Mon 7/8: Protect wild California! Tell Sen. Jackson to support (2) bills with (1) call!

Up in the Santa Monica Mountains, P-47 was just going about his job. The mountain lion, studied by researchers since he was 4 weeks old, was part of an ecosystem that keeps rodent populations under control. However, due to eating prey animals dosed with anticoagulant poisons, internal bleeding caused him to die a slow and painful death.

Action #1 – Stop the poisoning of our wild critters. Say “YES” to AB 1788!

AB 1788 – Pesticides: use of anticoagulants. Anticoagulant rodenticides (rat poison) indiscriminately destroys ecosystems and poisons native wildlife such as bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, owls and hawks. These rodenticides are also one of the top ten pet toxins, injuring or killing household pets who eat either affected rodents or the bait itself. In addition, more than 4,400 children under age 6 were poisoned with these long-acting toxins in 2016, which disproportionately harmed those from low-income families. (More information from Project Coyote and Marilyn Krieger’s article “Rat Poisons Aren’t Selective” here.) We can do better.

This bill has passed the Assembly and is now in the Senate Natural Resource and Water Committee. Senator Jackson is on it, along with Senators Stern, Jones, Allen, Borgeas, Caballero, Hertzberg, Hueso, and Monning. They’ll be voting Tuesday morning (7/9), so get your call in today.

One call does it all! See the combo-script under Action #2 below!

Action #2 – Stop killing bobcats! Say “YES” to AB 1254

Many people saw this picture of a bobcat kitten and a fawn, who had been rescued from Santa Barbara’s 2009’s Jesusita Fire. During the mayhem, rescuers were forced to put animals anywhere they could, since they had run out of crates. The kitten ran to the fawn, and it was instant bonding

Continue reading “Mon 7/8: Protect wild California! Tell Sen. Jackson to support (2) bills with (1) call!” →

Mon 7/8: AB-32 is now in Public Safety. Call Hannah-Beth again today and tell her to keep up the fight against the private prison business.

Your calls to Senator Jackson were heard! Do it again!

“Bank of America to cut ties with companies that help run immigrant detention centers, private prisons.” (USA Today)

“We must address the complete scope of what’s going on in these Wall Street-run corporate detention facilities. California should not be home to companies that are profiteering from the tearing of innocent children from their families. This is inhumane and goes against who we are as Californians and Americans.

“It’s time California takes a stronger stand for the humane treatment of those being detained or incarcerated in our state and be a model for others across the nation. We are better than this and we cannot and must not be silent during this inflection moment in our history.” – Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland)

Action – Call State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson TODAY and tell her to again vote “YES” on AB-32.

Last Tuesday, Senator Jackson helped push this bill through the Senate Judiciary Committee. It’s now in the Senate Public Safety Committee, and she’s on that too! Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 9th, she, along with fellow senators Skinner, Moorlach, Bradford, mitchell, Morrell and Wiener, have on opportunity to help outlaw private prisons in CA, including immigrant detention centers, and all the human misery that come with them, by voting “YES” on AB-32. Continue reading “Mon 7/8: AB-32 is now in Public Safety. Call Hannah-Beth again today and tell her to keep up the fight against the private prison business.” →

July 4th – The stakes are high…time to play Hatch Act Bingo!

Action – Play Hatch Act Bingo during the administration’s hijacking of Independence Day. (4) different cards to print out along with nifty tank markers!

card 1 card 2 card 3 card 4 card 5 (create-your-own!)

People are watching. If Trump or anyone else on stage slips into MAGA-mode, his campaign would be liable, under the Hatch Act, for reimbursing our costs. So watch along with Walter Schaub and us with your very own print-out Hatch Act Bingo cards. You get a marker if:

Trump uses one of his campaign slogans: “Make America Great Again” or “Keep America Great”;
Trump mentions the election, his reelection, or a desire to stay in office;
Trump mentions election polling, his approval rating, or his fundraising efforts;
Trump mentions a candidate vying for a rival party’s nomination for president;
Trump mentions his political party or a rival political party;
Volunteers hand out campaign signs, banners, or flyers;
Other speakers on the stage mention Trump’s campaign, reelection or a desire for Trump to remain in office;
Other speakers on the stage mention one of Trump’s political rivals, Trump’s political party, or a rival political party;
Trump campaign officials are present at the event; or
Any other indicia of political activity.

Background

“He wants to have a parade like they have in Moscow or China or North Korea.” – RNC fundraiser

Our President has kidnapped America’s 4th of July and is dragging it into an Continue reading “July 4th – The stakes are high…time to play Hatch Act Bingo!” →

Tues 7/2: Immigration judges and ICE are deliberately using high bail to fill up jails. Tell our legislators to stop this abuse and and have a SALE on BAIL!

Action – Ask your legislators to lower minimum bail from $1500 to $100 and to recycle that $1500 into a maximum bail cap.

Advocates say that one of the most effective ways of reuniting children and families is to pay their bail. The minimum bail to rescue a guest of our concentration camp system starts at $1500 a head per federal law and has no upper limit, reaching as high as $250,000. Under Trump, both immigration court judges and ICE officials are increasingly denying bond requests altogether, or setting them at amounts in excess of $10,000, deliberately making them unaffordable for many immigrant families. With all the overcrowding, why so much? After all, CA sets minimum bail for citizens (pg. 14) at $50 for infractions and $500 for misdemeanors. High bail keeps asylum seekers and others locked up in increasingly inhumane conditions at taxpayer expense or forces their families to use predatory bail bond companies with high upfront fees, mandatory ankle monitors and monthly charges. It also sucks away money they need to hire lawyers to help them plead their cases. Let’s ask legislators to fix this nightmare system, reduce the minimum bail and cap the maximum, and get people back with their families.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Rep./Sen. [___] to sponsor legislation to reduce the legal minimum bail required from $1500 to $100 and institute a maximum cap of $1500 for those who pose no danger to the community and little flight risk or who comply with FreedomforImmigrants.org’s bond program requirements. Continue reading “Tues 7/2: Immigration judges and ICE are deliberately using high bail to fill up jails. Tell our legislators to stop this abuse and and have a SALE on BAIL!” →

Tues 7/2: CA Senate Judiciary Committee is voting on AB-32 at 1:30 pm today! Call Hannah-Beth this morning and tell her that we want out of the private prison business too.

“Bank of America to cut ties with companies that help run immigrant detention centers, private prisons.” (USA Today)

“We’ve all seen the current humanitarian crisis play out along the southern border. No human being deserves to be held in the horrific conditions we’ve been seeing in these for-profit, private facilities. It’s clearly not enough to focus our legislation on prisons alone.

We must address the complete scope of what’s going on in these Wall Street-run corporate detention facilities. California should not be home to companies that are profiteering from the tearing of innocent children from their families. This is inhumane and goes against who we are as Californians and Americans.

Action – Call State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson THIS MORNING and tell her to vote “YES” on AB-32.

Today at 1:30, our Senator Jackson, along fellow members of the Senate Judiciary Committee (Senators Borgeas, Durazo, Gonzalez, Jones, Monning, Stern, Umberg and Wieckowski) have on opportunity to help outlaw private prisons in CA, including immigrant detention centers, and all the human misery that come with them, by voting “YES” on AB-32.

Minimal Script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to vote “YES” on AB-32.

Contact:
State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (SD-19): SAC (916) 651-4019
Not your people?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Close the Camps Protest at Rep. Brownley’s Office – On July 2nd!

When: July 2nd, 11:45am – 12:45pm
Where: Rep. Brownley’s office, 223 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.
RSVP: (and share!) https://www.facebook.com/events/2657967964429858/
Bring: Please bring a sign, your flag, and your most passionate voice!

Trump’s family-separation/detention-center regime is a humanitarian crisis — and Rep. Julia Brownley last week helped scuttle a House bill that would have put restrictions on Trump’s racist excesses. (She voted the same as Nunes and McClintock!)

Please join this protest, part of a nationwide day of action, hosted by Indivisible Conejo, demanding that Brownley stop caving in to Republicans and support legislation that places limits on Trump’s ability to cage children — and urging her to visit a detention center in the coming weeks.

We’ll be protesting outside from 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m., and a small contingent of activists will meet with Rep. Brownley from 12-12:30 p.m.

Please note that Lights For Liberty protests are still scheduled for Friday, July 12, at detention centers and on street corners nationwide.

By participating in this event, you agree to follow all applicable laws and to behave lawfully to ensure the safety of event participants. This event will be nonviolent and will not involve any civil disobedience or other violation of law. In the rare occurrence of counter-protesters, you further agree to not engage and use the “isolate and ignore” model.

6/29-6/30: Your Ventura County weekend activity update!

Share this information with those who need it and those who can help!

Action #1 – June 29th – “Know Your Rights” Workshop

Sharing link: here

This event, and another offered on July 9th in a different location, are sponsored by Buen Vecino and will be conducted in Spanish. If you’re interested to becoming a Know-Your-Rights educator in English, Spanish or in other languages, check out buen-vecino for further information. Contact casaartearch@att.net for more information.

Continue reading “6/29-6/30: Your Ventura County weekend activity update!” →

Thurs 6/27: Yeah, they’re concentration camps…so now what do we do?

Action #1 – If you haven’t called your legislators on HR 2415/S.1243 – Dignity for Detained immigrants” yet – start here.

Go to this link and follow the instructions in Action #3 on that page to make a 10-second call to your legislators.

Action #2 – Check out local activities!

Activities listed here.

Action #3 – Congress’s final funding bill must comply with humanitarian basics.

Both houses have passed their bills for funding addressing the humanitarian crisis at the border. Both versions include stipulations regarding migrant care and prohibit the use of the funds for a border wall. However, the Senate bill offers the Pentagon funding and has fewer rules on how agencies can appropriate the funds. The House bill has many more restrictions on how the administration can use the money and contains clear standards for the care of children. It also bans the HHS secretary from waiving requirements for facilities designated as “emergency influx shelters”, which is how the administration has gotten around the 20 days maximum of the Flores Settlement. This is how some kids in Homestead, Florida have ended up detained for as much as 8 or 9 months. Next, our legislators have to reconcile the two versions.

Continue reading “Thurs 6/27: Yeah, they’re concentration camps…so now what do we do?” →

UPDATE: Friday deadline 6/28 – Sign-up sheet for those interested in carpooling &/or a bus to detention centers for July 12th – Lights of Liberty.

Action – Fill in this poll by Friday if you’re interested in carpooling and/or a bus to Adelanto or Otay Mesa Detention Centers for July 12th!

Poll link here.

In Ventura County, a coalition of immigrants’ rights advocates and allied organizations is considering joining these protests in three locations:
1. The High Desert Detention Center in Adelanto, near Victorville (about a 90-minute drive);
2. The Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego (about a four-hour drive);
3. A protest in Camarillo, outside an ICE facility and across a freeway (DO NOT FILL OUT POLL.)

Continue reading “UPDATE: Friday deadline 6/28 – Sign-up sheet for those interested in carpooling &/or a bus to detention centers for July 12th – Lights of Liberty.” →