OC May Day Coalition to protest at Monday’s Santa Ana Council meeting

The O.C. May Day Coalition is going to rally and protest again on Monday, May 2, at  5pm, at the next Santa Ana City Council meeting, after marching today in Santa Ana.  The meeting will be held at 60 Civic Center Plaza, at the  “Police Community Room.”

The rally will be primarily about stopping the SAPD DUI checkpoints, which rarely ever result in arrests of drunk drivers.  Instead the SAPD use the checkpoints to take cars away from immigrants.

Mike Gonzalez, a district director for League of United Latin American Citizens immigrant councils, brought a dummy — intended to represent President Barack Obama — to the march at the Plaza of the Flags at 700 W. Civic Center, according to the O.C. Register.  Gonzalez has also indicated that he is considering running against Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez next year, according to one of my sources.

Here is the statement that the OC May Day Coalition posted on Facebook:

“May Day March in Santa Ana! OC May Day Coalition * Sanctuary City and Solidarity Statement 2011. We stand together under the same sun to proclaim, “Another world without borders is possible.” We stand in solidarity with workers around the globe to celebrate the international Labor Day on May 1st, 2011, the anniversary of workers’ struggles in the Chicago of 1886. Much like the workers who struck for an 8-hour work day, we are a coalition of people from many industries, cultures and nationalities.

We demand full legalization for all global workers in the U.S. Accordingly, we want an end to all policies that criminalize migration. Specifically, the City of Santa Ana notoriously targets unlicensed drivers. Safe drivers denied the possibility of applying for licenses are routinely stripped of their vehicles at traffic stops. We want to see the leadership in Santa Ana end these practices and declare itself a Sanctuary City.

We demand the restoration of families split up by immigration sweeps. We demand an end to the criminalization of people looking for work. Specifically, the Cities of Orange and Costa Mesa have passed anti-day laborer ordinances (9.37 and 10-354, respectively) with the intent of targeting and denying people of color, often times migrants, access to the economy.

We stand in solidarity with the people of Arizona in resistance against recent racist policies, such as SB1070 and the elimination of Ethnic Studies.

We oppose all racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, and Islamophobic attacks against our community. We are especially concerned about recent attacks this year against Muslims in Yorba Linda and Villa Park.

We want legalization of all students. We demand passage of the DREAM Act for all students to be able to graduate and find gainful employment.

We want strong, democratic, participatory labor unions. We stand in solidarity with workers defending their rights to collective bargaining in Wisconsin and throughout the country.

We stand in solidarity with municipal workers in Costa Mesa recently faced with severe cut-backs.

We want to bring the troops home. We want to end the wars of aggression and occupations in order to fully fund our own education and infrastructure.

We want green, environmentally sound jobs that pay living wages. We support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ campaign for fair food in Trader Joe’s. We join in their demand 1 penny more for pound for tomato pickers and an end to slavery in the fields.