Local immigrant advocates want Arizona boycott

New Mexico-The president of the city of Santa Fe's Immigration Committee is asking families and businesses to boycott Arizona, an action she hopes will help lead to elimination of a law signed Friday by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Local-immigrant-advocates-want-Arizona-boycott
[posted Laura Ibarra]

The state GOP is reaching out to Hispanics

All of our current U.S. congressman and senators are Democrats, so if the Democratic Party is indeed the big tent home for Hispanics, why don’t we have more than one U.S. congressional representative from New Mexico? I am sure when the 2010 census is complete Hispanics will remain the majority population of our state, so why the disparity?

[posted by Laura Ibarra]

http://www.nmpolitics.net/index/2010/04/the-state-gop-is-reaching-out-to-hispanics/

Chicano Federation exec director ready to retire Ray Uzeta built a multimillion-dollar pillar of community service

Whether it’s helping women get training to become licensed day care operators, finding affordable housing for families, or providing subsidized preschool care, Ray Uzeta has been there.

Whether it’s fighting for disabled people’s rights during a history-making sit-in or networking at a black-tie gala, Ray Uzeta has been there.

Posted By Alex Sobieski
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/18/stepping-down-after-stepping-up/

NCLR - Defending From Profiling

Release: Washington, D.C.

The NCLR made a plea to the Arizona Governor to veto a law passed by the state legislature that allowed its police force to unjustly search Latinos in order to prove their citizenship.

The law in question makes it a misdemeanor to not have proper immigration/citizenship documentation; the police would only require "reasonable doubt" of someone's status. The NCLR president Janet Murguia stresses that this bill, when signed into law, will allow an unconstitutionally easy standard of motivation for police to target the Latino community. This, on top of Latino immigration program 287(g), deals a major blow to Latino legal rights.

“The urgency of fixing this broken system cannot be overstated. The more that time passes, the more families are broken apart, opportunities for education are denied, and our values as Americans are eroded,” Murguía concluded.

Full Article Here

NCLR: Immigration Enforcement Policy Failed

Release: Washington, D.C.

The National Council of La Raza is reporting that, on April 2nd, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the latest immigration program, which relied on local and state enforcement of immigration laws, have repeatedly violated the rights of the accused, both of citizenship and those without documentation, and the lack of accountability that goes into these abuses. The NCLR has responded with an added fervor to end the program.

In short, they are calling for a more just kind of policy, one that will not, as Clarissa Martínez De Castro, NCLR Director of Immigration and National Campaigns puts it, "deport our way to a solution to our broken immigration system."

Instead, the hope that the DHS, Congress and the President will find a way to address the immigration policy without violating the rights of all people.

They are now making plans to officially recommend to all local law enforcement agencies who rely on Program 287(g), the program in question, that all actions on this program's account be terminated on the grounds of lack of oversight and failure to achieve its intended goal.

The National Council of La Raza: INSPECTOR GENERAL RELEASES DAMNING REPORT ON IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM

Posted by: DAVID KILMARTIN

BROWN BERETS: "Still We Rise"

Los Brown Berets de SLC (Salt Lake City) led a large group of students and community members on a historic rally on the steps of the Utah State Capitol this past Thursday March 11, 2010. The purpose of the rally was to protest a series of Utah legislative bills that are extremely detrimental to the state's racial and ethnic minorities. "Still We Rise" outlined 7 bills that diminishes the quality of life of marginalized communities that include Mexicans and other Latinos, Polynesians, American Indians and other minorities in the state of Utah.

The Brown Beret official rally statement declared, "We the Communities take back the power to declare our inalienable rights that have been promised but not practiced. We rise to protect our civil liberties and to show our legislators they will be held accountable for their actions today and tomorrow. We march to the heartbeats of our ancestors and we rise together united by our struggles.”

There is a Youtube video included in the article from some of the speeches the BB gave on the rally.

http://www.aztlan.net/still_we_rise.htm

Posted by Felipe Ocampo

New Mexicans Join Immigrant Rights Rally

More than 80 New Mexico residents are in Washington, D.C., for today's March for America rally, a national mobilization to push Congress and the Obama administration to pass immigration reform legislation.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/New-Mexicans-join-rights-rally
[posted by laura Ibarra]