Thursday, May 20, 2010
7:00pm - 9:00pm
All Souls Church
1500 Harvard St., NW
Washington, DC
COMMUNITY FORUM ON THE FIGHT FOR REFORM AND LEGALIZATION
Speakers:
-Gustavo Andrade, CASA de Maryland
-Linda Leaks, Empower DC
-Ronal Mayorga, International Socialist Organization
-Wendy Ramirez, Equal Rights Center
Hosted by Dave Zirin (EDGEofSPORTS.com)
On April 23, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070. This racist, draconian law is the harshest immigration law in the United States. It forces Arizona law enforcement to racially profile people who are "suspected" of being undocumented, thereby forcing all people who "look" like immigrants to carry papers.
Across the country the number of raids, deportations, and no-match firings have increased over the past 2 years. Here in DC activists are fighting the implementation of the so-called Secure Communities initiative, which is a partnership between ICE and local authorities that allows police to enforce federal immigration laws. There have also been more anti-immigrant raids in Maryland. Obama has verbally come out against the passage of SB 1070 in Arizona, yet his administration is now saying federal reform is not possible this year.
Our movement must rise up and demand an end to the racism, the raids and police collaboration with ICE, and the deportations. This year we have seen 200,000 people march in Washington to demand immigration reform, students have protested and engaged in civil disobedience across Arizona, and people are organizing a boycott of all Arizona products. Come hear speakers from CASA de Maryland, Empower DC, the International Socialist Organization, and the Equal Rights Center discuss the struggle for immigrant and worker rights from Arizona to DC, and help us organize the fight for real reform and legalization now.