Tucson, Ariz., protest demands 'Stop the raids!'

A protest of nearly 150 people gathered in downtown Tucson, Ariz., Aug. 28 to demand an end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, demilitarization of the border and an end to the inhuman border policy that has resulted in more than 200 deaths in the Arizona desert this year.

The crowd gathered amidst a collection of cardboard crosses, each with the name of an undocumented person whose body was recovered from the desert. “For each body recovered,” explained activist Isabel Garcia, “we estimate that there are between five and 10 bodies that go unrecovered.” Speaking about the recent deportation of Elvira Arellano and the inhumanity of separating her from her son Saúl, she told the crowd, “We are not going to let this happen anymore!”

A contingent of Tucson High School students marched from their school to join the rally. Leilani, a student leader, said: “We brought forth the youth of MEChA from Tucson High because the youth need to be involved. It’s up to us—the people, the students, the youth, and the workers—to yell and march for our rights.”

Michael Woodward of Tucson’s lesbian, gay, bi and transgender rights group Wingspan expressed solidarity and recounted the story of Victoria Arellano, who was denied medication and died in detention [see accompanying article].

Standing beside her parents, Cynthia Bracamonte told of the brutal treatment her father and uncle received upon re-entering the U.S. at the Nogales border crossing after visiting a dentist in Mexico. Arnulfo Bracamonte and his brother Mario are U.S. residents, yet customs agents took them out of line at the crossing and beat them so badly that they were both hospitalized. Arnulfo asked repeatedly for medical attention, but the agents continued to beat him until they saw the row of stitches in his side from a surgery he had three weeks earlier. They then released the brothers, who had to wait for family members to pick them up and transport them to the hospital.

After performing for the crowd, a member of the Mexica/Azteca dance group Danza Mexica Cuauhtemoc stated: “We must organize from the barrios up. This is a war against our people. It is a war against workers and we must defend ourselves.”

—Report and photo by Paul T.