Muy temprano se levantaron, tomaron su maleta, agua, comida para llevar, y a las 8:00 a.m. estaban en el lugar de la cita. ¿El destino? La ciudad de Phoenix, Arizona, en donde participarán en las actividades de protesta contra la ley SB 1070.

El grupo de cerca de 15 activistas de la Coalición ANSWER de Los Ángeles salió ayer por la mañana en una caravana de cinco autos a los que se sumaron otros en Riverside, Palm Springs y Blythe, para reunirse con los centenares de personas que viajaron desde California y otros estados del país.

Ayer al mediodía se dio a conocer la decisión de la jueza Susan Bolton de bloquear algunas secciones de la ley apenas un día antes de la fecha prevista para su aplicación. Aunque la decisión generó júbilo entre los opositores a la medida, todos mantuvieron sus planes de ir a Arizona.

Flickr photo by Brian AuerAt the US/Mexican Border in Southern California.

Could an anti-illegal immigration initiative along the lines of the Arizona law, now partially blocked from going into effect, ever become law in California?

A Page in the diary of Immigrant America

By: Samantha Contreras

Twenty-six years ago, my mother saved my sister’s life.  My sister was born with a disability and the United States was her only hope for a normal life. My parents risked everything coming to the United States just for their 3 little girls. At the age of six, I moved into our new home, a converted garage, in the City of Angeles with few possessions but we had each other.  We were a family.

A CHIRLA contingency that included executive director Angelica Salas joined more than 500 others on Thursday in an 11-bus caravan headed to Phoenix, AZ.  Below some pictures.

SB1070-- Which Parts are Enjoined? Which Parts Will Become Law July 29, 2010?

OVERVIEW OF WHAT REMAINS IN EFFECT--WHY WE NEED TO COME OUT TO OPPOSE SB1070 TOMORROW

Judge Bolton only enjoined part of SB1070-- but many parts of it will go into effect on July 29th. Among them are a slew of statutes criminalizing people who transport undocumented people, statutes enhancing penalties for undocumented immigrants who work and people who hire them, statutes that prohibit cities from making policies that protect immigrants, a statute that says that any citizen can report undocumented people, and that state employees have to cooperate with immigration.

On Wednesday, federal judge Susan Bolton enjoined sections of Arizona's misguided anti-immigrant law, SB1070.  The following is CHIRLA's statement by Angelica Salas, executive director.

Los Angeles–On Wednesday, federal judge Susan Bolton enjoined sections of Arizona's misguided anti-immigrant law, SB1070.  The following is a statement by Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), a regional human and immigrant rights not-for-profit community-based organization based in Los Angeles.

A little over 100 children and their parents rallied on Wednesday in front of the Los Angeles Federal Building to call on President Obama and Congress to stop deportation of their loved ones.  The rally was also to call on the US to move forward immediately with an immigration reform bill. 

As children marched, news of the SB1070 injunction in Arizona were known.

"Don’t take our parents away!"

That was the message 18-year-old Maria Tellez gave to President Obama, urging him to stop immigrant deportations.

Tellez was joined by more than a dozen children and their parents at a press conference at the office of Hermandad Mexicana Transnacional, an immigrant rights group in Van Nuys. The event was held in response to a recent spike in deportations, according to the Coalition for Humane Immigrants Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).

La ley de Arizona entrará en vigor este jueves y nada parece detenerla, reconocieron activistas que luchan por los derechos de los inmigrantes en Estados Unidos. Pero advirtieron que en noviembre usarán el voto como un arma para que los políticos respeten sobre todo a la comunidad hispana y cumplan sus promesas.

"En estos momentos hay mucha incertidumbre sobre cuál será la decisión de la jueza Susan Bolton" (que en la corte federal del distrito de Arizona ventila siete demandas en contra de la polémica ley SB1070, promulgada el 23 de abril), dijo a Univision.com Clarissa Martínez de Castro, directora de política migratoria del Consejo Nacional de La Raza (NCLR), el mayor grupo hispano de Estados Unidos. "Es probable que ciertas partes de la ley avancen y por lo menos detenga otras (conflictivas) mientras se continúa su evaluación jurídica en las Cortes sobre su constitucionalidad".

Bolton ha celebrado a la fecha dos audiencias pero no ha emitido dictamen y no ha dicho cuándo lo hará. Un total de siete demandas fueron presentadas tras la firma de la ley, una de ellas presentada por el Departamento de Justicia tras una orden del presidente Barack de revisar si ésta violaba los derechos civiles y la Constitución.