INTERFAITH MOVEMENT FOR HUMAN INTEGRITY

EVERY HUMAN PERSON IS SACRED ACROSS ALL BORDERS 

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Your support for El Super workers is needed now more than ever. The El Super consumer boycott has entered its seventh month. The U.S. Government is prosecuting the company for labor law violations. Fermin Rodriguez, fired by the company for supporting his union in January, has not been returned to his job. And these workers have gone since September 2013 without Respect and a Fair Contract.

Join us for an ALL DAY action on Tuesday, July 7th.  We will gather at our UFCW 1428 Union Hall at 8:30AM, our bus will leave at 9:00 AM and return at 7:00 PM.  I will be reaching out to you in the next few days to give you more details.  Everyone on the bus will receive a UFCW 1428 TSHIRT!!  Lunch will be provided.

If you cannot commit to the whole day, please consider joining us part of the day or at the Paramount action.  (attached flyer)  There will be several stops during the day.

ParamountFlyer

A column today by Jim Blalock in the Daily Bulletin on a piece of history on journalist and organizer Ignacio Lopez, for whom a school is named after in the Pomona School District.  It is an example of why we need Chican@, Latin@, Labor, Gender, and Ethnic Studies – to bring to center stage such individuals as Ignacio Lopez (who, like Felicita and Gonzalo Mendez, Roberto Alvarez, Ernesto Galarza, Gloria Anzaldua, Jessica Govea, Kenneth Clarke, Fred Korematzu, Chief Joseph, and so many others) are often left out of our history books. It is important to know that school boards in cities such as Pasadena, Santa Ana, Riverside, and Los Angeles, at one time, supported the segregation of Mexican students into so-called “Mexican schools” on the basis that they could not speak English and were not able to be assimilated or “Americanized.” Ignacio Lopez was an example of one who returned from college with a journalism degree and used his skills and abilities, not just to write and expose segregation, but to actively organize against all forms of discrimination.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/events/20150629/pivotal-san-bernardino-case-fought-discrimination-against-latinos ?xml:namespace prefix = “o” ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /

Second column on civil rights journalist Ignacio Lopez

Second in a series of columns on journalist and organizer Ignacio Lopez, for whom a school is named after in the Pomona School District.  He was an example of one who used his writing skills and abilities to fight segregation — someone who returned from college to his community — to develop a newspaper — and to, not just write about and to expose racism and discrimination — but to use his organizing skills to rally the communities in the region to change unjust laws and policies.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/events/20150706/crusading-editor-led-latinos-in-battle-against-discrimination

Below are some PDF flyers to download. Continue reading →

You are invited to the Latino and Latina Roundtable meeting this Saturday, June 13th from 1 – 3 PM at the Pitzer College Broad Center (1050 N. Mills Ave.) in Claremont.  The meeting will include updates on the status of immigrants having the right to vote, the Supreme Court case to not use the census as a means of deciding districts (objectively leaving out immigrants), the DAPA and DACA court decisions and what it means for our work, Health for All and One California in Sacramento, supporting local economic development, and plans from the Cesar Chavez Pilgrimage and Park committee.  In addition to committee reports, there will be reports on Immigrant Rights Day and the El Super action.  Please bring a friend, family member, or anyone who is interested in making social change.

You are invited to support a Picket /Rally, and delegation in support El Super workers on Thursday, June 11th at 11 A. M.  at the El Super Store (960 W. Arrow Hwy.) in Covina. 

The Latino and Latina Roundtable, at its last membership meeting, agreed to support the UFCW workers in their ongoing negotiations with the El Super Corporation.  The NLRB will be taking El Super to court on the week of June 8th on charges of intimidating and firing workers, withholding sick and vacation pay and for their lack to negotiate in good faith.  The national office of the UFCW has called for a week of action at the UNION stores and the Latino and Latina Roundtable, together with other groups, will support this effort at the Covina Store.  We invite you and ask you to invite others.  Only through our efforts will this billion-dollar company be made to return to the bargaining table and to negotiate over workers’ basic needs like living wages, adequate paid sick leave, a 40-hour guarantee for full time workers, and RESPECT!   Many of our members and community supporters have shopped at these stores in the past and now we are demanding that El Super treat its workers with respect. 

http://www.laopinion.com/democratas-exigen-cierre-de-centros-de-detencion-para-familias

Demócratas exigen cierre de centros de detención para familias

ICE rechaza las críticas y promete mejoras

Washington, DC – Un grupo de 136 legisladores demócratas exigió este miércoles el cierre inmediato de los centros de detención para familias, al señalar que éstos no frenan la inmigración ilegal y sólo perjudican más a quienes han sido víctimas de la violencia en Centroamérica.

Como parte de una campaña de presión política, los líderes demócratas de la Cámara de Representantes señalaron en una carta enviada este miércoles al secretario de Seguridad Nacional, Jeh Johnson, que los centros de detención, dos en Texas y uno en Pensilvania, no son un sitio ideal para menores que han sido víctimas de todo tipo de abusos.DHS “no entiende”“Creemos que su departamento ha escuchado muchas de nuestras preocupaciones pero no ha entendido plenamente el grave daño que se inflige a madres y niños bajo custodia (federal). Creemos que la única solución a este problema es poner fin al uso de la detención de familias”, explicaron en la misiva.

Varios de los firmantes de la carta, entre ellos el legislador demócrata por Illinois, Luis Gutiérrez, se habían reunido con Johnson poco antes de que la Oficina de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) anunciara, el pasado día 13, cambios en el sistema de detención de familias, que los congresistas consideran insuficientes.

Los legisladores destacaron el testimonio bajo juramento de un experto en la materia, Luis Zayas, decano de Trabajo Social de la Universidad de Texas, quien señaló en diciembre pasado que el encierro en el centro de detenciones en Karnes ha tenido un “impacto duradero” en el bienestar físico y psicológico de las familias, aún entre las que sólo estuvieron detenidas por dos semanas.

Según los legisladores, la mayoría de los detenidos son refugiados que huyen de la violencia y persecución en sus países natales, además de haber sido víctimas de abuso sexual, secuestro, y tráfico sexual.

En ese sentido, también volvieron a denunciar la precaria situación médica de varias madres y niños detenidos por ICE en el último año, incluyendo niños con discapacidades mentales, un niño con cáncer del cerebro, y una madre con un trastorno del corazón congénito, entre otros casos graves.

En la carta, recordaron que una corte federal recientemente dictaminó que no se puede detener a solicitantes de asilo como estrategia para frenar la inmigración ilegal.ICE rechaza críticas y promete mejorasEn declaraciones a este diario, Jennifer Elzea, una portavoz de ICE, insistió en que “el bienestar de las familias detenidas, particularmente el de los niños, es de suma importancia” para la agencia federal, que además respeta el derecho de los detenidos a solicitar asilo, apelar sus casos, y acceder a la ayuda de un abogado.

“Los centros residenciales para las familias operan en un ambiente abierto que incluye salones de juego, trabajadores sociales, servicios educativos, cuidado médico integral, y acceso a abogados”, señaló Elzea, quien aseguró que ICE “explorará formas de mejorar aún más estas condiciones”.

Funcionarios del DHS y ICE llevarán a cabo reuniones en los próximos meses con las partes interesadas para escuchar las preocupaciones sobre estos centros de detenciones y realizar esfuerzos para poner en marcha los ajustes que sean necesarios, prometió.

Contradiciendo a sus detractores, entre éstos la Unión de Libertades Civiles de EEUU (ACLU), ICE no abandona el guión de que estos centros de detenciones son una alternativa “eficaz y humana” para mantener unidas a las familias mientras esperan la resolución de sus casos o su repatriación.

Según datos actualizados de ICE, hasta el pasado 20 de mayo el total de detenidos en el centro de detenciones en Dilley y Karnes, ambos en Texas, es de 1,072 y 493, respectivamente, mientras que en Berks (Pensilvania), es de 84.

De los tres centros en operaciones -el de Artesia (Nuevo México) fue clausurado el año pasado-, el más costoso es el de Dilley, donde el costo diario por cada detenido es de $313.

Le siguen el de Berks, con un costo diario de $276 por cada detenido, y el de Karnes, con un costo de $161 a diario por cada detenido. 

News Release 

CONGRESS of the UNITED STATES

For Immediate Release:                May 27, 2015

CONTACTS:

Peter Whippy (Rep. Lofgren) 202-225-3072

Douglas Rivlin (Rep. Gutiérrez) 202-225-8203

Benjamin Soskin (Rep. Roybal-Allard) 202-225-1766

Letter to Secretary Johnson from 136 House Democrats Says

DHS “Has Not Fully Grasped the Serious Harm Being

Inflicted Upon Mothers and Children”

“We believe the only solution to this problem is to

end the use of family detention”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the overwhelming majority of Democrats in the House — including Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) – sent Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson a letter (link, pdf) saying the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “has not fully grasped the serious harm being inflicted upon mothers and children” who are being held in “jail-like” secure facilities awaiting adjudication of their asylum and immigration cases. 

The letter (link, pdf), spearheaded by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), says the practice is “detrimental to mothers and children and is not reflective of our nation’s values.”

The letter calls particular attention to reports of poor or non-existent medical care for detainees, including those traumatized in their countries of origin and traumatized en route to the United States. 

“We cannot hear reports of serious harm to children in custody and do nothing about it,” the letter states.  “Detaining mothers and children in jail-like settings is not the answer. We have an opportunity to do the right thing and are confident that DHS has the capacity to honor our Nation’s longstanding commitment both to the protection and well-being of refugee families and to law enforcement and public safety.”

DHS dramatically ramped up the practice of detaining mothers and children in family detention centers a year ago in response to a surge of Central Americans seeking asylum from endemic violence, murder and rape.   DHS claims the practice is necessary as a deterrent to other migrants and recently announced a series of measures to make conditions more humane.  However, as the letter notes, a federal court has specifically disallowed the practice of detaining mothers and children as a form of deterrence and the Members of Congress who have signed the letter feel that the only humane way to detain mothers and children is to not do it. 

“We believe the only solution to this problem is to end the use of family detention,” the letter states.  “Children require special protections and should not be placed in jail-like settings.”

Last week, Reps. Roybal-Allard, Lofgren and Gutiérrez were joined by many House Democrats at a Capitol Hill press conferencecalling for an end to family detention.  There have been many recent reports of lengthy detention, serious medical concerns and significant developmental delays in children.  Opposition to family detention appears to be growing with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and several newspapers (e.g., New York Times, Seattle Times) highlighting the need to end to the practice. 

# # #

Some key issues which Robin Toma (Executive Director of the L. A. County Human Relations Commission) mentioned in a Pomona Community Dialogue on Community-Police Relations on May 22 — but were not covered in the Daily Bulletin article (link to article is below):

– The Los Angeles Human Relations Commission was developed out of the Zoot Suit and Sleepy Lagoon cases back in the 1950’s.

– Throughout its history, the commission has been called on to deal with police misconduct. 

– Police/Community Relations are critical – especially when communities fear the police.

– In every community, there are instances of unjust violence by police against civilians.

– Have to recognize that different outcomes are based on the color of one’s skin.

– It is important to rely on communities to pressure police departments. 

– Conflict can have its positive aspects.

– Twenty-first Century training has to include changing “implicit bias.”

– Police have a lot of power – and there is a need to ensure that there is no abuse of this power.

– There is a need for civilian oversight, subpoena powers, and use of independent prosecutors.

–  Finally, the solutions need to prioritize the investment in community health, education, jobs, housing, substance abuse, and gang intervention.

–  Community dialogues, such as this one, are essential in starting a conversation on these issue and to develop collaboration and find common ground in getting at the roots of community violence.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/social-affairs/20150524/human-relations-expert-in-pomona-discusses-conflict-between-police-locals