Another protest was held today at ASDB. Teachers and Staff came out to show their support of the students. Tomorrow there will be a special board meeting in Phoenix.
More information surrounding this issue can be found on this facebook page or this website: http://asdbreports.com/
Full Set of photos here: http://chrissummitt.com/blog/asdbprotest2
Students at the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB) have been protesting since Thursday (4/18/13). The current superintendent Robert Hill has fired teacher Richard Layton and executive director Nancy Amann with no reason given. In addition, a well loved agricultural program was terminated. Superintendent Hill refuses to hear from the students or give any explanation of his actions. Two regularly scheduled board meetings which provide a forum for student voice have been cancelled. A letter from the students asking Hill to step down was sent but with no response.
Students in Tucson are being regularly required to speak out against the horrible decisions of their administration. If it’s not TUSD, it’s somewhere else. Who are these ridiculous people and how did they get to be in charge? I don’t know but I will continue to take photos to document what’s happening and share it with everyone because you and I both know that we can’t always count on the mainstream media…..
More information can be found here: http://asdbreports.com/
My photos from today are below.
Full Set: http://chrissummitt.com/blog/asdbprotest/
Today, the End Streamline Coalition held a press conference in front of the federal courthouse to call for an end to the federal district court program known as Operation Streamline. There was a pretty good showing of people with signs and excellent speakers ( Marcelo Ruiz, Isabel Garcia (Derechos Humanos), Caroline Isaacs (AFSC), Andy Silverman, and community faith leaders) speaking out against the program. There was also a street theater performance mocking the streamline process.
Pictures: http://chrissummitt.com/blog/endstreamline/
From the facebook event page:
Every day as part of Operation Streamline, at least 70 migrant men and women are collectively processed and given criminal sentences prior to their deportation. Most, if not all of these migrants are sent to private prisons where companies profit handsomely from their incarceration. In 2011, contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) accounted for 20 and 14 percent of revenue for CCA and GEO Group, respectively.
As discussion of Comprehensive Immigration Reform mounts in Congress, Senator McCain and the “gang of eight” have proposed an expansion of Operation Streamline and other federal felony prosecutions of people crossing the Mexican border looking for work or to reunite with family.
For many who have witnessed a Streamline hearing, the mere image of men and women shackled at the wrist, belly, and ankles being collectively herded through the legal process is enough to shock the conscience. Streamline raises serious and troubling questions about constitutionally protected due process, the growth of private prisons, the deepening criminalization of migrants and the exploding costs of contemporary immigration enforcement.
Full Set of PIctures here: http://chrissummitt.com/blog/endstreamline/
(I know it’s kind of large but I couldn’t let them go, it was hard enough to narrow it down this much…)
Today there was a protest calling for the release of both Raul Alcaraz Ochoa and Rene Meza Huertha without charges.
Raul Alcaraz Ochoa, a community organizer with the Southside Worker Center and Corazon de Tucson, was taken into Border Patrol (BP) custody at approximately 2:30pm this afternoon, after placing himself under a BP vehicle in a courageous act of civil disobedience, to prevent Rene Meza Huertha, a father of 6 from being taken into BP custody.
I got there late and missed the march but snapped a few pics afterwards. There were many more people there earlier but most had dispersed by the time I got there.
FULL SET HERE: http://chrissummitt.com/blog/freeraul/
The second day of protesting the Supreme Court’s ruling on SB1070. Partial justice is no justice.
FULL Set: http://chrissummitt.com/blog/sb1070ruling2/
Today the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of SB1070. Here are the results
The part of the law the justices upheld requires police officers stopping someone to make efforts to verify the person’s immigration status with the federal government.
The justices struck down three other parts of the law:
Basically the heart of the law was upheld. Protests were held in response. Here are pictures from Tucson:
FULL SET: http://chrissummitt.com/blog/sb1070ruling1/
Today, there was a press conference at the University of Arizona. A few weeks ago, the University of Arizona administration threatened to restrict access to the Social Justice Education Project office space on campus.
The Mexican American & Raza Studies department head Antonio Estrada has issued orders on April 24, 2012 that SJEP must “cut ties” to UNIDOS and TUSD’s K-12 Ethnic Studies Department.
This is an outrageous demand that the MAS program at the University are prohibited from associating with the former MAS program that existed in TUSD. If anything, the UofA program should be giving full support to the students coming from the suspended high school program. Today, students from both programs came together to speak out against this atrocity.
Here are some pictures from the event: http://chrissummitt.com/blog/protestaz/ethnicstudies_press_conf/
More info here: http://threesonorans.com/2012/04/25/ua-mas-head-antonio-estrada-sells-out-latino-students-at-ua-bans-sjep-and-unidos-and-support-of-mas-tusd/
The Tucson Police have agreed to comply with SB1070 and enforce this unjust law. A protest was held at their headquarters. Even Rudy Acuna was there to show support
Full Set: http://chrissummitt.com/blog/protestaz/tpdprotest/
Full Set from this year’s March here:http://chrissummitt.com/blog/protestaz/mayday2010
There was a great turnout this year, and some interesting teatro performed.
Documenting the injustice in Arizona. www.chrissummitt.com facebook.com/summittphotography
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