We left St. Anne Catholic Church in Carthage, Mississippi and drove to Clanton, AL for an afternoon community town hall meeting. Alabama, like Arizona, was another main target city.  After the damage Sheriff Joe Arapaio has done to Arizona, Alabama is next in line for its anti-immigrant extremist laws – in particular, HB56, which turned both local and state police officers into papers-checking immigration agent, also imposing a grab bag of criminal punishments and deterrents on undocumented immigrants, as well as on businesses and charitable organizations that help or hire them.  The people in Alabama are truly living in a state of fear.  Not only can local authorities stop drivers they suspect of being undocumented – they can even stop passengers in cars.

Below is a shot as we drove through Clanton…

There was a table full of information and cool rubber bracelets from the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice and our Estamos Unidos posters, headed up by Brandon, the 13-year old boy who inspired the whole Estamos Unidos campaign.

I took a bracelet and talked to Brandon.  To be 13 and faced with these issues is huge.  At 13, most boys this age are playing video games and sports… Brandon is on the forefront of the immigrant rights movement in Alabama.  He is speaking out against the injustice happening to the people of Alabama and inspiring people to take action.  I was so impressed by his strength and determination to keep fighting – he is wise beyond his years.

Here he is with Daniel and Dulce!

If you look closely, you can see Brandon on the Mi ACLU van!  That is him in the photo behind his shoulder wearing the zip jacket… the people depicted on the van are actual community members in Alabama.

We all went inside for a presentation and speakers – there were reps from the Alabama Immigrants Rights Coalition, reps from the ACLU of Alabama, and community members speaking out and sharing knowledge.

After the presentation, they served food for everyone.  We got yummy horchata and a pork bbq sandwich, mashed potatoes and macaroni salad (with ham).  Never had a meal like this before…!!

Si se puede!

As a group, we had an emotional goodbye – these people were so warm and the sense of community very strong.  Brandon said, “I now understand the power of words” – as his call for help in a video on YouTube was the catalyst for this entire campaign.  He believes that if we educate people about what is happening in Alabama that together we can all make a change.  The problem is that most people have no idea what is happening in our own country.  He is a glimmer of hope in a state of injustice.

After the event we headed to Columbia, South Carolina where we would sleep and then go to an event in the morning.  The internet in the room didn’t work, so I couldn’t upload photos… this ended up being one of my better nights of sleep.

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Len

Breed Shih Tzu Mix
Gender Male
Size Small
Neutered Yes
Status Available

Extra good looking, Len is a sweet 10 year old Brussels Griffon mix. When he came to Muttville, he was filthy and in desperate need of a grooming.
Now that he is all cleaned up, Len is learning to walk confidently on leash and has a great appetite. He bonds very closly to his person.
This well behaved boy loves belly rubs, bone chewing and a good brushing. Because he is an older fellow, his eye sight is not very good.
Come meet Len and the other cute mutts today!
adopt Len!

Homer

Breed Shih Tzu
Gender Male
Size Small
Neutered Yes
Status Available

Homer’s under-bite makes us smile! One look at him and he’ll win your heart for good. He sure won ours!
This little Shih-tzu is only 5 years old, but he doesn’t act that old. This little man is an absolute cuddle bug, always looking for a lap to sit in or a person to follow around. He would love to find somewhere to call his forever home.
Homer is bound to make you laugh with his goofy smile and persistence.

adopt Homer!

Jumbo

Breed Chihuahua
Gender Male
Size Small
Neutered Yes
Status Available

Jumbo is new at Muttville and doesn’t have a listing yet…

adopt Jumbo!

Esther

Breed Chihuahua
Gender Female
Size Small
Neutered Yes
Status Available

Esther is a spunky gal who is very people oriented; the more cuddles, the better. She currently lives with another Chihuahua and they will play together a little bit, but both are more interested in their human!
Ester is house trained and walks very well on a leash. She is a wonderful little dog just looking for her forever home so she can settle in and give you all her love. She is about 4.8 lbs and the perfect size to be a constant companion.
We estimate Esther is around 5 years old…..don’t let the gray face fool you! Esther has quite a bit of energy and loves a couple of walks each day. She recently had her teeth cleaned and is in good medical condition.
If you like those afternoon and morning walks with your buddy and someone to lie on your lap afterwards, then you have met your match!

Check out her video.

adopt Esther!

Maisey

Breed Mini Schnauzer
Gender Female
Size Small
Neutered Yes
Status Available

Miss Maisey was found on the side of the road, hit by a car or just stunned, the vet said it looked like she had been living on the streets a long time. She was matted and covered in foxtails, one was in her eye, too.
She is the most darling little dumpling, and has had a harsh time of it.
We think this little schnauzer is about 12 years old and she weighs about 15 pounds.
She is beyond sweet, mellow, house trained and ready to make up for some lost time and be loved and have a chance at a secure and gentle home.
She gets along with all animals, too!

adopt Maisey!

T-Bone

Breed Mini Poodle
Gender Male
Size Small
Neutered Yes
Status Available

Meet T-Bone, a little cuddle-muffin that came in with 2 other poodles and is a bit bewildered by everything, though he is very courageous. T-Bone is blind, but he is starting to explore his surroundings.
T-bone is a young 10 year old poodle that weighs 12 pounds. He is house trained and likes to go for walks and is a great little traveling companion in the car.

He is discovering the sweetness of life and loves to give you gentle kisses once he knows he is safe.

UPDATE: T_Bone has had his surgery, thanks to our generous supporters!

adopt T-Bone!

Dino

Breed Shih Tzu Mix
Gender Male
Size Small
Neutered Yes
Status Available

We love our little Dino! This boy is a 10-year-old Shih Tzu/Parson Russell Terrier mix. How could he not be adorable?
When he got to Muttville, his fur was unbelievably matted and he smelled horrible. After a nice bath and a shave, Dino is now quite the handsome devil. We think that he must have been neglected, and because Dino didn’t get enough love from his previous people, he still needs time to come out of his shell.
Dino does have poor vision, but that won’t stop him from getting around.
We know that with the right family, Dino will blossom and become the happiest doggie.

adopt Dino!

Pequena

Breed Maltese Mix
Gender Female
Size Small
Neutered Yes
Status Available

Jumbo is new at Muttville and doesn’t have a listing yet…

adopt Pequena!

Nala

Breed Bichon Frise
Gender Female
Size Small
Neutered Yes
Status Available

Our Nala is the most regal young lady here at the Muttville HQ, always prancing around the house and begginging pets and cuddles. This bichon frise is only 7 years old and absolutely loves all of her people friends!
She even likes to have her own personal throne: your lap. As soon as she sees a person sit down, she runs over and waits to be picked up. Once aboard, she calmly lies down and puts her head on your arm for more snuggles.
Can you be Nala’s special person?

adopt Jiggs!

Jiggs

Breed Maltese Mix
Gender Female
Size Small
Neutered Yes
Status Available

Little miss Jiggs is got her name because of the little dances that she does before she settles down on a pillow for a nap. She wiggles and bounces all over the bed, moving the blankets until they’re just right, and only then can she happily snooze.
When we rescued her, this little lady was horribly neglected, with her nails curled into her paws and fur so matted that it was hard to even see her face. As soon as we could, we got her matts shaved off and now she’s a pretty little girl. In her 10 short years of life, she hasn’t had a lot of love from people, and now at Muttville she’s learning just how great people friends can be.
She’s still a little nervous around people, but she’s one of the sweetest girls at the HQ. She loves taking treats that are broken down to tiny bite-sized pieces straight from the hands of her favorite people.
Don’t you want to meet this beautiful girl?

adopt Jiggs!

Pearl

Breed Chihuahua
Gender Female
Size Small
Neutered Yes
Status Available

Pearl is new at Muttville and doesn’t have a listing yet…

adopt Pearl!

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We arrived in Mississippi late Saturday night from New Orleans, just in time to go to bed before having to wake up to get back on the road. We drove about an hour the next morning to reach our destination – St. Anne Church in Carthage, MS for a quick petitioning event after mass.  This church is located off of a side street from the main highway, nestled within a dense forest of trees.

Here are some life-sized statues outside…

While mass was in session I had a chance to talk to some people who live in Mississippi.  One guy, who studied at Berkeley, has been living in MS with his girlfriend for 2 years.  He explained to me that Mississippi is pretty much a scary place to live, especially if you are open minded and come from a place like the Bay Area.

He explained that overall, the people as well as the local and state governments are so immersed in and driven by religious culture (it’s heart of the bible belt) that the abuse of power is quite common (normal actually) – public schools are incorporating daily prayer into the curriculum and private christian schools are being funded by state tax-payer dollars. The Pro-Life movement is very strong and opposition is extreme – doctors rotate in and out (and fear for their lives) and women are afraid to visit.  Religion is the cookie cutter in this state and if you don’t conform, you will pay for it. Ack!

I personally did not feel weird in this state while I was there although I could see how I would.  Definitely no Asians there, a very quiet place.

There are appx only 100K latino people in the state of Mississippi.  The people who attend this church are primarily of Guatemalan descent, and they all speak Spanish as a second language (yes, Spanish.. not English!).  Their main language is an indiginous dialect specific to Guatemala.

…We gave tshirts to everyone.

Then back on the road!  …All of Mississippi looks like the photo below.  We didn’t drive through any major cities or even towns – just continued along this tree-lined highway.  There were also very few cars on the road – we hardly saw or passed anyone.

After we left Mississippi (around 11am), we headed off to Clanton, Alabama, where we would attend a town hall meeting with a local latino community and meet Brandon, the 13-year old boy who inspired the Estamos Unidos tour through his video asking for help.

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We left Houston, TX and started our trip to New Orleans, LA. I was really excited about this leg of the trip because I have never been to New Orleans and I’ve always wanted to go there.

On the way we stopped to get some food in Belmont, TX, but the restaurant was closed (even tho it said it was open online, ugh!).  We wanted to stop in Belmont because that is the city that Grease takes place in, haha!  Anyway, next door there was a shop and the girls really had fun shopping… they bought shoes, sunglasses, etc… (this is not my kind of store, LOL).

We were really sad that the restaurant that we found on Yelp was closed, because that place was apparently the best place in town for salad… and we had been eating mostly unhealthy things (= crap, lol) this whole time.

The van had a built-in TV and we had driven halfway across the US with no movies so we finally broke down and rented a few at a Redbox.

…Woo hoo we made it to Louisiana! I was really happy that I was ready for the “welcome” sign because I had missed it in a bunch of the other states…

Driving through Louisiana was so cool because most of the drive is above marshland so the highway is elevated for miles and miles…

I was so excited to see these trees growing out of the water – I have never seen anything like them ever before…

The restaurant where we ate dinner was only a few blocks from the heart of the French Quarter.  The weather was really warm and balmy.

Abdi saw a cameraman and immediately went over to discover that Eric Alterman from The Nation was in town filming for Jazz Fest. Here he is explaining our tour!

I love the fencepost above – it reminds me of something from Interview with the Vampire!

We were only in New Orleans for about 2.5 hours, just long enough to eat dinner and take a few photos. I really wish we could’ve stayed longer, it seems like such a cool place with great culture. …I’ll definitely be going back to visit someday!

After dinner we had to pack back up and start our drive to Carthage, Mississippi, where we would be staying for the night.

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We arrived in Houston late and our group stayed between 2 staff members’ homes.  I was thrilled to discover that I would be sharing my room with a taxidermy wild turkey.  In the morning I took some photos of other taxidermy in the house before we left.. here is an armadillo!

Half of the team went over to a latino flea market in Pearland, TX while I went to the ACLU of Texas office near downtown Houston. It was really hot in houston – about 85 in the morning. Apparently this was a pretty cool day… ack!

It was great to meet with everyone – the van came to pick me up and I got to take a photo of the entire staff holding the poster.

We then left the Houston ACLU office and headed over to the flea market in Pearland to meet the rest of the team.

Here’s everyone petitioning – in the distance you can see someone being interviewed for the news.

A shot of the inside of the flea market (it is huge). One of the vendors (below) sold elote – a traditional Mexican snack… a mixture of warm sweet white corn (or yellow), mayo, cotija cheese, and hot sauce.  YUM.  This was quite possibly the BEST thing I ate on the entire trip.  I am still craving it really bad… nothing like the real thing!  The vendor at this stand hung up our poster (and Dulce autographed it)!

After this short visit we all piled in the van again and started our long journey to New Orleans, where we would pick up our videographer and other teammate, who flew there ahead of us the day before.

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After our stop in El Paso, TX, we began our long journey to San Antonio, TX… where we would go to sleep and then host a table at the Battle of Flowers Fiesta Parade the next day. The drive was beautiful and the desert scenery continued for miles…

We reached our first rest stop after El Paso… notice the “WATCH FOR SNAKES” sign!

The bathrooms at this rest stop were like none I had ever seen.  It was completely open air – this is a shot from inside the stall, LOL!

Here is a closeup of a yucca plant at the rest stop.

We approached our 2nd border patrol stop – the Sierra Blanca Inspection Station, about 80 miles inside the Mexico/Texas Border. Since we did not experience any trouble when we passed through the border patrol in Arizona, we decided to exercise our 5th Amendment right to remain silent when questioned about our citizenship.

When it was our turn, we pulled up and an agent approached the van.  Our driver rolled down the window and was immediately asked if he was a US citizen.  He replied, “Officer, I am going to exercise my 5th amendment right to remain silent”, as did the person in the passenger seat when questioned.  The agent asked once more, and our driver again pled the 5th, as did our passenger.  (Our driver was Mexican-American and our passenger Iranian-American).  Apparently we were not allowed to exercise our constitutional rights to a federal agent (even after reminding him that it is our constitutional right).  He then reminded us again that he is a FEDERAL agent – then we were asked to pull over and everyone was told to exit the vehicle.

We all got out of the van and lined up in a row.  Our videographer was taping everything but told he had to leave his camera because apparently it could be used as a weapon.  So there we were, all lined up (8 of us), in a row… all wearing the same t-shirts, all people of color (except 1), with our bright orange van. While we waited, more agents came out and suddenly there were about 7 agents all huddled in a pack staring at us with their hands on their hips.  Super ironic that all of these guys were LATINO.  LOL!!

As we stood there watching this unfold, cars of caucasian people drove by, slowing down to stare at us before they sped off.  This was the first time in my life where I honestly felt completely discriminated against because of the color of my skin and the skin of the people I was with.  Horrible.

Another agent came out with a dog (a belgian malinois) and circled the van – then telling us that the dog had alerted him to narcotics or a concealed human being… which promoted an immediate search.  Our director told the agent immediately that we did not consent to the search but they just went ahead and searched anyway. A few seconds later, the agent with the dog came out with the videographer’s backpack and threw it on the ground.  Things came flying out and pockets were being emptied – only to find NOTHING.

We were then allowed to return to the van.  Once we all got in and were told we could leave, we were about to drive away when we were stopped again.  An agent opened the side sliding door (I was sitting right next to it), and looked at everyone inside.  He started from the back row and pointed at each person, asking them if they were a US Citizen.  He went around the group, everyone replying accordingly (were were all citizens or legal residents), then closed the door and we were free to drive off.  One of the border patrol cars followed us about 2 miles past the inspection station then drove off.

This experience was very eye opening – intimidating and scary.

We reached our hotel very late, around 1am… this night we stayed in a Motel 6.  It was AWESOME, a great way to end the day.  Wow, I was so impressed at how they redesigned this place – it’s all modern now!

….the following morning was the Fiesta Parade!!

Like they say, everything is bigger in Texas!! I found this children’s entertainer juggling beanbag chairs… LOL!!

Here’s our table.  It was conveniently placed right next to a Texas BBQ stand, yeee haw!!

These 3 teens were very willing to support our campaign and even volunteered to help us petition to get signatures… how cool is that?!

…The parade just started, and I got a great spot right up front!

This nice policeman gave a high-5 to all of the kids then threw them candy.  The police officers in San Antonio were all really nice – it was great to see how friendly they were with the community and kids.

There were many marching bands in the parade – particularly military marching bands…

Here is the Mayor of San Antonio and his wife, Julian and Erica Castro.

I’m not really sure who these fancy ladies were in sparkly dresses and cowboy boots – anyone have any idea?  They came down the parade on their giant floats and all of the kids screamed “Show us your boots!” and the they pulled up their dresses and waved their foot in the air.

Texans are very proud of their state… I definitely felt a very strong sense of state patriotism in Texas more than any other state we visited.  This group of boy scouts carrying the Texas flag followed a bunch of girl scouts carrying the American flag.

Here’s another one of those fancy ladies… “Her gracious magesty Kahler Elizabeth Biedenharn, Queen of the Court of the Wondrous Metropolis”.  Is this a cult or something?

I loved this float (above).  All of these people were SO HAPPY and were all dancing and waving to dance music!  After this float passed a small group of us decided to walk down to the Alamo to see if we could gather a few signatures and snap a few photos in front of the historic landmark.  I was also extra excited to see the Alamo because that’s where Pee Wee went to find his bike!

OMG, the WEINERMOBILE!  It has always been a childhood dream of mine to see the Weinermobile in person – I couldn’t believe it!!  When I was about 10 years old, my uncle gave me an Oscar Mayer Weinermobile plastic bank for Christmas (he had to eat about 10 packs of hot dogs to get in the mail).

Here’s Trinity University’s giant tiger balloon… that’s our teammate Daniel (red shirt)’s alma mater!

As we continued on our trek to reach the Alamo, we walked through an apartment parking lot where we met a woman with 2 puppies – Delgado (left) and Dante (right), both dachshund mixes.  I definitely couldn’t resist taking a photo!

At last, THE ALAMO, WOW!!

This shot above is one of the buildings inside of the Alamo, behind the main building.

Our teammate’s boyfriend published this book, Inside Pee Wee’s Playhouse, so we couldn’t miss this opportunity to take a shot of the bookcover next to the Alamo sign!

I noticed these rusted baby heads atop an artist’s studio door…

After we finished the tabling event we all walked to Mi Tierra restaurant.  This place was freaking HUGE inside and was super colorful and covered in decorations.

This is the display at the back entrance of the restaurant… below is a shot of Dulce inside the lobby!

The sunset was amazing!! Right after dinner we had to get back in the van and drive to Houston, another 3 or so hours away… We made it there at almost midnight.  Luckily this night we were guests in real home (not motel)…

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After our brief visit to Las Cruces, NM, we began our journey to San Antonio, TX… first stopping in El Paso, TX for a mini tabling event at a local park.  I never realized how close El Paso was to the Mexican border – you could literally SEE Mexico from the highway, and there was a black chain-link fence running along the US/Mexico Border.

The photo below was taken just before we reached El Paso – the area behind the red tower – the homes, and buildings – are all IN MEXICO. That is Mexico… COOL!

The park we visited was just minutes into El Paso, and we set up shop and petitioned people as they walked through the park and down the street.  The park was nice – open, clean and pretty empty.  This guy below saw our awesome van from the street and pulled his car over to find out what we were doing.  Turns out he is a huge supporter!

Downtown El Paso seemed like a ghost town, there were hardly any people anywhere and it was also VERY HOT.  The park had a cool crocodile fountain in the center, tho it was not turned on and the entire fountain was empty.

After the short-lived tabling event, we ate lunch at a true tex-mex restaurant (I don’t think we could have found another restaurant any closer to the border).  I don’t know what I was thinking – I ordered grilled cheese, and everyone else around me ordered chile rellenos. Ugh! …I was totally kickin myself for that one.

During the course of the trip, people came and went from the van – and this was the last stop for our teammate Lucero, from the San Diego office.  We said our goodbyes and then packed into the van again, dropping Lucero off at the airport and then making our way to San Antonio.

…on the road again.

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We woke up bright and early and left our motel to drive to Las Cruces, New Mexico. When we were packing the van the sunrise looked so awesome from the parking lot I couldn’t help but take a pic!

This shot was taken just as we were driving down into Las Cruces.

On our way to the library to do a tabling event…

Here’s the team setting up our stuff with the ACLU of New Mexico affiliate members.  La Gran D radio station also stopped by to play some music and show their support.

We learned that New Mexico State University was just a short drive away so a few of us hopped in the van and headed over there to see if we could round up some signatures and help spread the word among the students there.

There were a bunch of bake sale tents with students selling yummy goodies.  The girls below were studying veterinary science and raising money to go to South America to work with veterinary specialists.

These students were all nursing students, they had the most creative cupcakes!

It was interesting to be on a college campus petitioning – my partner in crime on this tour is an amazing petitioner.  She has no fear and is so proud of this work – but not everyone was open to it.  Some students were very supportive, but most were very opposed to it and would just keep walking – other students would ask us very detailed questions (and then refuse to sign)… We even talked to one man (a professor) who is married to a 2nd generation Mexican woman, tell our Mexican colleague that everyone who has been detained or deported in Arizona deserves it.  It has been very frustrating to hear people say things like this – even after they have heard the experience and are literally talking someone who these laws have affected.  Hmph.

Ugh …off to TEXAS!

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Our 2nd day in Phoenix was very long and exhausting… but freaking awesome.  We got up early and headed over to the Civic Center area of downtown to do a tabling event next to a vigil, and Daniel and Dulce were interviewed by a bunch of tv stations.  I walked around and took a bunch of photos.  It was freaking hot at 9am… !!

This was a very long day…

Below are photos of a vigil that was held by people from Promise Arizona.  This vigil started in April 2011 when the SB1070 law was first announced about a year ago and lasted for 103 days until it went to court in July 2011.  These people came out to hold the vigil again since this day was the day that SB1070 was being heard in the Supreme Court. People come and go all day – but there are always people there, through the day and the night.

I met the man above while I was taking photos of the saguaro cactus that was living in the landscaping.  We started talking and I told him about our campaign.  He is Native American and told me about his family; he is very proud of his tradition however with the new SB1070 law he fears the day he is pulled over to “show his papers”.

Some tea party people came to try to rain on our parade – they gathered across the lawn and waved their big “BITE ME” flag…

Daniel got interviewd by CNN Espanol!! Here is the reporter giving a brief before interviewing him.

Here’s team Estamos Unidos!! …All packed up, next we were off to Puente Human Rights Movement to meet some of the people who are leading the human rights movement in Phoenix.  This is the group that organized the rally and march that we attended later…

When we got to Puente, everyone was painting a giant banner that would be carried in the march later in the afternoon.  It read “STOP DEPORTING ARPAIO’S VICTIMS”.  Joe Arpaio is the very controversial Maricopa County Sheriff (Phoenix is in Maricopa County) who has become known for his misuse of power, love of racial profiling and intrinsic hate of illegal immigrants.  He is best known for making the men he detains wear pink underwear; shaming and humiliating them… among many other things.  I loved everything about Arizona until I learned more about Sheriff Arpaio – he is a very dark cloud.

I personally left from Puente and went to the Apple Store to get my computer fixed.  A Puente volunteer was kind enough to drive me there after the person who agreed to take me drove off without me, ugh.  The previous morning I opened it to discover that the entire display was showing vertical rainbow stripes… I made an appointment at the Biltmore Apple Store and was keeping my paws crossed they could fix it.  When I got there, the guy, Alan, took one look at it and said “be right back”.  He came back out a few minutes later and said he had good and bad news…. the good news was that they had only 1 part left to fix my computer in stock, and they could fix it within the hour.  The bad news was that it would cost almost $500.  Whatever, I needed it… when I asked how this happened he said that it must have gotten banged or kicked hard, or maybe something fell on top of it inside the van – because although there was no outside visible damage, the inside of the display was completely cracked.

So a word of advice – put your computer in a hard case if you travel with it and definitely put it somewhere safe!  I bought a new Thule case for it… it’s awesome!

The van picked me up at the mall at the Apple Store and then we headed over to Civic Space Park (below) for the SB1070 rally and march.

Dulce pumps up the crowd before the march!

We ended up marching all around downtown Phoenix and then headed over to the Immigration building.  When we got there everyone gathered while Dulce rallied up the crowd!

The banner that we painted earlier in the day at Puente became the center piece for the march.  The activists put the banner down onto the ground in the middle of the street and everyone gathered around to protest.  It was so powerful being there among such a diverse crowd of passionate people – the energy was awesome and it was great that so many people came out to show their support.

At one point I decided to cross the street because I thought it would be interesting to get a shot of all of the police officers lined up behind the protesters… the blocks in Phoenix are extremely long and it took me a while to find a crosswalk… when I got to the other side the van for people who would be arrested pulled up.  This was obvious foresight on the police department’s part…

…I thought it was kind of hilarious how this T-Bone train traveled slowly back and forth on the tracks in front of the protest.

Here is a shot of all of the police officers, from one end to the other.

The police finally confiscated the giant banner and took it away…

These yellow trees are so beautiful, and they are all over downtown Phoenix.  When we made it to the van it looked so peaceful in the parking lot – alone and in the spotlight of the setting sun.

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We left San Diego early Tuesday morning and headed to Phoenix… It was really interesting how the landscape changed, so far this has been the most exciting leg of the trip! I’ve driven down the California coast before when I went to Coachella but I’ve never driven east of CA.. in fact, I have never been to any of the southern states, so this trip is extra exciting!!

These rolling green hills are fairly common in California. This first pic was taken just as we were leaving San Diego.

Oooh windmills!

Out of no where these big, grassy, rock-covered hills appeared. I have never been to Ireland but it makes me think that these hills must look like somewhere in Ireland or Scotland…

In this next photo we are getting very close to the desert. Notice how there is less grass and the hills are becoming very rocky.

The shot above was actually taken standing on the ground, when we stopped for gas (all other photos were taken while driving). It was so amazing to be standing in the desert… SO COOL!!!

When we reached Yuma, which is one of the first cities after crossing into Arizona, we decided to stop and eat. We stopped in the Yuma shopping center and a bunch of us went to In-N-Out Burger. YUM…. double double here.

If you are not familiar, Arizona has very strict laws regarding immigration. There are border patrol stations along the highway, and we knew we would be driving through one on our journey to Phoenix.

The entire Estamos Unidos Campaign was created to help fight discriminatory laws like SB1070 in Arizona – which allows local police officers to enforce federal immigration laws – allowing them to stop random people and ask for documentation. The problem with this is that the local police in Arizona are targeting latino and hispanic people, creating an environment of fear among communities. People in Arizona are being stopped and questioned based purely upon the color of their skin – undocumented people and US citizens.

There are other states, like Alabama, who passed HB56, a similar law that promotes racial profiling and allows police officers to racially profile anyone they suspect of being illegal, all contracts with undocumented immigrants are invalid (i.e. child support, leases, or jobs), and it’s now a crime for undocumented immigrants to apply for a driver’s license or even a job. (more info in this article about HB 56) We’ll be visiting Alabama next week… EEK!! Just thinking about how these laws are segregating people and creating a constant state of fear is completely terrifying… especially because that is what the majority (crazy bible belt people) want… these southern states scare me.

I know we are pretty far removed from the southern states, but there are real people being affected by these laws – and Phoenix has been my first real eye-opening experience. Here is a great article about SB1070 – don’t worry, it’s a quick read.

Above: We are approaching the Sonora Desert!! This is one of the first Saguaro cactus I have ever seen!!

It was breathtaking to drive down the road and see a mini forest of cactus up ahead… I have never seen anything like it – just amazing!

Below: We got to our destination at Carl Hayden High School for a tabling event at a speakers panel about immigrant rights. The van was looking really good with the sun…

Some stickers from the tabling event…

Above is Dulce Juarez, a leader in the Arizona immigrant-rights movement. Her journey being undocumented and living in Arizona for more than 20 years has led her into leading a new movement to promote immigration reform.  She has overcome more than most people do in their entire lives and after hearing her story, you realize how fortunate you are to be a US citizen, something that many people take for granted.

Dulce is also the woman who is printed on our van! In this photo she was at an event in Alabama, protesting HB 56 – doing a pro-immigration performance art piece.  After this event, Dulce joined our van and became part of our traveling MiACLU team!

A shot from the speaking panel… this is a someone from the local Phoenix ACLU chapter.

John, from ACLU Northern California joined our van for a day, and was very excited to pump gas.

Day 1 of Phoenix was fun.  I was on an all-day high from seeing the Saguaro cactus and couldn’t stop thinking about editing the pics!! It was a long and exhausting day – since joining the van I have not really had any down time to enjoy the ride… I’ve been editing photos from each event right away because we have wi-fi in the van and I’m trying to keep them up to date on the MiACLU Facebook in real time.

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