On Tuesday the 24th, four undocumented Arizonans, members of Puente Arizona, were arrested in peaceful civil disobedience at a protest outside Arpaio’s racial profiling trial.  Leticia Ramirez, Natally Cruz, Isela Meraz, and Miguel Guerra came out as publicly undocumented to declare that the Sheriff could no longer intimidate them because they were no longer afraid. The event is the prelude to a bus tour that will run from Phoenix, through key states in the Midwest and South, and end in Charlotte, at the Democratic National Convention.

Yesterday morning each appeared at an arraignment hearing at  the 4^th Ave jail and were ordered released on their own recognizance. As of the writing of this post, Leticia, Natelly, and Isela have all been released. Miguel remains inside because of an ICE hold. What’s especially interesting about Miguel’s ICE hold is that it proves that despite Phoenix’s 287(g) agreement being cancelled, local law enforcement are still working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, detaining individuals who according to Obama are not enforcement priorities.

 

Puente Arizona has called for a march on Saturday starting at Indian School Park at 9:00am Arizona time as a display of support for the arrestees and a call for an end to Sheriff Arpaio and ICE’s partnership to deport the residents of Maricopa County.