The Department of Homeland Security said at Congressional hearings Sept. 10 that cost overruns, legal obstacles and other problems imperil its goal of completing the 670 miles of fencing and technological improvements on the Southwest border. Rising construction costs and… Read moreHomeland Security admits to cost, time overruns in border fence
Four protesters descended from a redwood at UC Berkeley Sept. 9, after 21 months—648 days—of occupying a contested campus grove. Protesters sought to stop construction of a $124-million athletic center, but a court injunction on the construction was recently lifted…. Read moreBerkeley tree-sit ends after 21 months
About 1,500 people marched through the streets of Denver, Colo., on Aug. 28, the final day of the four-day Democratic National Convention there, to press for immigrant justice. The march was organized by American Friends Service Committee and sponsored by… Read moreImmigrants march in Denver
On Aug. 31, more than 100 activists from a coalition of organizations concluded a four-day march along the route of a new border fence which the US federal government claims will help stop immigrants crossing from Mexico. The march opposing… Read moreTexas: marchers oppose border fence
On Aug. 29, US District Judge Sam A. Lindsay issued a final judgment permanently preventing the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch from enforcing an ordinance that would have required landlords to verify the immigration status of tenants. Lindsay ruled that… Read moreTexas town’s immigrant rental ban overturned
On Sept. 2 in Alexandria, Va., former Florida professor and civil rights activist Sami Al-Arian was finally released on bail after spending five-and-a-half years in jail. Al-Arian had been transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on April 11… Read moreCivil rights activist Al-Arian released
It looks like someone spoke too soon, accusing GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin of having been a member of the Alaska Independence Party. Now it turns out that she only attended the party’s 1994 convention, and that her husband… Read morePalin flap on Alaskan separatism reveals media double standard
In what appears to be the first use of criminal charges under the 2002 Minnesota version of the federal Patriot Act, Ramsey County prosecutors have formally charged eight alleged leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee with “conspiracy to riot in… Read moreTwin Cities: RNC protesters face “terrorism” charges
Journalist Amy Goodman was arrested in St. Paul, Minn., where she was covering the RNC protests Sept. 1. Goodman was arrested along with Democracy Now! producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, who are still being held. Ramsey County authorities… Read moreIndependent journalists targeted in Twin Cities repression
On Aug. 25, dozens of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested approximately 595 workers in a raid on an electric transformer manufacturing facility owned by Howard Industries, Inc. in Laurel, Miss., a town of 20,000. The agents sealed… Read moreICE raids Mississippi factory; 595 arrested
On the weekend before the Republican National Convention, law enforcement agencies in the Twin Cities temporarily detained dozens of people and issued a series of search warrants aimed at groups organizing protests. Attorneys for the National Lawyers Guild said those… Read morePre-emptive sweeps in Twin Cities
On the morning of Aug. 27, UC Berkeley campus police raided the Long Haul Infoshop on Shattuck Ave. in South Berkeley, breaking down the door and confiscating all computers on the premises. Computers taken included those used by East Bay… Read morePolice raid Berkeley anarchist infoshop
