Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff
Dozens of people from San Francisco embark on a caravan to Arizona to voice their solidarity with the Arizona’s immigrant community.
Called the National Day of Action on Saturday, the caravan would be convening with labor and community groups in Arizona, similar to the Freedom riders of the 1960s, who challenged Jim Crow in the segregated South, organizers hope to draw attention to SB1070 and the recent destruction of ethnic studies programs that codify racial bias and will result in increased racial profiling and systemic discrimination.
According to a written statement by Just Cause, here in San Francisco, the organizers have also planned a protest of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team, whose owner Ken Kendricks, according to The Nation columnist Dave Zirin, “not only supports this bill, [but] he us[es] his position as Diamondback team owner to do it.”
The organizers, through their statement, asked supporters from the Bay Area who cannot join the caravan to Arizona to instead protest the Diamondbacks at their Saturday, May 29 game against the Giants at AT&T ballpark.
The last few weeks have seen a number of alarming developments stemming from President Obama’s lack of proactive leadership on immigration reform: the number of states considering measures similar to Arizona’s extremist immigration law has now climbed to 17.
Advocates also see similarities between the harsh Arizona law and federal Police-ICE collaboration initiatives such as the so-called “Secure Communities” or S-Comm program, set to begin in San Francisco on Tuesday, June 1st. S-Comm would require fingerprints of immigrants arrested even for minor infractions to be sent to ICE and would threaten public safety by destroying trust between immigrants and local police. Insecure Communities, as immigrant rights’ advocates call it, was instituted by Gubernatorial Candidate and Attorney General, Jerry Brown, will likely deter immigrants from coming forward and reporting crimes, including domestic violence survivors.
18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status for Nicaragua
Automatic 6-Month Extension for Employment Authorization Documents Included.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of Honduras from the current expiration of Jul. 5, 2010, to the new expiration date of Jan. 5, 2012.
During the past year, DHS and the Department of State have reviewed the conditions in Honduras. Based on this review, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has determined that an 18-month extension is warranted because the conditions that prompted the TPS designation in 1999 following the environmental disaster caused by Hurricane Mitch persist and prevent Honduras from adequately handling the return of its nationals.
Under the extension, individuals who have been granted TPS are eligible to re-register and maintain their status for an additional 18 months provided they remain otherwise eligible for TPS. There are approximately 66,000 nationals of Honduras (and people having no nationality who last habitually resided in Honduras) who may be eligible for re-registration. TPS does not apply to Honduran nationals who entered the United States after Dec. 30, 1998.
SF teachers & SFUSD ratify contract
The members of the United Educators of San Francisco officially ratified the recent contract agreement with the San Francisco Unified School District.
The agreement provides $39 million in savings to SFUSD over the next two years, and saves hundreds of teacher and paraprofessional jobs. It was unanimously passed by the SF Board of Education at their meeting on May 25, 2010.
