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Immigration Protests Continue Nationwide | Progressive Activist Calendar June 29-July 9, 2018

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It ain’t over till it’s over. Protests, rallies, and phone calls continue as people express their outrage at inhumane and racist policies.

San Diegans protesting the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy towards immigrants and separation of families at the border picketed the Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Sector Headquarters in Chula Vista yesterday.

CBP security personnel by the entranceway heard 2+ hours a recording of the children crying after being forcibly taken from their parent(s). An 800# was prominently displayed offering free legal advice for employees refusing to separate families.

Nearly 600 women were arrested in Washington DC on Thursday, as they staged a sit-in in the atrium of the Hart Senate Office building.   [Read more…]

San Diego Unions Respond to Supreme Court Ruling; New Strategies, More Activism

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There were two public responses in San Diego on Wednesday to the Supreme Court decision striking down the practice of government sector unions charging non-members fees for the services they provide.

At midday unions representing public employees led a rally and press conference in front of the University of California Medical Center in Hillcrest. Nurses, County employees, and supporters denounced the decision in Janus v AFSCME, pledging to step up organizing efforts in the face of what is widely considered a blow to the union movement.

Later in the day, unions piggy-backed protesting the ruling with an already planned action by UNITE HERE Local 30 aimed at calling attention to contract talks currently in progress at multiple hotels owned or managed by Marriott International.  Local politicians, including Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher along with San Diego City Council members Chris Ward and Georgette Gomez, joined the effort.   [Read more…]

No SCOTUS Appointment while Trump under Criminal Investigation

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Time for Democrats to go on the offense

Remember how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Merrick Garlanded Obama’s Supreme Court pick? Let’s do McConnell one better:

Any Trump SCOTUS pick is void while he and his campaign are under a criminal investigation for obstruction and conspiracy against the United States.
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Authoritarianism Thrives on Demoralization: How to Fight Trump and Stay Psychologically Healthy

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My daughter was a newborn when Donald Trump was elected. On Election Day, I dressed her in a pantsuit, covered her in feminist stickers, and ensured she saw me voting. We took lots of pictures. I wanted her to know she was part of the moment in history when the first woman president was elected. So waking up to a Trump president hit me hard. I feared for my daughter’s future, and for my own.

Like all traumas, eventually this one began to feel normal. Trump has changed our sense of what we can expect little by little, horror by horror. But this week was especially bad. This was the first week that I felt as horrible as I did following the election. This month was the first time I thought that my fears about the end of democracy might really come to fruition. I envisioned a world without abortion rights. I thought about what might happen to my daughter if a pregnancy ever threatens her life. I wondered if my OB might be willing to write me a “just in case” abortion pill prescription.

My friends who have always lived in fear—black mothers who worry if their sons will come home, trans folx who wonder if their mere existence will get them killed, immigrants who worry they too might one day be ripped from their children—repeatedly emphasize to me how enraging it is to see white privileged liberals only now becoming worried about democracy.   [Read more…]

Travel Ban Ruling by the Supreme Court Gets a Passionate Response in San Diego

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This week the Supreme Court was asked to stand up for the rights of the vulnerable against the biases of the powerful — and failed, not once, but three times. Conservatives on the bench prevailed each time, ruling against Muslims, women, and public sector workers.

In Washington DC, San Diego, and cities around the country opponents of the administration’s travel ban took to the streets to express their disapproval of the ruling in Trump v. Hawaii. Comparisons with earlier wrongful rulings, like the Dredd Scott case upholding slavery were made in speeches and rallies, mostly near Federal buildings.

The mood at the demonstration in downtown San Diego was one of profound sadness and determination. It was, in many ways, more powerful than much bigger protests I’ve attended in past decades.   [Read more…]

Immigration and Family Separation: 9 Facts vs. Fiction

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By Michelle Martin, PhD Cal State Fullerton / Reposted from Facebook

Have you heard that children were separated from their parents under Obama & Clinton? Then, you need a little Facts vs Myths lesson. Michelle Martin, PhD Cal State Fullerton summed up the most important FACTS:

There is so much misinformation out there about the Trump administration’s new “zero tolerance” policy that requires criminal prosecution, which then warrants the separating of parents and children at the border. Before responding to a post defending this policy, please do your research…As a professor at a local Cal State, I research and write about these issues, so here, I’ll make it easier for you:

Myth: This is not a new policy and was practiced under Obama and Clinton. – FALSE.

The policy to separate parents and children is new and was instituted on April 6, 2018. It was the brainchild of John Kelly and Stephen Miller to serve as a deterrent for undocumented immigration, approved by Trump, and adopted by Sessions. Prior administrations detained migrant families, but didn’t have a practice of forcibly separating parents from their children unless the adults were deemed unfit.   [Read more…]

San Diego Needs a Citizen Commission on Refugee and Immigrant Affairs

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By Rebecca Paida

The saying goes, if you are not at the table, you are on the menu! This statement suggests that advocacy by supporters is essential but that lived experiences also matter. If people with first-hand experiences of a particular phenomenon are not part of decision making processes, then they will likely get left out. For many underrepresented and under-served populations, including refugees and immigrants in the San Diego region, this is a reality that they must confront. While some residents actively participate in civic discourse at the community level, that is the extent of their contributions. This is in part because they have little or no opportunities to affect policies at the City level and beyond, due to a lack of inclusion.

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Day of Action – #StandWithMuslims in San Diego – Protest on Supreme Court Travel Ban Ruling

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Today! Tuesday 6/26 @ 7:30 pm * U.S. Courthouse 880 Front Street, Downtown

This morning, the Supreme Court issued its decision to uphold the Trump v. Hawai’i Muslim Ban case.

From the Facebook call to action:

It is crucial that San Diego makes a public, strong and visible presence like our sisters and brothers will be doing across the country who care about Muslim, Immigrant and Refugee communities and oppose Trump’s White Nationalist agenda. the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans – PANA, CAIR San Diego and Pillars of the Community are coalition partners of the #NoMuslimBanEver campaign and are calling for a national day of action.   [Read more…]

Fear Mongering 101: MS-13 as the New ISIS

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Are you afraid yet? The Central American gang known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, is everywhere in the news. They have officially replaced Al Qaeda and ISIS as the new poster children for why Americans need to live in fear.

Lately, I’ve seen what I thought were otherwise sane people mouthing government gibberish in social media about this group.

Don’t get me wrong. This gang and gangs, in general, are not nice people. They commit crimes to support their activities and are capable of extreme violence. But the narrative of MS-13 as a reason for more border security or immigrant roundups is severely lacking in substance.   [Read more…]

The Civility Distraction: Sorry, We Can’t All Be Friends, Right Now.

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There’s rampant pearl-clutching and whataboutism in punditland currently, stemming from incidents where public officials have been rebuked by private citizens.  

Engaging in that particular debate is a waste of time. We’re past that point in our national discourse.

Our fearless leader is openly proposing ending the rule of law. For asylum seekers. (For now) No judges, no juries. Just some guys with badges administering ‘justice’ to people regularly characterized as less than human who have fled injustice at great personal cost.   [Read more…]

Simply for the Children’s Sake

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I was singing the blues
until I heard the news
that children
being torn from the
arms of their parents
was coming to an end,
if but for a minute,
a breather
from evil being played
out in my face,
beautiful innocent
brown skinned children,
screaming “Mami! Papi!”
as Mami and Papi
are pulled one way,
and they, another way,   [Read more…]

Utilities Commission Rejects San Diego Gas & Electric’s Pipeline

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The California Public Utilities Commission placed the welfare of San Diego County citizens and wildlife ahead of San Diego Gas & Electric’s profits on June 21.

The five-member commission voted unanimously to reject SDG&E and its partner Southern California Gas’ bid to install 47 miles of new pipeline from the Rainbow Metering Station near Fallbrook down through Miramar, mostly along Interstate 15. Another potential route these utilities were considering would have taken the line through Mission Trails Regional Park.
  [Read more…]

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