Category — Immigration

Pie in the Face
Local political agitator who tossed a pie at an anti-immigration activist talks to theAdvocate
Adam Bulger

October 13, 2005

During a sparsely attended Sept. 28 Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control press conference at the West Hartford public library, controversial CTCIC head Paul Streitz was the target of a pie-throwing protester. CTCIC, formed by Streitz, seeks tougher immigration laws. At the press conference, Streitz intended to present a study about Connecticut McDonald’s where he concluded that Hispanics and undocumented workers take jobs away from whites and African-Americans. In an exclusive interview with the Advocate, the pie-tosser, who calls himself “La Pastelista,” explained his actions and future plans.

[Read more →]

Charter Oak Cultural Center

21 Charter Oak Ave

Hartford CT

6-8 pm, August 21st

“Queering the Immigration Discussion”

All over the country, including Connecticut, our government sponsors the break-up of families, the displacement of people, and the forced removal of workers from hope itself. This takes the form of immigration law and is manifested most brutally in agencies such as ICE. But the queer community has its own unique problems within the framework of the immigration debate. This event promises to highlight those problems. Come join Queers without Borders and the Workers Solidarity Alliance of Connecticut for a panel discussion on queer immigration issues! Food and drinks provided.

Panelists include:

Nancy Naples–Feminist sociologist and professor at the University of Connecticut

Virge Carstens–NLG lawyer specializing in immigration, and queer immigration issues in particular

Jerimarie Liesegang–From the CT TransAdvocacy Coalition, Queers without Borders, and the Workers Solidarity Alliance of Connecticut

from our comrades at radical women…

Immigrant rights are a feminist fight!

Around the world, May Day is a working peoples’ holiday. For decades, the United States has tried to ignore it. But massive May Day marches in 2006 demanding justice for immigrants sparked a resurgence of this day of action. And those huge mobilizations made a difference.

They led to the utter defeat of the racist Sensenbrenner bill in the U.S. Congress. And they fueled successful opposition to all the “reforms” lawmakers have come up with since then. Most of these unacceptable proposals included temporary worker programs, forced detentions, militarized borders, and exorbitant fines for undocumented workers. However, ICE raids and deportations are still a brutal reality. And now the world has plunged into a financial crisis. [Read more →]

Please check out http://www.irqr.net/English/199.htm, from the IRanian Queer Railroad, a group supporting queer Iranians.

Dear Iranian queer supporters,

 We request your assistance with an urgent case involving Mehdi N., a 29-year-old gay Iranian who seeks asylum in Germany.

Mehdi N. escaped from Iran at the beginning of 2007 due to his well-known fear of persecution on the basis of his sexual orientation. He stayed in Istanbul, Turkey for six months, but was unaware of his ability to apply for refugee status with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey. At that time, he was also uninformed about the existence of the IRanian Queer Railroad and our ability to support him.

Mehdi N. was lonely in Turkey. His biggest fear was that Turkish police would arrest him and deport him back to Iran. Eventually, someone took him to Germany where he sought to claim asylum.

“When I got to the airport, I introduced myself to police. I told them that I am gay and am seeking asylum. The police officer then shouted, ‘what are you doing here?!’ I feared death, and then started to cry,” Mehdi N. wrote in his letter to the IRQR.

While in Iran, Mehdi N. was forced to live in the closet, hiding his sexual identity from his family and society. He was raped by his boyfriend and sexually abused by his boyfriend’s friends. Mehdi N. was forced to have sex with his boyfriend while the friends filmed the action using a cell phone camera without his knowledge or consent.

“They sent the clip of me having sex with him to others. Many of my friends who received the video had no previous knowledge about my sexual orientation. I was in a very risky situation. They sent the clip to my family as well. I prefer not to talk about the experience and what I suffered,” Mehdi N. said.

He still cannot disclose his sexual orientation in Germany. He fears deportation because his claim for asylum has been refused several times. If deported back to Iran, he will face persecution, punishment, or even death. [Read more →]

FUNERAL PROCESSION AND SOLIDARITY RALLY for Athens, Gaza, and against all state violence.
Wear funeral garb. Bring coffins, flowers, or just your beautiful selves. (Or possibly stuffed animals that you may be willing to part from.)

We will meet FRIDAY, JANUARY 9TH (note, changed from original date posted) at NOON at BURNSIDE PARK. We will march to various different sites of state violence and the military-industrial complex in a show of solidarity and in memory of those whose lives have been lost. From the streets of Athens to the war in Gaza, we stand in solidarity with all victims of state violence— at home and abroad.

Called for by What Queer?! Providence’s radical queer collective.

Solidarity,
~ What Queer?!

On Tuesday, December 16th, there was a rally held in Boston in solidarity with the uprisings all over Greece. We protested outside the Greek consulate in a show of solidarity with all vicitims of state violence. This is the speech that I gave. (If you’ve been reading my posts you might notice that some of it was lifted from my speech at the Transgender Day of Remembrance.)

Dear comrades, it’s incredible to be here today! My name is Saffo, and I am a radical queer tranny from Providence, Rhode Island. I am part of the upcoming What Queer? radical queer collective in Providence. As I’m sure you all know, on Saturday, December 6th, 2008, the cops in Athens shot and killed a 15-year-old boy named Alexandros Grigoropoulos. I want to start by offering a moment of silence for the memory of Alexandros. (Thank you). To many of us, the violence of the Greek police is something that rings true to our own lives and experiences with the police in the United States and elsewhere. It is, in part, this commonality that brings us here today. This solidarity that we feel for those who are brutalized by the state, by any state, anywhere. We know that this kind of violence happens every day. But this time, the people struck back! These are incredible times we are living in. For instance, if you had asked me 2 years ago if I thought that today we’d see a union successfully occupying a factory in the United States, I would have said no way. I would have said, things like that happened in Argentina, but they would never happen here. But they did it! If you had asked me a year ago, would a group of queers ever dare to take direct action against a right-wing churhch, I would have said no. But they did! So here’s to the workers in Chicago. Here’s to Queers Bash Back! And here’s to the masses of anarchists, university students, high school students, and youth who have taken to the streets in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, Crete, and all over Greece. It’s looking more and more every day that a revolution may really be just around the corner. [Read more →]

November 17, 2008 (See more @ saffolicious.blogspot.com.)

Hello everyone. My name is Saffo and I am trans. Some of you may know me by my birth name, Fokion. As many of you will already know, to many trans people, changing our names is an important rite of passage. Coming out as trans, choosing a new name and transitioning my identity has been a difficult, beautiful, emotionally exhausting, revitalizing and spiritually empowering process. Some of you who have known me for years have struggled to remember to call me by my new name, and by my new preferred pronoun. I assure you that it’s been even more difficult for me, adjusting to a new name, to a new relationship with the world. But it is so important and I appreciate the many people in my life who have supported me through this struggle, as well as the countless many trans and gender variant people who have struggled and fought so hard before me— many of whom have sacrificed their lives for the chance to name themselves. After all, today is the day of remembrance, so I must remember with a sense of gratitude and humility those who have fought before me and made the ultimate sacrifice.

So what’s in a name? Many of us live out our lives with names that were given to us by our parents, which may or may not have any real meaning or significance. Your name is perhaps the most important, most deeply engrained social marker you will have in your life. It claims to define you— and yet most people did not choose their name, or may not feel that it has any real meaning to them. Coming out as trans has given me a sense of solidarity with people everywhere who have chosen to rename themselves. Similarly, it is through this politics of naming that we are also able to name the forces of violence that oppress us. Transphobia, Heterosexism, Racism, Classism, Imperialism, Ageism, Ableism, Capitalism, Sexual Assault and Violence, the Prison Industrial Complex. The list goes on. Naming the systems of violence that oppress us and those around us is a vital first step in our various struggles for liberation. And so it is through naming both ourselves, our communities, and the forces of violence that oppress us that we are able to fight back. [Read more →]

De Nova-Part 1: Lil’ Silent is a new documentary play crafted entirely from immigration court transcripts, letters, extensive interviews conducted by New York’s Houses on the Moon Theater Company, and tells the compelling story of Edgar and other undocumented youth, many thousands of who make the harrowing journey across the border and through the U.S. system of justice year after year. The play in performed by bilingual actors in English and partly in Spanish.

The very powerful piece is written by gay playwright, Jeffrey Solomon. The performance is followed by a discussion with the creative team and immigrations experts.

Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 seniors, Charter Oak & Let’s Go! Members, $5 students. The performance will be one night only and will be held at the Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Ave., Hartford Ct. 06106. For information: 860-249-1207. www.charteroakcenter.org.

 Anyone who would like to make a donation to help with this play contact Charter Oak Cultural Center.

The following is a take off on Yip Harburg’s Brother, Can You Spare A Dime.  However, it is been adapted to reflect today’s current situation of those who helped “build a nation” and now being pushed cast aside as criminals.

They used to tell me they were traveling to the land of freedom, and so I migrated with the others.
When there were vegetables to be picked, Or when there were loved ones to be cared for,
When there were homes and offices to be tended, Or when there was construction to be done,
I was always there, day and night, sad or happy, right there on the job.

They used to tell me I was traveling to the land of freedom, with happiness and security ahead.
So why should I be standing in shackles, denied basic human rights, waiting for injustice?

They used to tell me I was traveling to the land of freedom, with happiness and security ahead.
So please tell me what I did wrong, why I am being called a criminal,
So please tell me what I did wrong, for simply working for a better life for my loved ones and myself?

Once I helped feed a nation, I toiled long backbreaking hours with little to show,
Once I helped build a nation, I cleaned your offices and I tended your lawns with little to show,
Once I helped build a nation, and now I am in jail, told I was a criminal when just hours before I helped build a nation,
Brother, Why Can’t You Spare Me These Raids?

Once I built a road, so that many loved ones could shop, could visit and could earn a living,
Once I built a road, and now that is done, and now I am in shackles in ICE detention,
While my loved ones ask of where I went, and what did I do wrong in help building a road?
Once I helped build a nation’s infrastructure, and now I am in ICE detention, told I was a criminal when just hours before I helped build a nation,
Brother, Why Can’t You Spare Me These Raids?

Once in our festive best, gee we looked swell, full of that Melting Pot Dream, [Read more →]

October 15, 2008

4:30 PM

Federal Building, 450 Main Street, Hartford

Picket in front of ICE headquarters in Hartford. Join us in a legal protest against the paramilitary style raids that Homeland Security is carrying out all over the country. We’re seeing the biggest immigration roundups in U.S. history. 600 plant workers in Mississippi last month. 1,200 California residents last week.

Come stand with us and millions of working people in the U.S. against racial and economic scapegoating. We won’t let them divide us!

This event is part of a National Week of Action Against the Raids and Deportations. (List of endorsers is in formation.)

For more information Contact: Daniela at 860-967-8277.

In light of Peter’s recent post on the immigrant rights movement, I thought I’d post this really interesting and inspiring article by some members of Bring the Ruckus, a US anarchistic political cadre organization that focuses on doing anti-racist organizing.

In 2003, BTR members in Phoenix worked with a coalition of activists to combat the Protect Arizona Now Initiative and the birth of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corp. Right wing political activity in the state has set the tone of debate and the scope possibility for the nativist right across the country with state after state modeling anti-immigrant campaigns and initiatives on Arizona’s successes.

Read more

At least from where I sit, it appears that much of the work being done in the immigrant rights movement - and certainly the work we are doing here in Connecticut - is reactive. Whether it’s a one-shot deal like a demonstration responding to an ICE raid or a longer campaign such as the fight for a pro-immigrant ordinance in Hartford, there has been precious little discussion in movement circles about strategy.That’s why the recent release of a large number of documents by DHS/ICE in response to a FOIA request by community groups in New Haven deserves much attention. Thanks to the efforts of Junta and Unidad Latinas en Accion and their attorneys from Yale, documents have been obtained showing the discussions in the Department of Homeland Security and with the federal prosecutors office regarding New Haven’s passage of the Elm City ID ordinance and the ICE raid that followed almost immediately after.

[continued at Two Good Hands]

The protest before tonight’s meeting was focused on the issue of teachers’ retirement. To be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed as I was expecting to see people out front with signs for various issues. At least one of the signs gave me a laugh, as it has a really perverted (and totally wrong!) alternate meaning.

Inside City Hall, a group of children demonstrated how funding is dispersed to the various branches of the library. The Downtown branch was the trunk and had the most “money” tied to it. The neighborhood branches were a bit smaller, and the Blue Hills and Mark Twain branches had no “leaves” on them.

Unfortunately, I had to leave the meeting early, but there were something like 45 people signed up to speak. Many voiced their concern about the library closures, violence, retirement situation, and the immigration ordinance. One person called for a boycott of the Downtown Branch of the Hartford Public Library. A few others pointed out how ridiculous the curfew is, since the recent shootings all occurred during daylight hours. Another said that this curfew was unfair, as it punished many for the crimes of a few.

A couple mainstream media outlets were there, and they left about 90 minutes into the session. Before the session began, I spotted a man affiliated with WTNH-8 dancing mockingly while protesters were chanting and circling. How objective and professional!

I’m hoping that others who were able to stay for the full session can add their comments about what else ensued.

On August 11 2007, while marching in solidarity with our union
sisters and brothers of the Industrial Workers of the world (IWW) 460/640
campaign in NYC, the Providence, RI IWW branch was attacked by the out of
control North Providence Police force. During the attack Providence IWW
member Alexandra Svoboda was brutally maimed by officers of the NPPD and
arrested. Jason Friedmutter, also of the Providence IWW branch was
arrested as well. Alex has faced a long road to recovery that she is still
on. Alex and Jason both face dubious criminal charges that the City of
North Providence has drummed up in order to thwart Alex from receiving
justice and to protect their violent, inexperienced police force.
Included in this article is a brief, but all encompassing account of
August 11, ‘07, Alex’s injuries and recovery, Alex and Jason’s legal
status at the time of this writing.
[Read more →]

Minneapolis is the shit. Big-ups.

A group of Latino workers, at the Twin Cities-based D’Amico’s & Sons restaurant chain have organized and taken direct action to resist being fired for receiving “No-Match” letters from the Social Security Administration. The workers ­ many who have well over a decade of service for the company ­ have been joined by family members, some co-workers, the Workers Interfaith Network (WIN), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Twin Cities General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) and others. [Read more →]