In a small, crowded theater in New York's West Village the night of August 8, a group of thirty indigenous women from central Mexico finally got a chance to perform their play before a U.S. audience.

According to [cast member Yolanda] Mendieta, 30 percent or more of the villagers have taken the dangerous journey to the north. But why do so many people leave?

The Arizona Diamondbacks are slated to host the 2011 All-Star Game, but a growing number of individuals and groups are calling on Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bud Selig to move the game due to Arizona's passage of the anti-immigrant legislation known as SB 1070. Sunday, the Washington Nationals' ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg took the mound against the Diamondbacks, but he was pulled before the start of the sixth inning after activists disrupted the game. Nationals' manager Jim Riggleman told the Washington Post, "Once that stuff was going on, I decided I'm not going to throw him back out there."

South Philadelphia — On Thursday August 12 at 6PM, community members, leaders and advocates gathered at 6th and Ritner Park to rally for the release of Hov Ly Kol, a man who is an "asset to the Cambodian community and to the community at large", states Mr. David Seng, Glenn Wrighten, and Chris Keo staff member of United Communities Southeast Philadelphia. Read More | | | Video: 1 | 2 | | | UCSEP.org

Related from Arizona IMC: Congress passes border death bill in Machiavellian election year hijinks

Tucson, AZ- Although attention in Arizona has been focused during the past several months on SB1070 and Joe Arpaio's increasingly totalitarian anti-immigrant tactics, much of the media coverage has ignored the degree to which Arizona communities have long been under the thumb of SB1070-like enforcement practices. Programs such as 287(g) and "Secure Communities" already allow local police to cooperate with the feds on immigration enforcement, and have proliferated under the Obama administration. Even more dramatic is the free reign that the U.S. Border Patrol enjoy in southern Arizona, within 100 miles of the border, and the cooperation of municipal police agencies in cities such as Tucson, Yuma, Casa Grande and Sierra Vista in the routine detention and deportation of long-term community members.

Despite a partial injunction, SB1070 has only emboldened such practices and the impunity with which these law enforcement agencies operate. Tucson residents are complaining of unprecedented police harassment and interrogation related to immigration status. Just one week after SB1070 went into effect, in an unprecedented show of force, the Tucson Police Department engaged in a Joe Arpaio-style immigration sweep on Tucson's southside involving a staging ground in Rudy Garcia park and dozens of patrol cars. Members of Copwatch / Migra Patrol observed police single out people driving with Mexican license plates and detaining anybody without "proper" ID. Confirmed reports in the past week have described similar police actions at the Ronstadt transit / bus station. Although police have claimed that these actions are related to "targeted crime suppression," a video that went viral earlier this week clearly showed a women being placed in Border Patrol custody after a minor traffic stop on Tucson's Fourth Avenue.

Related from Houston Indymedia: Immigration Round-Ups Cause Terror in Rio Grande Valley Colonias

By John-Michael Torres to the open publishing newswire: Over the last three weeks, organizers from La Union del Pueblo Entero in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas have received more than 30 reports of Border Patrol round-ups and detentions in colonias from Pharr all the way to Mercedes. Colonia residents, many of them either undocumented or with undocumented household members, fear for their families and livelihoods. Many fear leaving their homes. Area businesses have been left deserted. Many have not even wanted to risk going to the area clinic or pharmacy.

This is the first time in recent memory that the RGV has seen widespread round-ups and detentions by Border Patrol so far north of the Rio Grande River. "We have not seen this kind of reaction from Border Patrol in the past," says LUPE Director Juanita Valdez-Cox. People are concerned in a way we haven't seen before either. In response to this general fear felt by LUPE members, the organization called for an emergency meeting between LUPE leaders and lawyer Celestino Gallegos of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid to come up with a plan of action. [Read Full Article]

[On August 5], about 75 immigrant rights and LGBTQ advocates demonstrated in front of Target, over their connection to Republican candidate for governor Tom Emmer. They condemned Target’s $150,000 contribution to MNForward, which used the money for a television ad urging the election of Emmer who is infamous for his anti-immigrant, anti-gay, and anti-minimum wage views.

The protesters carried 4 four-foot-tall dia de los muertos skeletons, signifying Emmer's offensive positions on immigrants, GLBTQ people, and low income workers, as well as Target's corporate political contributions.

Related: Brandon Lacy Campos: Why Not To Boycott Target | Wednesday: Tell the Owners--Move the Game!read more

Protests took place on July 29th throughout Arizona, and around the U.S. and Mexico, against attacks on immigrants. These protests happened the day that Arizona's anti-immigrant law, SB1070, went into effect. There were actions in San Francisco, Oakland, and other cities throughout the Bay Area and beyond. A federal judge blocked many of the most controversial parts of Arizona's immigration law from taking effect, delivering a last-minute victory to opponents of the crackdown. More Reports from the Bay Area ||| Coverage from Arizona ||| Coverage from Other Cities: Portland, OR | Houston, TX | Santa Cruz, CA

On the day that the controversial immigration law SB 1070 was introduced in Arizona, over a hundred people demonstrated in Holladay Park against the new law. Portland, Oregon, 29/07/2010

Originally the Act was signed into law by Governor of Arizona Jan Brewer on April 23rd 2010 and it came into effect today ninety days after the end of the legislative session. Shortened to either Arizona Senate Bill 1070 or SB 1070 it is otherwise known as the 'Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighbourhoods Act.'

Members of local collective B Media staged a 'Wedding of the Doomed' in front of the media and demonstrators to symbolise the marriage between the local law enforcement agencies and ICE (Immigration and customs enforcement). The marriage wouldn't have been right without some community intervention, which ended up stealing the show and standing up against the marriage of ICE and the Police.

Communique from Freedom for Arizona posted on Az Indymedia.

*Partial justice is no justice at all! Despite Judge ruling to block parts of SB 1070, racial-profiling, raids, deportations and the militarization of the border will continue unchallenged. This is why today we shut down Interstate 19 (I-19)*

*Sigue en espa**ñol abajo:*

*DIRECT ACTION DISRUPTS ARIZONA RACISM!*


[ Arizona Indymedia link:  http://tinyurl.com/22n8vks ]
[ Portland Protest Announcement:  http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2010/07/401204.shtml ]

On July 29th, a diverse showing of Santa Cruz, California residents rallied and marched in protest of Arizona's Senate Bill 1070, a legislative act that is said to be the broadest and strictest anti-immigrant measure in decades. The demonstrators proclaimed solidarity with all communities resisting SB 1070, a law they say scapegoats migrants, and also voiced outrage to local police and sheriffs working with the federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within Santa Cruz County neighborhoods and jails.

July 29th Day Of Action Against SB1070

From Arizona Indymedia - On July 28th at about 10:00 a.m. Federal judge Susan Bolton issued a preliminary injunction against four provisions included in Arizona's anti-immigrant law, SB1070. These provisions include the mandate that law enforcement officers solicit the immigration status of anyone they encounter; the portion that makes failure to carry immigration documents a state crime; the portion that makes it a state crime for undocumented immigrants to perform work in Arizona; and the portion allowing for warrantless arrest of anybody who is suspected of having committed a "deportable offense". Judge Bolton's injunction is only temporary, which means that each of these provisions can still go into effect if the judge decides, after fully hearing the case, that they are acceptable.

Here in Los Angeles a large caravan of hundreds left for Arizona early this morning.

The Arizona Legislature's passage of SB1070, which expanded police powers to enforce immigration law has lead to huge mobilizations by immigrant rights and civil liberties groups across the country. Reports from Houston, Austin and Arizona:

By John H: On July 24th, Houstonians gathered at Plaza Americas, the old Sharpstown Mall, to express their opposition to Arizona's SB 1070 immigration Bill., and rally in support of the immigrant community in Arizona. [See Photos]

By Matt: A pro-Arizona rally last June which drew 150 people is met with resistance as 150 counter-protesters confront them at the Texas Capitol in Austin. As SB 1070 is scheduled to go into effect this week, I wanted to post this audio diary from last month in Austin. [see photos and audio] Austin solidarity vigil for Arizona

By RoB: I came to Tucson this Monday to visit friends and contribute to organizing against the SB1070 law (which makes law enforcement check the immigration status of people they interact with), and have volunteered some with the work of the We Reject Racism Campaign. This campaign was initiated largely by No More Deaths, a humanitarian and activist organization trying to end the deaths of immigrants in the Sonoran desert. [Read Full Article] Twenty Four Hour vigil against SB1070 kicks off in Tucson | Photos for July 29th Vigil in Tucson against SB1070

From Arizona Indymedia: On July 28th at about 10:00 a.m. Federal judge Susan Bolton issued a preliminary injunction against four provisions included in Arizona's anti-immigrant law, SB1070. Judge Bolton allowed a series of provisions of SB1070 to stand. These provisions will go into effect at midnight TONIGHT. In response to this partial injunction, protest groups have vowed to go forward with their plans for the 29th. [Full Feature]

From the Houston Indymedia Radio Show: Repeal Coalition Organizing Against SB1070 | Immigration Seminar Question and Answer Interview

On July 28th at about 10:00 a.m. Federal judge Susan Bolton issued a preliminary injunction against four provisions included in Arizona's anti-immigrant law, SB1070. These provisions include the mandate that law enforcement officers solicit the immigration status of anyone they encounter; the portion that makes failure to carry immigration documents a state crime; the portion that makes it a state crime for undocumented immigrants to perform work in Arizona; and the portion allowing for warrantless arrest of anybody who is suspected of having committed a "deportable offense". Judge Bolton's injunction is only temporary, which means that each of these provisions can still go into effect if the judge decides, after fully hearing the case, that they are acceptable.

Meanwhile, Judge Bolton allowed a series of provisions of SB1070 to stand. These include the portion that makes it a crime to solicit work as a day-laborer; the portion that requires law enforcement to fully cooperate with immigration authorities and to report anybody they know to be in the country illegally; the portion allowing anybody to sue any jurisdiction they believe is not fully enforcing the law; and finally the portion of the law that makes it a crime to "harbor" or "transort" any undocumented immigrant (this provision is especially designed to target and criminalize mixed-status families). These provisions will go into effect at midnight TONIGHT.

In response to this partial injunction, protest groups have vowed to go forward with their plans for the 29th. Read On for Details

Related Coverage: Mobilizations Take Place Across Texas for Arizona | National Week of Actions Everywhere against SB1070 | From Arizona to Minnesota, Immigrant Struggle Heats Up | Santa Cruz Responds to SB 1070 | Portland,OR: Protest in solidarity with Arizona against SB 1070

St. Paul Demonstration on Thursday, July 29

Latina/o communities and activists everywhere are fighting against racist anti-immigrant legislation.  The flashpoint of this summer's struggle is Arizona law SB 1070, the precedent setting anti-immigrant measure that codifies existing but unofficial racial profiling.  But although that law has brought thousands into the struggle for comprehensive immigration reform and against the border itself, it exists in an ongoing context of intimidation, leaked data, raids and border militarization.

SB 1070 is set to take effect on Thursday July 29, if a federal judge doesn't strike down part of it first.  Either way, dozens of large protests are scheduled Thursday from coast to coast.  In St. Paul, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) and Boycott Arizona--Minnesota (BAM!) campaign expect a large turnout on Thursday at 6pm at the State Capitol. "Our community is calling for us to take to the streets and show Minnesota that we will not stand for these hateful laws and demand a real solution to this broken system – federal immigration reform with legalization and full equality," write organizers.

The latest from Arizona: | Monday: Seven arrested in civil disobedience outside Phoenix courthouse | Soundstrike Artists Rage Against Arizona | Coverage from Colorlines | Alto Arizona | PuenteAZ | No Mås Muertes | Arizona Indymedia

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