Last month, Costa Mesa, in California's Orange County, passed a resolution allowing their police to help enforce federal immigration laws. The resolution appears to only cover those arrested for other crimes. And, it only passed 3 to 2.
Those who voted for it were Mayor Allan Mansoor and council members Eric Bever and Gary Monahan.
Voting against it were
council members Linda W. Dixon and Katrina Foley. The council's switchboard is at (714) 754-5285 if you want to ask them why.
Despite - or because of - the commonsense nature of the resolution, on Tuesday there was a protest:
About 80 activists massed before Tuesday's council meeting, singing in Spanish and carrying hand-painted signs reading "Nobody Is Illegal" and "[Mayor Allan Mansoor] Is a Bigot." Other signs proclaimed the United States the property of Mexico and Americans as the interlopers.
The Jean O. Pasco article ends with this:
"We demand a reversal of the agreement," said Coyotl Tezcalipoca of the Tonantzin Collective, a pro-immigrant group.
Since that's from the L.A. Times, you might expect them to have left a few things on the editing room floor. So, let's turn to
"Arrest disrupts Costa Mesa council meeting":
A City Council meeting broke into chaos Tuesday night as police forcefully arrested immigration-rights activist Coyotl Tezcalipoca after he refused to leave the chambers. He was charged with disrupting an assembly and obstructing an arresting officer, police said.
...After accusing the council majority of trying to rid Costa Mesa of Mexicans and vowing that he and other members of Tonantzin Collective, an immigration rights group, would never allow that to happen, Tezcalipoca asked his supporters to stand up.
Mayor Allan Mansoor told him not to, but Tezcalipoca, 25, urged supporters to stand up anyway. Mansoor informed him that his time to speak was over, citing a 7 p.m. cut-off time for public comments.
Tezcalipoca refused to stop speaking, and police officers approached him and asked him to leave. He refused.
When the officer grabbed his arms, Tezcalipoca demanded that they stop touching him.
Police Chief John Hensley then ordered the officers to take Tezcalipoca outside. Tezcalipoca, also known as Benito Acosta, strongly resisted, and the officers dragged him out.
The crowd of supporters closely surrounded the five police officers, who were all trying to control Tezcalipoca, and demanded that they let him go.
The council meeting resumed about 30 minutes later...
Jim Gilchrist was there also, and he also asked his supporters to stand up and Mansoor didn't object. However, there's a chance that that had less to do with bias on Mansoor's part than the presumed tone of "Coyotl"'s suggestion.
There's a surprisingly balanced report with a large number of pictures here: la.indymedia.org/news/2006/01/143249.php
Note this bit:
Groups that made a presence include Tonantzin, Alianza Indigena-Indigenous Alliance, the Orange County LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) Foundation, at least one Anarchist, and various individuals. There was also an A.N.S.W.E.R. protest sign held by a protester.
However, the best picture is here: la.indymedia.org/news/2006/01/143224_comment.php#143247
It include "Coyotl" with a "We are Mexican [not Hispanic or Latino]" sign in the background, complete with the flag of their country. As could be expected, there's also a report with claims of brutalization: la.indymedia.org/news/2006/01/143246.php
Immigration · Wed, 01/04/2006 - 10:08 ·
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Importance: 1
