Resources for Activists

Estamos hasta la madre -- it means, “we’ve had enough.”

Last year, Javier Sicilia experienced a parent’s worst nightmare: his 24-year-old son, Juan Francisco, was murdered in Mexico’s deadly “drug war,” one of 60,000 men, women and children to fall victim to brutal violence in the past six years.

Mexico’s Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD), led by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, will tour the United States this summer in a Caravan for Peace (#CaravanaUSA). The Caravan will travel more than 6,000 miles to more than 25 cities, starting on Sunday, August 12th in San Diego and ending in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, September 12th.

The MPJD was born out of a father’s grief over his son’s death and a country’s pain for the 50,000 to 71,000 dead, 10,000 disappeared, and the thousands more displaced by President Calderon’s “war on drugs” which began in December 2006. In Mexico, the MPJD serves as a platform for victims of violence to share their stories and demand an end to this failed offensive against organized crime that has left a "trail of death, pain, and corruption in its path." Last year, the MPJD launched two similar caravans to the North and South of Mexico, where victims we able to express the consequences of the "drug war" in their own voices.

Read Javier Sicilia’s invitation to join the US Peace Caravan

Javier Sicilia and the MPJD hope the Caravan will spark a bi-national dialogue, in which victims on both sides of the border can share their collective pain and search for common solutions towards a much-needed peace. Through this dialogue, the Caravan hopes to “inspire U.S. civil society to stem the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico, to support humane and health-oriented alternatives to drug prohibition, and to demand more effective, non-violent security strategies.”

Want to get involved? Fill out this volunteer form or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

To view the Caravan’s route, click here.

To read the Caravan’s mission statement, click here.

To check out the Caravan's official website, click here.

Check out Global Exchange for more information.

 

 

U.S. Peace Caravan Route-- San Diego to Washington, D.C.: August 12 - September 12

San Diego, CA – Sunday, Aug 12

Los Angeles, CA - Monday – Tuesday, Aug 13 - Aug 14

Phoenix, AZ – Wednesday, Aug 15

Tucson, AZ – Thursday, Aug 16

Las Cruces, NM – Friday, Aug 17

Albuquerque/Santa Fe, NM – Saturday, Aug 18

Santa Fe, NM – Sunday, Aug 19

Rest Day, Santa Fe, NM – Monday, Aug 20

El Paso, TX – Tuesday, Aug 21

Laredo, TX – Wednesday, Aug 22

Harlingen/Brownsville, TX – Thursday, Aug 23

McAllen/San Antonio, TX – Friday, Aug 24

Austin, TX – Saturday, Aug 25

Houston, TX – Sunday, Aug 26

New Orleans, LA – Monday, Aug 27

Jackson, MS Rest Day – Tuesday, Aug 28

Montgomery, AL – Wednesday,Aug 29

Atlanta/Ft Benning, GA – Thursday - Friday, Aug 30 - 31

Louisville, KY– Saturday, Sept 1

Travel Night to Chicago, IL & Rest Day – Sunday, Sept 2

Chicago, IL – Monday - Tuesday, Sep 3-4

Cleveland, OH – Wednesday, Sept 5

New York, NY – Thursday - Friday, Sept 6-7

Baltimore, MD – Saturday - Sunday, Sept 8-9

Washington, D.C. – Monday - Wednesday, Sept 10-12

Feel like getting involved? Fill out this volunteer form or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Have you ever been inside a U.S. Border Patrol detention facility? I haven’t. But every year, thousands of migrants, many from Mexico and Central America, are held in these centers. Many have reported that their basic human rights were violated while in U.S. Border Patrol custody. Sadly, U.S. tax dollars are funding this humanitarian rights crisis at our Southwest border, and we need your help to stop it. First, let me tell you a few stories:

The National Immigration Law Center,
the Latin America Working Group Education Fund, and the
Women’s Refugee Commission cordially invite you to:

MIGRANTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS AT THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER: A NORTHERN MEXICO PERSPECTIVE

Thursday, March 29th, 2012
10:00am-12:00pm

AFL-CIO - President’s Room
815 16th Street Northwest 
Washington, District of Columbia 20005

Panelists representing migrant shelters and migrant rights organizations from cities along Mexico’s northern border will discuss their new report on human rights abuses in U.S. detention and deportation processes, as reported by recently deported Mexican migrants. The report is a result of a border-wide initiative to document such abuses and points to how U.S. immigration practices put migrants at greater risk of abuse and violence upon deportation.

PANELISTS:

•    Gabriela Morales and Lizeth Martinez, Centro de Derechos Humanos del Migrante in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua
•    Esmeralda Flores, Coalición Pro Defensa del Migrante in Tijuana, Baja California
•    Pedro Uriel Gonzalez, Casa YMCA de Menores Migrantes in Tijuana, Baja California
•    Jose Luis Manzo, Casa del Migrante Nazareth in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas
•    Perla del Angel, Centro de Recursos de Migrantes in Agua Prieta, Sonora

Space is limited. Please RSVP to Ben Leiter at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Event in Spanish and English – simultaneous interpretation provided

Migrant rights centers and shelters in cities along Mexico’s northern border serve thousands of migrants each year, many of whom have been deported from the United States just hours earlier.  These centers provide a refuge for migrants who too often fall victim to violence and exploitation upon repatriation to unfamiliar or unsafe Mexican border cities.  They also have a unique vantage point to document abuses that migrants have experienced in the U.S. immigration system.  At this event, panelists will discuss their new report that highlights documented patterns of human rights abuses against migrants in apprehension, detention and deportation by U.S. officials; present recommendations to inform the efforts of policymakers and advocates in Washington, DC; and share how growing threats against migrants and migrant rights defenders in Mexico affect their ability to defend and protect the rights of migrants.

If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact Ben Leiter at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 202.546.7010.

Monday, December 20 – SPECIAL UPDATE: On Saturday morning, the Senate failed to gather the 60 votes needed to break a Republican-led filibuster and move the DREAM Act forward for a final vote. Despite this disappointing outcome, we are encouraged that a majority of Senators supported the DREAM Act on Saturday by a vote of 55-41, including several unexpected “yes” votes from Democrats who voted against the bill just two years ago. Even more inspiring was the dedication and courage of the DREAMers—mostly young undocumented students—who led a nonviolent moment across the country, and took great risks to support this legislation. The LAWG remains committed to standing alongside these young people in their struggle for sensible and humane immigration reform that will allow them to pursue their dreams.  Thanks to everyone who joined us in our commitment and made a call, sent a fax, or wrote an e-mail in support of the DREAM Act this year.

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This is it.  Your Senators will be voting tomorrow morning on the DREAM Act. We need your help to make sure we get the 60 Senate votes to make the DREAM Act a reality.

Please call your Senators now and urge them to support the DREAM Act (S.3992)!

Find your Senator’s contact information here, or click here to be directly connected.

As we join with our families to celebrate Thanksgiving, we also remember the many thousands of immigrant families who continue to suffer and struggle in the absence of needed immigration reform. The passage of the DREAM Act can make a huge difference in the lives of undocumented youth who were brought to the U.S. by their parents and now, after working and studying hard to graduate from our neighborhoods’ high schools, confront obstacles to their future because of their legal status. By removing such barriers, the DREAM Act will allow immigrant students to pursue their dreams.

Migrants in our region are experiencing a human rights crisis, particularly those who journey northward through Mexico en route to the United States.  Just this past August, 72 migrants from Central and South America were found massacred in northern Mexico. Far from an isolated occurrence, this incident is a terrifying example of the experiences that countless migrants suffer on a daily basis. 

Click here to read the letter that LAWG and concerned faith, labor and human rights groups sent to President Obama urging him to demonstrate leadership at home to promote and protect the migrants’ human and civil rights, as well as work with counterparts in Mexico to ensure that migrants receive the basic rights inherently afforded to all humanity. 

In response to President Calderón's meeting with President Obama and address to Congress, LAWG, WOLA, and our counterparts in Mexico issued a joint statement urging our respective elected officials to move beyond the empty platitudes that typically characterize such meetings and instead capitalize on this historic visit to make concrete and meaningful commitments to transform the rhetoric of shared responsibility into reality.  Given the shared challenges posed by organized crime, arms trafficking and illicit drug use, it is critical that both countries move beyond ineffective and worn-out strategies and propose concrete, comprehensive solutions to address the root causes of these problems. 

To read the full statement, click here.