Last week was one that many of us spent reflecting on the on-going struggles indigenous people/first nations encounter in the pursuit for sovereignty, protection of land and natural resources and environmental justice. If we needed a reminder, the recent fires remind us we are not only failing to steward the land but we are seeing centuries of damage expressed in intensified environmental disasters along with inreased racial and economic disparities in environmental injustices.

Our next newsletter will focus more on current indigenous struggles across Northern California. This is part of our preparation to launch an Environmental Justice Committee that will lift up the work being done by indigenous tribes, communities and organizations and other poor communities and communities of color most impacted by environmental injustice. 

The NLG has a long history of supporting struggles for indigenous sovereignty - from the national defense of the American Indian Movement in the 1960s and 1970s to the Water Protectors. These anti-colonial and environmental justice struggles are as urgent today as they have ever been. 

Please join us for our annual membership meeting on Wednesday, December 9th from 6:30-8:30pm to learn more about this and other work that will be launching in 2021. 

Hope to see you there! 

Sara Kershnar, Executive Director

Goals: 

• Bring membership, staff and Board together to build relationship and consolidate the organization
• Provide updates on committees and programs
• Have discussions that we often don’t have time for in committees, staff, board or other meetings and discussions
• Build unity and have open debate across some of the political points of unity as they are translated into our work
• Shift culture in ways that promote new and more diverse leadership and membership
  Identify ways to evolve our communication and coordination across the organization

On Tuesday, November 17, thirteen prisoners made public statements about how food in Santa Rita is inedible and that conditions in the kitchen are unsanitary. These declarations were submitted to the courts in González v. ACSO and Mohrbacher v. ACSO, two federal civil rights lawsuits demanding immediate improvements to Santa Rita’s commercial food operation.

On Wednesday November 18, Tikisha Upshaw expected to be transported to the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) and did not order commissary. She often avoids eating the jail food because it is spoiled or is contaminated – for example, with rat droppings, cockroaches, and bits of metal. Another prisoner offered her a bag of commissary food. A deputy who witnessed this confiscated the food, and took away her phone and commissary privileges for 30 days. Tikisha, who was ultimately never transferred to CCWF, was unable to eat for 2 days and her mental health took a turn for the worse. She requested to see mental health and was refused. Finally, when she pushed the sick call button, she was seen by mental health who simply doubled her Prozac dosage. Tikisha is the lead plaintiff in Upshaw v. ACSO, regarding sleep deprivation in Santa Rita, and has previously been targeted by the jail for her activism.

Oakland Abolition & Solidarity has organized a phone campaign to support women in Santa Rita and to demand that ACSO withdraw the discipline against Tikisha Upshaw. People need healthy food to sustain themselves and are not receiving it. Aramark’s cost-cutting and lack of quality control puts pressure on people to either starve or buy commissary food, which puts money in the Sheriff’s pocket. Deputies accuse prisoners of stockpiling commissary to further discipline them. Taking food from hungry people is torture. 

DEMANDS:

• No retaliation against Tikisha Upshaw (return the commissary and withdraw the discipline); stop confiscating commissary food as punishment
  
• Fix the hot water spigots in Housing Unit 24 so that prisoners can properly prepare commissary meals
  
• A clean and sanitary jail kitchen that is free of animals, birds, rodents, insects and vermin
  
• Properly cleaned and sanitized dishware and trays
  
• All food served is edible including: no spoiled food; no food with foreign objects; no food which has been contaminated by animals, birds, rodents, insects and vermin
  
• All food is properly handled, refrigerated and heated, without excessive heating 
  
• Food trays meet portion size and have all items called for in the menu; food production adheres to menus
  
• Special diet needs are met

Demonstrations in the Bay Area

On Thursday, November 19, Legal Observers mobilized at the SFPD Tenderloin station for a march and rally called by Defund SFPD Now, to express outrage at the shooting of a man on Market Street who is now in critical condition.

On Saturday, November 21, Legal Observers traveled to Discovery Bay, Fairfield, and Sacramento for three anti-racist and anti-fascist demonstrations.

In Discovery Bay, East Bay Resistance called for a march and rally to support a Black family who suffered a racist outburst and threats from a neighbor. There was a large, armed police presence which outnumbered the protesters, with mutual aid officers coming from many cities in the East Bay as well as CHP. There were no incidents

In Fairfield, Legal Observers mobilized for The Resistance Must Go On march, mobilized in response to the arrest of 9 people at a Fairfield City Council meeting on November 18. Organizers protested the hiring of a former Vallejo PD officer Dustin Joseph, who fatally shot Mario Romero in 2012 in Vallejo.

Advanced Legal Observers traveled to Sacramento to support a planned counter-protest against a pro-Trump rally called by right wing groups, including Proud Boys. There were few counter-protesters, some of whom left when Sacramento PD ordered the crowd to disperse. Legal Observers onsite were then surrounded and threatened by right-wing protesters. There were several arrests and Legal Observers were forced to leave the scene when they were targeted and followed by Proud Boys.

On Sunday, November 22, Legal Observers traveled to Martínez Detention Facility for a protest in support of Tyejuan Shepard, a young man who has developed serious medical issues while detained at the facility. Protesters demanded that Tyejuan receive immediate medical treatment or be released to his family. There were no incidents.

The campaign to hold Immigration Judge Ford and the San Francisco Immigration Court accountable is growing! Thank you to all the organizations and individuals (200+ and counting) who are showing support for our coalitional complaint to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) of the Department of Justice and have signed on to the public letter to demand that EOIR investigate Ford’s biased, hostile, and wasteful behavior. If you have not already, we encourage you to sign on to the open letter  (also available in Spanish) and invite others to sign also!  

On 11/20 law students, immigration advocates, and other community members trained to volunteer with our Collaborative Court Watch program. Providing court support and observation demonstrates solidarity with people in immigration proceedings and keeps eyes on the Immigration Court in a public and documented way. Our next court watch training will be Friday, December 4, 12:30-2pm. Sign up here. 

In continued work to empower individuals and families as they make their way through the US immigration system, Bay Area Asylum Support Coalition (BAASC) is holding another remote workshop to support pro se folx in preparing for their merits hearings; completing asylum, work permit, or other applications and forms; and building relationships and community power. We are looking for Spanish-speaking volunteers for the BAASC Workshop this Saturday, December 5, 9am-1:30pm. If you are unavailable then but still want to volunteer, we can match you with someone to support outside of the workshop hours. Please email lisa.knox@gmail.com and evermeulen@centrolegal.org to volunteer. You will be sent a recorded training in advance of the workshop. 

FACT SHEET ON DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ASYLUM AND WITHHOLDING OF REMOVAL 

The American Immigration Council’s fact sheet—written in partnership with the National Immigrant Justice Center—explains how the two forms of relief compare.

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TRAIN THE TRAINER KYR WORKSHOP RECORDING IN SPANISH

Immigration Defense Project recorded a train-the-trainer Know Your Rights workshop in Spanish in October 2020. It is accessible here. 

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NEW KNOW-YOUR-RIGHTS VIDEOS ON EXPANDED EXPEDITED REMOVAL

The California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ) has created a "Know Your Rights" video about Expanded Expedited Removal, linked to below. The video provides information on who may be affected by expanded expedited removal and tips for how some people can avoid being placed in expedited removal. They also share rapid response hotline numbers from across California.

Currently the video is available in Spanish and English, but CCIJ hopes to add additional languages in the future.

After some outreach and conversations, we’re excited to share that our initial environmental justice teach-in will now be a webinar series slated to begin the week of December 14th or early January.

Learn about the incredible work of EJ advocates, organizers, and communities in the Bay Area and how you can support the local EJ movement, including helping to form NLG-SF’s Environmental Justice Committee. If you’d like to participate in one of the sessions or want to get involved in the Environmental Justice Committee, please contact Zsea Bowmani directly at zsea@nglsf.org.