TUCSON: Migrant Trail Walk Concludes Sunday at Kennedy Park

Our Vision  The precarious reality of our borderlands calls us to walk. We are a spiritually diverse, multi-cultural group who walk together on a journey of peace to remember people, friends and family who have died, others who have crossed, and people who continue to come. We bear witness to the tragedy of death and of the inhumanity in our midst. Lastly, we make this sacred journey as a community, in defiance of the borders that attempt to divide us, committed to working together for the human dignity of all peoples. La realidad precaria de nuestra frontera nos hace un llamado a caminar. Somos un grupo diverso en cultura y espíritu quienes caminamos juntos en una jornada de paz para recordar a nuestros compañeros, amigos y familiares: los que han muerto, los que han cruzado, y quienes continúan cruzando. Testificamos acerca de la tragedia de muerte e inhumanidad en nuestro medio. Finalmente, en comunidad, emprendemos un sendero sagrado en contra de estas fronteras que intentan dividirnos, comprometidos a luchar juntos por la dignidad de todos. June 3, 2016 Contact: Chandra Russo, Media Team Representative Olivia Mena, Spanish/English Media Team Representative E-mail: azmigranttrail@gmail.com Website: https://azmigranttrail.com     13th Annual Migrant Trail Walk Arrives in Tucson Record Number of Participants Complete Final Day of 75-mile Journey Through the Desert   Press Conference: Sunday, June 5, 2016 at 11:30 AM Kennedy Park, Ramada #3 Tucson, Arizona   TUCSON, Ariz- On Sunday, June 5, the thirteenth annual Migrant Trail, a 75- mile walk from Sásabe, Sonora will arrive in Tucson, Arizona. The event will culminate in a press conference, followed by a community gathering at Kennedy Park. More than 100 participants from across the United States, Mexico, and Central America have made the seven-day trek. Since the 1990s, more than 6,000 men, women and children have lost their lives crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The ongoing human rights crisis of deaths along the border is only one piece of the larger strategy to funnel vulnerable migrants into Arizona's deadly desert. Participants of the Migrant Trail walk not only bear witness to the tragedy of death, but the intentional dehumanization and militarization of border communities.   "Many years ago when we gathered to walk the first time in memory of those who have died in our sacred desert we never imagined that we would still be walking thirteen years later," said Margo Cowan, a Tucson-based attorney who has walked every single summer since the Migrant Trail Walk began. "We walk in memory of thousands of our brothers and sisters who have died horrific deaths as a direct result of our government's policies. We walk for each and every one of them and their families in witness to our government's profound crime against humanity committed daily, in our name, and in our desert made sacred by the blood and tears of the people who cross it," said Cowan. Chyenne Valenzuela, a freshman in Cienega high school in Vail, Arizona, comes to the walk because of her own family history, linked to some of the troubling policies that predated the current ones, such as the infamous Bracero Program. "I am walking this year because it is the same journey that my great grandparents made from Sásabe to the United States 55 years ago when my grandfather came as a bracero worker. If it weren't for them making this journey, I would not be here with the opportunities that I have today," Valenzuela explained. Ruby DeWilde, a seventh grader from Portland, Oregon, will be walking the Migrant Trail with her mother for the second time this year. "I'm walking because I want to bring attention to what is happening here and I want to let everyone know that it is not right. There are families and children just like me who make this treacherous journey trying to escape violence, arriving to the United States only to face criticism, racism, and often more violence," said DeWilde. A coalition of community group sponsors support the walk. This year's sponsors include: The Tucson Peace Center 365 Day Fast in Solidarity with DREAMers BorderLinks Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalists Fellowship Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalists Fellowship Immigration Justice Task Force Cafe Justo (Just Coffee) Casa Mariposa The Colibrí Center for Human Rights Coloradans For Immigrant Rights The Colorado Office of the American Friends Service Committee Franciscans for Justice Frontera de Cristo Green Valley/Sahuarita Samaritans Guardian Angels Catholic Community, a member of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion. Humane Borders Jewish Voice for Peace-Tucson La Coalición de Derechos Humanos Mennonite Central Committee Migrant Worker Solidarity Network No More Deaths Pacific University Peace & Justice Committee of the Mountain View Friends Meeting School Sisters of Notre Dame, Douglas, AZ Shalom House Shalom Mennonite Fellowship Tucson Samaritans University Presbyterian Church, Tempe, AZ Wat Buddhametta Tucson Buddhist Meditation Center The Migrant Trail Walk will begin the final 6.7 miles of their journey at 7:15 am at the BLM campsite on Ajo Way and San Joaquin Road.  Participants will be welcomed home at Ramada #3 at Kennedy Park at 11:30am with speakers, music, food, and testimonies from participants and supporters.  This event non-violent, family-friendly, and is free and open to the public. Participants and organizers of the Migrant Trail call on all people of conscience to stand in solidarity with our migrant sisters and brothers. For more information you can also visit our website: https://azmigranttrail.com ###   http://azmigranttrail.com/

Migrant children's prisons in Texas: Hold US responsible for international crimes

By imprisoning migrant children, in violation of international law, the United States has proven to be the world's bully, abusing children who have no one to protect them, or fight for their rights. -- Censored News

Photo: Detainees sleep in a holding cell at a US Customs and Border Protection processing facility in Brownsville, Texas. (Reuters/Eric Gay)

The United States and the United Nations refuse to protect the world's most vulnerable asset -- migrant children -- and refuse to defend its most valuable asset, its children

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

The United States is imprisoning children in migrant prisons, in violation of international law. The imprisonment of migrant children with adult strangers in Texas is an egregious crime against humanity. Further the State of Texas is further violating the rights of humanity by classifying migrant children's prisons as "child care facilities."

This flagrant violation, and the United States ongoing targeted assassinations using drones, combined with secret renditions to foreign countries, torture, and imprisonment without charges in Guantanamo, mandate that the United States be held responsible for crimes against humanity, and be responsible for punitive damages. 

Both the Bush and Obama administrations, and the individuals responsible, should be held responsible for war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

The most recent egregious violation of human rights is the imprisonment of children with adult strangers in a private prison-for-profit in Dilley, Texas.

The prison in Dilley is operated by Corrections Corporation of America. It is one of two privately run detention centers in Texas under contract with the United States government to hold undocumented immigrant women and children.

The other unit, in Karnes City, is operated by the Geo Group. The Karnes City unit can hold about 600 people and has already been issued a state license.

These two prisons-for-profit, both CCA and GEO (formerly Wackenhut), are operating in a criminal manner.

The Texas Tribune reports, "A Travis County judge ruled Wednesday that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services cannot license an immigration detention center as a childcare facility, giving immigrant rights groups a victory in a months-long battle with the state.

"State District Judge Karin Crump said her injunction was needed to protect the women and children being held in the 2,400-bed facility in Dilley, Texas. Crump said current licensing exceptions allow mixed gender detainees to room together and in some cases, force children to share quarters with adult strangers.

“The exceptions allow and have allowed for situations for children that are dangerous,” she said. “And this temporary injunction addresses those concerns.” Read the article: Texas: Judge blocks private prison licensing https://www.texastribune.org/2016/06/01/judge-blocks-state-licensing-detention-facility-ch/

The United States continues to act with impunity, violating international law, with mass incarceration of migrant children, and global assassinations. The United States should be held responsible for violations of the Geneva Conventions. 

Further, during its Periodic Review before the United Nations in Geneva in 2015, the countries of the world made it clear that the United States practice of longterm solidarity confinement in US prisons is torture.

The countries of the world also pointed out that the United States had failed in assuring women's rights and failed to protect blacks and people of color from racist police who use deadly force with impunity. 

At the United Nations, the countries of the world also made it clear that the United States had targeted American Indian communities with poisonous mining and toxic dumping, constituting environmental racism.

The United Nations has shown no willingness to actually hold the United States responsible for war crimes and egregious human rights violations.

The United Nations has revealed that on the issues of the United States war crimes, and crimes against humanity, that the United Nations is a hoax. As Lakota activist Russell Means always said the United Nations is no more than a "dog and pony show," and a puppet to the United States.

While the United Nations grandstands on human rights issues, and postures before the world with its theater, it refuses, and fails to carry out the vital protection necessary for the world's migrants and  people of color.

The United States and the United Nations refuse to protect the world's most vulnerable asset -- migrant children -- and refuse to defend its most valuable asset, its children.

Rosebud Sioux Tribe opposes mascots dehumanizing Native Americans

Statement of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe

Censored News

Dutch translation by Alice Holemans, at NAIS

“The Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council went on record at the May 25th, 2016 council meeting and voted unanimously in favor of a motion that the Rosebud Sioux Tribe stands in opposition to the Washington National Football League (NFL) team using the name Redskins.

Furthermore, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe stands in opposition to any and all racist, derogatory, mascots and their likeness names, etc.., which are meant to dehumanize and belittle Native Americans.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe will stand against racism and will not tolerate any team mascot claims under the guise that it is a means to honor Native Americans.”

Mohawk Nation News 'Chump Change'

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http://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2016/06/01/chump-change/

Frontera NorteSur: New Mexico: 'The Border's Flint, Michigan?'

June 1, 2016

Special FNS Feature

By Frontera NorteSur
Censored News

The Border's Flint, Michigan?

Paloma Rodriguez and Frank Hernandez were not shocked to hear about excessive levels of arsenic that were found in the water supply of their community. Operators of the Carousel Convenience Store on the edge of Sunland Park, New Mexico, Rodriguez and Hernandez had seen notices before from the local water utility district informing customers of the presence of arsenic in their water. In fact, the couple said they had always avoided drinking water from their taps.

"I don't drink the water.  I opened it up one time and it was yellow," Rodriguez said. "We've been here 21 years and never drink from the faucet..," Hernandez added. The shopkeepers, however, insisted that they had not seen the latest notice from the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA) reporting the breakdown of the water utility's two arsenic treatment plants.

Women's Boat to Gaza presented at European Parliament

From our U.S. representative, Kit Kittridge, in Brussels for face-to-face meetings with our international partners in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition:  Women's Boat to Gaza presented at the European Parliament May 31 , 2016 - Brussels, Belgium The Women's Boat to Gaza, a campaign of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition conducted meetings over the past weekend to discuss and further plans to set sail toward Gaza in mid-September with all-women delegates and crew. In doing so, we raise the issue of the ongoing illegal blockade of Gaza. Shabnam Mayet, Human Rights Advocate of South Africa says, "The Israeli occupation consistently both violates international law and disregards U.N. resolutions with impunity."      Marama Davidson Mairead Maguire. Confirmed delegates who will be on the flotilla include Nobel laureate (1976) and peace activist from Northern Ireland Mairead Maguire and Green Party New Zealand Member of Parliament Marama Davidson. Further delegates will be announced in the coming weeks.One of the important goals of our mission is to highlight the devastating effects of the brutal blockade on the Palestinian people living in Gaza. We will emphasize in particular the struggle of women and their many roles within the resistance.Women in Gaza often fill the role of caring for and sustaining life; they are actively involved in community development and nation building. It is important to make their voices heard, even more so during periods of extreme injustice. We also wish to acknowledge the anniversary of the massacre on the Mavi Marmara in 2010, when 10 nonviolent activists were murdered by the Israeli Navy, an illegal act in international waters that continues to go unpunished. However,  this brutal attack is nothing compared to the daily violence inflicted on Gaza with while the world remains silent. A United Nations report states that Gaza will be uninhabitable by 2020. Homes, schools and hospitals have been destroyed. 97% of water is not drinkable and electricity is reduced to a few hours per day.  "Our project, supported by many women's groups in Gaza and by civil society around the world, seeks to bring a message of solidarity and hope. In order to change this horrifying prediction the siege must be immediately lifted," says Ellen Huttu Hansson, spokesperson for Ship to Gaza Sweden. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has asked for the support of members of the European Parliament for the Women's Boat to Gaza and will seek assurances from all governments that they will protect and not obstruct its peaceful mission of solidarity to the besieged Palestinian people of Gaza. Wear our t-shirt, logo on front,  Women's Boat to Gaza in all our coalition languages on back.  Men's and women's sizes,   available now, $25 plus $5 postage     Contact Kit Kittredge, marnykit@gmail.com, to order one, or more to sell at local fundraising events.  Ask about discounts for bulk orders. Our U.S. national goal is $30,000.  Please help by holding a fundraiser in your community.  We can send fliers and a powerpoint presentation on Women's Boat to Gaza for the program. We ask for your continued support and donations to the Women's Boat to Gaza.