University of Minnesota Students for a Democratic Society Stands with Alejandro Orellana and Isa Lopez

You can find the statement linked here as well.

On June 27, Alejandro Orellana, an immigrants rights activist and leader in Centro Community Service Organization, of East Los Angeles, will have his preliminary hearing and first court appearance. He was raided and arrested on June 12 in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, following his public participation in protests against ICE. FBI agents seized his electronic property, arrested him, and took him into federal custody. It took a press conference and protest before he was released the next day. He is now facing the bogus federal charge of one count of conspiracy to commit civil disorder, which carries up to 5 years in prison.

We, the University of Minnesota chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, demand that the charges on Alejandro Orellana be dropped immediately. Orellana has done nothing wrong. Orellana has been a leading member of the Chicano-led organization Centro Community Service Organization, or Centro CSO, for over 10 years. He has been public and forthright in organizing against ICE raids and the Trump administrations. We believe that it is for this reason and no other that he is being targeted.

As members of the Minneapolis community we also stand with Isa Lopez who was arrested by the FBI and was detained in Sherburne County Jail on June 9th. She is facing federal felony charges for defending our immigrant neighbors after the militarized ICE operation on Lake and Bloomington on June 3rd. Just as Orellena is facing bogus charges for standing up to ICE, we see no other reason why Lopez is facing these charges except for her organizing against ICE and the Trump administration.

Trump has unleashed a wave of terror upon immigrants in this country: he deployed 2000 National Guards to Los Angeles, he sent U.S. Marines. His ICE agents shark high school parking lots and Home Depots in hopes of detaining undocumented immigrants, Chicanos, Mexicanos, and Central Americans with no regard for due process. Protesters in LA have faced off against tear gas, rubber bullets, beatings, kidnappings, and more. Now people’s heroes like Alejandro and Isa face bogus federal charges and potential prison time.

Protesting is not a crime. It is people like Alejandro and Isa, and not the Trump administration and his agents, who are on the right side of history. Their activism and resistance to Trump and ICE serves as a model for what all people should be doing at this time.

To protect our First Amendment rights, our freedom of speech, and our right to say no to the ICE operations and the Trump administration, we believe it is critical to defend Alejandro Orellana and Isa Lopez. We stand with Alejandro Orellana, Isa Lopez. and all of those resisting Trump’s attacks, especially on immigrants and Chicanos and Latinos in the US. We will answer the call to take action on June 27 to protest and call U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli at 213-894-2400, and to demand that the charges be dropped against Alejandro Orellana and will continue to stand in solidarity with Isa Lopez and her family.

All Out for June 27!

Drop the Charges on Alejandro Orellana and Isa Lopez Now!