MEDIA ADVISORY California-Wide
Contacts (Oakland, CA) On Monday, May 23, immigrant and refugee rights organizations across the state will send an “Open Letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger” – calling on the Governor to withdraw his invitation to the Minutemen Project, an armed anti-immigrant vigilante group that “patrolled” the Arizona border. They are calling on the Governor to prosecute any initiative, measure or campaign that endangers the well-being and rights of immigrant communities in the state of California and to make good on his words as a “champion of immigrants.” The "Open Letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger" is embargoed until Monday, May 23, 2005, for publication and public distribution. The open letter, “Gov. Schwarzenegger -- Retract Your Support for Border Vigilante Hate Groups – Advocate for the Rights of All California Residents,” comes after a series of controversial public statements made by Governor Schwarzenegger over the last two months. Gov. Schwarzenegger, first, called for “closing” the U.S.-Mexico border, then applauded the Minutemen Project for doing a “terrific job” in Arizona, where they harassed and illegally detained migrants. He then invited them to California, while calling for more border security and immigration enforcement. The “Open Letter” declares: · “One out of every four Californians, like you Mr. Governor, is an immigrant. Your support for vigilantes amounts to calling for attacks on immigrants and diminishes their civil rights. · “We are calling on you to immediately retract your support for the Minutemen Project and to publicly pledge to uphold fundamental human and civil rights. · “As Governor, it is your responsibility to protect and promote the rights and interests of all California residents -- regardless of their immigration or citizenship status -- to live, work, worship, study and play free from fear or hate.” Signatories to the letter are demanding that Governor Schwarzenegger: *Retract his support
for the Minutemen, disinviting them and any other anti-immigrant group
from coming to California to harass immigrants. The “Open Letter” points out that the U.S. already spends more than $2.5 billion annually on immigration control and enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico border alone. In spite of the firestorm of criticism, Gov. Schwarzenegger continues lauding the Minutemen Project and is unwittingly inciting anti-immigrant hysteria and destabilizing community safety. The Minutemen Project, the open letter emphasizes, is “mimicking” the U.S. official border enforcement strategy of “prevention through deterrence,” which according to the Public Policy Institute of California has failed at its intended goal of stopping unauthorized migration and has only resulted in more migrant deaths. Implemented in 1994, the current border security strategy deliberately forces migrants to cross through dangerous isolated desert and mountainous areas. During the last ten years, over 3,500 migrants have died as a result. The letter closes by calling on Governor Schwarzenegger to work “to ensure the integration of all immigrant communities into the mainstream of California.”
California State Contacts (Partial List): AFSC U.S.-Mexico
Border Program: Christián Ramírez (619) 233-4114
OPEN LETTER TO GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER Gov. Schwarzenegger
-- Retract Your Support for Border Vigilante Hate Groups Dear Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger: One out of every four Californians, like you Mr. Governor, is an immigrant. Your support for vigilantes amounts to calling for attacks on immigrants and diminishes their civil rights. We are calling on you to immediately retract your support for the Minutemen Project and to publicly pledge to uphold fundamental human and civil rights. As Governor, it is your responsibility to protect and promote the rights and interests of all California residents -- regardless of their immigration or citizenship status -- to live, work, worship, study and play free from fear or hate. Mr. Governor: Second, Governor Schwarzenegger, you must denounce as illegal and pledge to prosecute any form of vigilantism, hate violence, racial profiling and/or any other discriminatory and anti-immigrant actions or campaigns, which threaten the rights and integrity of our communities everywhere in California. And, third, Gov. Schwarzenegger, we urge you to act quickly to make good on your declaration that you are a “champion of immigrants,” to provide equitable and fair access to public services, including driver’s licenses, fully funded education, labor protections, and healthcare, to all residents of California regardless of their immigration or citizenship status. Close Off Hate, Not the Border! Your latest remarks, Governor Schwarzenegger – lauding the actions of a paramilitary private citizen armed patrol – are a patent endorsement of activities that promote bigotry and hate. By not taking a resolute stand against the Minutemen Project and other anti-immigrant groups, you are encouraging more vigilantism and hate violence against immigrants or anyone perceived to “look or sound” like an immigrant in California. We must remind you of your statements, during a press conference over three weeks ago, Gov. Schwarzenegger, when you called for closing the U.S.-Mexico border. While you did not apologize and blamed your command of English, saying you misspoke, you changed your statement to say instead that the federal government must do more to “secure” the border. Then, two weeks ago week during a radio interview, you praised the Minutemen Project, an armed vigilante anti-immigrant group, which attempted to seal a twenty-mile stretch of the U.S. border in Arizona to stop migrants from crossing. Mr. Schwarzenegger, you claimed they were doing a “terrific job” and invited them to come patrol California’s border. On Sunday May 8, during a Fox television interview, you reiterated your support for the Minutemen Project, claiming that “no one, Democrats and Republicans alike” wants immigration reform. “It’s not a lack of money. When we can afford the war in Iraq, we can afford to control our own borders,” you declared. We remind you, Gov.
Schwarzenegger, that the U.S. government already spends ten times more
on immigration enforcement than on immigration services. The U.S. spends
over $2.5 billion annually on immigration enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico
border alone. Today there are more Border Patrol agents in the San Diego
border sector alone than there were along the entire 2,000 mile-long
U.S.-Mexico border in the 1980s. Additional billions are spent on airports
and other points of entry. And, while our schools and health care services are severely under-funded or cut back, even more enforcement monies are on the way. Congress and the President have now pledged to double border enforcement, triple interior enforcement, and radically expand jail space for undocumented immigrants over the next five years after President Bush signed into law the “National Intelligence and Terrorism Prevention Act” in December 2004. On May 11, 2005, President Bush signed the REAL ID Act, as part of the Iraq war budget, which will send hundreds of millions of dollars more for the continuing militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border. The Minutemen Project, which you lauded Governor Schwarzenegger, is only mimicking the U.S. government’s inhumane border enforcement strategy, called “prevention through deterrence,” which forces migrants to risk their lives crossing through the most dangerous desert and mountainous areas. The Border Patrol began applying this strategy to the entire border in 1994. The result is immigrants are deliberately funneled into Arizona and other isolated border areas where hundreds of men, women and children die every year. According to the 2002 study by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California, Holding the Line: The Effect of the Recent Border Build-up on Unauthorized Immigration, increased U.S. border enforcement has done virtually nothing to decrease unauthorized migration and only produced more migrant deaths. Since 1994, more than 3,500 migrants have died at the border as a result of the border control strategy. The Mexican government states that an average of two migrants die on the border every day, a result of being deliberately forced to cross through dangerous desert and mountain regions. In spite of the firestorm of criticism against you, Governor Schwarzenegger, you continue to commend the Minutemen who have declared they will come to California in August. Taking advantage of this volatile situation, California Republican Assemblyman Ray Haynes and “Rescue California,” the group that led the recall effort of Gov. Gray Davis, have submitted a state initiative for the 2006 ballot calling for a state border police to “secure” the border and go after employers hiring undocumented workers. Governor Schwarzenegger, we hold you directly responsible for any hate violence that may result from your words of encouragement to anti-immigrant vigilantism. We also hold you responsible if we are faced with fighting a wasteful state border patrol initiative that will further divide our state and communities. Instead, your Office should be working to ensure the integration of all immigrant communities into the mainstream of California. The time is now to retract your statements and take positive actions to remedy the situation and ACT as a “champion of immigrants.” We must all work together to create a future where all Californians and their communities thrive or we will face uncertainty and divisions that will tear our state apart. We look forward to hearing from you. Respectfully,(Partial
List of Endorsers)
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