From the open publishing newswire: The Oregon Minuteman were out in force on Monday, September 22, 2008, protesting the Portland Day Laborer Worker Center located on MLK Jr. Blvd and NE Everett. One of those protesting the Labor Center site said they had been there since 6:00 in the morning.





There were several people seeking employment on the site, both near the trailer and on the street, so I suspected that the dual protests might have taken its toll on their efforts to gain employment.
On inquiring about this possibility I was told that Monday's are usually slow and that the presence of the Minuteman may not be having much of an effect.

I was hoping to get some interviews with both sides, the Minutemen as well as those showing up to counter protest their presence at the site, but the Protesters refused to comment on camera.

Those who where there protesting the presence of the Minutemen were more forthcoming. One stated that he was there "to support the Day Laborers Center and the day laborers. I think that they are a real contribution to the Portland Community, and supporting day laborers is a way to support all American workers. It's not against American workers to have day laborer centers, it's for them; if we don't support the people at the very bottom of the work chain, then the top of the work chain isn't going to get any better either."

A few minutes earlier I heard one of the Minutemen stating that if these folks were truly looking for work they should be looking through more conventional, acceptable channels, denigrating the existence of these Day Laborer Centers. I asked one of the counter protesters his response to that point and he stated that "having a center is just a way of protecting both the employers and the employees. If they don't have a central place then people are going to take advantage of them much more. They have to have a place where they can come out of the rain, have a place to get work in a decent way. Standing on a street corner asking for work is not a dignified way to get work. We need to support the dignity of American workers, and the Day Laborer Center is doing that."

From the open publishing newswire: We're now witness to the largest wave of human migration the planet has ever seen. Driven by a new, truly international form of capitalism, human populations are alternately violently displaced, economically pressured, invited, coerced into relocation across the globe by civil wars, low intensity wars, high intensity wars, famines, droughts, hurricanes, floods, trade policies, austerity, other countless other economic and environmental catastrophies. This is globalized capitalism. We live in a time of threatened ecological collapse and the beginnings of capitalism's greatest tragedy-the possibility of a human created mass die-off of mamallian and other forms of life.

From the open publishing newswire: Jonah has been in Northwest Detention Center for about a week and a half now. During this time, he has been buying overpriced ramen noodles and trading meat for small cups full of green beans at meals. He has sent in requests for vegan food several times and they have all been denied. Today he's starting hunger strike. He's already feeling weak from lack of nutrition, so please help by calling GEO at 253 396 1611 and telling them to feed him good food!! You'll need his A# - 88737285 and his full name - Jose Alberto Larrama Portillo.

Also, he needs supporters from all over to write letters - On a computer or typewriter, not hand written - to the judge. In these letters you should include who you are, what your citizenship status is, your contact info, how long you have known Jonah and how much he rules.. Include things about how he feeds the hungry and teaches you new tricks and is ridiculously helpful and selfless with everyone. You need to write them to "Honorary Immigration Judge." Sounds silly, I know. "Dear Honorary Immigration Judge," And send them to him. Three copies.

And please keep sending letters of support.

Jose Alberto Larrama Portillo
A#88737285
1623 East J St, Suite 5
Tacoma, Wa 98421

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.