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Notify The People!
The following is a letter I wrote to friends and allies. Please come out and support us.
It sucks to notify you that the meeting we had with Mayor Manuel Bersamin on Thursday practically didn't mean anything to him. We had asked him to pull the "non-cooperation" resolution from this Tuesday's agenda and he ASSURED us he would do it to give us more time to work on it and add our input, as the community. Because he asked us to call Oscar and Antonio to ask them to pull it from the agenda (because it was all three of them who introduced it), I did. I briefly spoke with Oscar and he assured me that if it was okay with Manuel to pull it, it was okay with him as well. I left Antonio a message. I then spoke to Manuel and he claimed that "Oscar and Antonio did not want to pull it, and since it's the majority...". I told him I had just spoken to Oscar, to which then the conversation turned into a he-said, she-said bullshit.
Homeboy downright lied to us in our faces last night. He will NOT pull it from the agenda. He will continue with it for his self-aggrandizing reasons. I feel extremely disappointed because he has double-crossed us twice. Once in not asking for community input on the resolution he put together, even after knowing Migrawatch wanted to add some clauses, and twice by not pulling this resolution from the agenda. In both cases he has ignored the community.
This is such an important issue for our community right now that it is imperative not to back down on our proposal to add a notification clause to the resolution, or at the very least pulling it from the agenda and postponing it for a month. We have to PACK THE CITY CHAMBERS ON TUESDAY, MAY 8TH @ 6:00PM!!! We cannot be late, Tuesday's agenda is not big at all and this is the FIRST issue on it, which means it will probably go on right at 6:30PM. We have to be there 30 minutes before to make sure we're there on time. I will take some signs and we have to be ready for a hard-fought battle. SIMPLE, we ask for only one thing: A NOTIFICATION CLAUSE, A NOTIFICATION CLAUSE, A NOTIFICATION CLAUSE to be added to the proposed resolution! This would direct the Police Department to notify a local human rights watch group that ICE is in town. Nothing more, nothing less.
Everyone needs to be there. If you live somewhere other than Watsonville and been meaning to visit, TUESDAY is the day @ 6PM! Tell your families, friends, students, co-workers, EVERYONE NEEDS TO COME OUT IN FULL FORCE! I feel this is the best opportunity for this to get passed. No choice. Come speak for the addition of this clause. We have been working like crazy since the inception of Migrawatch -- I'm not about to just see this be shut down without a fight.
Thank you for reading this. The people need you RIGHT NOW. Pass the word, see you on Tuesday at 6PM.
Homeboy downright lied to us in our faces last night. He will NOT pull it from the agenda. He will continue with it for his self-aggrandizing reasons. I feel extremely disappointed because he has double-crossed us twice. Once in not asking for community input on the resolution he put together, even after knowing Migrawatch wanted to add some clauses, and twice by not pulling this resolution from the agenda. In both cases he has ignored the community.
This is such an important issue for our community right now that it is imperative not to back down on our proposal to add a notification clause to the resolution, or at the very least pulling it from the agenda and postponing it for a month. We have to PACK THE CITY CHAMBERS ON TUESDAY, MAY 8TH @ 6:00PM!!! We cannot be late, Tuesday's agenda is not big at all and this is the FIRST issue on it, which means it will probably go on right at 6:30PM. We have to be there 30 minutes before to make sure we're there on time. I will take some signs and we have to be ready for a hard-fought battle. SIMPLE, we ask for only one thing: A NOTIFICATION CLAUSE, A NOTIFICATION CLAUSE, A NOTIFICATION CLAUSE to be added to the proposed resolution! This would direct the Police Department to notify a local human rights watch group that ICE is in town. Nothing more, nothing less.
Everyone needs to be there. If you live somewhere other than Watsonville and been meaning to visit, TUESDAY is the day @ 6PM! Tell your families, friends, students, co-workers, EVERYONE NEEDS TO COME OUT IN FULL FORCE! I feel this is the best opportunity for this to get passed. No choice. Come speak for the addition of this clause. We have been working like crazy since the inception of Migrawatch -- I'm not about to just see this be shut down without a fight.
Thank you for reading this. The people need you RIGHT NOW. Pass the word, see you on Tuesday at 6PM.
For more information:
http://migrawatch.org
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Do we truly want to protect our families?
It’s not enough to march.
Now we have to make local laws that protect our families against the raids.
Come to the meeting of the Watsonville City Council
Tuesday, May 8th, at 6:00 PM,
and ask that they pass a Resolution which will advise a Human rights Group when the Migra (ICE) is present.
It’s the only way that we can assure ourselves that our rights will not be violated by the Migra!
What more to do?
Call these people every day and leave your message:
Mayor Manuel Bersamin: 768-3001
Oscar Rios: 768-3002
Antonio Rivas: 768-3003
Kimberly Petersen: 768-3004
What do we say?
The raids cause panic in our community
The Migra destroys families
Children at times are left here without their parents
The Migra has arrested US citizens in the discriminatory raids
Support a Resolution that would notify a Human Rights Group when the Migra is present in Watsonville.
Now what?
It’s very important to attend the meeting on May 8th and make your opinion known.
Even though there is a Resolution, we have to fight for the inclusion of the clause about NOTIFICATION!
For more information, call Migra Watch: 331-1119
It’s not enough to march.
Now we have to make local laws that protect our families against the raids.
Come to the meeting of the Watsonville City Council
Tuesday, May 8th, at 6:00 PM,
and ask that they pass a Resolution which will advise a Human rights Group when the Migra (ICE) is present.
It’s the only way that we can assure ourselves that our rights will not be violated by the Migra!
What more to do?
Call these people every day and leave your message:
Mayor Manuel Bersamin: 768-3001
Oscar Rios: 768-3002
Antonio Rivas: 768-3003
Kimberly Petersen: 768-3004
What do we say?
The raids cause panic in our community
The Migra destroys families
Children at times are left here without their parents
The Migra has arrested US citizens in the discriminatory raids
Support a Resolution that would notify a Human Rights Group when the Migra is present in Watsonville.
Now what?
It’s very important to attend the meeting on May 8th and make your opinion known.
Even though there is a Resolution, we have to fight for the inclusion of the clause about NOTIFICATION!
For more information, call Migra Watch: 331-1119
The MigraWatch Network has been working to pass a resolution at the City Council of Watsonville to assure local agencies do not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to conduct raids within the city of Watsonville.
On Tuesday, May 8, the non-cooperation resolution which is up for vote is re-worked from a similar resolution passed in 1996. It takes a yes vote from four of the seven Watsonville City Council members to pass the resolution. "It is as stong as we could make it to have it pass the council vote." claims Mayor Bersamin.
While the resolution does include a clause stating the ICE raids are in contradiction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United States ratified in 1948, what is glaringly missing to local organizers is a clause stating that a local human right group must be notified when ICE is in town. It has been reported that when ICE comes into a community, they notify the local police department beforehand. Even in cities that have non-cooperation policies, like Watsonville and Santa Cruz, ICE is able to carry out their agenda without the aid of local law enforcement as evident in the raids from September 7-9, 2006, here last fall. The existing non-cooperation agreements on the books in both Watsonville and Santa Cruz have done little to prevent the raids or protect the community.
Reports from the raid in New Bedford, MA demonstrate the violence and brutality of what is happening, mothers are being taken away from their children who still breastfeeding. During the recent raid in Chicago agents blocked off a parking lot and profiled shoppers, targeting many to produce legal documents.
From the Migrawatch website, "We are a network of people dedicated to the struggle to maintain a welcoming community for everybody and to secure our human rights especially in the discriminatory environment that has been created by la migra, ICE." Formed after the central coast raids in September 2006, this resolution is one of the things materializing from the MigraWatch network.
photo: ICE in Chicago
On Tuesday, May 8, the non-cooperation resolution which is up for vote is re-worked from a similar resolution passed in 1996. It takes a yes vote from four of the seven Watsonville City Council members to pass the resolution. "It is as stong as we could make it to have it pass the council vote." claims Mayor Bersamin.
While the resolution does include a clause stating the ICE raids are in contradiction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United States ratified in 1948, what is glaringly missing to local organizers is a clause stating that a local human right group must be notified when ICE is in town. It has been reported that when ICE comes into a community, they notify the local police department beforehand. Even in cities that have non-cooperation policies, like Watsonville and Santa Cruz, ICE is able to carry out their agenda without the aid of local law enforcement as evident in the raids from September 7-9, 2006, here last fall. The existing non-cooperation agreements on the books in both Watsonville and Santa Cruz have done little to prevent the raids or protect the community.
Reports from the raid in New Bedford, MA demonstrate the violence and brutality of what is happening, mothers are being taken away from their children who still breastfeeding. During the recent raid in Chicago agents blocked off a parking lot and profiled shoppers, targeting many to produce legal documents.
From the Migrawatch website, "We are a network of people dedicated to the struggle to maintain a welcoming community for everybody and to secure our human rights especially in the discriminatory environment that has been created by la migra, ICE." Formed after the central coast raids in September 2006, this resolution is one of the things materializing from the MigraWatch network.
photo: ICE in Chicago
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