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LA VOZ DE AZTLAN NEWS BULLETIN <>
<><><> Los Angeles, Alta California <><><><>
January 9, 2006

Latinos Meet to Mobilize Against Nativist Immigration Legislation and Attacks

The National Alliance for Human Rights, a network of individuals and organizations committed to the promotion of human rights, social justice, and political empowerment, will be holding an emergency meeting at the Norman F. Feldheym Central Library Auditorium, located at 555 West 6th Street, San Bernardino, Thursday, January 12, from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. The meeting’s agenda will focus on strategically formulating a Mexicano/Latino coordinated response to the pending federal and state immigration legislation being considered in Washington and Sacramento and on the escalating nativist attacks on the Mexicano/Latino communities.

The main speaker will be Congressman Joe Baca, who will report on efforts by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to defeat the U.S. Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control proposed by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R) recently approved by the House of Representatives. Other reports will be made by invited Assemblyman Joe Baca Jr., who will address State Senator Gil Cedillos’ pending Driver’s License legislation; Mexican Consul Carlos Giralt Cabrales, who will report on the Mexican government’s opposition to the Sensenbrenner legislation and on the latest shooting border incident. Several organizational representatives will also report as to their activities against the various aspects of the escalating immigration crisis. Enrique Morones, representative of the San Diego County based Gente Unida Coalition, and others will report on their anti-Minuteman Project organizing efforts.

According to Armando Navarro, NAHR Coordinator, “The purpose of the meeting is to strategically initiate a Latino organizing and mobilization process for 2006 in California that will produce a coordinated strategy designed to defeat the Senenbrenner legislation. In addition, to formulate a pro-active response by Latinos to the escalating nativist anti-immigrant attacks and politics, specifically being directed against Mexicanos and Latinos, first within San Bernardino and Riverside Counties; secondly the state; and thirdly, the nation.�

“Understanding the horrific anti-immigrant political climate rampant throughout the country and the severity of the consequences of the racist Sensenbrenner legislation, in particular the building of an Iron Curtain along the U.S./Mexico border, Mexicanos and Latinos in this country are under a state of siege reminiscent of the McCarthy Era, the difference being that the Bush Administration and nativist Republicans are targeting not communists, but us as their targets of persecution,� Navarro added.

With the Sensenbrenner Legislation now before the Senate, the National Alliance for Human Rights urges all individuals and organizations that care about human rights and social justice to come to the meeting to learn, get involved, have input, and make a difference in efforts to persuade the Senate to defeat it and embrace a viable immigration legalization reform program. Moreover, with the anti-immigrant and Mexican political climate worsening and the importance of the upcoming congressional elections, 2006 needs to be a year of massive mobilizations, activism, and political participation to countervail the heinous, racist and nativist crusade.