Barrio Defense: How Arizona’s Immigrants are Standing Up to SB 1070

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Shortly after the 2010 passage ofSB 1070, Arizona’s notorious immigration bill, 20,000 people gathered in Phoenix for a May Day march to protest the new law. Instead of ending with speakers or a formal program, as political marches often do, organizers broke the crowd into small groups and asked them two questions:

How will the new law impact you and your neighbors? What can you do about it?

And with that, a new phase of the migrant rights movement, based on an age-old model of community organizing, was born.

SB1070: Pushing the Gears of History Forward

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clinic Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;”>The migrant rights movement in this country is about to enter a new phase and every person, no matter their position, will have to decide how they will relate to it.

While many are waiting to see the decision of the Supreme Court related to the Department of Justice’s SB1070 case, a human rights crisis of epic proportions is already roiling in Arizona.

The status quo we face now and the results of even the best possible decision from the Supreme Court still represent a steady march toward anti-immigrant attrition that the state has constructed over years.  First we faced efforts to restrict our ability to function in society: drivers’ license bans, denial of social services, and English only rules. Then they built ways to humiliate and dehumanize us through Sheriff Arpaio’s outdoor jails and Florence’s expanding penal colonies.

Defending Arizona in a SB 1070 Nation: What Side Are You On? – Jeff Biggers

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With defiant Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer growing moreemboldened as the Supreme Court readies to unveil its ruling on the state’s SB 1070 “papers, please” immigration law, Arizona human rights group Puenteand their national allies are bolstering their “Barrio Defense Committees,” as “neighbors link with neighbors to learn their rights and make collective plans to defend themselves.”

They are also asking their fellow Arizona neighbors and politicians to take a stand.

After record deportations, Obama’s welcome change of immigration policy

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Cynicism at Obama’s election-year move aside, what gives me hope for real reform is the energy of the migrant rights campaign

Latino youth protesting Obama administration immigration policy

Myisha Areloano, Adrian James, Jahel Campos, David Vuenrostro and Antonio Cabrera camp outside of the Obama campaign headquarters in Culver City, California to protest of the administration’s immigration policies: on Friday 15 June, the president announced a change of policy. Photograph: Grant Hindsley/AP

In a major announcement Friday 15 June, the Obama administration declared it will stop deporting eligible undocumented youth and grant them work permits. I was immediately elated to hear the news that could change the lives of family members, friends, and thousands of young people who face the threat of deportation every day. Yet, as the initial shock wears off, I can’t ignore a rising sense of skepticism in response to the president’s nakedly political move in an election year. Nor can I ignore his record so far.

Securing DC’s Community – Washington Post

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Ever since the Department of Homeland Security decided to conscript local police as “force multipliers” in harsh immigration enforcement efforts, sick cities and states have found themselves unwittingly or unwillingly part of the controversial federal deportation program misnamed Se Communities. But a bold move last week by the D.C. Council [“In D.C., no warm welcome for immigration crackdown,” Metro, June 5] to protect residents from the effects of Se Communities should serve as a model for the country.