Charlotte
to
Greet No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice Upon Arrival
Cross-Country
Journey
of
Undocumented People and Allies to Enter County with 287(g)
Deportation Program to meet with local community and rally during the
DNC
What: No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice Arrives
to Community Greeting in Charlotte, first event of week-long activities
including cultural celebration, community exchange, and protest
Where: El Siloe Church, 2633 Eastway Dr, Charlotte, NC.
When: Bus is anticipated to arrive at 5:00pm Saturday,
September 1st.
Who: The No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice and the
Charlotte Welcoming Committee
Visuals:
People making banners and butterfly signs, a full-sized bus painted
with "No Papers No Fear" on the side, riders of the cross-country
journey unloading and speaking
Charlotte, NC -- The No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice is a
national delegation of undocumented people and allies that left
Phoenix, Arizona on the anniversary of the state's implementation of
SB1070, July 29th. By the time it arrives in Charlotte, it will have
crossed 10 states and stopped in 15+ cities to come out publicly as
having no papers and no fear, meet with migrant communities who have
been impacted by anti-immigrant laws and policies and to challenge the
authorities who have promoted them to move away from politics of
exclusion and toward inclusion.
The riders are undocumented people from all over the country and
their allies, including mothers, fathers, day laborers, people in
deportation proceedings, students, and many others who continue to face
threats of deportation, harassment, and death while simply looking for
a better life in the only nation many of them know and call home.
By taking on a journey where riders ranging in age from 19 to 65
are willing to risk everything, they hope to inspire organizing among
the migrant community and to inspire political officials to do more to
relieve the suffering caused by deportation policies.
The riders will arrive in Charlotte, located in a county with a
287(g) deportation program that merges local law enforcement with
federal immigration authority and undermines community trust in police,
resulting in profiling and family separation, in time for the
Democratic National Convention. Over the weekend, riders will hold
exchanges with local community members who face the threat of
deportation, including Isaide Serrano, a pregnant mother of 5 and
member of La Familia Unida who will be in immigration court on Tuesday
as the DNC opens.
The No Papers No Fear Riders will participate in the March on Wall
Street South on Sunday and hold a community celebration at Fiesta
Jalisco/Skandalo's on Monday night with a performance of the day
laborer band, los Jornaleros del Norte. Additional rallies and protests
for next week will be announced at a later date.
All events below are open to the media, further availability upon
request.
September 1
4:00pm Charlotte Welcomes the No Papers No Fear Riders
El Siloe Church, 2633 Eastway Dr. Charlotte, NC
(bus is estimated to arrive near 5pm)
8:00pm No Papers No Fear Riders to Attend the Festival
Liberación, 15th & Davidson, Charlotte, NC
September 2
11:00am No Papers No Fear Immigrant Rights Contingent in the March
on Wall Street South
Rally starts at 11am, bus to arrive at 12, March leaves at 1pm
Frazier park ,1201 West 4th Street Ext Charlotte, NC 28202
https://www.facebook.com/events/434718556571531/
6:00pm Community Celebration at the Latin American Coalition
4938 Central Avenue Charlotte, NC 28205
No Papers No Fear riders will celebrate and exchange with Latin
American Coalition, La Familia Unida, United for the Dream, and others
September 3
6:00pm Sin Papeles y Sin Miedo Festival de canto, poesia, y arte //
No Papers No Fear Concert
Conozca a los viajeros del undocubus // Meet the riders
Vea a la exhibición de arte // see the art exhibit Escucha la
música de
los Jornaleros del Norte // dance to the jornaleros del norte
Restaurante Fiesta Jalisco/Skandalo's 317 E. Independence Blvd,
Charlotte, NC https://www.facebook.com/events/361385353938639/ (This
will be the major public community event)
September 4 - 6 Additional events to be
announced
More information on the No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice is
available at www.nopapersnofear.org and follow @undocubus on twitter
for updates.
September 4, 2012
Charlotte, NC Today 10
No Papers No Fear Riders were arrested in civil disobedience defending
the civil rights of the migrant community at the entryway to the
Democratic National Convention. After a short march, they placed a
banner reading "No Papers No Fear" at the entrance of a checkpoint to
the convention where they were arrested by Charlotte police. Due to the
federal deportation program 287(g) that conscripts local police into
immigration enforcement, their arrest could lead to their deportation
if the administration does not honor its stated policy of discretion.
In a statement the group made online, they explain, "We came
out
because we are tired of the mistreatment. We are tired of waiting for
change and we know that it never comes without risk or without
sacrifice.
We know what is at stake in our actions. We know that the
Republicans have decided to completely turn their back on our
communities. We also know that President Obama's legacy on
immigration
is undecided.
We want him to be on the right side of history. And we know that it
is the effort of our organized communities that will make that
happen.
We want him to be remembered as the one who found the way to include
the millions struggling for a better life in this country, not to be
remembered as the President who deported more people than anyone else
in the history of the country.
We want President Obama to use his executive authority to provide
relief from our entire community, students, parents, and all of us."
High resolution photos will be available shortly at http://flickr.com/nopapersnofear.
More
information at nopapersnofear.org. Follow @undocubus
Biographies of the Riders are Below
Kitzia Esteva was born in Mexico D.F. and came to California nine
and a half years ago to reunite with her family. Her mom, sister and
two nephews came two years before seeking treatment for her nephew
diagnosed with leukemia. She is now 25 and living in Los Angeles,
California. She remembers being stopped by the police one for not
wearing a seatbelt, and fearing that she would be identified as an
undocumented immigrant if fingerprinted. For her, being undocumented
has meant not being able to work legally to help her family, losing
work opportunities, being employed as a domestic worker, and being
afraid to be separated from her family. Her mother, who is also on the
bus, has helped her be active in social justice struggles by setting an
example. As Kitzia got involved in community organizations she began to
learn that what she had experienced as undocumented was happening to
many, and that there is power in organizing. Kitzia is on the bus for
her family, and “because it is a powerful way to confront the way
immigrants are treated and change the conversation of criminalization
towards one of dignity.”
Rosi Carrasco has made a home for her family in Chicago IL for the
past 18 years. She came to the US to reunite her two daughters with her
husband, who had taken a job in Chicago. In Mexico, Rosi workers doing
education research and planning. Now she works organizing the Latino
community to fight for their rights. She has seen all the obstacles her
daughters have overcome to finish their studies in this country due to
their immigration status, and supports their struggles and decisions as
best as she can. “I think it’s important to show solidarity with the
struggle the youth have done for access to education, and show
solidarity with the workers fighting for their right to jobs with
dignity. I believe we should keep organizing our communities, even in
an electoral year”
In 1994 Martin Unzueta was offered a job in Chicago IL. He
thought
in this country there would be better educational opportunities for his
children. In Mexico Martin had a small company that made books and
paper. The company was not doing so well, it was hard to compete with
bigger companies and government officials’ corruption hindered the
business’ functions; It became harder to sustain his family. In
Chicago, Martin is the executive director of a non for profit
organization that helps to organize and defend workers rights in their
workplace. He is on the bus because “I want other communities to
hear
our stories of how we have helped to organize and support workers in
Chicago, and the necessity for each community to protect the rights we
have at work. We need to learn to use the tools we do have to defend
these rights.”
Yovani Diaz Tolentino came to the US when he was 5 months old
with
his mother, looking for better financial opportunities, a better job
and life. Now 20 years old, Yovani has lived in Roswell, Georgia for 12
years. He cleans houses and works with the Georgia Undocumented Youth
Alliance (GUYA), an undocumented youth led organization that support
the undocumented community in Georgia. He is on the bus “to change the
perspective of voters and fight for justice, helping to obtain an
immigration reform that benefits America as a whole, including
undocumented people.”
Gerardo Torres is a self-employed handyman and community health
promoter who has lived in Phoenix, AZ for the last 18 years, after
staying after the time limit of a tourist visa. He is a member of
the
Puente Human Rights Movement and 3rdSpace, a group of queer brown
migrants working to make their community visible. “I want people
to
know that the queer undocumented community is also affected by these
laws. I want people in my communities to let go of their fear and
to
learn how to defend their human rights. It is a time for a change in
the immigration laws: the status quo is not an option anymore. We
have
to move because we are in crisis, what is happening is not working
anymore.
Maria Cruz Ramirez arrived in Phoenix, AZ with her three children
just a few months before September 11, 2001 to be with her husband. She
worked as a stylist in our own salon in Hidalgo, Mexico, and had hoped
to have better opportunities for work in the U.S. She has been unable
to find work for the last eleven years because she is undocumented. Two
of her three children participated in a coming out of the shadows civil
disobedience in Phoenix in March. She has been a member of the Arizona
Dream Guardians, a group of parents of DREAM Act-eligible youth who
fundraised for their children’s educations, and she hopes to start a
new parents’ group in the future that is a community defense committee
and a way to increase their children’s education opportunities. She
says, “Me and my children, we give each other strength, and we struggle
together. I’m going on the bus because I want a life with dignity
and
a just job for myself, for my family, and for my people. I fight
for
those who come after me.”
Eleazar Castellanos has lived in Tucson, AZ since 1996. He
studied
computer programming and technical analysis in Nogales, Sonora, and
moved to the U.S. when he completed his studies in order to have more
economic opportunities for himself and his now-adult daughter. He
works as a day laborer, and has watched his wages fall dramatically as
the economic crisis and anti-immigrant climate in Arizona worsen.
He
watches people in his community be racially profiled by Border Patrol
every day, and so, for the last year, he has been a member of a group
of day laborers in Tucson organizing to fight for their
rights. He
says, “I am going on the bus to come out of the shadows, to make the
President hear our community’s voice, and so that we can move forward
and make all of our lives better. We all deserve jobs with justice and
dignity.”
Julio Cesar Sanchez lives in Chicago, IL and has been living in the
U.S. for nine years. He came to the U.S. at the age of 15 with his
mother after his parents’ divorce, despite a difficult border crossing.
His mother sought to reunite with her family here and get away from a
domestic violence situation. He faced discrimination and bullying
when
he first arrived in Texas at school, and, while living in Florida, was
put in jail for driving without a license. These experiences made
him
decide to take action for his community. He now organizes with
the
immigrant community in Chicago teaching people their rights. He says,
“I’m riding the Undocubus to show myself, my family, and everyone else
that is dealing with the same struggle I am that we can make a change.
I believe it is time to end our fear.”
Gloria Esteva was born in Oaxaca, Mexico. While she was there she
was already working with her community, specifically defending worker’s
rights. She came to the United States to support her grandson, who
became sick with leukemia after a petroleum leak in his native state of
Veracruz. She moved with him to San Francisco, where she spent the next
four years taking care of him and writing about his life. She considers
herself a community organizer who tries to talk to people in ways and
language that they understand. She says that as she has gotten to know
the people of the United States, she has realized that there are many
who believe in justice, and that them and everyone in the country
should think about the contributions that immigrants have made to their
personal lives, and realize that “we deserve dignity and respect.” She
is on the bus with her daughter because she is tired of living in the
shadows, and wants her community to know that she organizes and lives
without fear despite not having immigration documents.
N. Sol Ireri Unzueta Carrasco has been living in Chicago, IL for 18
years, since coming to the US at the age of 7 in 1994 with her family.
At the age of 25 Ireri works as a part time grant writer, amateur
horticulturist, and with the Immigrant Youth Justice League, a
chicago
based undocumented youth led organization. “I am riding the bus because
I refuse to keep on limiting myself by the unjust laws that refuse to
see my humanity and recognize that undocumented immigrants are as much
a part of the community as everyone else. ”
September 6, 2012
Undocumented
People Arrested in Civil Disobedience Watch President's Speech,
Announce Next Steps After President's Speech, Call on DNC to Be on
Right Side of History, End Merger of Police with Immigration Enforcement
No
Papers
No
Fear Ride for Justice Concludes with Call on Feds to Stop
Collaborating with Arizona as State Readies for Implementation of
SB1070 and with Pledge to Fight Against Police/ICE Collaboration
Nation-Wide
What: Undocumented Presidential Acceptance Speech
Watching Event
Where: St. Peter's Catholic Church. 507 S. Tryon,
Charlotte, NC.
When: 9:00pm - 11:30pm. Speech scheduled for 10:30
Who: No Papers No Fear Riders who travelled for
six weeks through 10 states and 16 cities to rally migrant community
and call on President to be on the right side of history at the DNC
More than 40 people, mainly undocumented, travelled on the No
Papers No Fear Ride for Justice through 10 states and 16 cities to
arrive at the DNC where 10 undocumented participants performed civil
disobedience that could have resulted in their deportation due to the
Police/ICE collaboration programs that were the focus of their protest.
All arrestees were released instead of being placed in deportation
proceedings, confirming the message riders have set out to express
through the tour: the migrant community is stronger and safer when
organized and out of the shadows.
Tonight participants will watch and respond to the President's
speech, share their response from their perspective of being
undocumented, and announce their next steps as they return to their
homes where police and immigration enforcement collaboration continue
to cause a human rights crisis.
Riders point to Arizona where SB1070's section 2b racial profiling
provision was just approved by a judge to go into effect and highlight
the similar impact of federal deportation programs nation-wide.
Media Availability for Interviews from 9:15 to 11:30pm. Follow @undocubus
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