The Central California Coalition for Immigrant Rights held a Press Conference in Fresno on International Women's Day denouncing recent Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE) raids in the Central Valley.
Immigrant Rights Group denounces ICE Raids
By Mike Rhodes
The Central California Coalition for Immigrants Rights (CCCIR) today called for a moratorium on raids currently being carried out by the Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE) in valley towns. In celebration of International Woman's Day, the group called upon Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for their support of a moratorium on the raids being carried out as part of "Operation Return to Sender." Spokesperson Estella Galvan said those raids have "caused distress and suffering among immigrant families who are divided and living in a constant state of persecution." Galvan said "these raids are having an impact on immigrant communities throughout the country." One raid was carried out on February 8 in the Central Valley community of Mendota, and it is estimated that approximately 200 people were detained.
Participants at today's press conference said that the raids are a senseless tactic and one that will not provide a solution for the current immigration system. This system that has not kept up with the social and economic realities that demand that Congress enters into a serious discussion and passes a comprehensive immigration law—one that takes into account workers' labor rights and immigrant families' human rights.
International Woman's Day was first celebrated in 1857, when immigrant women working in the garment industry in New York City joined forces to protest their poor working conditions. In 1977 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution inviting its member nations to join in proclaiming a day in which women's rights would be recognized and a call would go out for peace in the world. This is why, from that date on, every March 8 thousands of women throughout the world join in events to celebrate women's struggles and reflect upon progress made and ongoing needs in the movement for women's rights.
The Pan Valley Institute, which is affiliated with the American Friends Service Committee helped organize today's press conference. A press release they issued said "proposals for temporary workers because such proposals are an extension of the Bracero Program implemented between 1946 y 1964, a program that benefitted the farming industry while participating workers are at this time still unable to collect part of salaries withheld according to the stipulations of their contracts."
The Pan Valley press release continues "we wish to request a moratorium on the raids so that families will no longer be divided and destroyed. No one, except a mother, knows the depth of the pain produced by having been separated from her children, especially when this separation is the result of a violent act. Children who are separated from their mothers and fathers, who are then deported, are exposed to serious psychological problems, as are their parents. This suffering is unnecessary."
A number of International Women's Day events are taking place in the Fresno area. Some of those events are:
March 3 – 10th "A Yellow Rose from Texas" play by Agustin Lira and produced by Patricia Wells Solorzano on the life and work of Emma Tenayuca, labor and civil rights organizer (see Peace and Social Justice calendar for specific locations)
Thursday, March 8
7 PM
Celebrate International Women's Day. The guest speaker will be Dr. Elahe Amani. She is going to talk about the Women's movement in Iran (this presentation will be in Persian). The event will be held at the Woodward Park Regional Public Library. This event is free and open to the public. Sponsored by : Iranian Culture and Art Club of Fresno (Kanoon) and Women's Studies of Fresno State University. For more information call (559) 709-3851 or email parvinmalek [at] yahoo.com
Thursday, March 8
7 PM
International Women's Day event. Help Stop Femicide in Juarez, Mexico! Join the Women's Studies student organization P.O.W.E.R (People Organized for Women's Empowerment and Representation) and the Femicide Action Committee for a night of education, networking, and fundraising.
This International Women's Day event will give you an opportunity to help women working in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico where hundreds of women have been systematically murdered. The police have done nothing to stop the femicide there, but P.O.W.E.R. and F.A.C. are stepping up.
We are raising money to bring an advocate to Fresno State to receive a victim's services certificate from the Criminology Department. Beginning price is $15 for entry into this event. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Event to be held at the C.A.F.E. Infoshop
935 "F" st. Fresno, CA between Tulare and Kern.
March 15th Black Student Union presents a lecture and information about HIV/AIDS and African American women. Free speech area noon – 3:00
March 19th lecture by Diane Blair on Women and the Presidency USU ___ 4:-5:00
March 21st 11 – 1:00 Gender Violence on Campus panel discussion USU 317, sponsored by POWER and the Violence Prevention Project
March 23rd Women's Art Show Satellite Student Union, CSU-Fresno 7 – 10 PM. Contact Daisy Cordero, dcordero [at] csufresno.edu if you are interested in displaying your work this evening. All women artists, students, amateurs, professionals are invited to show their work. Refreshments will be served. Artists will be sketching in the foyer.
Friday, March 23
5:15 PM
Letters from the Other Side
Heather Courtney. 2005. Mexico/USA. Spanish w/English subtitles. 74 min. (coordinated with Cesar Chavez celebrations, Critical Literacy conference, and National Multi-ethnic Literature conference).
Heather Courtney is a filmmaker, cinematographer and photographer based in Austin, Texas. Her recently completed Letters from the Other Side, which uses cross-border video letters to tell the immigration story from the perspective of the women left behind in Mexico, premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in January, screened at the South by Southwest International Film Festival (SXSW), and was funded by a Fulbright and grant from the Independent Television Service (ITVS). It is currently screening all over Austin, Texas at community-based venues with support from a grant from the City of Austin. Heather spent eight years writing and photographing for the United Nations and several refugee and immigrant rights organizations, including in the Rwandan refugee camps after the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Cineculture continues to be a film series provided as a service to the Fresno State campus students, faculty, and staff at no charge. However, anyone interested in taking Cineculture for academic credit for the Fall semester, please sign up through Continuing and Global Education: tel. 278-0333. For further info., contact Dr. Denise Blum dblum [at] csufresno.edu . This film will be shown in McLane 121 on the CSUF campus.
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By Mike Rhodes
The Central California Coalition for Immigrants Rights (CCCIR) today called for a moratorium on raids currently being carried out by the Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE) in valley towns. In celebration of International Woman's Day, the group called upon Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for their support of a moratorium on the raids being carried out as part of "Operation Return to Sender." Spokesperson Estella Galvan said those raids have "caused distress and suffering among immigrant families who are divided and living in a constant state of persecution." Galvan said "these raids are having an impact on immigrant communities throughout the country." One raid was carried out on February 8 in the Central Valley community of Mendota, and it is estimated that approximately 200 people were detained.
Participants at today's press conference said that the raids are a senseless tactic and one that will not provide a solution for the current immigration system. This system that has not kept up with the social and economic realities that demand that Congress enters into a serious discussion and passes a comprehensive immigration law—one that takes into account workers' labor rights and immigrant families' human rights.
International Woman's Day was first celebrated in 1857, when immigrant women working in the garment industry in New York City joined forces to protest their poor working conditions. In 1977 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution inviting its member nations to join in proclaiming a day in which women's rights would be recognized and a call would go out for peace in the world. This is why, from that date on, every March 8 thousands of women throughout the world join in events to celebrate women's struggles and reflect upon progress made and ongoing needs in the movement for women's rights.
The Pan Valley Institute, which is affiliated with the American Friends Service Committee helped organize today's press conference. A press release they issued said "proposals for temporary workers because such proposals are an extension of the Bracero Program implemented between 1946 y 1964, a program that benefitted the farming industry while participating workers are at this time still unable to collect part of salaries withheld according to the stipulations of their contracts."
The Pan Valley press release continues "we wish to request a moratorium on the raids so that families will no longer be divided and destroyed. No one, except a mother, knows the depth of the pain produced by having been separated from her children, especially when this separation is the result of a violent act. Children who are separated from their mothers and fathers, who are then deported, are exposed to serious psychological problems, as are their parents. This suffering is unnecessary."
A number of International Women's Day events are taking place in the Fresno area. Some of those events are:
March 3 – 10th "A Yellow Rose from Texas" play by Agustin Lira and produced by Patricia Wells Solorzano on the life and work of Emma Tenayuca, labor and civil rights organizer (see Peace and Social Justice calendar for specific locations)
Thursday, March 8
7 PM
Celebrate International Women's Day. The guest speaker will be Dr. Elahe Amani. She is going to talk about the Women's movement in Iran (this presentation will be in Persian). The event will be held at the Woodward Park Regional Public Library. This event is free and open to the public. Sponsored by : Iranian Culture and Art Club of Fresno (Kanoon) and Women's Studies of Fresno State University. For more information call
Thursday, March 8
7 PM
International Women's Day event. Help Stop Femicide in Juarez, Mexico! Join the Women's Studies student organization P.O.W.E.R (People Organized for Women's Empowerment and Representation) and the Femicide Action Committee for a night of education, networking, and fundraising.
This International Women's Day event will give you an opportunity to help women working in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico where hundreds of women have been systematically murdered. The police have done nothing to stop the femicide there, but P.O.W.E.R. and F.A.C. are stepping up.
We are raising money to bring an advocate to Fresno State to receive a victim's services certificate from the Criminology Department. Beginning price is $15 for entry into this event. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Event to be held at the C.A.F.E. Infoshop
935 "F" st. Fresno, CA between Tulare and Kern.
March 15th Black Student Union presents a lecture and information about HIV/AIDS and African American women. Free speech area noon – 3:00
March 19th lecture by Diane Blair on Women and the Presidency USU ___ 4:-5:00
March 21st 11 – 1:00 Gender Violence on Campus panel discussion USU 317, sponsored by POWER and the Violence Prevention Project
March 23rd Women's Art Show Satellite Student Union, CSU-Fresno 7 – 10 PM. Contact Daisy Cordero, dcordero [at] csufresno.edu if you are interested in displaying your work this evening. All women artists, students, amateurs, professionals are invited to show their work. Refreshments will be served. Artists will be sketching in the foyer.
Friday, March 23
5:15 PM
Letters from the Other Side
Heather Courtney. 2005. Mexico/USA. Spanish w/English subtitles. 74 min. (coordinated with Cesar Chavez celebrations, Critical Literacy conference, and National Multi-ethnic Literature conference).
Heather Courtney is a filmmaker, cinematographer and photographer based in Austin, Texas. Her recently completed Letters from the Other Side, which uses cross-border video letters to tell the immigration story from the perspective of the women left behind in Mexico, premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in January, screened at the South by Southwest International Film Festival (SXSW), and was funded by a Fulbright and grant from the Independent Television Service (ITVS). It is currently screening all over Austin, Texas at community-based venues with support from a grant from the City of Austin. Heather spent eight years writing and photographing for the United Nations and several refugee and immigrant rights organizations, including in the Rwandan refugee camps after the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Cineculture continues to be a film series provided as a service to the Fresno State campus students, faculty, and staff at no charge. However, anyone interested in taking Cineculture for academic credit for the Fall semester, please sign up through Continuing and Global Education: tel. 278-0333. For further info., contact Dr. Denise Blum dblum [at] csufresno.edu . This film will be shown in McLane 121 on the CSUF campus.
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The Press Conference
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The press conference was well attended by local media. All photos by Mike Rhodes.
Rosa Lopez
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Rosa Lopez said she was going to Senator Boxer and Feinstein's office today to tell her what effect these (ICE) raids have in the immigrant community.
No Human Being is Illegal
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Conception Pacheco (second from the right) said "we come to this land, work in your fields, and receive no medical benefits at all and we get no amnesty. Enough with hating and treating us like the worst delinquents. We want to live a happy life, we want to live at peace, we want to live without fear, and we want to live knowing that we pay our taxes. Having a drivers licence is something we have dreamed about all our lives."
Estella Galvan
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Estella Galvan (third from the right) works with the Pan Valley Institute and read the statement at the press conference.
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