San Francisco Is Our Sanctuary!
Join City Officials, Community Members and Faith leaders to
denounce recent I.C.E raids & reaffirm SF sanctuary city status.
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
12:45 pm at the Steps of City Hall (Polk St)
The San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network, a citywide effort to increase legal services and education capacity, along with city officials, community organizations, clergy and local leaders gather to denounce the recent Immigration Customs Enforcement (I.C.E) raids at taquerias in San Francisco and the Bay Area and to reaffirm San Francisco as a Sanctuary City.
The city and community has responded with support and rapid response to the needs of those impacted by the raid. Our residents have a right to receive services, to attend school and to report crimes to San Francisco Police Department regardless of their immigration status.
On Friday, May 2nd, immigration agents conducted a large-scale raid at several locations of the El Balazo chain across San Francisco and the East Bay, where about 60 employees were detained and interrogated without legal representation. In April 2008, Mayor Gavin Newsom reaffirmed San Francisco as a Sanctuary City by stating, “We are standing up to say to all of our residents: We don’t care what your status is, we care that you, as a human being, are a resident of our city and we want you to participate in the life of our city.”
The press conference is being sponsored by Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights, SF Organizing Project, Progressive Jewish Alliance, ALDI (Alianza Latino-Americana por los Derechos Inmigrantes) and members of the San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network.
