoticed and uninterrupted, will only intensify.

Mientras exista migra, mientras exista ICE, border patrol, mientras existan fronteras, NUNCA habra paz.

We demand an immediate end to the existence of ICE, border patrol, police and borders!

Para concluir: I send the Lamadrid family my deepest condolences. Rest in power Carlos Lamadrid. Tú no has muerto en vano porque nos das la fuerza para seguir luchando por un mundo donde una muerte como la tuya nunca jamás sucederá. May your spirit always be with us as a reminder of why we continue to fight for the complete destruction of this neo-apartheid system.

But more importantly, may ur spirit send us the strength to live in dignity and possess the strength, courage, and undying determination required to reach a beautiful world full of peace, love, justice and equality.

We will never forget you. But rest assured, somewhere somehow, justice will be served.

Nosotros cobraremos justicia, y la justicia será cumplida—de eso nos encargaremos.

Que descanses Carlos, en el gran panteón de héroes y mártires.

Gracias. My deepest apologies for not moving fast enough…

Prisiones Privadas y la Corrupción en Arizona

Por Raúl Al-qaraz Ochoa / Originalmente publicado en ARIZONA BILINGUAL

La SB 1070 cayó como tormenta a la comunidad Latina de Arizona y del país entero el año pasado. Aunque la situación de Arizona ha seguido igual de pésima que lo que se vivía antes de la SB 1070, la demanda por más centros de detención sigue creciendo.

Según Gillian Brigham, el oficial de Asuntos Públicos del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (I.C.E.), en el año fiscal 2009, “I.C.E. detuvo a 383.524 personas, con un promedio de 32.098 personas encarceladas a diario, repartidas en 270 centros de detención de inmigrantes a lo largo de la nación.”

En Arizona, la demanda por más cárceles aumentó con la aprobación de la SB 1070, un proyecto de ley que parece más bien ser un modelo de negocio donde la industria de las prisiones privadas se enriquece al encarcelar a la comunidad obrera Latina.

En Octubre del 2010 National Public Radio (NPR) sacó un reportaje desenmascarando que la SB 1070 fué un complot siniestro entre legisladores de Arizona—incluyendo el desdichado Russell Pearce—y una empresa llamada CCA (Corrections Corporation of America).

Corrections Corporation of America es una empresa privada que se especializa en el diseño, construcción, ampliación y administración de las prisiones, cárceles y centros de detención. El gobierno contrata a CCA para manejar sus prisiones—entre más contratos con el gobierno tenga y entre más leyes criminalizando a la comunidad migrante existan, cientos de millones de dólares se irán a los bolsillos de CCA.

Es por eso que nació la SB 1070: una ganancia política y económica.

Russell Pearce no introdujo la SB 1070 primero a la legislatura de Arizona, si no primero la compartió y recibió aprobación de un grupo secreto llamado ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council).

ALEC es una organización de membresía donde legisladores estatales y las empresas más poderosas se unen para desarrollar proyectos de ley para el beneficio de los ricos y sus intereses empresariales. Empresas como ExxonMobil, Wal-Mart, Geo Group y la Asociación Nacional del Rifle pertenecen como miembros. Otro miembro es CCA – la mayor empresa privada de prisiones en el país.

Por dos años, Pearce y CCA han estado viniendo a estas reuniones. Es aquí donde la industria de las cárceles tuvo una participación critica en la creación de la SB 1070, póliza que les dará buen negocio.

Pero el chisme se pone hasta más interesante; la corrupción y el complot de Arizona se extienden:

• En cuanto Pearce metió la SB 1070 en la legislatura en enero del 2010, 36 co-patrocinadores se unieron a la propuesta, la mayoría también siendo miembros del grupo ALEC.
• Esa misma semana que se introdujo la propuesta, CCA contrató a personal para presionar a legisladores en el capitolio de Arizona para asegurar la aprobación de la SB 1070.
• Treinta de los 36 políticos co-patrocinadores recibieron donaciones de los grupos de presión y de las mismas empresas de cárceles privadas, como CCA, Management and Training Corporation y Geo Group en los meses después de la introducción de la propuesta.

• En Abril, la gobernadora Jan Brewer firmó la propuesta en ley, teniendo ella misma sus propias conexiones a las empresas de prisiones privadas. Los registros estatales de cabildeo muestran que dos de sus principales asesores – su portavoz Paul Senseman y su director de campaña Chuck Coughlin – son ex cabilderos (personal dedicado a presionar a políticos para crear o pasar ciertos proyectos de ley) de la empresa de prisiones privadas CCA.

Hasta los niveles más altos del gobierno Arizonense se encuentra la corrupción y el conflicto de intereses.

Es muy claro que la democracia en el estado de Arizona ha sido vendida a las empresas de prisiones privadas. CCA ha comprado a los legisladores, la policía y los agentes de la patrulla fronteriza. CCA ha comprado a leyes injustas racistas como la SB 1070 y los ataques a la enmienda 14 para someter a la población Latina/migrante y siempre contar con una población vulnerable a ser explotada y encarcelada. CCA ha comprado a la gobernadora y al gabinete convirtiendo a Arizona en su gran banco donde saquean sus ganancias.

El estado de Arizona ha sido vendido a CCA y otras grandes empresas.

Mientras esta sea la realidad, la justicia, igualdad y democracia estarán igualmente presas.

Como una miembra del grupo comunitario Corazón de Tucson dice, “Ahora es el tiempo de unirnos y organizar a nuestra comunidad para romper las garras de la corrupción. Otro Arizona no solamente es posible, es urgentemente necesario.”

Para más información:

• NPR. “Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law”.  Por Laura Sullivan
• InTheseTimes.com. “Corporate Con Game: How the private prison industry helped shape Arizona’s anti-immigrant law”. Por Beau Hodai

Descent into Chaos: The Chickens Coming Home to Roost

By Raúl Al-qaraz Ochoa

 (Note: contains political analysis some may find too intense for this political moment. To me, it is more timely and urgent than ever.)

Two days before the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a 17 year-old boy by the name of Ramses Barron Torres was shot in the back of the right arm by a border patrol agent in the Arizona-Sonora border; the bullet continued into his chest cavity, puncturing a lung, and lodging in the left side of his ribcage. This vicious assassination went almost unnoticed in the press. The few reports out there blamed this “illegal alien” for allegedly “throwing rocks at the agent”, even though the boy was shot in the back. Clearly once again, the life of Mexican/native peoples are deemed inferior and unworthy of public outcry, while white people’s lives are prioritized and receive international attention.

In a blog titled “The Other Arizona Shooting”, Maegan La Mala painfully observes, “There have been no national moments of silence for the apparently unarmed teenager. No memes speculating on the sanity of the shooter(s) or if violent rhetoric played a role. That’s probably because Ramses Barron Torres is Mexican and was shot by U.S. Border Patrol.” http://vivirlatino.com/2011/01/11/the-other-arizona-shooting.php

Contrast Ramses’ death with Giffords’ stance on border militarization. According to Congress.org, She called for the deployment of the National Guard and more Border Patrol agents to the region. Giffords claimed victory when the Obama administration allotted 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and dedicated about $600 million to add technology and border agents.

Giffords and Obama, essentially, provided the weaponry and the resources needed to make the assassination of Ramses possible.

During the 2010 election cycle, Republicans targeted Giffords. Retired Marine Jesse Kelly—backed by the Tea Party—attacked Giffords for not being tough enough on border security! The election between them was practically a contest on who is the toughest one in the Wild West called the Arizona border.

Jesse Kelley called for the construction of a double-layer border fence, the hiring of even more Border Patrol agents and the deployment of 10,000 National Guard troops – more than eight times the 1,200 sent by the Obama administration that Giffords praised.

These border policies—supported by politicians from both parties—have set the conditions for a slaughter over a thousand times more gruesome than what happened this Saturday in Tucson. The U.S.-Mexico-border is on track to continue being the site of a quiet genocide that has claimed the lives of over 8,000 people since the federal government’s policy of “prevention through deterrence” was adopted in 1994.

This cycle of violence is not surprising when you remember the fact that we stand on indigenous land taken by force, bloodshed, war and ongoing occupation. The U.S. southwest has been the site of a centuries-old battle-zone and it continues today.

With all the attention given to the murders in Tucson, we also need to be outraged by the “silent” rounds being fired against communities of color on a daily basis.

• Can the international media please shed light on the massacre happening at the U.S.-Mexico border?
• Can the international media please condemn itself for its violent and dehumanizing language used to refer to migrants, such as “illegal” or “alien”?
• Can the international media please take a moment of silence for Ramses Barron Torres, Brisenia Flores (another 9 year-old girl, killed by Minutemen white supremacists in Arizona last year, along with her father Raúl Flores), Sergio Andres Hernandez, Francisco Javier Dominguez, Anastasio Hernandez and so many more murdered by white supremacist vigilantes and border patrol agents?
• Can the international media please report how the loving father of a friend of mine was kidnapped by I.C.E. agents for being undocumented and now faces between 2 and 20 years in prison? Or the stress and trauma still felt years later by mothers and children in my own family due to family separations? How about the fear and terror this government has made my community feel; leaving parents too afraid to leave their own home, because they don’t know if they will return home that night to their family?
• Can the international media please shed light on how violence against our mothers and children is being waged through the attacks on the 14^th amendment birthright citizenship and the ban on ethnic studies?
• Can the international media please shed light on the state violence perpetrated by politicians sponsoring hateful words and legislation such as Russell Pearce, Jan Brewer, Tom Horne and the rest of them?
• Can the international media please condemn the corporations benefiting from the detention of thousands of innocent mothers and fathers, such as GEO Group, Corrections Corporation of America, Wells Fargo, General Electric?

It’s urgent. Maybe if you reported these things with the same shock and outrage as the shootings, maybe the domestic warfare being waged against our communities would end and we would stop being daily victims of abuse, violence and genocide.

As Malcolm X once expressed: “When you send your chickens out in the morning from your barnyard, those chickens will return that evening to your barnyard, not your neighbors barnyard. I think this [JFK assassination] is a prime example of the chickens coming back home to roost. That the chickens that he sent out, the violence that the [government has] perpetrated ….  [has returned]. This same violence [they unleashed] has come back to claim one of their own.”

With this never-ending cycle of violence going on, this assessment rings painfully true today… in Arizona and everywhere else.

The violence, the descent into chaos, the downward spiral of hatred was already present in our lives, and sad to say that by all accounts, it will only continue to get worse.

Ethnic Studies is a Human Right! TUSD Governing Board Votes to Defy International Human Rights

By Raúl Al-qaraz Ochoa / www.antifronteras.com

The Tucson Unified School District governing board is proving itself to be a highly impotent and negligent force in the struggle for human rights in Arizona.

Fellow Tucson blogger, Abie, from Three Sonorans blog, published the fact that the school board was calling for an emergency meeting where they would announce what the district plans to do in regards to the sinister bill HB 2281, scheduled to go into effect in a matter of hours. Within just a 24 hour notice for the board meeting, the Tucson community—students, parents and community members—quickly mobilized to fill the room to make sure the school board knows that we are present and that we are watching their every move.

Apparently that wasn’t enough to compel the board to stand for justice. Adelita Grijalva, a so-called champion of Ethnic Studies, read aloud a resolution declaring that TUSD will be in compliance with HB 2281! (May I add here how this meeting was one of the most elitist and anti-democratic meetings I’ve been to in a long time? The mighty 5 board members come out of a secret closed meeting, an hour late, sat in their elevated chairs, read a resolution that barely made sense to any Mexican in the crowd, and then they left, with no comments or questions taken publicly. Clearly, the board feels no kind of accountability to students or parents. Aren’t they supposed to work for us and answer to us?) Anyways, back to the point… the board has publicly gone on-record that they will obey and stand behind this slanderous, white supremacist piece of crap bill! And we’re supposed to just watch this unfold?

Hmmm… Where do I begin?

For the record, THEY DID NOT HAVE TO DO THIS. Don’t give me the argument that “their hands are tied” or “what do we expect?” or that “it’s a political move to defend the program”. Please don’t, because I don’t buy any of it. Their hands are not tied, but their political/moral courage to defy the bill has clearly been kidnapped. To add insult to injury, the board even announced it will create a committee to ensure they will be in accordance with this oppressive law! Meaning they will strategize as to how to water-down and compromise the program. Meaning more “reviews”, more Raza Studies staff witch hunts, more censorship. The board is playing with fire and its bound to get burned. Their disturbingly spineless position is a dangerous political move that will backfire because even if TUSD argues that Ethnic Studies does not violate any of HB 2281’s ridiculous provisions, the board has just willingly legitimized the intent behind HB 2281 and that is to get rid of Raza Studies at all costs. The board is playing into the hands of the Republicans and has just positioned itself for defeat, crawling behind fears of right-wing political backlash.

Not just that, but the board also just voted to disregard international law and has now publicly  positioned itself diametrically in opposition to human rights.

Has the board forgotten that hours before Jan Brewer signed HB 2281 into law, the United Nations Human Rights Commission formally condemned the bill on the basis that any group has the inherent right to learn about their own cultural history? 

A group of UN human rights experts declared their serious concern over laws recently enacted by the state of Arizona, that affect people of color, indigenous people and migrants, subjecting them to discriminatory treatment.

Here are excerpts of what they wrote pertaining to SB 1070 and HB 2281:

“A disturbing pattern of legislative activity hostile to ethnic minorities and immigrants has been established with the adoption of an immigration law that may allow for police action targeting individuals on the basis of their perceived ethnic origin, and a law that suppresses school programs featuring the histories and cultures of ethnic minorities.

…such law [HB 2281] and attitude are at odds with the State’s responsibility to respect the right of everyone to have access to his or her own cultural and linguistic heritage and to participate in cultural life. Everyone has the right to seek and develop cultural knowledge and to know and understand his or her own culture and that of others through education and information.

…Every measure must be taken to promote maximum tolerance and appreciation for ethnic and cultural diversity in the educational system, to allow it to remain free from racial discrimination in any form.”

So, what part of human rights and international law do the 5 board members not understand? Maybe they should create a committee not on policy, but rather one on how to act like moral, courageous, advocates of students and families. Now isn’t that why we voted them into power? If they don’t fulfill this role, we need to take them out. We need local/community control of our schools! We don’t need people in positions of power that are incapable of upholding our basic human rights.

Our message to the board is clear: Watch out! ETHNIC STUDIES IS A HUMAN RIGHT! And under no circumstances will we let you or anyone else sit on the fence and take it away from us. Our community fought way too hard for us to have this today! Either you stand for students and families or get ready to face the wrath of community power.

You can choose to stand for or against human rights, but drill it in your brains that Raza Studies will live forever…

¡Que viva Raza Studies!

Exclusión, desigualdad y la enmienda 14

Por Raúl Al-qaraz Ochoa / Originalmente publicado en ARIZONA BILINGUAL

¿Que sigue ahora que presuntamente ha calmado el diluvio de la SB 1070? Legisladoras que se dedican a hacernos la vida en cuadritos están por causar otra tormenta. Esta vez los ataques se dirigen hacia nuestros bebes. Aun ni han nacido, y ya nuestras criaturas se enfrentan a la discriminación. ¿Lo puede creer?

Una coalición nacional llamada “Legisladores Estatales por la Inmigración Legal” están por lanzar en enero de 2011 un esfuerzo coordinado nacionalmente para cambiar la manera en cual la Enmienda 14 es interpretada. Ósea buscan negarle la ciudadanía a bebes nacidos en los EEUU de padres indocumentados.

Y claro que Arizona está al frente de esta batalla. En las elecciones de Noviembre, los votantes de dichoso estado han elegido a la legislatura más conservadora en la historia. El abogado de Kansas Kris Kobach, quien le ayudó al senador de Mesa Russell Pearce escribir la SB 1070, está trabajando junto con Pearce y el representante Republicano John Kavanagh para escribir una propuesta para introducir en la próxima sesión legislativa en Arizona. Esta propuesta seria el modelo que por lo menos otros 14 estados igualmente propondrán.

La Enmienda 14 de la Constitución de los EE.UU. fue ratificada en 1868 y afirma que “todas las personas nacidas o naturalizadas en los Estados Unidos, y sujetas a su jurisdicción, son ciudadanas de los Estados Unidos y del Estado en que residen.” Pearce dice que personas indocumentadas no están sujetas a la “jurisdicción” de los EEUU porque, por ejemplo, no se les requiere servicio militar y no participan en un jurado . La intención principal de la Enmienda 14 era garantizar la ciudadanía a los afro-americanos, especialmente los que fueron esclavos.

En 1898, la Corte Suprema decidió (en United States v. Wong Kim Ark ) que el hijo nacido en Estados Unidos de una pareja de inmigrantes chinos llegó a ser un ciudadano al nacer bajo la Enmienda 14, a pesar de que en el momento en que sus padres no eran elegibles para la ciudadanía. Esa decisión se ha interpretado como la concesión de ciudadanía a todos los bebés nacidos en los EE.UU.

A consecuencia, Pearce no pretende cambiar la constitución; su meta es que las cortes interpreten de nuevo y clarifiquen que nuestra raza indocumentada no está protegida bajo la “jurisdicción” estadounidense.

¡Ya basta de exclusiones, desigualdades e injusticias!

Russell Pearce busca cualquier apertura para poder desencadenar sus ataques racistas. Él está atacando a las madres embarazadas mexicanas y Latinas porque para él ellas representan una amenaza a la demográfica Anglosajona. Quieren negarle ciudadanía a nuestros niños porque hay gran poder en la generación del futuro. El ataque a la enmienda 14 es el más reciente ejemplo de exclusión y supremacía blanca. Buscan aumentar una población de segunda clase vulnerable a ser explotada y encarcelada y desean mantener una jerarquía racial donde los blancos, ricos, ciudadanos tienen poder sobre todos los demás.

Es por ello que necesitamos organizarnos como comunidad para poder contraatacar estos ataques. Como un padre de familia comentó, “No podemos permitir que ataquen a lo más sagrado de nuestra comunidad: las madres y nuestros hijos.”