A day after 19 people were arrested in San Francisco at a peaceful protest against Arizona’s harsh law targeting undocumented immigrants, immigrant advocates will rally in Oakland and San Francisco to press their call for national and state reforms to immigration policy.
A federal judge has frozen the most controversial provisions of Arizona’s law, SB 1070, which was due to take effect today. But opponents in the Bay Area are spotlighting that law’s impact and local participation in a federal immigration enforcement program. Local law enforcement in Solano, Contra Costa, Sonoma, Alameda and San Francisco counties collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents by reporting undocumented immigrants who are arrested in their jurisdictions.
The San Francisco action is at 11 a.m. at the State Building and will call on Attorney General Jerry Brown to halt the city’s work with ICE. In Oakland, a rally and street theater at 12 p.m. at the Federal Building and at 3 p.m. at the Fruitvale BART station will be staged by a coalition of groups supporting immigration reform efforts.