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Six Undocumented Youth Arrested at anti-Arpaio Protest
Pledging to defeat Sheriff Joe Arpaio, chanting ‘Arpaio must go’
Phoenix, Arizona—Today, March 20th, five undocumented youth were arrested in an act of civil disobedience in which they publicly declaring their immigration status. They were surrounded by hundreds of supporters working to kick Sheriff Joe Arpaio out of office.
Recordings of the action can be found here: http://www.ustream.tv/
“This event is part of a larger push to make sure this man is not re-elected,” says Viridiana Hernandez, 20, one of the undocumented youth who was arrested. “If we want to defeat Sheriff Arpaio then we need to come out of the shadows and fight back. We are prepared to take on the Sheriff.”
In addition to Hernandez, Daniela Cruz, Jackie Sanchez, Stephanie Sanchez, Rocio Sanchez, and Hugo Sanchez were all arrested. It took several hours for law enforcement to respond, indicating major hesitation from “America’s Toughest Sheriff.” Today, he blinked after a serious stare-down from the undocumented youth movement.
This action will mark the first time undocumented youth come out and risk arrest in Arizona since the passage of SB1070. The arrests were made in front of Trevor Browne High School in Phoenix, AZ.
“Anytime you reveal your status in this state you risk arrest and deportation, these students are willing to take that risk and we need to support them,” stated Maria Carr, a local educator.
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As undocumented youth we are compelled by our frustration and the fierce urgency of our dreams to act as agents of our destinies and be the catalysts for a future in which we are empowered, mobilized, and living with the dignity we deserve. We organize this action in an effort to once and for all rid our community of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Hello I’m doing a film on discrimination in Arizona and I’m trying to contact the protestors. If you have any contact info please have them email me at ackright34@yahoo.com I’m very serious. I believe in their cause and I applause their guts. Thank you
I know one of them but she’s still in custody we don’t know if they will be released or deported..
Please reply to me when you get contact information on anyone of these young geniuses. They can’t be as smart as they think they are….nobody is that narcissistic. Each of these arrested protestors are much smarter than they think they are! Each one of the arrested protestors have stood up for their rights; stood up to Sheriff Joes, Russell Pearce, Jan Brewer and all the supporter of SB1070,and won decisively. How is it possbile to be that young and be that intelligent??? I don’t know if lawyers or any Latino leaders gave advice to the protestors, but they may have started something that can’t be stopped. This movement can’t be stopped with legislation, deportation or police action if it is nutured correctly by the right leaders. Please reply with any information on the protestors. I only want to help their/my cause. I believe that if all 12 million illegal immigrants would turn themselves in today, they would be free tomorrow, too!
We are pretty smart people but more than intelligence, I think we are guided by our sense of justice.
Justice for Citizens!
u make me laugh
Rights? Are you kidding? The Preamble to the Constitution established an implication of American citizenship (that is, “We the people of the United States of America…”) The amendments, that we now call the Bill of Rights, were amendments to that Constitution. That Constitution was written by and for the Citizens of the United States of America. It does not apply to Citizens or Subjects of another Country. So, what they are doing, as long as they are NOT citizens of the United States is NOT covered under our Constitution or Bill of Rights. Why is it that ONLY in America, we are expected to just let people walk into our country and live here with out legally immigrating? Try living in their country illegally! You’d be dead or locked up in a rat infested jail within a week!
The historical truth that America is a country of immigrants is not relevant to today’s debate about illegal immigrants. Nearly every country in the world was, at some point, settled by immigrants. Once a country’s borders are established, migration can and typically is limited. If a country cannot control its borders, it can hardly be regarded as a secure and sovereign nation.
http://www.womenwhothink.org/images/Immigration_Reform_PDF.pdfhttp://www.womenwhothink.org/images/Immigration_Reform_PDF.pdf
The historical truth that America is a country of immigrants is not relevant to today’s debate about illegal immigrants. Nearly every country in the world was, at some point, settled by immigrants. Once a country’s borders are established, migration can and typically is limited. If a country cannot control its borders, it can hardly be regarded as a secure and sovereign nation.
http://www.womenwhothink.org/images/Immigration_Reform_PDF.pdf
http://www.womenwhothink.org/images/Immigration_Reform_PDF.pdf
http://www.womenwhothink.org/images/Immigration_Reform_PDF.pdf
She won’t be deported.. She should be, but she won’t be…
Did you get any contact information? I’m trying to reach one of these geniuses, too!
Go back and fight for your dignity in the country in which you are a legal citizen. Respect the laws that legal citizens have votes for and elected public officials uphold.
What a narrowed minded thing to say. Many foreigners have desired to immigrate here for hundreds of years and many have legally and illegally. Millions of “legal” Americans have ancestors that came to this country illegally. Some of those Americans are most likely politicians, politicians who forgot about their past or didn’t know about their past or is hiding their past and are voting for laws that make human beings “illegal”. There are also other Americans that “vote” for these politicians and laws that may also have an “illegal” ancestor. America has always “screened” the immigrants that came here and they picked and choosed who they wanted to give citizenship to. That is what’s going on here. People like you and those that support SB1070 have “chosen” to label the undocumented citizens from latin countries as “illegal”. Most immigrants here today are only trying to do what immigrants did hundreds of years ago and that is making a better life for themselves and their families.
For those of you that don’t know the full story. These six youths started their morning protest on a street corner near the intersection of 75th Avenue and Cheery Lynn Street, later they moved into the street around 3:15 P.M. The police allowed the protestors to block an entire intersection, forcing the closures of 75th Avenue in both directions without any provocation. In fact, the police blocked off the intersection with their police cars to protect the protestors from any incoming traffic. The protestors were told they can protest on the street until 5:30 P.M. It was a little after 5:30 P.M. and when their time was up when the police asked them to move their protest back to the street corner or be arrested. These six youths refused to move their protest from the intersection that they were blocking to another area and were arrested. It was around 6:00 P.M. when they got themselves arrested for blocking an intersection, not necessarily because they were undocumented. Had they simply moved 20 feet back off the street, they probably would not have gotten themselves arrested. I don’t know, but I think by this point after protesting all day, the six youths should have complied. What do you think they should have done? If the point of them getting themselves arrested was to stir up anger of their arrest because they were undocumented, I don’t think they really accomplish anything there.
They should have been deported. But no one wants to offend anyone by enforcing our laws.