St. Paul, Minnesota --- In a packed House hearing, the “Drivers License Bill” (HF1718) was presented [Thursday] at the State Capitol. 

The bill, which would allow access to drivers licenses regardless of citizenship status, was proposed by Mujeres en Liderazgo (Women in Leadership), a group of women organizers in South Minneapolis, who have been organizing in their community for the past 2 years. 

The Mujeres chose not to push a vote today, knowing that Governor Pawlenty, who ran on an anti-immigrant campaign, would ultimately refuse to sign the bill.  Instead they gave a powerful presentation to build support for next year, when a new governor could present the opportunity for their hopes to become a reality.

Immigrants' rights organizations are mobilizing for the Sunday, March 21 action in Washington, D.C. in support of CIR ASAP, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act for America's Security and Prosperity.  CIR ASAP offers a chance to reduce raids and deportations, provides paths to residency and citizenship for undocumented immigrants and creates a wide range of provisions for keeping families together throughout the immigration process.  What's more, it's a bill that treats immigrants as reasonable people coming to the US for reasonable and appropriate purposes, breaking with the usual US myths of immigrants as dangerous and other.  Naturally, it has the xenophobes and white supremacists frothing at the mouth.

Local activist groups Centro Campesino and the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network are raising funds to go to DC so that immigrants themselves and their allies can lobby directly for the bill.  MIRAc is hosting a discussion of the campaign on Sunday afternoon at 2pm at El Colegio Charter School. The bill is a complicated one, pairing citizenship opportunities for undocumented immigrants, labor rights and greater security for immigrant families with increased border militarization and closer connections between federal, state and local police.  

Related: MN Mujeres en Liderazgo driver's license bill facing critical hearing Thursday

from the open publishing newswire: Calling all allies and supporters!

Please come out to support the Mujeres en Liderazgo as they take their campaign for driver’s licenses to the capitol. 

After over two years of organizing, the Mujeres en Liderazgo are preparing for their bill to be voted on by the state representatives.  This is a crucial moment for the bill which would give drivers licenses to everyone.

With the support of the community, different organizations, religious groups, and legislators, “Mujeres en Liderazgo” has introduced a Bill in the State Legislature that would allow anyone living in Minnesota to get a driver’s license, regardless of their citizenship status.

Related at TC Daily Planet: Driver's License Bill for Undocumented Workers

Licencias_de_Conducir_para_Todos[1].pdf

Thursday, March 4th– Over 120 people and 40 organizations participated in the Third Encounter for Dignity and Against Gentrification hosted by the Movement for Justice in el Barrio this past Sunday in East Harlem, New York. The meeting, referred to by the Spanish term encuentro, brought together activists from places as far as California, Puerto Rico, and Maryland. “The objective of this third encuentro was to connect our struggle. Our struggle doesn’t have boundaries,” said Filiberto Hernandez, a member of the Movement for Justice in el Barrio. Photo from Latin American News Dispatch

"We don't want a Guantanamo in the Nation's Capital" said Johnny Barnes, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area, before a packed audience during yesterday's community dialogue at the University of the District of Columbia on the "Secure Communities" program. The controversial program, recently implemented by the Metropolitan Police Department without community consultation, runs the fingerprints of everyone arrested in the District of Columbia through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) database.

Friday, February 26th - Faith leaders, formerly detained immigrants, and human rights activists from across Texas today participated in an action and letter-delivery as part of a launch of a “Dignity, Not Detention” campaign. Activists gathered to call on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to close two south Texas detention centers – the Willacy County “Tent City” detention center and the Port Isabel Detention Center (PIDC). Both facilities have been racked by allegations of human rights abuses, and PIDC has been the site of hunger strikes lead by detained immigrants over conditions of confinement and due process concerns.

The Resource Center for Nonviolence, la Liga de la Comunidad, the ACLU of Santa Cruz, and other local organizations will host a special screening of the new documentary film, "The 800 Mile Wall," on Friday, February 26, at 7pm at the First Congregational Church in Santa Cruz; at 7pm on Saturday at the Lutheran Community Church in Watsonville; and, at 2pm on Sunday at the Peace Resource Center in Seaside. The screenings will be followed by a panel discussion with the film's director, John Carlos Frey and the film's producer, Jack Lorenz.

"The 800 Mile Wall" highlights the construction of the new border walls along the U.S.-Mexico border and the lethal effects on migrants trying to cross into the United States. Migrant deaths have soared since enforcement and security measures were implemented by the U.S. beginning with Operation Gatekeeper in 1994.

A National DREAM Week of Action kicked off on February 22 and will last until Friday, February 26. Students across California and 16 other states are organizing in support of the DREAM Act, a piece of federal legislation that would provide a pathway to legalization for undocumented students educated in the U.S. Every year, 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools, but these students face serious barriers to higher education.

From anti-colonial activist "Robert Erickson": "The original Tea Party [documentary] trailer was too good to pass up on, so I used it as an opportunity to parody the outrageous rhetoric of the right-wing. We call on all people of conscience to take a stand against the dehumanizing tactics perpetrated by real criminals like Joe Arpaio and ICE," explained Erickson. Erickson is organizing a Back to Europe movement planned for the spring. Along with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action coalition (MIRAc), he is hoping to inspire a national day of action at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) centers across the country.  Read more from the open publishing newswire | Watch video at left

And from the RNC 8: In the summer of 2007, an anarchist/anti-authoritarian group ironically named the “RNC Welcoming Committee” released a satirical video entitled, “We're Getting Ready.”  The video sparked a quarter-of-a-million dollar investigation by the infamously humorless Ramsey County Sheriff's Office. Almost a year and a half later, they're now getting ready... for court.   Read more from the open publishing newswire | Watch video below

On January 16, Diné, O’odham and Autonomous/Anti-authoritarian (DO@) people answered a call-out from the O’odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective and Phoenix Class War Council to form the DO@ Block.

The bloc, consisting of anarchists and Indigenous people, converged on occupied Akimel O’odham Pi-Posh land (Phoenix) to take part in what was a larger march against Maricopa County, AZ, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio is well known for his racist border politics and strict prison regulations. However this time people were confronting his repression on those that take situations into their own hands and defiantly cross the border without the permission of others.

The Coalition In Defense Of the Community hosted a well-received event at Iglesisa Hispana Nueva Vida on Telephone Road. Tarsha Jackson made an emphatic opening call for black-brown unity and reminded us that in addition to a moral call for unity, our communities have several interests in common. Both of our communities have been victimized by a strong, strong profit motive surrounding the prison business. Pacho Arguelles co-opened with her, and did an excellent job in facilitating discussion.

Como siempre cuando hay un gran evento o día festivo, agencias de orden público usan el pretexto para aumentar la aplicación de leyes racistas, clasistas, y antimigrantes. Habrá varios retenes, y muchas agencias reportan que van a monitorear con mayor vigilancia las vías públicas. Checkpoint response les avisa de los retenes previstos, no sólo en California, sino en el resto del país también.

As with other holidays and large events, law enforcement agencies use the pretext to heighten enforcement of classist, racist, and anti-immigrant laws. This weekend will see numerous checkpoints, as well as non-checkpoint traffic enforcement. Checkpoint response brings you this warning of the foreseeable checkpoints, and urges the utmost caution on the road.

Flying below the radar during Houston’s low-key mayoral race was an undercurrent of anger toward immigrants. Right now the loudest voices are winning, and they are not voices of understanding or mercy, but of anger and division.

Leading the charge in linking immigrants as a scourge on Houston is Gary Blankinship (pictured), president of the Houston Police Officers Union. Following the shooting of Houston police officer Rick Salter in March 2009, Blankinship openly criticized Chief Hurtt and then Mayor Bill White for defending the City of Houston “sanctuary city” policy, a policy that does not allow officers to question the citizenship status of any person (General Order No. 500-5). READ MORE

On January 26, several hundred immigration reform/immigrant rights activists from groups such as Casa de Maryland descended on the Department of Homeland Security to demand an end to the workplace raids and detention of immigrants. Both 12th st and Independence Ave were blocked by sitting, arm-locked protesters at different times before 24 people were arrested. Read More | Audio narration from the street blockades

Police unleash pepper gas on non-violent protesters; 5 arrested

More than 10,000 demonstrators came out on January 16 to protest against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his repression of unauthorized immigrants. In the latest and largest in a series of protests against Sheriff Joe, demonstrators marched to MCSO's "tent city", an urban concentration camp where inmates, many arrested on immigration charges, are held 24-7 in the open air.

While marchers focused on Arpaio's 287g arrangement with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement and his high-profile immigration raids, other participants questioned the focus on immigration alone, given the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's role in foreclosure evictions, and also that the Phoenix Police Department turned over more unauthorized migrants to ICE in fiscal year 2009 than did Arpaio's sheriff's department.

Related: Phoenix PD attack marchers, mace children at Arpaio protest | Video: 1, 2, 3