Additionally, these three can advocate for the undocumented community that continues to live in fear of simple infractions that lead to polimigra cooperation and deportation. You can read about some of the follow-up here: October 21st follow-up article. This time, the Tucson community decided to exercise their rights to have their voices be heard at a public forum with the City Council.
The word went around to gather the community on October 22nd, so Amy Beth and I went to show our support. Steph wanted to go, especially because she was part of the spontaneous non-violent protest (Fuera Polimigra is about our experience with the incident), but she could not get back from work in Florence in time, so we helped recap the meeting for her when we got home.
I can honestly say I've never been to a City Council meeting before! The idealist in me was excited to see the community and its democratically elected leaders working together, and I hoped something would come of this more than disgruntled activists voices finding a space to vent and then being forgotten. Many waited outside City Hall in anticipation, and we've discovered you get to see a few of the same faces taking time out of their lives to do justice work.
The media is here too!
Delicate shadows befall the center of the city at 5pm.
When it was time to enter, community members passed one-by-one through a metal detector and bag search, for our safety of course. Amy Beth and I walked through the double doors past security and into the hall just as a prayer for actions under good conscious was beginning. I at first wondered if that was because many of the community members were from Southside Presbyterian to support their fellow community members who do not have what is considered proper authorization to exist in this country, however, I soon learned it is customary. Customary? Customary to have prayer in one religious tradition when we purport to abide by religious freedom through the Bill of Rights for all?
Separation-of-church-and-state commentary aside, the room filled despaciadamente, gradually, after the prayer and Pledge of Allegiance as people got out of work. Hey Amy Beth! (She's in the blond ponytail and black shirt).
I just kept sneaking photos as the City Council went through their usual business.
For a while the audience was mainly members of the allied community, and I was worried members of the affected community would not be able to or would be afraid to come. But they are amazingly "undocumented and unafraid," and eventually filled the room with members from the Southside Worker Center and Corazon de Tucson (community organizations that provide networks of support for day laborers and families of varying immigration statuses)!
In the back row sat Arturo, one of the men taken into custody on October 8th, and his family.
Hey Miquitzli! He's in the green shirt and one of the main organizers at the Southside Worker Center.
After the City Council got through what
they had to, the mayor made an announcement: "I think most people here
tonight for the call to the audience, so I will extend the call to the
audience to one hour." He went out of his way to recognize the time and
presence of all here to speak directly to City Council about their
concerns for the community. Three minutes per person is not a lot of
time, but it keeps things moving and ensures fairness to all who
submitted their name ahead of time. Another note of appreciation, this City Council was basically gender balanced!
Various cameras stayed perpetually pointed towards the podium when it became time for the community to speak. This young woman was first on the docket, saying, "I have always thought of Tucson as a welcoming city to all people," and demanding an end to the polimigra and attacks on brown people.
Next, this woman spoke of her plight as an occupier. Her home was foreclosed on in 2011, and she has been occupying it since. She appealed to City Council's authority and purpose to represent the wellbeing of the community, which she certainly did not think was happening, especially with regard to the transitory lives of many of Tucson's people of lower socioeconomic status.
Another group with members interspersed throughout the lineup wanted to hold the City Council accountable for its first plan to turn a private golf course into a family golf center. This group argued that since the initial plans had been made, different deals have taken place without public knowledge that would instead increase gentrification instead of opening the course up to the public. And it was fascinating who all put in their two cents about the October 8th incident and the collaboration between local police and immigration authorities.
An immigration law professor added his legal knowledge and perspective to the incident at Southside, saying he had talked to the prior police chief before Chief Villaseñor, and with this new chief, he has work to do. This professor emphasized that the "show me your papers" part of SB 1070 section that requires local police to ask people to provide legal documentation has qualifiers, such as "reasonable suspicion" and "as practicable" so as to not hinder the processing of the original offense. The
language in SB 1070 gives local police considerable discretion as to
investigate someone's immigration status and further call Border Patrol
or ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). And beyond that, as I've mentioned in prior blog entries, police need to have a reason other than immigration status first, such as traffic stops or another violation of law, and they are only allowed to hold the person as long as it would normally take to process the other offense, not any longer to purposely wait for Border Patrol. Consequently, the professor called for an investigation into not only policy, but also practices and procedures within the police force that will be in conformity with Tucson being an immigrant-welcoming city.
The room stood up to cheer when one of the victims of the October 8th incident was called to the podium. Arturo brought his family, and he brought the room to tears.
Another mother from Corazon de Tucson filmed on her iPad, and I snuck around to get photos from the front.
Rosa, the community member who was swept off the sidewalk for just being present outside Southside on October 8th, is here in the blue shirt next to another woman from Corazon de Tucson and Agustin, also detained that night.
Arturo captivated the room in Spanish and the interpretation of his words in English. He explained how he did not understand why the police questioned him when he was simply the passenger. Agustin was the driver of the van without a front license plate light, so he should have been given a ticket y nada mas. But Agustin's documentation status was questioned, and then his passenger, Arturo's, which is quite against the law. And that's just the legal piece.
"We want united families... I hope you look at my children and see the face of America because they are citizens... We must protect families," he pleaded with the City Council, appealing to their hearts and minds alike.
Members of the community...
... and members of the press took it all in.
And then the room rose in support.
... Except for one man. He used his three minutes to speak about welcoming illegal aliens as an illegal act (his language, not mine by choice), which in a room full of day laborers and their friends and family, was a rather unpopular sentiment. Another community member
They got their three minutes like everyone else through this public process.
From the Worker Center, Augustin was next up. He was the one who was actually driving the car with the missing front license plate light which catalyzed this whole incident. "I know I'm driving without a license, but so are others... Regarding this law, I ask for discretion. Just stop us, give us a ticket, and stop separating our families," he pleaded.
"The precedence of Tucson should be to soften city presence so that it supports, not represses... Supports the homeless and undocumented workers... This community is directly affected by deportations. I have so much anger because I am a religious person, and I believe God created this world for all of us to enjoy it."
This student was present on October 8th and said she was a witness to police brutality along with other students, churchgoers, and community members. She declared definitively, "Traffic stops should never result in deportation and separation of families," which ellicited a roaring applause.
This woman was at Southside and demonstrated how her arm was twisted forcefully by police. "This was a meeting of Southsiders, 50-85 years old..." She told of one woman who is battling cancer and was wearing a scarf over her head, and she was thrown to the ground. She emphasized "These are choices we can make... We can separate the police from Border Patrol... This happened to white people, just imagine what happens to peope with darker skin out in the desert..."
And then a mother and member of Corazon de Tucson came up with her adorable daughters. She tearfully shared how she and her daughters were testigos a esa violencia, witnesses to that violence. Her children asked her, "Why are they [the police] taking your friend? What did she do?" And this mother had to simultaneously scan the entire crowd to confirm that none of them had anything that could hurt anyone, and the only way she could respond to her daughters' fear was to shield them and respond, "I don't know."
"Tucson es una ciudad amigable a inmigrantes" - "Tucson is a city friendly to immigrants" repeated many of those who testified.
And then Raul came up to introduce fellow organizer and activist Leilani, who in rapid syllables recounted her experience and showed a well-publicized picture of her being pepper sprayed in the face from four feet away. Quoting Dr. King, she said we had a moral responsibility to stand up to unjust laws. She advocated a practice of cite and release and called out the officers for wasting resources and pepper spray - community members acted peacefully and were in fact leaving the scene when they were pepper sprayed without warning. "I also demand an end to police brutality. That's always wrong! ...An immigrant-welcoming city cannot enforce 1070, there's no two ways around that."
People of all causes were welcome to their three minutes to voice their thoughts to City Council, and while there were a couple other groups talking about different development projects, this man went up by himself to advocate for the legalization of marijuana, saying marijuana usage is a victimless crime and arresting young people especially just throws their lives away. Billions of dollars go towards drug arrests/busts which overwhelmingly targets minorities and young people.
Meanwhile, Raul worked to organize a group photo.
"Ni una mas!"
And then Raul was interviewed and translated for several of the affected family members.
Celebrities for justice!
Just a few days ago, police chief Villaseñor was interviewed by Channel 4, saying, "'I don't agree with SB 1070. But that doesn't mean I get to say I'm not going to enforce it, because then I don't stand for anything...' We asked Villasenor, 'If you could re-write the law, how would you?' He replied, 'Well, I wouldn't involve local law enforcement. It's not our purview, that's a responsibility of federal government.' Villasenor has repeatedly said he thinks SB 1070 puts local cops in a tough spot." Check out the full article here: TPD Chief fires back on immigration law.
Since, on November 8th, another member of the Southside Worker Center has been taken into ICE custody, and actions are happening this week to call for his release. Because us YAVs were in San Francisco for the weekend, I have less knowledge about this case, but this keeps happening to the Tucson community because Villaseñor will continue to enforce the law as he think it should be enforced.
This Wednesday, members of the Tucson community are once again going to speak with the City Council about continued collaboration between the local police and immigration authorities. I'll keep you posted on what becomes of those talks!
