Rally in support of immigrants' rights - Federal Building, San Diego, April 26, 2010. All photos by Michael Gomel.
Dozens of people made it downtown on Monday, April 26th, to rally and parade in front of the Federal Building, to protest Arizona’s new immigration laws.
These photos were taken by Michael Gomel for our viewing pleasure.
Several OBceans made it to the rally in support. The Union-Tribune reported that there was one lone protester – who they said was from Ocean Beach. We know him – he’s not from OB but from Point Loma (although he rides through OB on his trike on occasion.)
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Michael Gomel, the photographer, comments: “Frank, the caring activist community makes my tasks a lot easier with their array of excellent signage etc. I have to work to make the shots show an as-if larger crowd (or less sparse), catch the essence of people’s moral courage and care, and cover the whole event as best I can … and cropping and editing takes time (I only use the iphoto tools and not stronger ones) to respect the audience as well as the subjects … BUT ya almost can’t miss getting (some) quality shots with the creative care of the participants!”
At least these protestors know how to spell!
Should we also be boycotting the Arizona Bar? I mean, I was already pissed when they turned it into an Applebees, but now I just have more reason not to go there.
Of course, I’m being facetious. I do wish I would have been in town to show up and support these folks at the federal building.
(chortle, chortle) – that’s spellcheckise for churdle churdle
Read the bill…
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/summary/s.1070pshs.doc.htm
… instead of listening to the propaganda. The bill requires legitimate contact and insures that civil rights are protected. It’s a federal crime to be in the country illegally and you are subject to the same questioning and enforcement actions when you go through the DHS checkpoint on I8 at Buckman Springs.
Hey Cat310- I’ve read the law too. Sections 1,2, and 3 too of the enforcement section are so broad that they can cover virtually anyone, including joggers who don’t have an ID on them. You may be OK with that kind of sweeping government intrusion, but I’m not.
Propaganda or unconstitutional?
Section 1 – Senator Pearce, the bill’s author, believes “legitimate contact” has been adequately defined in prior judicial decisions as does the state’s House and Senate review committees and other legal experts.
Section 2 – it’s defined by Federal law as to what constitutes proof of legal status and ICE is responsible for verifying this.
Section 3 – is already in effect in Maricopa county, and has been for two years, under a program in which the state law enforcement officials are authorized under the DHS authority to detain and transfer such persons to ICE.
I guess we shall wait and see. Is Russell Pearce truly a credible bill author? I don’t think so.
Better a law that may be tested by the judiciary than no law at all.
Ask the family of the murdered rancher Robert Krentz.
“Southern Arizona is a war zone controlled by outside criminal forces,” said Patrick Bray of the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/13/20100413arizona-ranchers-urge-border-crackdown.html
Where is the Federal response to Governor Brewers request for support along the border?
1) I don’t believe that it has been proved who killed Robert Krantz. Have you got some proof that the rest of us don’t have?
2) Here’s what Patrick Bray said about the bill:
“Patrick A Bray, Deputy Director of Government Affairs for the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association, sent a note clarifying a statement I made in my article about that state’s immigration bill.
He said, “I read your article on Arizona’s SB 1070 today and wanted to let you know that the association took no position on the bill. Unfortunately this would not have helped Robert Krentz and it does not help any of our folks along the border. We must keep our focus on securing the border and this law will affect all of Arizona without securing 1 mile of border. We are clearly frustrated by the Fed’s inability to act but before they even touch immigration reform we have to secure the border first.
What is the federal government’s response? Did you ask George Bush that important question? Two wars, health care reform, wall street melt down, climate change. And yes, immigration reform. Maybe we should be as patient with the president who is trying to deal with all this as the president who created the mess.
I’m glad you agree and supported the point, the Federal government has done nothing. In fact Janet Napolitano has reduced manpower along the border and contrary to her position when governor withdrawn the National Guard troops. In case you didn’t notice illegals are landing boats several times a week along our beaches. But don’t traverse the entire spectrum of immigration policies and problems, Senate bill 1070, now Arizona law, gives state law enforcement authorities the ability to simply enforce the law that is already in existence.
Cat o 9 tales – Here in San Diego County, there is no more patroled road than SR-94, the road closest to the border. Take a drive along it some time and there are more ICE and border patrol and sheriff vehicles than civilian vehicles. Immigration is down, due to the huge recession, there are smaller numbers of undocumented migrants coming across, and less money going south to their families. Boats are landing because the government has forced migration east to Arizona or out into the water. That’s the federal government, BTW.
The AZ law is racist and will cause a myriad of law enforcement problems, for instance, Mexicans will not be willing to either help in catching criminals or in reporting crimes.
Cat, have you ever realized why there’s so many migration in the first place? Historically, US firms have bought up huge tracts of formerly farm and peasant land (ejidos), and many former inhabitants are forced to the urban areas for jobs.
Oh, did your forebears have papers when they landed? This is a nation of immigrants and Indians, and was a country built by slaves, Chinese, indentured servants, pioneers – and by immigrants.
I heard some tea party people were seen smuggling bundles of meth in the area the day before he was shot. Seriously you bonehead, I applaud your effort at supporting the murderers, but they tracked him 20 miles back to MEXICO.
…and you didn’t respond to Pearce’s association with neo-Nazis. OK by you?
You are blaming the death of one rancher on the immigration issue. What about the hundreds of migrants who have frozen or burned up to death? When we need them, the borders are opened up like a faucet. When the jobs are scarce, we crack down. This has been an on-going process for the last … 80 years or more. It’s a systemic problem that has an international scale. For one state to over-reach like Arizona is doing is disastrous to relations with Mexico, just for starters.
Frank, addressing your questions:
The reason SR 94 is so well patrolled because resources were redeployed from the Tucson sector to San Diego hence reduced enforcement along the Arizona border. I drive I8 regularly and the decline in enforcement is very visible. The Federal governments whack-a-mole approach to border security has forced illegal crossings in the desert and by sea so securing and enforcement across the entire border are incumbent on a comprehensive and effective strategy. If you are a proponent of open borders that is a difference of opinion we will not agree on.
Among many thing immigration is a search for opportunity and I am not against anyone seeking that as long as they do so legally. To reiterate, I am not against legal immigration. More than most of your readers I can tell you I have spent over $100,000 in attorney’s fees assisting employees who were in the process of legally immigrating to this country in technical roles. It’s a travesty that we encourage foreign university students to come stateside for an education and to contribute to a rich and diverse campus culture and then make them leave after graduation. The Federal government needs to address these things if the U.S. is going to maintain our lead in science, engineering, medical, and technical innovation. FYI – those are the areas that create jobs for the average man on the street.
My grandparents came through Ellis Island, if you studied it you are familiar that it was one of the largest migrations in modern history and very successful. Denial at the port of entry was incredibly low because the onus for insuring immigration compliance was with the shipping companies who were responsible for returning the individual to their home country. Again, at that time, there was a comprehensive immigration strategy we lack today.
Regarding your comment about use at will of immigrants, are you aware there is a successful guest worker program already in place? The agricultural workers you see in the Imperial Valley participate in such programs and the authority of the law insures their working conditions, treatment, safety, and compensation. Again, why aren’t similar programs extended to fulfill the needs for tradesman, production workers, and other labor needs? Ask the Federal government.
And in absence for an answer to those questions, Arizona has taken a position that they will insure the equal enforcement of the laws already in place. I’d say more power to them, but they don’t need it, they just need enforcement of existing law that as citizens we are all subject too which bill 1070 provides.
Since the bill’s author, Russell Pearce has been brought up, it’s worth having some insight into what informs his perception of “legitimate contact.” Pearce hangs out with noted neo-nazi J.T. Ready. Check out what J.T. Ready & Friends were up to this past November 2009 in Phoenix. Pearce is obviously a guy you can trust to understand democracy and justice and immigration reform,but I bet “it sounded better in the original German.” (Thanks Molly Ivins. You may be dead but you are not forgotten.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsHi6_l1XzA
Tell the whole story and the truth…
… but that doesn’t help your cause, only misrepresentations and lies do.
From Russell Pearce:
“I fully agree with the letter that Congressmen Franks, Shadegg and Flake sent to the Maricopa County Republican Party this week. We have no room for hate speech or hate groups. … The most radical groups I have ever been associated with are the Boy Scouts of America and the Fraternal Order of Police, and I confess I still associate with both of them. So it goes without saying that I completely disavow Mr. Ready and the groups he associates with.”
_____________________________
And the people behind Prop. 202? Wake Up Arizona!, a business coalition led by Mac Magruder, who owns a string of McDonald’s, and Jason LaVecke, who owns Arizona’s Carl’s Jr
and Pizza Patrón franchises.
For years, they fought off proposals to – gasp! – hold employers accountable for whom they hire. When the Legislature and Gov. Janet Napolitano finally rolled over them, they went to court to try to stop the law. And lost.
Now, it appears, they’re coming after the law’s author. In fact, LaVecke has admitted that he’s involved in the get-Pearce campaign.
Friday’s piece is at least from this century. It shows Pearce arm-in-arm with a White supremacist and notes that he once sent out a racist e-mail. Unlike the 28-year-old smear job, it’s fair to ask Pearce how he came to be standing beside a neo-Nazi last year. Too bad they didn’t include his answer.
“He was one of our precinct committeemen,” Pearce told me. “Nobody knew that he was a bad guy at that time.”
As for offending e-mail, Pearce apologized immediately after sending it in 2006, saying he forwarded it without fully reading it.
His enemies, meanwhile, know exactly what they are serving up and why.
Hey -maybe Pearce signed onto this bill without really reading it! (He forwarded the email without reading it. But of course he is an author to be trusted!) And the most radical groups he has associated with are the Boy Scouts and Fraternal Order of Police? How about an account from June 18, 2007- Triumph of the Swill? Significantly after 2006 BTW….
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2007/06/triumph_of_the_swill_white_pri_1.php
I tried to watch that video but in interest of not puking first thing in the morning, I stopped it.
hey cat310
i gotta be upfront , i am not interested in having a reasoned discussion with you. i am going to get much more pleasure in pointing out some discomforting points that personally i would not mind if it caused you some sleepless nights. and i am not going to call you any names like racist or bigot because it is obvious that you haven’t a clue about
what these words mean. myself, being the descendant of german jews , learned from my elders whom i loved and respected, a first hand history of what happens when a group is scapegoated in order to hide and distract attention from a political class guilty of heinous crimes against working people.
i love the idea that you are obsessed with the thought that boat loads of mexicans are landing on our beaches at night. i would imagine you never have a pleasant day in these parts since there are brown skinned people everywhere. me, i love mexican food and i am grateful that i don’t have to travel to mexico to get a delicious plate of enchiladas. i can walk several blocks from my house take my pick from several great restaurants. hey cat310, hows that diet of hamburgers and frankfurters working out for you.
and you know what i really get off on! the certain knowledge that you are way on the wrong side of history. it won’t be long before you are yours are a disappearing breed as our population continues to become more colorful and that drab whiteness thats been haunting this nation disappears.
so you keep right on boiling in your xenophobic angst knowing deep in your heart that we are never going to round up 12 million people and ship them back to mexico. i am going to enjoy a margarita made with some quality mexican tequila and contemplate a future of progressive peoples of all colors and nationalities, absent a shrinking population of privileged whites, able to work together to create a just society that serves the interests of all people.
just one last thing cat310……..IMAGINE!
I sleep quite well thank you and enjoy the diversity San Diego offers. See my reply to Frank, if you have helped people immigrate legally my hat is off to you otherwise you are just another cynic sitting on the sidelines drinking tequila.
cat man, i don’t argue with people who can not discern irony from cynicism. i thought my comments were upbeat and optimistic. we are the future, you are the past, nothing cynical there, just real joy. so i am saying goodbye . i am through with you.
Even Karl Rove thinks there are constitutional problems with this bill.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/04/27/rove-immigration-arizona/
Now I feel conflicted!
first thing is, illegal is illegal-your misguided uninformed love of ‘oppressed’ peoples is what’s lead us to this point.
second, rt 94 is so well patrolled because the san clemente and temecula checkpoints were closed, along with the truck scales, at least in temecula, allowing for the nafta flow along I15.
thrid, now you have no secondary line to reinforce the string of agents along the border.
fourth, from 2005-2008, i spent about 3-5 days per week, filming in the zona de tolerencia in tijuana. i have many friends there, and a true affinity for the mexican people, but there is a threat there that no one knows about, or, ignores. namely, there are, as well as russian and ukraine mafia, mid-easterners,and nearly 20,000 chinese nationals, in the manufacturing section in the east part of the city.
hhhmmm, all chinese are members of the people’s liberation army-mexico has no ‘indigeneous worker’ protection clauses in their work laws, and so, enbtire command strucrtures are in place.
hhmmm, lets add a corrupt military into the mix, a military that might even enlist in an attempt at out right invasion. that takes care of trying to smuggle in of thrying to manufacture armor.
hhhmmm, a sudden push against a weak border, and pendleton, yuma air station, luke afb, miramar, as well as 32nd street, would all fall in one day.
i am afraid, if y’all believe that a scenario like this is impossible, to do a tad of research on it.
you may well start to see how complex this issue is. we are no longer in the days of the poor bracero, looking for a better life, nor are we in much of a position to insure such a life.
seal the border, solve our own economic problems, revise the immigration laws, and return order to the realm.
i do find it somewhat amusing, howe3ver, to listen to johnny come lately lefties howling about big government intrusion, as daily, you watch your vaunted usurper president, and his gang of corrupt cronies, steal your rights.
hopefully, when you awake, there will be some arizonans, and texans, still holding a fading line for your liberties, while you happily toss them away.sometimes, the nightmare begins, as day breaks.
oh, i’m a 30 yr obecian, with a valid ob address, currently taking hiatus at my house in the west phoenix valley, so that puts me closer to the issue, so to speak.
We posted this comment to show our readers some of the mentality out there – even in OB. I first thought it was satire but Scott Ellison is totally serious, dude.
Yeah…So….I’ve heard methamphetamines make you paranoid. But seriously??? Mexico, along with the help of the Russian mafia and Chinese people’s liberation army are gonna invade camp pendelton?? WTF?? Now that’s putting the “mental” in mentality.
Uh, Scott, can we see your birth certificate?
Hello Mister Scott, I am Ivanov Pupkin Martinez, head of zee Mexican/Russian/Chinese/Ukraine/Arab militia coalition. How dare you divulge our secret plans of US invasion. Vee know Vhere you live and Vee have vays to make you talk. Your liberties are become mine! Mwa haha!!!
ivanova is a tad closer to the truth, as i would suspect
I don’t know about the invasion but it was interesting to google and learn that Mexicali is the most Chinese city in Mexico and that Calexico and Tijauana also have a large Chinese populations because of their settlement history.
http://danielhernandez.typepad.com/daniel_hernandez/2007/08/mexicali-chinat.html
So true. When we visited Mexicali we ate Chinese! There are also a great many Chinese in Mexico City. It is pretty wonderful to go to the Peking Cafe here in North Park and hear the Chinese/Mexicans there speaking Spanish as well as English and a Chinese dialect.
Baja and Mexico in general include interesting Irish, Indian and Russian settlements and immigration history. Mexico is also an interesting melting pot.
Yeah, white, god-fearing, Christian whites ran the Chinese off into Mexico. The Chinese laborers who built our railroads, worked in our mines, on our dams, were so discriminated against during the 19th century here in California, that many migrated south to our southern neighbor.