Immigrants Displaced In MS
On August 25, ICE agents (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) conducted one of the
largest immigration raids in the country at Howard Industries just outside of Laurel, MS.
Across South Mississippi, a community of immigrant workers has flourished since Hurricane
Katrina three years ago, including both people working under H2B visas and those lacking
proper legal documentation to live and/or work in the United States. In response to this, a
violent nativist campaign has also made itself known, with anti-immigrant rhetoric propagated
via local and state-wide radio stations. One of the main tactics used by this movement is
legislative pressure, and throughout 2008, nearly 40 House Bills and Senate Bills were
proposed in Mississippi to target all elements of life within the undocumented community.
At the center of this crisis, however, are the lives being disrupted by an enforcement centered
immigration policy which criminalizes the workforce on which the local economies
depend. Within one school district, almost 200 children had no parent or guardian to come
home to or to pick them up from school. Some of those, mainly women, with family needs have
been released with electronic tracking devices, which serve as a constant physical
reinforcement of stigma, criminalization and fear for those directly affected and the entire
community. The few bonds which have been set for those detained have been around $5,000,
far outside the economic means of most working class families. Families are also left with no
economic lifeline, and the strains of caring for basic needs is pressing directly on those facing
the aftermath of this police action.
In order to help the immigrant community financially we are accepting donations. Email
janetswebb@yahoo.com for more information.
Posted on Oct 06, 2008 by Hattiesburg Universalist Unitarian Fellowship - MS
Press Release - Constitutional Violations at RNC
For Immediate Release
Birmingham Peace Project
September 5, 2008
Contact: Diane McNaron,
dianemcnaron@aol.com 205.838.1391
=================================================
Upon the conclusion of the Republican National Convention, the Birmingham Peace Project issues with outrage the following statement on the violations of civil liberties in Minnesota:
Very little has appeared in the general press regarding the astounding display of intimidation and violence launched by the St. Paul Police Department, with the apparent approval of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department and the office of Mayor Chris Coleman. Yet, throughout the independent press, private communications and e-news letters, recountings of illegal detentions, group arrests, searches and violence are flooding the country. Independent news source Democracy Now! reports hundreds of people arrested, and that “law enforcement officers used … rubber bullets and concussion grenades against protesters and journalists.” United for Peace & Justice’s National Coordinator Leslie Cagan and Veterans for Peace, David Waters, Alabama Chair, reported, “a heavily armed and extremely large police presence in St. Paul has intimidated, harassed and proved … in a number of instances, to have escalated situations when they used excessive force. They have used pepper spray … swung clubs, pushed people around, rode bicycles and horses against peacefully gathered groups and surrounded people (who were) simply walking down the streets.” According to International A.N.S.W.E.R., “police fired large amounts of tear gas and ‘anti-crowd’ explosives at thousands of protesters who gathered outside the Xcel Center at the end of the anti-poverty march. On Tuesday, they turned off the electricity at a permitted outdoor concert.” Their large numbers indicate reinforcements were imported for the convention, at the onset. From St. Paul visitor Amanda Peterson: “Police forces from as far away as Tucson, AZ, and Arlington, TX, are in town to help the Minneapolis and St. Paul officers. I even met one female officer who said she was from Camden, Alabama.” UFPJ Coordinator Cagan additionally stated, “National Guard and State Troopers are also in the mix, to say nothing of the Secret Service and Homeland Security … ” Cagan concluded these remarks with the assertion that both Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul had received 50 million dollars each from Homeland Security to buff up local law enforcement resources.
To cap off these actions, police peaked by arresting the reporters themselves, jailing two producers from Democracy Now! who were engaged in covering police activities. Leading independent journalist and best-selling author Amy Goodman was arrested trying to defend the two producers: “All three were violently manhandled by law enforcement officers. Abdel Kouddous was slammed against a wall and the ground, leaving his arms scraped and bloodied. He sustained other injuries to his chest and back. Ms. Salazar (experienced) violent arrest by baton-wielding officers, during which she was slammed to the ground while yelling, ‘I'm Press! I’m Press!’” Bruce Nestor, speaking on Democracy Now! September 4, also reported that local authorities in Minneapolis/St. Paul made a deal with the RNC host committee requiring that committee to insure itself for the first $10 million in litigation costs arising from the police response to protesters. Apparently no cost is too high when it comes to the “business” of suppressing dissent and keeping order before a duped public.
A majority of the over three-hundred detainees continue to be held, in violation of Minnesota’s own laws which require those arrested to be either charged or released within 36 hours.
The BPP not only deplores these developments but suggests that the deterioration of relationships between local police and general citizenry, and the increased acts of violence initiated by local police throughout the US, constitute not merely a national trend but a top-down initiative executed by those who stand to lose the most, in a country beginning more and more to resemble a police state. Perhaps the Republican National Convention should, upon its departure from Minneapolis/St. Paul, commission to remain there, a monument to the death of the U.S. Constitution.
The Birmingham Peace Project
David Gespass, Chair
Diane McNaron, Press Contact
dianemcnaron@aol.com
Posted on Sep 06, 2008 by Birmingham Peace Project
NLG Applauds Musharraf Resignation
THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD AND PAKISTAN JUSTICE COALITION WELCOMES
MUSHARRAF'S RESIGNATION
Contact: Ryan Hancock, Co-Chair, Pakistan Justice Coalition, +1 (215)
913-1749, r.a.hancock@gmail.com
Marjorie Cohn, President of the National Lawyers Guild,
+1 (858) 204-3565, libertad48@san.rr.com
www.ruleoflawproject.org
Along with the Pakistani people, the National Lawyers Guild and
Pakistan Justice Coalition welcome the resignation of Pervez Musharraf
as a victory in the struggle for democracy, rule of law and human
rights. Musharraf's rapid fall from power demonstrates the bankruptcy
of the Bush administration's policy of advocating liberty while
supporting autocracy. As the Coalition has previously stated, the real
tension today is not between democracy and terror, but between those
who support expansion of democratic and human rights and those who
seek to infringe upon them. The Bush administration supported the
Musharraf regime on the grounds that it was an ally in the so-called
war on terrorism and overlooked its violations of the most fundamental
democratic rights. Both administrations also refused to respect
judicial independence, accepting the removal and incarceration of over
half of Pakistan's legitimate judges.
In the face of popular opposition that even potentially rigged
elections could not conceal, the Musharraf presidency was finally—and
fortunately—doomed to failure. President Bush often claims liberty is
the birthright and natural desire of all people. Had he really
believed his rhetoric, however, he would have supported the heroic
lawyers of Pakistan in their demands, rather than the now-deposed and
discredited Musharraf. The Lawyers Movement has represented the legal
profession at its best. We stand with it and share the joy of its
triumph. While Pakistan's future remains far from certain, it has
taken an enormous step forward.
Founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar Association,
which did not admit people of color, the National Lawyers Guild is the
oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in
the United States. Its headquarters are in New York, and it has
chapters in every state.
Posted on Aug 19, 2008 by
The Longest Walk
On Thursday, May 29th several UUs (Unitarian Universalists) from Our Home and HUUF took food to the University of Southern Mississippi for the 100 walkers with the American Indian Movement's The Longest Walk. These Native Americans (plus a few Buddhist monks and others) are walking from San Francisco to Washington D.C. to highlight sacred site issues as well as healing the earth and human diseases. HUUF’s own Bob Press joined them in the walk from Hattiesburg to Philadephia. If you want to provide further help, you can donate money for the continued support of the walkers at www.longestwalk.org
Posted on Jun 04, 2008 by
Peace Vigil
The Hattiesburg Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will be holding Peace Vigils from 1:30-2:30pm on the first Sunday of each month June through November. The vigils will be held in front of our meeting home at the Hattiesburg Area Garden Center, 209 Hutchinson Ave. and are open to the public. Members of our fellowship are actively encouraging others to join us in this peace witness.
Janet Webb, Chair of the Social Action committee, said, “Most of us in this country have not been called upon to sacrifice during the five-plus years in which the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan have been waged. Our soldiers and their families have carried this tremendous burden and suffered along with the people in these two countries. As members of the Hattiesburg Unitarian Universalist congregation, we wanted to express in some way our solidarity and compassion for their suffering and sacrifice. With the upcoming election, we also felt a special urgency in giving voice to our belief that “War is not the Answer.” With the right commitment we believe that it is possible to find a nonviolent means for bringing this war to a close that honors both the sacrifice of our soldiers and creates peace, stability and security for the people in Iraq and Afghanistan who have suffered far too long.” Susan Nodurft, a member of the committee, described the principles of this witness as one for
• peace and reverence for life
• our soldiers, their families and the people in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• understanding and unity rather than divisiveness as we seek peace
• “Nonviolence as a Better Answer” to meeting the challenge of living as one family on this planet we share.
For additional information, you may contact Janet (janetswebb@yahoo.com), Susan
(snodurft@bellsouth.net or call 601-796-2261) or other members of the committee: Betty Press,
Stacie Chandler and Michael “Enku” Ide .
Posted on Jun 04, 2008 by