Nation conference in phoenix in july. It is one hour, 10 minutes. Carlos this panel is called the people versus arpaio. we have an amazing panel. We will start out today with a small video. It is important to show the video because it showcases one of our own panelists and sheds a little bit of light into our world. Youll be able to see a little bit. There are some clips of the chain gangs, jails, and what he has done to our community. And the filmmaker is in the room and the fulllength film will be showing tomorrow at 9 00 a. M. In room 223 and catherine will be there as well. I want to invite everyone there. You should see the full film and join them tomorrow. We will go ahead and get started and it is about a fiveminute clip for the movie. Breaking news coming to us right now. The Sheriffs Office is executing a search warrant. 25 different employees all possibly could be illegal immigrants. This is investigated by the Sheriffs Office for employers violations. Mr. Arpaio i know how to solve the problem. Why do i get all of the heat because someone does something wrong and i use the word punishment, which no one else will use . Why should they not be punished . [crying] she is catherine figeroa, the phoenix girl whose plea to the president is being seen around the world on youtube. They were not born here and they say that is against the law. [speaking spanish] carwash what house is this . Catherine my aunts are you staying with her . Catherine no, just yesterday. Today, i think i am going with my other aunt. There is only one reason it is you. 90 years old. I will vote as long as i am here. Can i be the sheriff at 90 . Most older people are afraid of children and afraid of people who dont obey the law because those people are nasty. They have to be punished. President obama this year immigration has become a source of fresh contention in our country with the passage of a controversial law in arizona and Immediate Reaction we have seen across america. 20 other states are considering similar legislation. This law does not fix the immigration problem. Mr. Arpaio law or no law, we will still do our crime suppression operation and continue enforcing illegal immigration laws. We are at 35 tonight. Now they are going to go to jail. We are scared to go out. If they have to hide, i have to hide. [speaking spanish] today, you will hear testimony on how it affects children, communities, and families. I will begin with catherine figeroa. I would like to send a message to arpaio. Mr. Arpaio i am taking a little heat on my crackdown on illegal immigration. The Justice Department launched an investigation. Who do they think they are . This is my hate file. They get pretty nasty. Shows you how volatile this whole situation is. I dont know. Eric holder said there will be some responsibility. Your thoughts . Mr. Arpaio maybe it was not a correct remark to make. I work for my reputation and no one will take that away. Destruction of evidence financial fraud, abuse of power. This is the most out of control Law Enforcement in america. No one from the mexican on the street to the residing judge of the criminal court is safe. I kept thinking that maybe i would see my parents when i got back home. [speaking spanish] [crying] [speaking spanish] what do we want . Justice when to do we want it . Now no matter how it turns out, i want justice. Period. With our blood, sweat, tears. Get out of my country i dont want anything that happened to me to ever happen again. [applause] carlos welcome, everyone. My name is Carlos Garcia and im the director. What we are going to do today is have a conversation with the six people up here and we will do a series of questions and open it up for questions from people in the room. I also wanted to recognize the parents of catherine who are also in the room. They are here and you saw them in the video and for their fight and continuing to support their daughter. I wanted [applause] we can get start with catherine in asking the question of what it was like. What is it like looking at the video and seeing what happened and in that moment, what was a like to see your parents being arrested on tv . Catherine it was really hard. I felt alone like i was in a completely different world. I knew i had my family members with me but it was not the same. I knew that i had to fight for them to matter what [emotional] how they fought for me. They always wanted a good education for me. They are [emotional] they are everything to me so i knew i had to fight for them. It was really hard. I i was scared i would maybe never see them again. I was scared if the got deported, i would stay here alone and nobody would want me because i wouldnt have any parents. I felt like people werent going to like me. [crying] i was really scared but once i started hearing about things i could do to help my parents, i did them, i fought for them, and i did everything so i could be with them again. [applause] [applause] we are all very proud of you. Carlos thank you for sharing. One of my mentors has been fighting for a long time fighting the whole time. I want to ask you, why did arpaio do this . Why did he start doing this to our people . Let me take a few seconds to tell you how inspirational for those of you who were not here as this unraveled, this was arpaios first televised worksite raid and what catherine had to go through is to see their own parents taken away. What inspired catherine, she then in turn inspired all of us in the community and i want to recognize her and her parents. She fought to get them out and once they were out, they continued the battle to make sure it doesnt happen ever again. [applause] what inspires arpaio . What makes him who he is . He is a racist pig, etc. , etc. I think there is a certain version, a certain pleasure in what he does. Let me remind you that his first major what he calls crime suppression raids. These are neighborhood raids where he would send hundreds of officers into them and build temporary jails in parking lots the first one was on good friday. It was on good friday and he was aimed precisely at the people who were going to mass and going to church. What we got to witness that day was people dressed well on their way to church or coming from church being walked through all of the media. Remember, this was the first one. All of the media was there local, national, international. They got to watch mexicans being carted. So, part of it is really, it is a personal hatred, a personal perversion, a personal sickness in him. The other part is pure politics. This is arizona, a very fine point of the arrow of hatred towards immigrants, towards mexicans, latinos. He has learned to exploit that. He is, we must concede, perhaps a sick man but a highly talented one at manipulating the media and in sharing his political longevity. Carlos next, victoria lopez formerly on the florence project. Victoria, who was arpaio before he decided to go after the community . Victoria interestingly, i had not caught that clip before. He says i work hard for my reputation. He has been working hard at it for a long time. Certainly, one of the areas he has been the notorious at is violating peoples rights is in the jails. All of you should participate in the action going on tomorrow afternoon in a campaign to try to shut down the city. Building tent city as part of his political strategy to show how he was so willing to go after people and punish people in a really degrading and dehumanizing way. We had been involved in litigation around the jail conditions for over 40 years now. That litigation has been going on longer than i have been alive, challenging the Inadequate Health care, the overall conditions in the jail documenting people having to be in the tents in oppressive heat. There are people currently dealing with the oppressive conditions. This is something that he continues to use as part of his political platform to gain favor with those who support him touting how terrible the conditions are, touting having people in the jails wear pink underwear that is an effort to dehumanize people in the community. Not just immigrants, but for people, people facing jail and the criminal justice system. That was clearly part of his political agenda and his political platform was around the conditions in the jails. We saw maybe we could market with the Sheriffs Office entering into an agreement with the federal government. It propelled the conversation about Immigration Enforcement and authorizing local agencies to engage in immigration activities. That was not that was through agreements all over the country. Through that agreement and through that process, i would say it emboldened the share of an agency to begin the dramatic increase in Immigration Enforcement activity in the county. There have been particular moments certainly through what he has done in the jails and the area of Immigration Enforcement that has served as a platform for him for many years. This has been going on for decades. Thank you. Next, ms. Romero. She is working toward her deferred action. What was it like inside the jail . Please speak a little of what your experience was like. Natalie my experience was not the best. [laughter] natalie it was something i never thought i would be living but unfortunately, i had to be in that jail for three months. I remember the ugly striped uniform that smelled horrible. Another thing was i had to share a room with over 125 other girls. We had to share a shower. The food in there just the name sounds horrible. Slop. It is really smelly and it is food that i dont even think a dog would eat. There were times when the slop had worms and they said that was fine and it was just vitamins. There was a time i got my milk and it was rotten and they said i had to drink it that way. Another thing every time i would visit, they would handcuff me to a table. I was not allowed to have contact with my family members. [crying] im sorry. After those two months, i was transferred to the detention center. When i got there, they offered me an application to work. [emotional] i said i would not take it because the reason i was there was because i was working and i didnt think it was fair to go in there and work for them for one dollar a day. Carlos thank you. [applause] carlos next, jose. What was the raid like for you and what was your experience like and can you paint a picture of that experience . What were you thinking when that happened . Jose [speaking spanish] translator thank you for being here. Jose [speaking spanish] translator my name is jose and i was one of the many victims of arpaio. October 18, 2012 was a normal day like any other at my job. I left my home around 4 30 in the morning. I never expected that this would happen to me. I arrived at work and we had to load the trucks with material. All of the sudden, we heard people say the sherriffs arrived. We were completely surrounded. It was probably 6080. We were told to sit on the ground on the dirt, not to move or to try anything. They had us from 5 00 until 9 00 in the morning sitting on the ground. As soon as i saw it was the sheriff, i was scared for my family. I knew the sheriffs were deporting people. I thought i would be deported and never see my family. I didnt know if to call my wife or leave it. I finally called her while no one was looking. And the sheriff saw me and said he would break the phone. I told my wife that arpaio was there and he would take me. We were transferred to 4th avenue jail. They had us overnight and a little of the next day. They transferred me to the jail. I was there for 4. 5 months. It is a terrible, ugly place. I would never wish it on anyone. The food was terrible. There are many times i preferred not to eat at all. Most of the food is rotten. The clothes you had to wear whether they fit or not. The rooms were cold. I am sick. I have a problem with my back. I could not do too much movement. When i got there, i had a top bunk. It was very difficult for me to climb every morning and come down. I asked if i could get the bottom bunk. They said no. I said i was sick and he said he didnt care. I had to sleep wherever he told me. I asked for an appointment with a doctor and it was not until they wanted me to see the doctor until i got it. When it came for the appointment, i told the doctor and he said i needed an actual official form from the officer so that he could give me the bottom bunk. I went with the officer and told him what i had been told and he said i needed a doctors note so he would give me the bottom bed. They were just playing around with me. They are really ugly experiences. [applause] carlos next, the organizing director at puente. Why are these people here . Why arent they deported or why arent they still imprisoned . I am the organizing director at puente. We have been around the past eight years and we came out of a direct response to the contract that sheriff arpaio signed and put into implementation. We were born out of the crisis and a few years back, a big piece of the needs of our Key Community beyond doing the protest and the legal stuff, it was essentially on a casebycase basis. Our people were saying they need support. my family, my husband, my daughter is in detention and we need you to help us get them out. jose found out about our work inside the jail and called his wife and said to look for us. We have been becoming experts at understanding the legal system helping families navigate it and fight to get their loved ones out and in the past two years, we have gotten over 150 people out of detention through this level of advocacy and political education and leadership building. [applause] carlos thank you. I want to come back to catherine. If you could expand a little more on the experience of fighting for your parents. We saw in the video you went to d. C. And kept fighting. How do you think this will shape your future or affect the rest of your life . Catherine i went to washington, d. C. To talk to congress. After that, i started going to marches, protests, different events where i could speak to people to make them help me so they could help me get my parents out. I also got involved with puente. They were a big help. They were always there even after my parents were out, they were always supporting us. In the future, i think this will help me because i am going to be a stronger person. Whatever i become in the future, i am going to be strong and have more knowledge of what i am doing to help me and my community, my family. It is something that me and my parents are never going to forget, an experience that will scar us forever, but now i know that we can live in not total peace but 95 peace so we can stay here together and i think in the future, there will be a big difference for everyone. Not just my family, but for everyone in the community. [applause] carlos will you expand a little bit about what arpaio symbolizes and how he has impacted politics. The icon nationally for the antiimmigrant movement, donald trump. There is a legitimate discussion to be had about immigration in this country and about how to proceed forward. There is a legitimate discussion. You cannot have that discussion with people who believe that we are inferior, criminals, rapists, murderers, and believe we are raising our children that way with those values. What arpaio is, is a moral gathering point for the evil that exists in this country. This battle, this clear hate against us he became the beacon for it. As his popularity grew, he gave license to others to speak in that most vile way that he has described us, catherine, catherines family that most vile way. You think about arpaio and all of the institutional evil. He is a beacon of evil for racism. Donald trump is trying to take his place and he is welldressed with 1 billion but we will see whether he has his reserve of hate and people in his gut. It appears he does but that is what we face and that is who arpaio is in this state and country. Carlos victoria, what has the legal battle looked like with arpaio . We always hear he will always almost go down. Victoria i think the litigation has started with immunity in the county. We currently at the aclu have two major lawsuits challenging the activities we have heard about today, the worksite raids and the crime suppression sweeps we heard about. That litigation i think in part, we got to that point where we had to bring this to the court because politically, arpaio had free reign and i think through the court, we have had some major wins, frankly, in stopping worksite raids and ending the crime suppression sweeps and finding Court Findings that arpaio engaged in racial profiling, violated constitutional rights. These have been major victories that have been carried by the community through their experiences and having that affirmed by a court and also having a court order that there be major reforms taking place in the agency itself. I think one of the important things that has come to light out of the litigation is the disrepair the agency has been in as a policing agency in this country and as we look at how Police Conduct themselves across the country. Ncso is an important example of what reform looks like in a police department. Through the racial profiling case, we had an order from the judge ordering training, revision of policy, data collection, body cameras to monitor the activities of a sheriffs deputies, ordering the Sheriffs Office to stop enforcing immigration laws, stop Immigration Enforcement activities. Those have been major wins. They have, to cut there have been people in the Community Forward and testified in hearings, then plaintiffs in these cases and used the courts to be able to end those practices and frankly, it is the beginning of a conversation about what happens next. I can go through the history of the cases. Im sure many of you are following what is happening in the racial profiling case. There are currently content he contempt hearings going on against arpaio for violating court orders. We will be back in court monday despite arpaios efforts. We will see on monday how we will proceed and hopefully the back on track with hearings to address those violations of the court order and what the remedies will be for the community and work from there. That is not really an update on what the litigation look like but if anyone is interested in knowing more specifics about the cases, i am happy to answer those. We have had some major wins in defeating arpaio but the committee has really driven those cases successfully. Him i want to ask you, you work to fight other peoples cases. If you could talk a bit about what you do and a similar question i had with catherine. How do you see your experience shaping your future . How do you think it will affect your future . I work with puente and im helpi