Thousands of LA residents stand up for their immigrant neighbors
Photo by Never Again Action member (@sssssspacekitten on Instagram)
Welcome to our news segment: TL;DR of Immigration News, for when the news is Too Long and you Didn’t Read it.
This is a weekly collection of immigration-related news stories. These bite-size summaries will keep you up to date without overwhelming your inbox.
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As part of a nation-wide effort to spread terror in immigrant communities, the city of Los Angeles has been invaded by ICE and the American military at the behest of the current federal administration. But the city is fighting back. Thousands of LA residents of all skin colors, ethnicities, faith traditions, and economic statuses have joined together to protect their community through a variety of tactics including protest, community patrols, property damage, storytelling both local and digital, song, dance, and other forms of solidarity.
There is so much going on in LA right now that we will never be able to include everything. But here is a snapshot of what’s happening, what we can learn from it, and what you can do to get involved in the struggle in your community, no matter where you’re located.
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LA clergy stand in solidarity with detained immigrants
On Monday afternoon, a group of Clergy from many different faith backgrounds walked to the LA city jail where immigrants are processed before being deported or taken off to ICE detention and demanded to see the people who had been detained over the weekend. See footage of their action on local tv.
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Some Notes on the City of Angels and the Nature of Violence
Is throwing a brick through a window violent? What about graffitiing a wall? Or lighting a driverless car on fire? What about trampling over a defenseless person with a police horse and then clubbing them? What about shooting someone from five feet away with plastic bullets? What about tear gassing entire city blocks?
Is it reasonable to ignore the power dynamic in this discussion? To see unarmed protestors standing up for their community members brutalized and ask what they did to deserve it? Is property damage violence? Are the police ever accountable for their violence?
Rebecca Solnit has a few thoughts on LA and “violence.”
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Chaos & Cruelty: Trump Deploys Thousands of Soldiers to Put Down Anti-ICE Protests in Los Angeles
On Tuesday, Democracy Now interviewed Jean Guerrero, author of a book about Stephen Miller and Trump’s immigration agenda aptly titled Hatemonger. The segment first quotes LA mayor Karen Bass talking about the situation in LA: “We didn’t need the National Guard. Why on Earth? What are they going to do? … So, they need marines on top of it? I don’t understand that. That’s why I feel like we are part of an experiment that we did not ask to be a part of.”
Guerrero highlights the way the community in LA is coming together across traditional lines of division: “...people of all races and backgrounds are putting their bodies on the line to protect their friends, their neighbors, their family members from these arrests… I spoke to… white grandmothers, who are going out to protect people that they love and who they’re afraid could be picked up by ICE. I spoke to Latinas who are, you know, afraid of being racially profiled and arrested because of the indiscriminate nature of these arrests, but they are nevertheless putting their bodies on the line, because they’re citizens and they believe in using their privilege to defend the people that they care about.”
Anyone who has a phone and witnesses an ICE action can help by documenting that action: “The administration is ramping up deportations to a never-before-seen level, which means that they are more visible than ever. They used to happen in the shadows. Now people can see it happening everywhere. And people are taking out their phones… as a result, these deportations, these arrests are becoming much harder to misrepresent, and this is a threat to the narrative that Trump and Stephen Miller have spent years putting out there.”
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Pasadena Protestors Picket ICE Raids at City's AC Hotel; Glendale just nixed its ICE deal
Over the past few days, local communities have been successful using a variety of tactics to combat increased ICE activity. ICE agents sent to invade the LA area to terrorize immigrants decided to crash at several Pasadena hotels. Agents were apparently interrogating and harassing hotel staff looking for victims. However, they weren’t prepared for the tables to turn. When a hotel staff member posted online that ICE agents were staying in Pasadena, the community turned out to send a loud and clear message: ICE is not welcome - not in Pasadena, not in LA.
Protestors held it down and successfully forced ICE out of Pasadena’s AC hotel–although for hours thereafter ICE officers were unable to leave the parking lot to continue their terror campaigns due to protestors having slashed the tires on their vehicles. Rumor has it that even the auto workers sided with protestors instead of helping them get back on the road, leaving ICE agents to attempt their own repairs with duct tape. I expect to be returning to that image regularly in my mind's eye for solace in the coming weeks.
During a city council meeting in Glendale last week, an immigration attorney shone a light on an indefinite contract the city’s had since 2007 with ICE allowing them to hold detainees in the city’s jails. On Sunday, the city cancelled the contract in response to mounting community pressure. Let’s keep up the pressure in all of our cities and neighborhoods: ICE OUT OF OUR COMMUNITIES.
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SEIU leader David Huerta released after being charged with impeding ICE officers
On Friday, June 6th as ICE raids began across LA, SEIU CA President David Huerta was arrested while he attempted to document ICE activity at a local business. Throwing him down to the ground, Huerta was injured and also kept in custody over the weekend. Thousands of union members across the country held rallies this Monday demanding his release and also an end to ICE raids. SEIU held rallies in Seattle, Pittsburgh, DC, Minnesota, and Boston, among other cities.
Huerta was released on Monday. As of right now, he is scheduled to appear in court in July. Along with thousands across the nation, we will be following this story closely.
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See Never Again Action members protest ICE across the nation
When the people bravely rose up to protest the ICE raids in LA and defend their communities, the federal government sent military forces to silence them. Never Again Action stands in solidarity with the protesters in LA, and with all people throwing sand in the gears of the detention and deportation machine.
Follow the link to see an inspiring gallery featuring Never Again Action members participating in numerous ICE OUT actions across the country from LA to Pittsburgh to Austin to Tampa to Milwaukee ✊
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3 ways you can take action right now:
- Support Never Again Action’s organizing by making a donation today. You can make a tax deductible donation via our fiscal sponsor at this link, or you can donate directly to our 501(c)(4) organization at this link.
- NEW Solidarity Organizing is holding two training calls next week to help everyone say NO to ICE in their communities. To learn more, join them at 7pm EST 6/18 or 7pm EST 6/20.
- Join Action Network in urging your representatives to block the administration’s devastating attacks on immigrants by rejecting funding for enforcement, detention, and deportation throughout this year’s appropriations process. Join their letter-writing campaign here.