 New York City march across Brooklyn Bridge, July 30 Photo: Edward Pages |
The following is a compilation
of reports sent in by activist-correspondents to PSLweb.org. A separate article
on the actions in Phoenix can be found here
Boston
 Boston SB 1070 protest Photo: Jennifer Zaldana |
On July 29, over 100 people came
together to fight back against racial profiling. The crowd included numerous
young people, many of whom were new to the immigrant rights movement. The
demonstration, which was called by the Boston May Day Committee, began outside
of the Park St. train station. C. Gonçalves, organizer with the ANSWER
Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) co-chaired the event with Matt
Andrews, organizer with the Boston May Day Committee. Speakers from the
endorsing organizations such as the Student Immigrant Movement and the ANSWER
Coalition spoke outside the Park St. Station, followed by a “radical
cheerleading performance.”
A short march to the State House
followed the rally, with a stop outside of the Fox News Station. During the
march, drums were the background beat to the chants of “No More
Arizona!” and “The people are under attack, what do we do? Stand up
fight back!” as well as, “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, racist media has got to
go!” The overall crowd sentiment was outrage over the racist SB 1070 law,
which came out through every speech and chant.
Boston stands with the people of
Arizona! Not in Arizona—Not in Massachusetts!
Chicago
 ANSWER organizer John Beacham speaks. Photo: Ana Santoyo |
More than 350 people marched to
the Cook County jail and courthouse and then rallied. The protest was mainly
young people and led by undocumented youth.
Moratorium on Deportations
Campaign and the Immigrant Youth Justice League organized the action. They had
handed out signs and called for people in the community to put them up all over
the city. During the rally, speakers from various organizations called on Cook
County to stop deportations.
The crowd was happy about the
recent court decision blocking implementation of the worst parts of SB 1070,
but they still wanted to work for overturning the remaining unjust provisions
that now have gone into effect.
Florida
On July 31, the ANSWER Coalition
and its allies organized actions in several cities across Florida to stand in
solidarity with the people of Arizona as SB 1070 went into effect. Actions were
held in Tallahassee, Orlando, West Palm Beach, and Miami.
The actions also sent a strong
message of opposition to racist politicians in Florida who are currently
seeking to introduce an SB 1070-type law in our state.
Over the past several weeks, there
has not been a short supply of Florida politicians who are running for office
and willing to use a platform of bigotry and hatred to fuel their
campaigns.
Press reports during this period
offered an unchallenged megaphone to these racist politicians, allowing them to
whip up anti-immigrant hysteria in the state with the third largest
undocumented population after California and Texas.
The press conferences held by
ANSWER and its allies on July 29 as SB 1070 went into effect, and the
demonstrations on the 31st, signified the first organized, public response of
immigrant communities and their supporters against the prospect of an SB
1070-type law in Florida.
Protests in Orlando and West Palm
Beach targeted the offices of the attorney general of Florida, Bill McCollum,
who is currently a candidate in the Republican gubernatorial primaries.
Over the past several weeks,
McCollum has used the offices of the attorney general as a vehicle to further
his political campaign by unilaterally adding Florida to a legal brief, along
with nine other states, supporting Arizona’s SB 1070.
These demonstrations served as the
beginning of a fight back against the bigots in Tallahassee who are attacking
immigrant communities in Florida. A campaign of political education classes, forums
and demonstrations is being planned by organizers to prepare for the struggle
that lies ahead.
New Haven, Conn.
Almost 60 people gathered in front
of the New Haven Federal Building to protest the racist SB 1070 and the
supplementary 287G.
Demonstrators held signs and chanted “Somos immigrantes, no somos criminals,”
“We are immigrants, not criminals” and “The people united will never be
defeated.”
The crowd cheered as Priscilla
Lounds, a member of March Forward! and Party for Socialism and Liberation declared,
“This government will happily offer you citizenship if you go and kill other
poor and oppressed people in Afghanistan and Iraq! … Everyone who comes to this
country to work is our brother and sister.”
Yolanda Mendieta agreed: “We’re
here to support all of our people who are crossing the desert now. We want
solutions now.” Mendieta participates in a traveling group of mothers of
Mexican immigrants who secured travel visas with the help of activists in New
Haven.
Protesters were cheered on by cars
and joined by passers-by. The
demonstration was organized by Unidad Latina en Acción, AnswerCT, Party for
Socialism and Liberation and New Haven Peace Council.
New York City
Despite the court injunction blocking the racist SB
1070 from being enacted in its entirety, New York City immigrant rights
supporters proceeded with a march across the Brooklyn Bridge on June 30. The
march was estimated at 600-1000 participants, a powerful display considering it
took place on a Thursday morning.
When activists, students, and immigrants—undocumented
and documented alike—came together in Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza, the energy began
mounting despite the scorching heat. Members of VAMOS Unidos, an organization
of street vendors that played a leading role in the march, came decked out in
matching red T-shirts and carried balloons in the shape of flags that denounced
SB 1070.
Although marching in solidarity with those in
Arizona, demonstrators raised the main issues in the larger struggle for
justice. In addition to opposing SB 1070, many signs called for an “End to
Racist Deportations,” “Amnesty,” and “Full rights for all immigrants.”
As the march crossed, the protest’s signs became more
visible to cars on the bridge. Drivers of all nationalities blew their horns in
support of the marchers, whose enthusiasm picked up as they approached
Manhattan’s Foley Square. The ANSWER Coalition, which marched with Da Urban
Butterflies youth group from Washington Heights, flowed into the square with an
energetic chant: “El que no brinque es migra” (“Whoever doesn’t
jump supports ICE.”)
As expected, a small group of right-wingers held a
pathetic counter-protest at Foley Square. Their “go back to where you came
from” taunts only exposed the racist core of their politics.
The following day, another protest of a few hundred
people marched on CitiField in Queens, where the Arizona Diamondbacks were
playing the New York Mets. The Diamondbacks’ owner personally contributed over
$1 million in support of SB 1070. The march through the working-class immigrant
communities of Jackson Heights and Flushing was well-received, particularly the
chant of “La migra, policia: la misma porqueria” (ICE and the police:
the same crap!”)
Syracuse, N.Y.
 Barrie Gewanter of the NYCLU speaks Photo: Cayetano Valenzuela. |
Over 50 activists converged in
downtown Syracuse July 29 in front of the Federal Building to join nationwide
protests against SB1070. The rally began with the chant, “When immigrant rights
are under attack, what do you we do? Stand up fight back!” as a powerful
opening to the wide array of featured speakers.
Syracuse lawyer Jose Perez spoke
of the already existent racial profiling in New York State, pointing out that
SB 1070 merely institutionalized practices that are widespread across the
country. He cited a personal story of when he was pulled over on I-90 and asked
for his papers. “When we give away one right, we give away all our rights and
we cannot let that happen,” Perez said.
Activist Rebecca Fuentes of the
Workers’ Rights Center read the testimony of a local mother, worker and
immigrant. Her story addressed the constant state of fear immigrants live in of
being deported from their homes and families for just having brown skin and
speaking Spanish. “That is not a life,” the immigrant testified.
Teamster Howie Hawkins linked the
immigrant rights struggle to the broader struggle in response to attacks on
workers. Hawkins called for immediate amnesty for the undocumented along with
labor rights and living wages. “When they divide and conquer, they exploit us
all,” Hawkins said.
The action was organized by the
Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse and the Syracuse Peace Council
and endorsed by the ANSWER Coalition, the Workers’ Rights Center and the
Syracuse chapter of the NYCLU.
Jennifer Zaldana, Ana Santoyo,
Emmanuel Lopez, Deb Malatesta, Stephanie Munoz, and Ashley Sauers contributed
to this roundup.
