Austin, Texas - Saturday March 31, 2012: In order to celebrate and recognize the role of Cesar E. Chavez as a civil rights, farm worker & labor leader, a diversity of organizations and community members participated in the 11th Annual "Si Se Puede" Unity March. The Unity March also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the United Farm Workers Union. The event was organized by PODER - People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources.

This video by Rene Renteria Photography highlights speaker excerpts from:
* Honorable Gonzalo Barrientos
* Mike Martinez - Austin City Councilman
* Margaret Gomez - Travis County Commissioner, Precinct 4
* Anita Quintanilla - Organizer for Cesar Chavez

Read More Here | Watch Video (on Youtube) | Related: Activism in the Tradition of Cesar Chavez

On March 13, 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unveiled its new “civil” detention center in Karnes County, Texas, located one hour southeast of San Antonio. By the end of the month the facility will hold male migrants who are either asylum-seekers or have been categorized as “low-risk.” Karnes County contracted with private prison giant the GEO Group to build this detention center, which sits upon 29 acres of land and has 608 beds, with the possibility to expand to 1200 beds. The detention center is heralded by ICE as a model facility that is demonstrative of its efforts to move towards “humane detention.” Despite its shiny exterior and the presence of volleyball courts and soccer fields, the GEO group’s troubled history and record of human rights violations within its facilities are cause for alarm. The promise of “humane detention” itself is an oxymoron that community members should challenge. A gilded cage is still a cage.

From MRzone: If there's one thing we should have learned from the events of the past year -- from the Wisconsin protests to the Occupy Wall Street movement -- it's that we no longer have to let the one percent dictate our agenda.

From Los Angeles: The days of the immigrant rights movement's maintaining a safe distance from the Occupy movement are long gone as throughout Southern California, "Occupy ICE" actions have brought the movements much closer together in honor of International Migrants Day. In Los Angeles, mainline labor and immigrant rights leaders spoke alongside mic-checking occupiers as marchers the downtown federal building, which contains an ICE detention facility. Eastward, Occupy Riverside's Latino Forum held a "Latino Day," designed to celebrate the struggle of the immigrant and highlight Latino issues in the Inland Empire. Read More

From Portland:: We reject the scapegoating of immigrants in the same way we refuse to blame Muslims, the poor, public sector workers, women, and other victims of this recession. We blame the recession on those who caused it, the most wealthy 1%. The 1% want immigrants to have zero rights so that they are easily exploitable and can be paid slave wages, thus lowering the wages of all working people. Read More

From NYC: Immigrants are part of the 99% and on December 18th the Immigrant Rights movement joined forces with the Occupy Wall Street movement to demand immigrant justice including putting an end to wage theft, and stopping detentions and deportations of our beloved community members. As the Occupy Wall Street movement highlights corporate profiteering we would like to shed light on those that profit off our labor, exploit workers and refuse to pay dignified wages. We also march against the corporations who support racist anti-immigrant legislation that allows them to make billions of dollars by detaining immigrants in private detention centers and deporting nearly 400,000 people per year. Read More

El 18 de diciembre es el Día Internacional del Migrante y nos hacemos solidarios con aquellos que a nivel mundial proclaman los Derechos del inmigrante y los Derechos Humanos.

The “Secure Communities” program being adopted in local counties across the United States has already caused much controversy in its short history. The implementation of Secure Communities by Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh has brought great distraught to several families in Champaign and Urbana. Pressure is mounting for communities to abandon this program.

Secure Communities was initiated under the Bush administration in 2008, but has been continued by President Obama. Despite adopting the campaign slogan “Yes We Can” (or “Si Se Puede”) first made popular by César Chávez and the United Farm Workers, Obama has deported one million immigrants since entering office. Secure Communities has two objectives: to send fingerprints of immigrant arrestees in local jails to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and to place an immediate 48 hour “hold” on detainees for ICE to determine if they want to obtain them for deportation proceedings. read more

On Wednesday, September 14th Workers Defense Project and allies gathered outside U.S. Representative Lamar Smith's office in Austin, TX to protest his proposed E-Verify Law/Legal Workforce Acy bill.  The E-Verify Law/Legal Workforce Act would require all employers to verify the documentation status of potential employees electronically as a pre-requisite for work. This would be devastating to immigrant communities around the US and would wind up pushing those who already make low wages further into poverty and into the underground economy, working for employers who care even less about labor and human rights than they already do. Congressman Lamar Smith, who has an office in Austin, is one of the supporters of E-Verify. It is important for us to show Lamar Smith that the residents of Austin are opposed to this unjust and discriminatory law. Join us outside of Lamar Smith's office here in Austin to demand justice for immigrants!

Protest organized by Workers Defense Project. Learn more about E-Verify here. Photography by Jason Cato. Video produced for Austin Indymedia by Jeff Zavala. A ZGraphix production.

"This summer, Philadelphia should join the growing number of cities and states around the country that have demanded an end to the controversial practice of turning local police records over to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – essentially turning community safety officers into immigration agents," stated Maria Quiñones-Sánchez.

Maria Quiñones-Sánchez has been active in her the community for decades. She currently serves here community as a elected representative to city council. She has posted this petition around the web and she sent me copy via Facebook.

July 27: Congressman Luis Gutierrez and ten immigrant rights activists and religious leaders were arrested at the White House, for protesting against mass deportations and incarcerations of immigrants, being executed by the Obama administration.

Since Barack Obama took office in 2008, more than one million migrant workers and their families have been incarcerated and deported. Most of them had no criminal records, whatsoever. President Obama doesn’t intend to stop his repressive policies, thus really tough times are coming ahead for our immigrant communities.

ONE MILLION workers, parents, students, veterans and children have been imprisoned and deported since 2008 in the United States by Homeland Security Department. Ice Total Removals

By Houston United to the open publishing newswire: This same week as we celebrate those most dear to us on Mother´s Day, the Texas legislature has brought shame on our state by voting to approve a bill based upon lies, fear and prejudice. If Texas House Bill 12 passes through the Senate, it will create not only an unfunded mandate that goes again fiscal discipline and reason in these times of budget crises, it will also an act of incredible political opportunism, pushing forward a public policy that is bad for Texas, and bad for Texans; encouraging racial profiling, separating families, and eroding our democratic institutions. [Read Full Article]

Senate bill 9 passed the Texas Senate on April 28th. SB 9 is an omnibus bill that puts the Texas Department of Public Safety and local jailers in the business of federal immigration screening and wastes taxpayer dollars. [Read Full Article]

Related: by Rachel Clarke/ Angela Sanchez May Day 2011 Coverage for Houston IMC Radio. Past HIMC Features: January: No Arizona hate in Texas: Houston mobilizes against anti-immigrant laws | February: Immigrant Rights Movement Mobilizes - Texas Legislature Prepares Anti-Immigrant Bills

Más de 200 personas marcharon por el centro de la ciudad de San Antonio en 1 de mayo. La marcha, organizada por el Southwest Workers Union de San Antonio, comenzó y terminó en la Main Plaza. Miembros de los Tejanos Unidas Para Las Lamilias de Austin (TUFF, Texans United For Families) marcharon a mostrar su solidaridad y conectarse con otros en su campaña para poner fin a la deportación y la detención de los inmigrantes.

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Surrounded by hundreds of supporters, seven college students and one high school student occupied a street in the Georgia State University area today, demanding that Georgia universities refuse to comply with the state's ban on accepting undocumented students. The college students were arrested and now face criminal charges as well as possible deportation.

The demonstration was in response to a 2010 decision by the Board of Regents to prohibit undocumented students from five of Georgia's top universities. The students say that education is a human right and should be available to all reguardless of immigration status. They are calling on universities to refuse to comply with the ban.

Related: UIUC Student Andrea Rosales Among Georgia 7 Arrested Protesting for Immigrant Rights

Mario Perez is a 22-year-old college student at Stephen F. Austin State University facing deportation from the U.S which has been his home since he was a small child. "Like so many others, I came to this country when I was very young, barely five years old. America is all I’ve ever known. Four years ago I learned of my illegal status. It’s been a hard reality because I consider myself as American as a Ford Mustang. In only a matter of weeks I might be deported to Mexico, a country of which I have no recollection. I fear for my safety, I fear for my life. My future rests in the hands of ICE Houston Field Office Director Kenneth Landgrebe, who has the power to grant a Deferred Action to stop my deportation. My voice alone can’t motivate that decision. Only the multitude of voices of friends, family, neighbors and the larger community can guide ICE to make the right decision." [Full article]

SFA Frat Fights Deportation of Undocumented Brother Mario Perez - Stories like Mario's keep happening every day, ruining the lives of students who through no fault of their own find themselves being deported to countries they don't know or remember. However, this time ICE pulled an undocumented student from a bee's nest, as Mario is a brother at of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation's oldest black Greek-letter fraternity with over 185,000 members and 680 active chapters worldwide. His local chapter already knew about Mario's unfortunate immigration situation and did not think twice in helping their brother Mario when he sent them a text. [Read full article]

More info: Change.org petition for Mario | Video about Mario's case

By John H. to the open publishing newswire: Several thousand people from all parts of Texas converged on the state capitol to demand the state legislature not enact Arizona type immigration legislation. Tuesday's activities started with a march from a local downtown park, to the state capitol, for a rally. Followed by some legislative visits. 32 buses from around the state arrived through the morning, bringing people from all parts of the state, including 3 from El Paso. There were also contingents from the Rio Grande Valley, Dallas, Corpus, San Antonio, and Houston. By the time the march left for the capitol, there were about 4,000 people. [Full Article With Photos | More Photos]

On March 2nd there will be a public hearing in Austin which will address some of the anti-immigrant legislation that has been proposed in Texas. Including HB 12. This bill in a backwards way would push local law enforcement to enforce the federal immigration law. It forbids any local agency from preventing its employees from enforcing immigration law (via transmitting information to ICE). So it would eliminate any local policy restricting local law enforcement involvement in immigration enforcement. To use the anti-immigration side’s language, it forbids “sanctuary policies.” It is important to fight this one. [More info from Houston Unido]
Coverage from Austin Indymedia: Day of Action For Immigration: Texas Can Do Better

Protesting more than 60 "anti-immigrant" bills filed in the Texas Legislature this session, thousands marched from Waterloo Park to the steps of the state Capitol Tuesday.

"Texas has a lot of variety of nationalities," said Ibarra. "Those proposed laws don't go with those situations." Critics say many of those bills hurt, even target Hispanics, legal or otherwise. Lawmakers like Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, have maintained their stance though.