ozelotl May 10th, 2007

By amanda
via Santa Cruz IMC

The room was packed at the Watsonville City Council chambers on Tuesday May 8. Attendees were there to comment on one of the evening’s agenda items, a resolution Requesting the Suspension of Random Detentions & Arrests of Residents in Watsonville.

An emotional public comment period lasted for over an hour with the crowd bursting into chanting “si se puede” after on particularly moving commentary. Personal testimonies and comments ranged from accounts of “three days and three nights” of crossing the border to teachers sharing emotional stories of students distracted and wondering when the migra, or immigration enforcement, was going to come and take away them or their parents.

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ozelotl May 5th, 2007

Please attend the Watsonville City Council meeting this Tuesday @ 6PM in support of a strong and just city resolution for migrant rights. Your participation and support is ESSENTIAL!

Tuesday, May 8th @ 6PM at the Watsonville City Council Chambers on Main St.

WE NEED YOUR STRONG SUPPORT!!

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braulio May 4th, 2007

The MigraWatch Network has become a dynamic grouping of people and organizations based in Watsonville dedicated to providing a welcoming community and securing human rights for all people. MigraWatch came together in September of 2006 following the raids in Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Hollister on September 7th and 8th by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. In 2006, the Watsonville Brown Berets were the primary organizers of the May Day demonstration, however this year’s march and rally was organized by the multidimensional MigraWatch Network. Thousands of families marched through the streets of Watsonville and Pajaro to protest ongoing immigration raids taking place throughout the U.S. and to honor the amazing contributions immigrants make to our community. After the march, a rally with speakers and musicians in the Plaza, and a performance by White Hawk Dancers, the Guerilla Drive-In screened the new documentary Crossing Arizona outside the Brown Berets office in downtown Watsonville.

View Photos on Santa Cruz Indymedia

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ozelotl May 3rd, 2007

Corporate media’s accounts of the Watsonville May Day march

Marchers unite against raids
Posted: Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007
BY: AMANDA SCHOENBERG

As he stood next to a handwritten sign proclaiming “we are not terrorists,” Jesus Rodriguez said immigration raids in Watsonville, Hollister and Santa Cruz in September frightened many locals into staying home and keeping their children out of school.

“They make you feel like a terrorist and at the same time, they make you feel terror,” he said.

Rodriguez, along with his wife and three children, joined about 2,000 people in a peaceful afternoon march through the streets of Watsonville and Pajaro Tuesday to protest raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

“It is a very difficult life there (in Mexico), that’s why we’re here,” he said, holding up a United States flag. “We work hard, we pay taxes. Look, here is my flag.”

The group of multi-generational protesters, which gathered steam as it headed toward Pajaro, began and ended in the Watsonville Plaza. Many chanted “Si se puede” and waved signs that read, “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us,” and “Migra out of Watsonville.” One boy toward the front of the group carried a green sign that said, “Don’t take away my parents.”

Unlike last year’s well-publicized “Day without an Immigrant” mass demonstrations focusing on immigration reform, this year’s march rallied against the “Return to Sender” campaign that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials began last year to target undocumented immigration with deportation orders. During the September campaign in Santa Cruz, Hollister and Watsonville, ICE officials rounded up 107 people.

“We’re coming together to say, ‘Stop the immigration raids,’” said Ramiro Medrano, a member of organizing group MigraWatch. “No human being is illegal.”

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• La Migra , Land
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ozelotl April 19th, 2007

MAIZ invites you
THINK BEFORE YOU MARCH

PIENSE ANTES DE MARCHAR

Jueves, April 26th, 2007

6-8pm

Youth Educational Forum/Why we March on May 1st?

Foro Educativo para Jóvenes/Porque Marchamos May 1?

WHERE:

Martin Luther King Library 5th floor, Cultural Heritage Center Room
Corner of 4th street and San Fernando Street, Downtown San Jose
VTA Bus Line 81/72/73/85/22/64

AND then;.

MARCH with Youth, Students, Artists

MARCHA con Jovenes, Estudiantes y Artistas

Tuesday, May 1st, 2007

4pm-?

WHERE/ Donde: By Shakeys/Mi Pueblo Shopping Center/Story & King Rd)

WHAT TO BRING: Wear a white shirt and a brown arm band for solidarity/ Use una camisa blanca y una banda café en su brazo

Porque Marchamos?

· Poner un alto hacia la militarización de la frontera Mexicana

· Poner un alto a la deportación y arresto de los imigrantes Mexicanos y de otras razas

· Apoyar a los derechos laboreales de los imigrantes

· Legalización incondicional para todos

· Parar la recluta militar de los jovenes Latinos

·

Why we march?

· Stop the militarization of the Mexican border

· Stop the unjust deportation and criminalization of Mexican and all immigrants

· Support workers rights in Mexico, in the U.S. and around the world.

· Unconditional legalization for all

Stop the military recruitment of Mexican/Latino youth

Endorsed by FOCUS, L.U.Ch.A., SJSU & EVC M.E.Ch.A., DEBUG, (Watson) Brown Berets, Accion Primero de Mayo

Information:

maiz_mex@hotmail.com

408.250.9245

www.myspace.com/maiz_mex

About MAIZ

To create opportunity for cultural expression and leadership development in order to increase political participation in San Jose’s Mexican community, specifically among Women, LGBTQQI, and Youth.

• Event , La Migra , Youth
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