From the open publishing newswire: In support of workers' and immigrants' right, Portland Immigrants Rights Coalition has organized a demonstration at the South Park Blocks. There will be a puppet handling workshop at three, rally at four, and march at five.

From the open publishing newswire: Police Attack March

The march today in Tacoma has just ended. There have been two confirmed arrests. There are still people unaccounted for. The massive police presence attacked the march at its end. There will be another update when we have confirmed everything.

~ Tacoma Smash ICE

Tacoma Smash ICE Live Blog

From the open publishing newswire: Rally @ 12 PM---March @ 1 PM
This coming Saturday there will be a rally starting in People's Park at 12 PM in the Hilltop district of Tacoma. At 1 PM we will leave the park and head down the hill.

As it stands right now, no one even knows about the existence of the Northwest Detention Center. The families affected by the raids and those who support them are aware of its existence. But the general population does not know.

This blackout and secrecy has gone on for too long. Those of us with the privilege and ability to do something have done nothing. Those of us least affected by the raids have sat by for too long while the process of detention, removal and terror continues unabated.

From the open publishing newswire: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) - an organization of low-wage workers based in Immokalee, Florida - has launched a national petition campaign to demand that Burger King and other food industry leaders work with the CIW to improve the wages & working conditions of the workers who pick their tomatoes, and join with the CIW in an industry-wide effort to eliminate modern-day slavery & human rights abuses from Florida's fields.

Farmworkers are among the poorest workers in the United States, and have very few labor protections. Most workers earn sub-poverty wages and do not have the legal rights to overtime pay, to organize, or to bargain collectively. in the most extreme conditions, workers are forced to work under conditions of modern-day slavery, receiving little or no pay through violence & threats of violence.

The petition not only calls on Burger King & other food industry leaders to join McDonald's & Yum Brands (parent company of Taco Bell) in addressing human rights abuses in the fields where their tomatoes are picked, but will serve as notice that the petitioners are "prepared to stop patronizing Burger King now, and other food industry leaders in the future, should they fail to do so."

To read & sign the petition, visit fairfoodnation.org/petition

Coalition of Immokalee Workers www.ciw-online.org

From the open publishing newswire: Monday 4/21: public teach-in

Tuesday 4/22: High-School teach-in @ Mad Hatter Tea Co. (1130 Commerce St, Tacoma)

4pm show @ Pitchpipe Infoshop (621 MLK Jr. Way, Tacoma)
in the evening, details TBA

Wednesday 4/23: bake sale & crafts workshop @ Pitchpipe Infoshop
there may also be a speaker coming to UWT added to our itinerary for this day

Thursday 4/24: Media meeting @ Kings Books, 4pm (218 St Helens Ave, Tacoma) all are welcome to sit in.

Know Your Rights! Workshop & Vegan Potluck @ Pitchpipe Infoshop, 6:30pm

Saturday 4/26: rally 12pm @ People's Park (9th and MLK, Tacoma) & march downtown 1pm

From the open publishing newswire: Join local groups this Wednesday, March 19, at 5:30 PM, to protest the former head of Latin American Coca Cola and ex-president of Mexico Vicente Fox's lecture at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Fox is known for his hand in creating the exploitative Plan Puebla Panama, his support of FTAA and NAFTA, and his readiness to answer grassroots resistance with violent repression in Texacoco, Atenco, Chiapas, and Oaxaca. Fox will be speaking on "Border Crossings: Immigration, Free Trade, and Security". Let's show him the door, in solidarity with those he has oppressed.

From the open publishing newswire: We want to invite everyone to come to Liberty Hall to welcome the volunteers that have traveled in fifty cars to Portland with the Migrant March III. They are traveling from San Diego to Canada and back, with border actions on the US/Canadian border.

The event will bring together organizers and concerned community members from the Northwest and the US/Mexico border region to share experiences and strategies for engaging immigrant and allied communities in movement building.

For the third consecutive year a group called "Gente Unida", lead by Enrique Morones, a well known activist in San Diego who works on behalf of immigrants, has organized an immigrant march to travel throughout the Western United States. This Sunday, February 8th the marchers will arrive in Portland, Oregon, where they will be greeted at Liberty hall, where a community forum will be held -- bringing together activists from the South with activists of the North. On the 12th of February they will arrive at the Canadian border where they will hold a special action, known as a "US Border Action".

From the open publishing newswire: The Northwest Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, Detention Center is a private immigration prison facility located on the tide flats of Tacoma, Washington. The detention center opened in 2004 under a contract with The US Department of Homeland Security, Though owners have changed over time, the facility is now owned by the GEO Group Which operates prison facilities in Australia, The UK, South Africa, the US and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

ICE does not need warrants to make arrests or to conduct raids. Since July 2007, raids have increased the number of detained migrants from 18,000 to 26,000 nationwide. Homeland Security relocates 700 detainees a week in the United States.

A contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the largest and primary investigative branch of Homeland Security, expanded the Northwest Detention Center and and expanded its housing capacity, making it the largest detention center owned by GEO Group on the West Coast of the United States. The Migrants in the facility are mostly from the Northwest regions of Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Washington. Due to the increase in raids they've recently come from places like New York, Puerto Rico and Guam. ICE agents move the detainees to the facility under the cover of night.

Watch Video at:  http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bTrR1s7du6s

From the open publishing newswire: On Wednesday, January 16, Portland City Council voted to accept all four Immigrant and Refugee Task Force recommendations, including:

1. Create an office of immigrant and refugee affairs, with a multi-ethnic staff, that would serve as a bridge and facilitator between the immigrant and refugee community and City government.

2. Establish a multicultural community center that can house a variety of immigrant and refugee organizations, has space for large meetings and community gatherings,and offers opportunities for people of different ethnicities to mingle.

3. Provide additional resources for immigrant and refugee organizations to train or support their constituents in civic engagement.

4. Conduct a professional evaluation to assess the City's current Human Resources (HR) policies and practices and recommend changes that would result in the recruitment, hiring, and retention of multilingual and multicultural staff to serve Portland's fast-growing immigrant and refugee communities.

From the open publishing newswire: On Tuesday, January 22nd:
Stand by residents of Oregon who are in danger of losing their driving privileges due to executive order 7-22. Immigrant Rights organizations are calling on all of their allies to come to Salem on Tuesday to participate in a rally from noon until 1pm, and to testify at a legislative hearing which will take place from 1pm until 4pm.

Last Friday, a historic protest rally was held, with over 3000 Oregon
residents in front of the state capital. Hundreds gathered on the
steps of the Capitol, while three rooms were filled to capacity with
people watching the hearing on closed circuit TV.

The new license restrictions come from an executive order signed by
Governor Kulongoski in November, allowing the Oregon Department of
Motor Vehicles to limit documents accepted from immigrants. Currently
under Oregon law, all residents of Oregon, regardless of legal status,
can obtain a driver's license.

Contact CAUSA for more information: 503-984-6816
Need a ride? PCASC and Oregon Oaxaca Solidarity are working on
putting a carpool together.

From the open publishing newswire: Immigrant & Refugee Task Force Community Forum
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
7:00 PM to 9:00
PSU Multicultural Center
Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 228
1825 SW Broadway, Portland

On January 9th, the Center for Intercultural Organizing is inviting members of Mayor Tom Potter's Immigrant & Refugee Task force to present their recommendations to the community. The task force built upon the work of hundreds of individuals and dozens of community organizations who, in various ways, participated in a two year-long effort to make the City of Portland aware of immigrant and refugee community issues, needs, strengths and contributions.

Yet again, City Council needs to hear your voices. Please come to the Immigrant and Refugee Task Force Community Forum and find out how you can ensure that the recommendations are implemented. Together, we can create an environment in which immigrants and refugees are recognized and supported as valued residents of our city.

Immigrant & Refugee Task Force Presentation to City Council
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - 6:00 PM
Jefferson High School
5210 N Kerby, Portland

Read the Immigrant and Refugee Task Force recommendations and come to the presentation to City Council on January 16, 2008! Click here to read the Task Force report

From the open publishing newswire: THIS FRIDAY Governor Kulongoski is planning to issue an executive order that would bar Oregon's undocumented immigrants from accessing a driver's license. ALL Oregon residents, regardless of immigration status, should have access driver's licenses for the sake of public safety.

TAKE ACTION NOW and tell Governor Kulongoski that all Oregon residents, regardless of immigration status, should have access driver's licenses for the sake of public safety.

Call Governor Kulongoski at 503-378-4582,, fax him at and/or send him a message online at:

From the open publishing newswire: On Friday, the 9th of November, a group of 100 converged on the park at the corner of 17th and Pacific in Tacoma. While waiting there, surrounded by the mainstream media and the police, black clad anarchist "terrorists" passed out literature to an extremely receptive public. Contrary to what the Tacoma News Tribune reported, massive numbers of people were eager to take the pamphlets explaining what was going on around them giving information about the ICE concentration camp in the Tideflats. Footage which will soon be released will show this.

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Report Back From Smash Tacoma ICE Protest

We met in the "green zone". There were tons of media and tons of people taking video and pictures. There were also TONS of cops, shamelessly following people around, taking pictures and video. We started marching around noon, heading down Pacific Avenue toward the giant edifice that is the Wells Fargo building. Wells Fargo is one of the largest shareholders in GEO GROUP, the corporation that runs the Homeland Security Detention Center in the tide flats of Tacoma. Cops followed on bikes and in vehicles, effectively shutting down the traffic for us. Cops stood in a line in front of the building, doing their jobs (protect and serve Wells Fargo). After a while we were told that we must leave or be arrested for trespassing...so we continued our march through Tacoma, passing out information about ICE and the Detention Center and the protest in general. Many people joined us as we marched down Pac. Ave. Many students on their lunch breaks helped to hold banners and information. After going up several blocks to Commerce. We marched from corner to corner at the 11th and Commerce intersection, careful to use crosswalks and sidewalks at all times. It was at this point, we REALLY pissed the cops off. They wanted us to stop crossing the street in a perfectly legal fashion and started to push us back with their bikes reared up.

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Community Meeting Saturday Nov 17th in Portland to discuss 2008 Anti-Immigrant Ballot Measures

On Saturday, November 17th The Center for Intercultural Organizing will host an informational session and facilitated discussion on the impact of the upcoming ballot measures; In the 2008 election cycle, two initiatives (IP#19 and IP#112) will specifically target immigrant and refugee communities by cutting ESL funding, limiting access to civic participation, and requiring local government officials to corporate with federal ICE agents. If passed, these measures will heighten the atmosphere of fear and division for many Portland communities. Erecting barriers to education, mobility, leadership and voting, these measures will effectively silence the voice of individuals from already underrepresented populations and make Oregon a less equitable society.

Community Information and Strategy Session: Saturday, November 17th from 12:00 to 4:00 PM, PCC Cascade Campus - 705 N. Killingsworth St., Room MAHB 104 - Moriarty Arts and Humanities Building - Auditorium

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"La Redada" / "The Raid" Documentary Film Screening @ PSU Thursday 11/15