• Riders of the ‘UndocuBus’ Have ‘No Papers, No Fear’

    Monday night, the “UndocuBus,” with dozens of monarch butterflies painted on its side, sat in a parking lot in front of Skandalos, a Mexican restaurant/performance venue on the outskirts of Charlotte, displaying its slogan to any late-night passersby: "No Papers, No Fear." Inside the club, Los Jornaleros del Norte (Day Laborers of the North) played cumbia tunes to the undocumented immigrants who have been traveling the country on the bus. Los Jornaleros are aptly named. The band members met on a street corner where they waited to be picked up and employed for the day, and started playing instruments together as a way to pass the time.

    Standing on a corner waiting for work has become much more dangerous in the age of Arizona’s SB 1070 “Papers Please” immigration law, and its legislative cousins throughout the country. What recourse do the country’s 117,000 day laborers have against harassment, brutality and wage theft?

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  • Immigration Rights Advocates Pull into Charlotte for the DNC

    butterfly: migration is a human rightOne is a stay-at-home mom of three. Another is a construction worker. One is a student who hopes to attend graduate school for math and economics.

    All of them risked deportation to demand greater rights for undocumented immigrants.

    They, along with 22 others, arrived in Charlotte Saturday evening on the “Undocubus.”


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  • Arizona Awaits Next SB 1070 'Papers Please' Ruling, UndocuBus Rallies Undocumented Mothers Across Country

    Three weeks into their historic "No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice," Phoenix resident Leticia Ramirez carries a message for other undocumented mothers across the United States.

    "I am mother and I am undocumented and I am not afraid," Ramirez, a mother of three young children, told me in a phone interview today, as the 30-plus modern-day freedom riders entered Georgia, on the heels of the 11th Circuit Court's strike down of that state's Arizona copycat immigration.

    "I have heard so many stories from other mothers," Ramirez said, an 18-year resident of Arizona, who was brought to the United States from Mexico as a child. "They are inspired by our journey, and tell me that they have been inspired to come out of the shadows, and this encourages me to keep going."

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  • They pushed us out. We came back stronger. They let us in.

    They pushed us out. We came back stronger. They let us in.

    As we began the early morning drive to Alabama from Tennessee, we all felt nervous.  This was our first action in Alabama, the only state to have harsher laws than Arizona.  Knowing that people with power were inside, we thought that maybe we had a big chance to get arrested. When we do actions in Arizona, we have a lot of community behind us.  Here, we thought it would not be the same. 

    As we crossed the state border into Alabama we saw the photo of Gerardo from the morning action, where he and three other of our fellow riders interrupted Kris Kobach's testimony, and it gave us energy to follow through with our plans.  We got off the bus – la luna, which we had converted in to a Department of Homeland Security vehicle and began our skit:

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  • Solidaridad Entre Madres Inmigrantes

    El grupo de personas integrantes de La Jornada por La Justicia: Sin Papeles y Sin Miedo visitaron a inmigrantes sin documentos viviendo en Nueva Orleans. Durante la mañana del 9 de Agosto una delegación de mujeres de Arizona y Alabama visitó al alguacil Marlin Gusman. Leticia es una madre y activista de Arizona quien tiene las siguientes reflexiones sobre el evento. 

    El Jueves 9 de agosto del 2012 comenzamos el dia con una visita al Sheriff de Nueva Orleans, Marlin Gusman, para apoyar a una madre de familia que fue arrestada y detenida. Conocí a Deliny Palencia, la madre que menciono, durante nuestra visita con el Congreso de Jornaleros, y nos conto su historia.

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  • Why I'm Riding to Charlotte

    In six weeks I will arrive in Charlotte accompanied by a full bus of other undocumented people, after visiting with immigrant communities who face discrimination, supporting their efforts to affirm their dignity and no longer be afraid.

    Like many others, I’m tired of living in fear. I’ve lived here for 18 years but didn’t get involved until Gov. Jan Brewer signed Arizona’s SB1070 in 2010. At that point, I knew that something had to be done....

    We’ll come to Charlotte where we hope the president will be inspired by our example of courage. He has shown that he has the power to relieve our suffering. We’re doing what we must for our children to have better lives and for those of us who have lived in the shadows to finally be included fully in this country. We hope those who have the power to make that happen will do more to make it real.

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  • Undocumented Arizonans Announce Participation in National Bus Tour to Overcome Fear and Organize Migrant Community

    By voluntarily risking arrest and being placed in Sheriff Arpaio's jail, the undocumented Arizonans confronted what had previously been their greatest fear and demonstrated that everyone is safer as part of organized communities prepared to defend their rights and prevent their violation.

    The four will announce their participation in a national 'No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice' at a press conference this morning. Undocumented migrants will board a bus in Phoenix, Arizona and publicly travel to hot spots of Arizona copy-cats and anti-immigrant sentiment to come out as unafraid, support local organizing, and challenge proponents of hate. The journey will end in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Democratic National Convention.

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  • We'll Make Arpaio's Job Easy Because We're Not Afraid Anymore

    I've decided I can't be afraid any more, to fight for my community and my family and against all the laws and against what Arpaio is doing to our community. That's why I've decided to be arrested in our struggle for our community and my family.

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  • Photos: Arrested at Arpaio's Trial

     

     

     

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  • Coming Out at Arpaio's Trial

     

     

     

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