On Wednesday, May 7th in a small neighborhood church, members of the Summit Human Rights Committee organized a community meeting to present a series of demands to their County Supervisor and other county agency leaders. Their often forgotten community is tucked between Tucson and Sahuarita. It’s neighborhood streets are dirt and dust. It’s not uncommon to see residents on horseback. Unfortunately, it’s also not uncommon for these same streets to flood during the desert rains, for residents to be afraid of sheriff’s deputies who question their immigration status, or for emergency services to get lost due to the lack of street signs.

Community group delivers over 2,200 postcards and hundreds of emails urging veto of two bills

Tucson, AZ –Disrupting Arizona's reputation of passing highly punitive, anti-immigrant legislation, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano vetoed two bills this week that would have expanded the role and power of local police in immigration enforcement.  The bills, HB2807 and HB2359,had been approved by the Arizona legislature last week.

Border Action Network, a human rights community organization based insouthern Arizona, followed these bills and approximately 40 others inArizona's House and Senate this year. "The tide is shifting in the legislature,"says Jennifer Allen, the group's Executive Director.

Tucson, AZ— After two and half days of deliberation, a Tucson jury was unable to arrive at a verdict as to whether Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett was guilty of murder charges. For those who live in border communities, the mistrial does not bode well for border residents and human rights groups who are calling for greater accountability and oversight of Border Patrol policies and practices.

“We attended every day of the trial. The prosecution’s evidence was clear, consistent and compelling. I can’t imagine how the jurors could have been deadlocked,” states Katie O’Connor of the Border Action Network. “Unlike the defense’s testimony which varied from person to person and hinged on non-existing evidence, the three eye-witnesses, forensics and ballistics testimony all pointed to a clear case of murder.”