¡Alto Arizona!

Phoenix commission votes 13-0 for Sheriff Joe Arpaio to resign

by Emily Gersema - Jan. 30, 2012 09:50 PM| The Republic | azcentral.com

A Phoenix commission focused on equality issues has voted 13-0 to call for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to step down, and it wants City Council members to take a stand.

The Phoenix Human Relations Commission approved the resolution Monday at a special meeting. Three members were absent. The commission's resolution was supported by about a dozen residents who came to speak at the meeting, while a handful of others argued the commission had no business holding a vote on the future of an official elected by popular vote.

Commission Chairwoman Diane D'Angelo said she wanted the board to vote on the issue because of the U.S. Department of Justice's recent findings that outline several civil-rights violations by the Sheriff's Office, such as racial profiling and neglected sex-crime investigations. Although the commission is an advisory board to the council, its decisions are non-binding. Council members are concerned the vote could affect the city's jail contract.

DOJ Is Sorry If Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Feelings Were Hurt When They Disclosed His Civil Rights Abuses

Ryan J. Reilly, January 5, 2012 | Source: TalkingPointsMemo.com

You know how when you’re trying to avoid apologizing to someone who’s upset you throw in a qualifier like “sorry you’re upset” or “sorry you feel that way”? That’s the type of classic non-apology that a Justice Department official gave to officials representing Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio who were perturbed by the DOJ’s press conference announcing the findings of an investigation into wide-spread civil rights abuses in Arpaio’s office.

Arpaio’s people evidently didn’t get that the DOJ official was trying to be polite. A press release from Arpaio’s office yesterday in conjunction with their letter responding to DOJ called the press conference “a political sideshow that was both unfortunate and misleading and as such, prompted an apology to the Sheriff’s Office by the second in command of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.” A letter from attorneys for Arpaio’s people said that the DOJ official “specifically apologized to us for not being able to control the timing or manner of the announcement of the investigation’s findings.”

'Culture of bias' puts public's safety at risk

Opinions | Dec. 16, 2011 12:00 AM | Source: The Arizona Republic

This is not just about a clownish sheriff riding roughshod on undocumented immigrants.

The Justice Department's investigation into civil- rights violations at the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office contains a stunning series of allegations against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's leadership and raises serious concerns about public safety.

The investigation began during the Bush administration. Despite what supporters of Arpaio say, it does not look like a witch hunt or a politically motivated attack.

The Justice Department found evidence of discrimination, retaliation and human- rights abuses that would violate the First, Fourth and Fourteenth amendments to the Constitution, as well as several federal laws.

"Since roughly 2007, in the course of establishing its immigration enforcement program, MCSO has implemented practices that treat Latinos as if they are all undocumented," a Justice Department report released Thursday says.

Press Release: Congressman Grijalva Joins AZ and National Leaders to Commend DOJ Investigation on Arpaio

For Immediate Release:
December 16, 2011
Contact: Katy Green | B. Loewe

Congressman Grijalva Joins AZ and National Leaders to Commend DOJ Investigation on Arpaio

Leaders Say DOJ's Report is Step Toward Justice for Latino Community with Implications for National Immigration Policy

Link to recording of today's call: http://ndlon.org/docs/2011arpaio.mp3

Phoenix, AZ- Yesterday, the United States Department of Justice released a scathing report, confirming the “discriminatory policing practices” that Sheriff Joe Arpaio has used to terrorize the Latino community of Maricopa County for years and prompting the Department of Homeland Security to terminate the Sheriff’s 287(g) agreement and restrict his access to the controversial S-Comm program.

On a press call today, national and local leaders reacted to the reports findings, commending the investigation as a step towards serving the Latino community with the justice they so long deserve.

According to U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), "Sheriff Arpaio believes physical appearance is probable cause to stop and question individuals about their immigration status. Even after a Department of Justice investigation has told him otherwise, he continues to believe there’s no issue here. There’s nothing fair, equal or constitutional about racial profiling. His obsessive, politically motivated assault on Hispanics has destroyed public trust in his office and put innocent lives in danger. Federal law enforcement officials are right to name his failed tenure for what it is, and I hope he takes the honorable route by resigning immediately.”

COMMUNITY INDICTMENT AGAINST MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO (Et Al)

Source: Comites del Defensa del Barrio (http://cdb-tonatierra.blogspot.com)

FOR VIOLATION OF CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF CITIZENS AND NON-CITIZENS PROTECTED BY THE
US CONSTITUTION, THE UNITED NATIONS
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
AND THE
UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

TO WIT:

18 U.S.C.  § 241

 Section 241: Conspiracy against rights

If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured - They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death. 

18 U.S.C.  § 242 

Section 242: Deprivation of rights under color of law

Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.

NDLON Responds to DOJ Report, Calls for Severing of DHS Ties to Sheriff Arpaio

DOJ Report Serves as Indictment of Local Immigration Enforcement Programs that Created Constitutional Crisis in Maricopa County

Today the Department of Justice concluded its three year investigation into civil rights violations in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. In response to the detailed report, Pablo Alvarado of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network issued the following response:

“The Department of Justice report formally and forcefully describes a civil and human rights crisis in Maricopa County; one that has moved hundreds of thousands to demonstrate around the globe over the past several years.

It is a ringing indictment of a Sheriff’s office that has 'treated all Latinos as if they were undocumented' and the federal immigration contracts that have made such prejudice possible. It is the most detailed chronicle of the failed end result of the federal programs that make monsters out of local law enforcement.

We have waited three years for federal intervention to restore justice in Maricopa County. Now that the Department of Justice has outlined the symptoms, it is time for the Department of Homeland security to terminate its immigration contracts with the Sheriff as a first step toward a cure.”

The Department of Justice report outlines years of biased policing that created “a chronic culture of disregard for basic legal and constitutional obligations (page 2).”

It goes on to detail that deputies used excessive force against Latinos and built a “wall of distrust between MCSO officers and Maricopa County Latino residents (page 2).”

The report finds, “Since roughly 2007, in the course of establishing its immigration enforcement program, MCSO has implemented practices that treat Latinos as if they are all undocumented, regardless of whether a legitimate factual basis exists to suspect that a person is undocumented (page 6).”

“Sheriff Arpaio has promoted a culture of bias in his organization and clearly communicated to his officers that biased policing would not only be tolerated, but encouraged (page 9).”

The Full Report can be read: http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/mcso.php

More calling on Joe Arpaio to step down over botched sex-crimes cases

by JJ Hensley - Dec. 7, 2011 01:50 PM | Source: The Arizona Republic

Two more elected officials joined the chorus calling for the resignation of Sheriff Joe Arpaio over the botching of sex-crimes cases by his department in 2005.

State Reps. Ruben Gallego and Katie Hobbs, both Phoenix Democrats, held a press conference at the Capitol Wednesday morning to ask that Arpaio step down, two days after U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz, also call for the sheriff to resign.

"We pay for public safety and protection under the law and we expect to get it," Hobbs said. "Justice in Maricopa County has taken a giant step backward thanks to Sheriff Joe Arpaio."

Hobbs said the calls for resignation were not a partisan issue and said voters would have a chance to express themselves in the November election if Arpaio does not step down.

Arpaio said he has no intention of resigning.

The calls for Arpaio's resignation have come in recent days after national media outlets began reporting this week about hundreds of sex-crimes cases the Sheriff's Office mishandled between 2005 and 2007.

Mohamed Ali Muflahi Arrest: First Person Detained Under Alabama Immigration Law Was In U.S. Legally

Source: HuffingtonPost.com

Mohamed Ali Muflahi, the first person arrested under Alabama's strict new immigration law, is actually residing in the United States legally, his attorney proved on Monday.

Muflahi, a 24-year-old born in Yemen, was arrested Friday during a drug raid in Etowah County, Alabama, along with two other Yemenis, the Gadsden Times reported last week. According to local Sheriff Todd Entrekin, the three men were taken into custody for obstructing a government operation, and upon processing at the jail, only Muflahi was unable to produce documentation of his legal status.

This is a misdemeanor violation according to the new Alabama immigration law that went into effect late last month, and, Entrekin told the Times last week, the first arrest carried out under the new measures.

But it turns out that Muflahi is not in the U.S. illegally, as some had suggested. His attorney provided documentation of his legal status on Monday, Etowah County officials told the Associated Press.

Racial profiling decision against Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a small victory for immigrants

Albor Ruiz - Ny Local | Wednesday, July 13th 2011, 4:00 AM | Source: NY Daily News

Good news on the immigration front is few and far between, but lately some has been slowly seeping in.

Passage of comprehensive immigration reform is not imminent and the DREAM Act still does not have a real chance of being approved anytime soon, although we wish.

But there have been some minor yet encouraging victories.

One that has given a sense of real satisfaction to the many who have suffered abuse and discrimination at his hands has to do with the infamous Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

The self-proclaimed "America's toughest sheriff" has been ordered to pay Julián and Julio Mora, two Mexican men, $200,000 in a racial profiling case. Arpaio's deputies had detained the pair for three hours after stopping their pickup truck outside a landscaping company in February 2009.

But this time Arpaio's shenanigans carried an expensive price tag for Arizona taxpayers. A federal judge determined there was no probable cause to stop the men and they were entitled to monetary compensation. Chalk one up for the good guys.

Hackers expose racism's underbelly: Driving while black, brown or red in Arizona

Driving, and living, while Black, Brown or Red in Arizona
Article and photo by Brenda Norrell | Copyright Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Photos: Arizona border victims by Brenda Norrell

TUCSON -- When the ACLU released the report, "Driving while Black or Brown," exposing racial profiling by Arizona police, it came as no surprise to Native Americans who live in the state. When hackers exposed the racist e-mails of Arizona police officers last week, it came as no surprise to the Native Americans who are victims of excessive force by Arizona police in bordertowns.

When hackers exposed the fact that off-duty US Marine contract killers are patrolling the Arizona border with assault weapons, stalking migrants, it came as no surprise to human rights organizations in southern Arizona. When hackers exposed the fact that a school cop was reporting the diversity class at a Tucson high school to the Arizona Attorney General, that probably came as a surprise to many students and staff at Santa Rita High School. The district is engaged in an ongoing battle with the State of Arizona to save its ethnic studies programs.

What was a surprise when hackers spilled data from Arizona police files? The surprise was that they got caught. Arizona police, private security officers and white supremacists have carried out their abuse and crimes with impunity in the State of Arizona. The Governor, Arizona State Legislature and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio have fueled the xenophobic attitude towards migrants and all people of color. This trio has attempted to create rule by white supremacists in a state populated by 21 American Indian Nations and diverse peoples and cultures.

"The good old boy" system crashed with the servers of the Fraternal Order of Police websites last week.

While the mainstream media fuels the racism, aiding private prison profiteers to fill their prisons with people of color, the media also paints Sheriff Arpaio as a colorful character, rather than examining the poisonous climate of hate he has injected into the region.

Immigration agency pays Army veteran $400,000 for wrongfully detaining him

Rennison Vern Castillo, a naturalized U.S. citizen who spent seven years in the Army, was detained for months as a suspected illegal immigrant. The agency has issued an official apology.

By Andrew Becker | February 24, 2011

An Army veteran who spent more than seven months in an immigration lockup, despite his protestations that he was a naturalized American citizen, has received a $400,000 settlement and a written apology from the U.S. government.

Rennison Vern Castillo, 33, of Lakewood, Wash., sued officials at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's Northwest Detention Center, where he was held as a suspected illegal immigrant.

In a letter that was part of the settlement, the U.S. attorney's office in Seattle acknowledged the immigration agency's mistake.

"I believe that none of my clients … would ever have wanted to, or knowingly would have, detained a veteran and United States citizen," wrote Philip H. Lynch, chief of the civil division in the U.S. attorney's office. "We very much regret that you were detained."

The settlement was to be formally announced Thursday.

Castillo was born in Belize and was a child when his mother brought him to this country. He grew up in Los Angeles and become a naturalized citizen in 1998 while in the Army, where he served for seven years.

Internal Documents Prove ICE Misled Public About Secure Communities

By Thomas Francis | February 22, 2011 | Florida Center for Investigative Reporting

Officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deliberately misled the public and local law enforcement agencies about the immigration-enforcement program Secure Communities.

Internal e-mails obtained by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network show how ICE spokespersons rehearsed phrases that would frame Secure Communities as targeting the most violent illegal immigrants, even as evidence mounted that the majority of those deported through Secure Communities were arrested for a non-violent crime or detained despite having no criminal record.

Launched in 2008, Secure Communities is an information-sharing program through which local law enforcement agencies provide federal immigration officials with access to biometric information such as fingerprints of arrestees. If cross-referencing reveals a suspect is in the United States illegally, immigration officials can issue a detainer and deport the undocumented immigrant.

The Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center allege Secure Communities encourages racial profiling and discourages immigrants from reporting crimes or otherwise cooperating voluntarily with law enforcement.

Among documents released is an undated internal memo titled “Guidance for Handling Sensitive Jurisdictions.” The memo coaches ICE staff to say Secure Communities “focuses ICE enforcement on the worst of the worst,” emphasizing that the program “does not focus on undocumented aliens who are victims of, or innocent witnesses, to crime.”

In Detention: Behind Arizona's Walls 2/5/10

Editor’s note: This is the latest blog post from a 27-year-old college graduate who ran a small construction clean-up company in Arizona until he was stopped by police for a traffic infraction in late summer of 2010. After Yogi (not his real name) was arrested and fingerprinted his information was shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He was then transferred from jail to ICE custody because he lacked proper immigration papers. Yogi has lived in the United States since 1990. Deportation Nation is publishing his letters as a blog from the Florence Correctional Center, a private detention center in Arizona that is owned by the Corrections Corporation of America.

Feb. 5, 2010
Posted from: http://www.deportationnation.org/2011/02/in-detention-feb-5-2010/

Today is my third month of incarceration.

I was supposed to be the best man at my friends wedding. I was supposed to go to Vegas to watch a big fight, flight and tickets paid for. I was supposed to compete in my first Judo tournament. I was supposed to be the role model for my godson that I never had. I was a partner in two small businesses, and the breadwinner for my girlfriend and her two boys.

From in here, this whole experience seems surreal, I like many of the men in here, don’t believe imprisonment should be the way about solving this migration issue. Although at the moment I have no solution either. Al I know is that in my cell alone, there are two men who have had their green cards for 24 and 30 years, respectively, after 5 years with permanent residency people are eligible to apply for citizenship, but after 20 you would think it should be automatic.

I guess that just is another question I would like to put out in the universe.

Regardless of what your view is on the subject, I am sure you believe there needs to be some kind of reform or solution. Unmistakably, I believe that there are too many families at stake not to give an opportunity to those hardworking individuals who have spent decades contributing to this country without status. How is it just for people to be ineligible, or have to wait 15 to 20 years, to become permanent residents after all those years of struggling here. Why do people have to be arrested and humiliated to have the opportunity of a work permit? In the respect I agree with many politicians and like other folks like to say, the system is broken.

Just. Plato writes that justice is or does something for good. I cannot see incarceration, humiliation, and a systematic Gestapo tactic to do anything with just. Whether you think so or not, I am as you and you are as me, at least in the sense
that I am a person with his own feelings and notions. I want to be a part of a better society just like you. I have a set of ideals and one voice that can only say

I Am Human!

“In Detention” | Voices from Behind Arizona's Walls

Yogi (not his real name) is a 27-year-old college graduate who ran a small construction clean-up company in Arizona until he was stopped by police for a traffic infraction in late summer of 2010. He was arrested and transferred to a detention center because of his lack of proper paperwork. Yogi has lived in the United States since 1990. Deportation Nation is publishing his letters from the Florence Correctional Center, a private detention center owned by the Corrections Corporation of America.

Dec. 2,

via www.deportationnation.org

I’m 27 years old, this is my first blog.

It’s odd to think I am writing it from a jail cell.

Although, I should mention that officially I am not a prisoner, I am a detainee. Much like the people held in Guantanamo, I suppose, but my charge isn’t terrorism. My main charge is not being a US Citizen.

My story is much the same as many kids who grow up in the US, Honor Roll K-12, captain of Football and Wrestling teams.  Then off to college I went to learn and prepare how to master the “Real World”. Except my story is different, like the fact that I have been adopted twice or that I was born in Mexico.

The latter point drastically changes my current situation. It makes me, shall we say, susceptible to deportation from the country I grew up in.

A traffic violation leads me to my present position, the corner lower bunk furthest from the iron door, and toilet. A 16 men cell with one stainless steel toilet with no door to block your duties, one stainless steel sink. No contact with the outside letter except letters and now this blog.

Maybe you didn’t know a detention center like this existed. I know I didn’t. And yet, here I sit within a maximum-security facility, where hundreds of ICE detainees are housed. And my hope is that my writing this blog will bring awareness to something that is very real.

My intention is to relate and relay what I can attest to, what I have been through, what I do and most importantly the endless stories of other people from around the world that join me amidst these walls. I am in a most advantageous position in the respect. And given that time seems abundant in here, I think I will be able to do just that. Relate and relay.

Arizona's Long Dark Night Continues

by Randall Amster - Huffington Post.

Perhaps not since the full-on throes of the Civil Rights era has a single state been so beset by crisis, conflict, and now catastrophe. Chronicling Arizona politics has been a trying and tiresome experience on many levels, with few points of optimism at hand to buffet the constant blows of injustice and brutality. The open persecution of people of color at the level of both bodies and minds; the outright hijacking of the state's politics by far-right figures with white supremacist ties; the bankrupting of the economy while private interests gain tax breaks and write favorable laws for themselves; the decimation of the public infrastructure including the education and health care systems -- all of this and more has been front and center for beleaguered Arizonans in recent years.

A History of Hate: Arizona. Political Violence in a Rogue State

Best viewed in full screen mode.

A History of Hate: Political Violence in Arizona on Prezi

Why Aren’t More Black Musicians Boycotting Arizona?

As the anti-immigrant fever spreads, which side will blacks be on?

By: Nadra Kareem | TheLoop21
Mon, 07/26/2010 - 2:30am

Black musicians have a history of challenging oppression. From Billie Holiday singing about lynching to Marvin Gaye criticizing war and Public Enemy telling us to “fight the power,” African American performers have spoken up against injustice. So, how come more blacks haven’t signed up for Sound Strike, the musicians’ boycott against Arizona?

Performers participating in the strike have agreed not to play in Arizona until the state rescinds its new law to crackdown on illegal immigration. That’s because critics of SB 1070, scheduled to go into effect July 29, say the law will lead to racial profiling and harassment of anyone with brown skin. Seems like a problem African Americans can relate to, no? But just three famous “urban” recording artists have signed up for Sound Strike: Kanye West, Chris Rock (hey, comedians cut albums, too) and The Coup. Altogether, about 200 artists are participating in the boycott.

So, what’s the deal? Do contemporary black musicians fear that expressing their political views will alienate fans? Seriously, Kanye has yet to live down his “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” remark. Or is something else to blame for the low black turnout in Sound Strike? Perhaps African Americans have neglected to sign up for the boycott because they approve of SB 1070.

Arizona Sheriff Acused of Racial Profiling

Updated: Monday, 15 Nov 2010, 7:26 AM MST
Published : Monday, 15 Nov 2010, 7:16 AM MST

PHOENIX - Monday is a big day for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio: an immigration sweep at an El Mirage landscaping business and he's also answering tough questions linked to a lawsuit.

Arpaio is accused of racial profiling.

He's always in the public eye - the first to give interviews, he's on national news programs and even had his own reality show.

But when he goes in front of a camera to give his deposition, he'll ask that the video not be released just yet.

Is Obama an Accomplice to Arizona's Human Rights Crisis?

Now that the political posturing of the elections are behind us, it’s time for those in office to get to roll up their sleeves and enact policies that will take our country forward.  Free of ballot box considerations, the next months will demonstrate to the country where President Obama truly stands.

 Up until now, the rancid anti-immigrant atmosphere created by Republicans has left the president free to triangulate his position on the issue.  As long as the administration shows a hair’s width more compassion, the Democrats assume they’ve secured the Latino vote.

One place that assumption will be put to the test is in Maricopa County, Arizona. In the state that codified discrimination this Spring and most recently banned affirmative action as of the elections, the  administration appears to be talking from both sides of his mouth.

Arizona's Photo Radar

Thursday July 8, 2010

Olivia Munn explores the controversy over Arizona's highway safety versus invasions of privacy.

(Source: The Daily Show)

No Need for a Warrant, You’re an Immigrant

DIFFERENT RULES A federal raid aimed at undocumented immigrants in Long Island last month angered local officials who objected to the lack of warrants.

By JULIA PRESTON

Published: October 14, 2007

Correction Appended

LONG ISLAND officials protested when federal agents searching for immigrant gang members raided local homes two weeks ago. The agents had rousted American citizens and legal immigrants from their beds in the night, complained Lawrence W. Mulvey, the Nassau County police commissioner, and arrested suspected undocumented immigrants without so much as a warrant.

“We don’t need warrants to make the arrests,” responded Peter J. Smith, the special agent in charge in New York for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the agency that conducted the raids.

His concise answer helps explain the friction that the Bush administration’s recent campaign of immigration enforcement has caused. Last week, immigration officials announced that they had made more than 1,300 arrests across the country over the summer when they went looking for gang members. Since the raids were carried out under immigration law, many protections in place under the American criminal codes did not apply. Foreign residents of the United States, whether here legally or not, answer to a different set of rules.

Worse Than Joe Arpaio? Tucson Police Department Turns Over Mom and Dad To Border Patrol as Kids Cry

By Stephen Lemons, Tue., Aug. 24 2010 @ 4:45PM

Standard practice by the Tucson PD, as captured by Three Sonorans

Although activists are normally up in arms about Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio separating mothers from their children and otherwise breaking up families during his anti-immigration sweeps, this video by Tucson's Three Sonorans blog reveals that things may be even worse in the Old Pueblo.

In the blog post, the author states that it was just a dad who was taken away by Border Patrol after a routine traffic stop by the Tucson Police Department. But there's a woman being taken away by BP agents as well.

Chicana/o studies department targeted by hate crime

August 04, 2010
By Juana Esquivel and Krista Daly

A racial slur was written on a Chicano studies professor’s door in Jerome Richfield Hall.

Chicana/o studies Professor Xocoyotzin Herrera reported the incident to David Rodriguez, Chicano studies department chair, who immediately notified CSUN Police.

“The police used the term ‘hate crime’ and we agree,” Rodriguez said.

A swastika and “U.S.= white power” were found on Chicano studies professor Jorge Garcia’s office door. Garcia was notified by a general e-mail sent by Rodriguez to the entire department.

Rodriguez said he thinks the act may have been in response to a photo of undocumented immigrants and a card reading “Alto Arizona” which were on Garcia’s door.

Eva Longoria, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson Challenge #Arizona #Immigration Law #SB1070

Saturday – August 07, 2010 – 3:16pm

Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria-Parker is teaming up with Rosario Dawson, Wilmder Valderrama and a handful of other celebs to take a stand against the Arizona immigration law.

"I haven't made it a secret that I'm strongly opposed to the Arizona law and I've been pretty vocal about it," Longoria-Parker, 35, says in the PSA for Voto Latinos & Mun2's 'United We Win' campaign. "It's unfortunate that this immigration issue has been on the national agenda for the past three administrations."

Dawson -- who co-founded Voto Latino in 2004 -- tells UsMagazine.com that she brought the stars together to encourage young people to get involved in fighting for Arizona citizens' civil rights by visiting the polls on November 2.

"We recognize that this isn't just a Mexican issue or a Latino issue... There are people blogging and Tweeting for everything, from the BP spill to education and healthcare," Dawson, 31, tells Us. "We're all buzzing about these things, but unless we're actually marching to the polls, nothing is going to actually change."

Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Supporters And The Agenda Of Hate

This video clearly shows the unstable and dangerous following Sheriff Arpaio attracts and encourages. They express extreme hatred for Mexicans or anyone that disagrees with them. They harass and intimidate those that get in their way. They literally terrorize Day Labor centers on a daily basis. In a State known for its hate crimes, who will be the next to commit one?

(via Humanleague002 Youtube.com Channel)