03/31/2012 by Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo - 0 comments

LA OPINION – Ven posibilidad para licencias de conducir

Ven posibilidad para licencias de conducir

Consideran que indocumentados pueden tener una oportunidad real

POR: Lucero Amador-Miranda / lucero.amador@laopinion.com | 03/31/2012 | La Opinión

Los esfuerzos para lograr que los indocumentados obtengan una licencia de conducir se fortalecen. Algunos líderes aseguran que hay posibilidad de ganar esa batalla.

“Estamos cerca de lograrlo, creemos que en estos momentos tenemos las condiciones”, explicó Ron Goches, uno de los dirigentes de la Coalición de Inmigrantes del Sur de California (SCIC). “Aunque el gobernador [Jerry Brown] ha dicho que no firmará, tenemos que movilizarnos para convencerlo”.

Dirigentes que integran la SCIC se reunieron ayer para diseñar una campaña estatal convincente, dicen, no sólo enfocada a los políticos sino también a todos los habitantes de California.

Este plan podría dar inicio en dos meses.

Otra de las buenas condiciones que menciona el activista es el reciente apoyo de varios jefes policiacos de las ciudades más importantes, como Los Ángeles, para que se otorgue licencias de conducir a los indocumentados.

El senador Gil Cedillo, creador de la propuesta de ley -desde 2001- para que se otorgue licencias a los indocumentados, asistió a esta reunión para dar un pronóstico de las posibilidad políticas de volver a impulsar esta iniciativa.

“Hoy tenemos un nuevo liderazgo político, nuevos líderes en la comunidad”, expresó Cedillo. “El gobernador [Brown] ha firmado las actas del Dream Act para los estudiantes indocumentados, y la AB 353 sobre el decomiso de autos a indocumentados en los retenes, creo que existe la oportunidad de que firme la ley de las licencias”.

Cedillo habló a los asistentes sobre las condiciones económicas del estado, por lo que el ingreso de miles de dólares con el trámite de las licencias, sería un beneficio nada despreciable.

Pero destacó que independientemente de los beneficios que esto pueda resultar para las arcas estatales, es la realización de un movimiento comunitario.

“Sé que es difícil para ustedes hacer movilizaciones a Sacramento, pero lo tienen qué hacer”, expresó el senador.

Durante más de una década el tema de las licencias para indocumentados ha tenido sus altas y bajas. Y muchas veces, de estar a un paso de su aprobación, la propuesta de ley no ve la luz.

Andres Contreras y su esposa hablan con La Opinión acerca del día en el que les decomisaron su auto por no tener licencia de conducir.
Foto: Aurelia Ventura / La Opinión

CONTEXTO

Sin embargo, Cedillo dijo que ahora el panorama político y social es otro.

“Estamos cerca de una nueva oportunidad real, que no existía con [el gobernador Arnold] Schwarzenegger”, explicó. “Fue una persona que no tuvo palabra, que no fue sincero, fue mentiroso, es la verdad”.

Francisco Romero, dirigente del Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo, basado en Oxnard, explicó que otra de las estrategias a considerar es la información.

“Necesitamos bombardear con información, porque es muy importante que la gente sepa de los beneficios de que todos los conductores tengan una licencia”, expresó.

Goches añadió que la comunidad californiana debe comprender la importancia de la ley, por seguridad de todos.

“De aprobarse la ley, los solicitantes tendrán que hacer un examen, deberán tener seguro de auto y eso nos dará mayor seguridad”, expuso el activista. “Aquí la lucha es con un grupo [de políticos] que por razones raciales se niegan a esta posibilidad”.

Durante una jornada de más de cinco horas, los dirigentes también hablaron de los resultado que ha tenido la campaña en contra de los decomisos de autos.

“Ha sido de mucho beneficio y con el uso de las redes sociales se han facilitado las alertas de los puntos de revisión de la policía”, explicó Romero.

Estos son los sitios que usted puede consultar para las alertas sobre los puntos de revisión de la policía:

Tel. (805) 3-AVISO-3

poder805@riseup.net

facebook.com/todopoder805

todopoderalpueblo.org

01/15/2012 by Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo - 0 comments

The Modern Immigrant Rights Movement

Originally published by the Americas Program of the Center for International Policy

Posted on: 14/01/2012 by David Bacon

By David Bacon

Editor’s Note: This is the third and final installment of a three-part series on migrant rights by journalist and immigration activist David Bacon. This article is taken from the report “Displaced, Unequal and Criminalized – Fighting for the Rights of Migrants in the United States” that examines the origins of the current migratory labor phenomenon, the mechanisms that maintain it, and proposals for a more equitable system. The Americas Program is proud to publish this series in collaboration with the author.

Development of the Immigrant Rights Movement to 1986

Before the cold war, the defense of the rights of immigrants in the U.S., especially those from Mexico, Central America and Asia was mounted mostly by immigrant working class communities, and the alliances they built with the left wing of the U.S. labor movement. At the time when the left came under attack and was partly destroyed in the cold war, immigrant rights leaders were also targeted for deportation. Meanwhile, U.S. immigration policy became more overtly a labor supply scheme than at any other time in its history.

In the 1950s, at the height of the cold war, the combination of enforcement and contract labor reached a peak. In 1954 1,075,168 Mexicans were deported from the U.S. And from 1956 to 1959, between 432,491 and 445,197 Mexicans were brought into the U.S. each year on temporary work visas, in what was known as the “bracero” program. The program, begun during World War Two, in 1942, was finally abolished in 1964.

The civil rights movement ended the bracero program, and created an alternative to the deportation regime. Chicano activists of the 1960s – Ernesto Galarza, Cesar Chávez, Bert Corona, Dolores Huerta and others – convinced Congress in 1964 to repeal Public Law 78, the law authorizing the bracero program. Farm workers went on strike the year after in Delano, California, and the United Farm Workers was born. They also helped to convince Congress in 1965 to pass immigration legislation that established new pathways for legal immigration – the family preference system. People could reunite their families in the U.S. Migrants received permanent residency visas, allowing them to live normal lives, and enjoy basic human and labor rights. Essentially, a family- and community-oriented system replaced the old labor supply/deportation program.

Then, under pressure from employers in the late 1970s, Congress began to debate the bills that eventually resulted in the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. That debate set in place the basic dividing line in the modern immigrant rights movement. IRCA contained three elements. It reinstituted a bracero-like guest worker program, by setting up the H2-A visa category. It penalized employers who hired undocumented workers (“employer sanctions”), and required them to check the immigration status of every worker. And it set up an amnesty process for undocumented workers in the country before 1982.

Continue reading →

10/18/2011 by Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo - 0 comments

COLECTIVO TODO PODER AL PUEBLO -Public Announcement at the Oxnard City Council of the passage of AB 353

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Public Announcement at the Oxnard City Council of the passage of AB 353

WHO: Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective
WHAT: Public announcement of the passage of AB 353, legislation that limits impound and towing policy at the statewide level for unlicensed drivers in California.
WHEN: Tuesday, October 18th, 7pm
WHERE: Oxnard City Council Chambers, 305 West Third Street
CONTACT: poder805@riseup.net, (805) 328-4763 [805-3-AVISO-3]

On Sunday, October 9th, after mounting community pressure, mobilizations and state-wide organizing against the abuse of the towing and impound policy for unlicensed drivers at police checkpoints, the governor signed into law AB 353. This legislation requires law enforcement, if an unlicensed driver is stopped at a checkpoint, to make a reasonable attempt to release the vehicle to the registered owner of the vehicle if he or she is licensed or a licensed driver authorized by the registered owner. If the registered owner could not be contacted on site, the bill also allows if the vehicle for the registered owner, or a licensed driver authorized by the registered owner, to pick up the vehicle immediately, without having to wait 30 days.

This legislation will go into effect in January 2012, so the Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective will announce that we will continue to have direct action protests at the police checkpoints in Oxnard until that date. We plan to monitor the police checkpoints to ensure that the new legislation is being implemented correctly in the next phase of our campaign. We will also begin our local work to have this policy also include stops at general traffic stops, as well as our statewide push for access to drivers’ licenses for all residents. Our community ‘Know Your Rights’ campaign will also continue alongside our work to expose the (In)Secure Communities Program and police-immigration collaboration as part of a campaign that creates a state of fear within our community.

JOIN US! LA LUCHA SIGUE!

07/16/2011 by Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo - 0 comments

Nuestra Comunidad Puede Combatir y Resistir el Abuso Policíaco en los Retenes

Nuestra Comunidad Puede Combatir y Resistir el Abuso Policíaco en los Retenes

Desde el 2009, hemos visto un aumento en el número de retenes, que en vez de tratar de arrestar a conductores de vehículos manejando bajo la influencia, tratan de confiscar vehículos perteneciendo a conductores sin licencia. Reportes indican que se ha incrementado la incautación de vehículos un 52% en los últimos años resultando en un aumento de siete a diez veces más, en el índice de acorralamiento a comparación a los que son arrestados por conducir bajo la influencia.

El Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo no aprueba que se maneje imprudentemente, ni mucho menos el conducir bajo la influencia, pero es obvio que los retenes una y otra vez, generan ganancias que se realizan con la confiscación de autos de los trabajadores-pobres y comunidades migrantes en el Condado de Ventura y alrededor de todo el estado de California.

Las pólizas existentes perjudican a nuestra comunidad mientras enriquecen a otros: datos a nivel estatal indican que casi $40 millones en ganancias se han generado en lo que se cobra por la grúa y en el acorralamiento. En Oxnard, también se cobra un cargo adicional de $241 para que los policías den permiso de soltar el vehículo.

Debido a que muchos residentes son forzados a pagar más de $1,500 en cargos (rescate) por el decomiso de vehículos por 30 días, se ven obligados a dejar y perder su vehículo; los cuales son vendidos en subastas. Además, órdenes judiciales o arrestos relacionados a multas no pagadas frecuentemente resultan en detención y encarcelamiento. Para los trabajadores indocumentados, este proceso puede resultar en deportación bajo las colaboraciones “Poli-Migra”, entre el Departamento de Jefe de Policía del Condado de Ventura y el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional-Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (DHS-ICE).

Lucharemos por:

Alto al abuso policíaco y robo legalizado de vehículos
Alto al decomiso forzado por 30 días
Alto a toda la colaboración entre Migra y Policía
Alto a la militarización de nuestra comunidad
Derecho a Licencias de Conducir para todos los residentes y migrantes

Nuestra comunidad puede tomar liderazgo en resistir el abuso que se está llevando acabo en los retenes. Las familias trabajadoras no tienen ninguna razón porqué dejarse ser hostigadas en sus propias comunidades para el beneficio de otros; tenemos que exigir que se hagan cambios para terminar este proceso injusto.

Involucrarte! Comuníquese con nosotros.

– Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo

Utiliza tus derechos para organizarte y defender tu comunidad!

07/16/2011 by Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo - 2 Comments

STATEMENT OF POSITION: Our Community Can Challenge and Resist Police Checkpoint Abuse

STATEMENT OF POSITION: Our Community Can Challenge and Resist Police Checkpoint Abuse

Since 2009 there has been a sharp increase in DUI checkpoints that are less about stopping drunk driving and are more about the impound and legalized theft of vehicles belonging to unlicensed drivers. Vehicle seizures have increased by 52% in the past few years, leading to a seven to ten times higher rate of impoundments versus arrests for driving under the influence.

The Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective does not condone reckless driving or DUI, but it is obvious that the checkpoints are not effective tools against drunk drivers; instead they are meant to generate profits from the theft of vehicles belonging to working-poor and migrante communities in Ventura County and throughout the state of California.

Existing policies damage our community while making others rich: statewide data shows that nearly $40 million in profits have been generated by towing and impound fees alone. In Oxnard, there is an extra $241 charge for the police to release the vehicles taken from us. Forced to pay over $1,500 in fees (ransom) due to the 30-Day Impound hold, many residents are forced to leave their cars in the impound yard, where they are later sold.

Warrants and arrests related to unpaid tickets often lead to incarceration and detention. For undocumented workers, this process can lead to deportation under existing “Poli-Migra” partnerships between the Ventura Sherriff’s Department and the Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS-ICE).

We must fight for:

An end to police abuse and legalized auto theft

An end to the 30-Day Impound

An end to all partnerships between Migra and Police

An end to the militarization of our community

The right to Drivers’ Licenses for all residents & migrantes

Our community can take the lead in resisting the abuse taking place at checkpoints.Hard-working families have absolutely no reason to put up with being bullied or harassed in their own neighborhoods for other people’s gain; we have to demand that changes be made to stop this shameful process from continuing.

To get involved, please contact us.

– The Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective

Use your rights to organize and defend your community!

04/26/2011 by Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo - 0 comments

Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo Anuncia el Dia de los Trabajadores para e…

Francisco ‘Chavo’ Romero del Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo explica sobre la necesidad de participar en las acciones del Primero de Mayo, Día Internacional de los Trabajadores y Trabajadoras para demonstrar nuestra resistencia contra los ataques anti-obrero y anti-migrante que se están realizando contra los trabajadores, estudiantes, y familias en Oxnard y en los territorios al norte y sur de la frontera y en todo el mundo.
————-
Francisco “Chavo” Romero of the Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective explains the need to come out on May 1st, International Workers Day, to voice our resistance against the anti-worker and anti-migrante attacks which workers, students, and families have been experiencing in Oxnard, throughout the territories both North and South of the border, and around the world.
Filmed by Omar Ramirez at the UFW Oxnard March for Worker’s Rights, April 10 2011.
————-

CAMINATA DE LOS TRABAJODER@S!
Obreros, Campesinos, y Estudiantes! Unidos Venceremos! Alta a los ataques a trabajador@s!

PRIMERO DE MAYO -DOMINGO-
10AM
PARQUE CAMINO DEL SOL –(ESQUINA DE ROSE AVE. Y CAMINO DEL SOL) OXNARD

Nuestras Demandas:
• Documentos y derechos de residencia permanente para todos: el derecho de trabajar, educación de alta superioridad, licencias de conducir y beneficios públicos.
• El alto inmediato a las redadas y deportaciones.
• No a nuevos programas de huéspedes/ “bracero” (servidumbre obligatoria moderna).
• Derecho incondicional del obrero para organizarse.
• No a la militarización de la frontera y nuestra comunidades.

Organizada por el Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo y otras organizaciones

Unete Pueblo!
Para mas información:
(805) 253-3242 Correo Electronico: poder805@riseup.net

—-

INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’ DAY ACTION:
Workers, students, and families: All out to unite our struggles! End the attacks on workers!
SUNDAY MAY 1, 2011
10AM
CAMINO DEL SOL PARK (Corner of Rose Ave. and Camino del Sol) Oxnard

Our Demands:
• Documents and permanent residency rights for all: the right to work, higher education, drivers’ licenses and public benefits.
• An immediate end to raids and deportations.
• No to new “Bracero”/Guest Worker programs (modern indentured servitude).
• Workers must have the unconditional legal right to organize.
• No to the militarization of the border and our communities.

Organized by the Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective
Join us!
For more information:
(805) 253-3242 Email: poder805@riseup.net

http://todopoderalpueblo.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/todopoder805
http://www.facebook.com/todopoder
http://www.youtube.com/user/VCArise

03/30/2011 by Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo - 0 comments

TODOS SOMOS TUCSON! Community unites to support the Arizona Save Ethnic Studies campaign.

Tribute: Mariachi Inlakech accompanied by Sol Porras, dedicate “Amor Eterno” to Avie Guerra, a five-decade long cultural warrior. *pic by ~el chavo

TODOS SOMOS TUCSON!
Community unites to support the Arizona Save Ethnic Studies campaign.
-Francisco ‘Chavo’ Romero, Raza Press and Media Association, Special Report

Oxnard, Ca

Over 100 working class community and supportive members gathered at the Café on “A”/Acuña Gallery and Cultural Center on Monday evening, March 28, 2011. They converged to come to support the Save Ethnic Studies Tour event featuring Sean Arce, one of the principal plaintiffs that are in a counter-lawsuit against Arizona’s HB-2211. The event was part of a multi-city tour coordinated by the California Faculty Association (CFA) and the Save Ethnic Studies campaign to defend the K-12 ethnic studies program in Tucson, Az., co-sponsored by Union del Barrio and endorsed by the Colecitvo Todo Poder al Pueblo.

In 2010, there was an onslaught of anti-migrante legislation that hit the communities of Arizona. It was SB-1070 alone that sparked a wave of community resistance not seen since the attempt to push through HR-4437 in 2006 at a national level in which millions of workers, migrantes, and general community took to the streets in an unprecedented level not seen since the 1960’s.

Immediately after Arizona SB-1070, spearheaded by the Governor Jan Brewer, and backed by the ilk of politicians such as Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Russell Pearce, and Tom Horne came the attacks on public education programs. In fact, it was Tom Horne that nearly single handily pushed for the passing of what will be known forever in the history books as House Bill 2281. This bill aims to derail and debunk the achievements of the Ethnic Studies programs, including those that study the Native American, African, Asian, and Chicano/Mexican experience. Despite the clear and convincing fact that educational programs that focus, honor, and embrace the culture, and socio-political history of oppressed and marginalized communities overturn, challenge, and reverse the tide of high school drop/push out rates and general educational achievement, the openly racist politicos moved forward to dismantle four decades of sweat, blood and tears.

It is within these brutal and blatantly oppressive conditions, that a handful of maestros and students, with their humble means have openly challenged the farce, lies and rhetoric that Brewer, Arpaio and Pearce spew.

Every penny counts! There are few people that are willing to give it all up for the cause, but, the teachers and students from the Tucson, Arizona area have literally and physically challenged this notion! It is within this reality that ‘la lucha’ is playing itself out and will be written in the history books. To that end, representatives of this landmark and historical struggle have been traveling to voice and share their story about sacrifice, struggle and perseverance.

At every stop the Save Ethnic Studies Tour is collecting a dollar or two. Sometimes, a gracious person cuts out a check for $100 or so, but that is far and few between. When this type of legislation hits California, perhaps, when their job is on the on line they will feel the need to donate a couple of thousand dollars. Time will tell. For those are a bit more conscious, a few hundred dollars of donation is a drop in the bucket. This is why we have pushed and pressured those academics, professionals, etc, which have benefitted from the Chicano Movement, the “civil rights” movement, to donate!

Within this contextual reality, we held the forum. It was a humble way of honoring our compañera, Avie Guerra, a local Chicana warrior, a mujer, that that fought for human rights, for students and youth, and for Chicano Studies.

It was a way of honoring and calling for the local support of the Café on “A”/Gallery and Cultural Center, a bastion for our comunidad.

So, we moved forward with the Programa del Pueblo. We, the working people of Oxnard and Ventura County raised nearly $3,000 for this campaign. It was Danza Huitzlin Ihuan Xochitl, Inlakech Mariachi, Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo, Unión del Barrio, K.E.Y.S. Youth, Tacos Mi Pueblo, Café on “A”, Witness for Peace, Public Works Collective, Sicks Three, La Catrina Mexican Folk Art, Luz Ma, Mayo de la Rocha, Tomas Carrasco, Tara Yosso, Chuy Rocha, Gabriel Serrano, Xavier Montes, Daniel Zapata, Verónica Under the Sun, the Moreno and Romero Family, Culture One, Barrio Productions, El Güero, and many more.

Please donate online to: saveethnicstudies.org

http://razapressassociation.org/

03/28/2011 by Colectivo Todo Poder al Pueblo - 2 Comments

Mission Statement/basic platform

Drafted in February-March 2011, the Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective are proud to present our Mission Statement/basic platform:

OUR MISSION

The Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective is an independent, grassroots formation organizing for the self-defense and empowerment of our community as a response towards the escalation of repressive measures aimed at migrantes, families and workers.

PERSPECTIVE

Migrant communities of color have been increasingly targeted and criminalized since the establishment of US borders with legislation designed to maintain and exploit a permanent low-skilled labor pool. Laws have been introduced on a yearly basis, and are enforced locally and nationally, resulting in the separation of thousands of families through raids, deportations, and the wide scale violation of legal rights to due process.

The Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS-ICE) are actively recruiting local police and politicians to act as their enforcers on the ground level through programs such as 287(g) and “Secure Communities”(S-COMM); additionally, the militarization of the border is leading to countless deaths. In short, our community is now faced with increased economic pressure and a denial of basic rights and protections.

A realistic analysis of who benefits from our oppression will clearly show that the head and heart of our movement must be the community and it is our present unorganized state which allows the migra, police, and politicians to bully us. History and experience have shown that unity and organization are capable of transforming a situation of passive acceptance into one where people are able to defend themselves from a position of strength and can take the initiative in the fight for a dignified future. An optimistic, assertive, and self-determined people are capable of overcoming the fear, hostility, and general corruption of those who take aim at us.

OUR DEMANDS

The Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective calls for an immediate end to ICE raids, deportations, police/migra collaboration, the theft of our cars at sobriety/driver’s license checkpoints and other tactics that threaten the livelihood and security of our families, neighbors, co-workers, and communities.

Documents and permanent residency rights for all: the right to work, higher education, drivers’ licenses and public benefits.
An immediate end to raids and deportations.
No to new “Bracero”/Guest Worker programs (modern indentured servitude).
Workers must have the unconditional legal right to organize.
No to the militarization of the border and our communities.

GOALS

We must always practice accountability to the communities we serve. The Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective is a community-based and action-oriented group organizing demonstrations, fundraisers, workshops and trainings. Whenever possible we will network, collaborate, and dialogue with allied organizations on the basis of principled unity. While we welcome strategic engagement with lawmakers and public officials, our demands for justice can only be won if they are backed by an organized social force working tirelessly and deliberately to secure meaningful change. Engagement and communication with those forces that oppress and attack our community are inevitable – but our dignity is non-negotiable.

A goal which we will consistently work towards is the general participation of our communities in the broad undertaking of common defense, preparation, and mutual aid. As such, our goal is the development of organized, independently-led networks and “Barrio Defense Committees” which are capable of looking out for one another on a neighborhood level.

OBJECTIVES

Monitor trends in policy, enforcement, and resistance on the global and local levels – a key to overcoming the limitations and challenges of local organizing.
Further build and develop a culture of resistance by promoting the imagination of the community through music, art, theater, etc.
Develop media tools (audio, video, and print).
Distribute community educational materials.
Build awareness by organizing training exercises, educational forums, and basic “Know Your Rights” workshops.
Maintain a rapid-response and alert system in case of checkpoints and raids.
Document and expose violations of people’s rights by police/migra.

JOIN US!

The Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective is a democratic and inclusive space devoted to working class, undocumented, and oppressed communities. Realizing the common source of the various forms of oppression on the basis of social class, ethnicity, color, nationality, gender, and sexuality, we invite all honest forces to actively participate in this resistance campaign for community power.