San Diego, CA – On Monday April 26, 2010, community organizations from throughout San Diego will come together for a vigil in solidarity with the people of Arizona, and unite their voices with those who reject the recently signed Arizona state law SB 1070. This vigil is being convened at the Federal Building in Downtown San Diego with a call by the Raza Rights Coalition and its member collectives in order to reject the approval of a law that has been clearly designed to criminalize and punish the working people of Arizona.
"It is truly sad to witness the lack of political will on the part of the Obama administration in the effort to move on immigration reform, a reality that has motivated the extreme right wing in state of Arizona to promote and legalize the violation of civil and human rights," stated Adriana Jasso, coordinator of the Raza Rights Coalition in San Diego. Communities around the country, and most recently in Arizona, have been witness to how the Obama administration has provided operational funds to policies which have terrible consequences such as family separation. The most recent operation in the state of Arizona was the largest in the history of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – an operation that mobilized over 800 agents in four different locations across the state. This operation is clearly part of the strategy of the Obama administration, which continues to concentrate all of its efforts on raids, arrests and deportations.
"Every community across the country must speak out, mobilize and reject SB 1070 which was just been signed into law by the governor of Arizona. It is time to be a part of history, and in an organized fashion, resist these terrible attacks that our communities face on a daily basis…" concludes Adriana Jasso. The empty promises of change and total lack of political will from politicians at the federal level can not, and must not be the source of our communities sinking further into fear and the marginalization. The initiative for profound and definitive change must originate from our communities that suffer daily the consequences of these repressive policies. Furthermore, it should be noted that these policies have been promoted by both Democrats and Republicans.
Vigil in solidarity with the people of Arizona, Monday, April 26, 2010, 6:00 pm.
San Diego Federal Building, 880 Front Street, San Diego CA 92101
(Downtown San Diego)