Santa Ana youth block access to federal building in immigration reform protest

UPDATE: The Santa Ana 8 have all been released from jail!

Santa Ana students engaged in a civil disobedience action with the purpose of shutting down all activity in the Santa Ana Federal Detention Center, today.

At 10 am eight students blocked the driveway entrance to the detention center where buses full of detained immigrants enter and exit. Students sat down in the middle of the street and locked their arms using lockboxes so as to not be removed by the police or I.C.E. agents. Soon afterwards a large crowd of 300 supporters began to gather around the protestors declaring, “We are all Arizona!”

The protesters are not releasing their identities or carrying identifications in solidarity with undocumented people who are discriminated against and dehumanized because of discriminatory legislation and policies such as SB1070 in Arizona and Costa Mesa’s “Rule of Law.”

Furthermore, protesters, the majority of whom reside in Santa Ana, exclaimed their outrage with the refusal of the City of Santa Ana to proclaim itself a sanctuary city, despite repeated requests and demands by residents.

All the protesters have been taken to Santa Ana jail. There will be a press conference at 4pm.

They were able to block the entrance and exit of the santa ana detention center for almost 3 hours!!!

Visit the page to see the latest footage and spread the word at this link.

UPDATE:

Thank you for your support and solidarity. just wanted to inform you that so far only two detainees have been released. the other 6 are still detained. please call the chief of police (714-245-8001) and the deputy chief (714-245-8722) to demand that they immediately release the 6 activists and drop the charges of the santa ana 8.

Also, tune in tonight to telemundo to hear one of the arrestees, Iuri Lara speak about the protest.

Art Pedroza Editor
Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.
Art Pedroza

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

View Comments

  • You identify these 8 people as students. Can you confirm they are regularly attending school or otherwise qualify as students? If they are students at a school, was this protest appearance an activity encouraged by a teacher or school administration - perhaps at a Community College level?

  • Fool me, I know the students and yes, they are real students. One told me," I have to be out by Monday because I have a final!" Many students are waking up since the budget cuts raise the issues of privitazation and the human right of an education. Their emphasis is justice ...and love. To know that innocent people suffer needlessly because of corporate interests and propaganda (corporations cross borders to seek cheap labor, and ravage natural resources leaving devastated communities and to distract from the fact that it's the oligarchy, not immigrants, that are harmful, the standard issue of scapegoating the most vulnerable seems to have appealed to many of our population. I don't know that I've met a more noble group of young people and I'm glad to have helped paint a canvas here and there.

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