I became concerned about the news that came out in this article, called Illegal immigrants arrested at furniture store protest, especially the title and these excerpts:

The eight people arrested Saturday on suspicion of violating immigration laws were the first illegal immigrants taken into custody during the actual protests.

"I thought it was time to do something more about it," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. "The Pruitt's situation is getting out of hand. They are demonstrating every week and destroying this business. I don't think that's fair."

But it turns out that these 8 were not at the protest, just near it. This, I learned because none of the people i knew who were there knew anything about these arrests, and then when i asked one of the organizers of the protests, he said that the arrests happened away from the protests. Day laborers waiting for work in the area were arrested during the protest.

So why did the article imply they were arrested at the protest? Was the title the original one given to the article by the ap author? I tried to find out, but was unable. The Arizona Daily Star carried the article under this headline: 8 entrants arrested amid protest at store. I wonder why the audience is led to believe that protesters were arrested. Was it confusion by the author? Or was it intended to instill fear in protesters? Was it intended to appease those who think "nothing's being done about the problem"?

A short article on a home furnishings website implied the same thing as the AP article (and likely came from it). You can read it here.

I have often referenced the crimes government/law enforcement officials commit that somehow are not as important as the crime of stepping across a man-made boundary, and i have also mentioned the former who have been caught being involved in drug-running across the border. Yet again has a story come out about this, yet immigrants still bear the brunt of being stereotyped as drug-runners. Sure, there are some, but they also get punished much worse, and they're not backed by authority, arms, and money to the extent that national guardsmen, for example, are.

In addition, drug smuggling is one of the reasons for more border security, including a fence that divides indigenous land/communities and destroys the environment. Obviously immigrants are not the only ones to blame.

Brenda Norrell, who i have discovered is a great journalist covering many border-related stories, covered the most recent story of cocaine runners in her article, Arizona's 'Cokeheads' the National Guard.

There were so many Arizona National Guardsmen eager to run cocaine from the border of Arizona and Mexico to Tucson and Phoenix, that the FBI had to shut down its sting, Operation Lively Green....

The Guardsmen were not the only soldiers and law enforcement officials smuggling cocaine. During sentencing, nearly 100 others emerged, ranging from a Nogales police officer and a prison guard to US Air Force squadsmen at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson patrolling the border by air and smuggling cocaine.

Which brings us to the present, and the fact that Arizona National Guardsmen are helping build the border wall on the Tohono O'odham Nation. While an Indigenous Peoples' delegation was at the border on Tohono O'odham land, near San Miguel, on Nov. 8, 2007, the National Guardsmen were part of the crew building the wall.

Please also read my post called The Drug-Smuggler Stereotype.

edit: please see this more recent post that discusses a newer article that contradicts the information about the law applying only to new hires.

I haven't talked much about the employer sanctions law, mainly because i feel it's gotten enough attention and i like to focus on that which don't get covered as much by the media. However, i found it interesting that Russell Pearce, the main author of the law, came out to say that this law only applies to new hires as of january '08, not to anyone who has already been hired. Clearly there has been misunderstanding, since just recently, news has been reported about hundreds and possibly thousands of people getting fired in preparation for this law to be in effect. I'm tempted to think it may have been intentional that this misunderstanding was allowed to occur.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of undocumented workers have been fired as a result of Arizona businesses reviewing the work-eligibility forms of their employees as the state's new employer-sanctions law draws near.

The fired workers couldn't provide missing information uncovered during the reviews or confessed to being in the country illegally, say attorneys involved in the reviews.

The number of firings could grow significantly once the law goes into effect Jan. 1 as employers scramble to make sure they are in compliance. Under the law, repeat violators will lose their business licenses. (Source).

The Arizona Republic carried a story today saying that Pearce informed them that the law only applies to new hires.

edit: please see this more recent post that discusses a newer article that contradicts the information about the law applying only to new hires.

This is a letter to the editor i'm sending off to the New Times. Below are some pics taken by "s" and there's a link to the story on arizona.indymeda.org.

The Bird sure exposes the ridiculousness of Pruitt's owner's shenanigans, but check this out. This past Saturday, I was highly amused to see Minutemen, ex-minutemen, Rusty Childress, and crew out in front of Pruitt's Home Furnishings with their tools, holding a half-ass work party. This was to justify Pruitt's owner Sensing closing the sidewalk in front of his business where on Saturdays, day laborers and their supporters had been holding protests to boycott the business. Sensing apparently got a permit to close the sidewalk for landscaping for this past Saturday and future Saturdays.

How interesting it was that the big digital sign at the business says, "Direct Import Saves You $". Anyone see any irony in this? See, just like many businesses in the U.S., furniture makers have been moving their factories out of the country (such as a Dorel manufacturer in Dowagiac, Michigan closed in May, laying off around 200 people), or simply importing furniture from China and other countries where it can be made much cheaper (because it's easier to exploit labor there). So while minutemen and others are complaining that "immigrants are stealing our jobs" they're ignoring businesses that are not only stealing jobs away from people here, they are also doing it for profit, not for survival like those who migrate here for work (although I'm not convinced that migrants are at all to blame for job loss).

I don't have to prove that Sensing is taking advantage of cheap labor overseas since they're advertising it themselves. But for example, I found that Spring Air, one of the companies Pruitt's buys from, has a number of their mattresses made in China. Sixty-four percent of U.S. upholstery imports come from China and could even contribute to the weakening of the U.S. dollar. But the minutemen and folks spent hours in the hot sun sweeping the sidewalk and moving around tools and potted plants probably for free so Sensing could protect his business? What a joke.

And let us not forget that our tax money is also going to the police to protect this business as well.

Full story and captions here: http://arizona.indymedia.org/news/2007/11/70849.php

Demonstrators protest Pruitt's Home Furnishings across the street. November 17, 2007

Illegal sheriff joe arpaio remains controversial. The other night he said it's an honor to be called KKK on CNN. Plus there's a recall effort against him (again), and also controversial is the arrest of the director of the ACLU for allegedly trespassing on the property of Pruitt's Furniture store.

Arpaio's quote on Lou Dobb's "Broken Borders" show was “Well, you know, they call you KKK. They did me. I think it’s an honor, right? It means we’re doing something." He didn't express that opinion back when it was discovered that an image of arpaio as a KKK member holding a noose to a migrant's neck was circulating through email. On this video, you can see that Arpaio says he's not proud to be associated with the KKK when he wants to use it against his political enemies. It is also interesting to look back at this video knowing now that they were investigating Bermudez for an alleged crazy murder plot against sheriff joe (see this article, page 4, 2/3 thru).

The following press release was sent out to mainstream media contacts to raise awareness about the violent response of the U.S. Border Patrol to a peaceful demonstration held yesterday at the Calexico Port of Entry.

For Immediate Release: 11/11/07
Personal accounts and photos can be found at: http://www.sandiego.indymedia.org
[En español abajo/ Text in Spanish below]

'No Borders Camp' Week-of-Action Ends in Border Patrol Attacking Protest

Calexico, CA--At the end of a week-long bi-national camp at the Calexico/Mexicali border, Border Patrol officers attacked a rally at the Mexicali/Calexico port of entry. Around 100 Border Patrol officers assaulted a group of about 30 demonstrators on the U.S. side with pepper gas pellets, tazers, and batons. Several people were beaten and arrested; more suffered from the use of chemical weapons.

Another, horrendous example of people taking advantage of undocumented immigrants lack of means to deal with injustices is the news that just came out about a man who impersonated an ICE agent (hey, who's to say he wasn't an ICE agent- they can be a-holes too) to attempt to sexually assault them. Two women have come forward, but there may be others.

I was at an event put on my Somos America a while back that was in a big auditorium. It was all in spanish, so i couldn't understand every single word, but i remember one person describing how someone had pretended to be an immigration agent and got an undocumented immigrant to pay him tons of money because he claimed he could make that person legal. I got the impression that more than one person had had that happen to them.

And of course there are the smugglers who sexually assault women and hold immigrants against their will, demanding more money. And there are plenty of police and agents who have assaulted and otherwise taken advantage of undocumented immigrants (somehow it's worse when it's someone impersonating an officer, though). Somehow these crimes- or more specifically the reasons behind these crimes- are not as important as the crime of crossing an imaginary line. And of course the reason behind these crimes is that thousands of people have been criminalized for some stupid political/economic reasons- they're made "illegals" and therefore even though they are human do not even deserve human rights according to many in this country.

Read my older blog post, Sexual Assault in Mexico, on the Border, and in the U.S.

This past saturday was a demonstration against the recent arrests and intimidation by police from the sheriff's office. There's a story and pics here: Boycott Launched Against Pruitt's Furniture Store in Phoenix.

More arrests were made recently, although it's unclear if these were targeting local day laborers specifically, because currently the police are stopping people in cars (of course i assume they want to, but they have to be careful about how they go about it- especially in phoenix). Here's a story from KTAR:
MCSO Arrests 16 Illegal Immigrants.

A quote from an earlier article: ``But, if there (sic) in a vehicle and some law was violated, we have the authority to talk to them," [Arpaio] said. ``We ask them. The Phoenix police cannot even ask where you're from or even turn them over to ICE. We do that."

I also found this information in another article (Fountain Hills roundup of day laborers nets 4):

More than 100 suspected undocumented workers were arrested between Sept. 13 and early October in Phoenix, Wickenburg, Tolleson, Queen Creek and Cave Creek.

In addition to day laborers, the arrests have included corn vendors, who were operating without business licenses and selling contaminated food, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Arpaio will be in charge of enforcing the employer-sanctions law in Maricopa County when it takes effect Jan. 1. The law requires employers to electronically verify the eligibility of new hires or risk being put out of business if they knowingly hire illegal workers.

And you know i won't let you forget that "Arpaio did not rule out the possibility that deputies could use their expanded authority to question people about their immigration status during traffic stops and infractions as minor as 'spitting on the sidewalk.'" (Source).

There are a couple big new stories in the valley this past week, both involving illegal sheriff joe arpaio.

First, the not so big story (to most people) is that illegal sheriff joe has begun having people arrested in one of the main areas that day laborers have stood for work, near the home depot at 36th st. and thomas in phoenix. Read the story here.

Next, the New Times, a free weekly publication in the valley printed information about a subpoena they received requesting specific information about online readership of 4 specific articles about illegal sheriff joe (and more). The great thing about the article is that it highlights several of the messed up things about illegal sheriff joe over the years. If you are not familiar with a lot of the controversy surrounding him, check out the article. You'll also get some interesting information about the special prosecutor that was involved.
Breathtaking Abuse of the Constitution

Good news is the charges were dropped against new times and the county attorney andrew thomas also dismissed the lawyer.
Case Against New Times Dropped