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Gov. Brown: ‘California is Not Turning Back. Not Now, Not Ever.’

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State of the State Address / Office of the Governor

This is California, the sixth most powerful economy in the world. One out of every eight Americans lives right here and 27 percent – almost eleven million – were born in a foreign land.

When California does well, America does well. And when California hurts, America hurts.

As the English poet, John Donne, said almost 400 years ago: “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

A few moments ago, I swore into office our new attorney general. Like so many others, he is the son of immigrants who saw California as a place where, through grit and determination, they could realize their dreams. And they are not alone, millions of Californians have come here from Mexico and a hundred other countries, making our state what it is today: vibrant, even turbulent, and a beacon of hope to the rest of the world.

We don’t have a Statue of Liberty with its inscription: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” But we do have the Golden Gate and a spirit of adventure and openness that has welcomed – since the Gold Rush of 1848 – one wave of immigration after another.   [Read more…]

ChangeFest Speakers Rally for Driscoll’s Boycott, Against Domestic Violence & for Fracking Ban

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By Dan Bacher / DailyKos

A diverse array of Sacramento community groups participated in the “ChangeFest: A Climate Mobilization” rally on the north steps of the Capitol on Jan. 21, as part of a week of anti-Trump street protests in Sacramento centered around the Presidential Inauguration.

“It’s empowering to see the community take action against neoliberalism, inequality and taking a stand for justice,” said Garcia. “Borders around the world are being militarized and states are turning immigration into scapegoats all for global capitalism. The workers here in the US and workers in Mexico are not to blame for the lost of jobs; it’s greed by the corporations that value profit over people.”

“Immigrant labor is extremely important for transnational corporations economy such as Driscoll’s, the largest distributor of berries in the world,” said Garcia. “Driscoll’s justifies the pay of $6 a day for ten-plus working hours in San Quintin, Baja California, 5 hours from the Mexican border in San Diego California.”   [Read more…]

ACLU of CA Statement of Trump Administration’s Discriminatory Executive Orders

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Edward Sifuentes / ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties

“We can ensure that in California, our state and local agencies serve all Californians by passing SB 54 (the California Values Act) — making certain that our local institutions will not be conscripted into the deportation dragnet and that our schools, our hospitals, and our courthouses are safe spaces for everyone in every community,” added Norma Chavez-Peterson, executive director at the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties.

“Muslim Americans are our neighbors, friends, and colleagues. They are us. We must stand together and pass SB 31 (the California Religious Freedom Act) to ensure that California does not participate in any way in a registry targeting Muslims,” concluded Abdi Soltani, executive director of the ACLU of Northern California.   [Read more…]

Welcome To 2017: Seven Keys for Immigrants to Overcoming Adversity

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By Carlos Batara / OB Rag

As the new year dawns, most of us need to reflect where we’re headed, individually and collectively.

Unfortunately, far too many of those active in immigration circles are caught in the “feel sorry for myself” moment. With a new president, one who has articulated strong law enforcement measures, about to take office, the “doom and gloom” sentiments of immigrants and their advocates are deafening.

Yet, stop for a moment and reflect back to 2009 and 2013. What has really changed in immigration law since that time? In the majority of cases, my office helps immigrants under the same rules that existed back then.   [Read more…]

When Mexico Sends Its People, They’re Not Sending Their Best

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By Eloisa Amezcua / Literary Hub

WHEN MEXICO SENDS ITS PEOPLE, THEY’RE NOT SENDING THEIR BEST

I.

my father is not rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a drug trafficker or a criminal or a killer or a rapist
or a bad one   [Read more…]

San Diego’s Women’s March: Part of a World-Wide Human Rights Movement

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In 1913, thousands of women took to the streets of Washington DC on the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration calling for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. More than twenty parade floats, nine bands, and four mounted brigades followed activist Inez Milholland riding on a white horse marching from the U.S. Capitol toward the Treasury Building.

Despite physical attacks by angry spectators hospitalizing more than 100 women, the parade, organized by Alice Paul and the National American Woman Suffrage Association, finished the route.   [Read more…]

Resistance Rises as Trump Inauguration Nears

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On Saturday, supporters of immigrant rights at rallies around the U.S. denounced President-elect Donald Trump for his anti-immigrant rhetoric along with his pledge to build a border wall and discriminate against Muslims entering the country.

On Sunday, Supporters of the Affordable Care Act gathered to protest the health care law’s repeal in rallies across the country.

And throughout the holiday commemorating the late Dr. Martin Luther King rallies and marches from coast-to-coast called out the implicit and explicit racism of the incoming administration.   [Read more…]

As Resistance Grows, Trump’s Deportation Plans Unravel

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Cost, impossible logistics, political opposition, and community resistance could spell the end of the president-elect’s anti-immigrant scheme

By Lauren McCauley / Common Dreams

President-elect Donald Trump built his campaign on a pledge to build a wall and deport two to three million undocumented immigrants, but the likelihood that his promises will be kept are looking increasingly slim, as reality takes hold and lawmakers and community leaders begin to build their resistance.

The failure to execute Trump’s oft-repeated deportation plans could “be one of the first reality checks on his administration,” Politico reported Friday.

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the average cost for each deportation is $12,213, excluding personnel salaries. So, to deport two million people, would add up to more than $24.4 billion over four years.   [Read more…]

Immigration: Fairness in California with Three Groundbreaking Bills

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CA stands firm in upholding its values of fairness and due process for all with SB6, AB3, & SB54.

By Carmen Iguina / ACLU San Diego & Imperial Counties

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, President-Elect Donald J. Trump said that he planned to deport some three million immigrants—allegedly all “criminal immigrants.” Many people, myself included, were alarmed to hear this. The details of these new mass-deportation policies remain unclear, although some reports have surfaced that the policies would include anyone who has ever been arrested, even if the person was later found innocent or the charges were eventually dropped.

But California is moving in the opposite direction and instead undertaking efforts to make things fairer for immigrant and Muslim communities. Due process, the idea that everyone deserves fair treatment by our government whenever any of their civil liberties are at stake, is a cornerstone of our democracy and one of the most cherished American values.   [Read more…]

American Dreamtime for San Diego Refugees

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By Nat Krieger

The story being read out loud in the room is illustrated with black, gray, and white sketches. It is about a man who visits the land of his birth. He brings his wife and son. The man is shown greeting a grandmother who he knew as a younger person before. Before.

Does that picture really explain before to a ninth grader with almost no English who has arrived in San Diego from a refugee camp in Thailand three weeks before? We need a bridge and Paw, a junior at Hoover High provides one.   [Read more…]

The Election of President Donald Trump: A Historical Chicano Perspective

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By Herma Baca / President of the Committee on Chicano Rights

After the presidential elections, I received phone calls from persons in San Diego, Tijuana, Los Angeles, Fresno, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, etc. asking me four basic questions:

  1. What I thought about Trump being elected President?
  2. Why & how was Trump elected?
  3. What will happen to us?
  4. What can we do to protect ourselves?

Some callers expressed concern, fear, dismay, alarm, horror, panic, & terror. Others simply stated, “I am going to arm myself & defend my family!”

  [Read more…]

California Legislators, School Boards Brace for Trump’s Assault on Immigrants

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President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration may be six weeks away. Elected officials in Sacramento and San Diego are already taking actions aimed at shielding those who may be victimized by the new administration.

Newly sworn in lawmakers at the State capitol proposed legislation providing attorneys to immigrants in the country illegally, refusing to aid any proposed registry of Muslim immigrants and requiring voter approval for any wall built along the Mexican border.

This evening San Diego Unified School Board will likely approve a resolution to protect all of its 130,000 students and staff in the district.   [Read more…]

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