Save Our State logo

Save Our State (SOS) is an activist organization opposed to illegal immigration in Southern California. The group also has a chapter in Northern California. It was granted 501(c)(3) non-profit status in late 2005. Image File history File links Sos_logo. ... Image File history File links Sos_logo. ... Save Our State may refer to several things. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change. ... Illegal immigration refers to immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. ... For the urban complex straddling the United States-Mexico border, see Bajalta California. ... Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. ... 501(c)(3) is a provision of the US tax code that provides exempt status, for Federal income tax purposes, for some non-profit organizations in the United States (see 26 U.S.C. Â§ 501(c)(3)). The term refers to: Section 501. ... A non-profit organization (abbreviated NPO, or non-profit or not-for-profit) is an organization whose primary objective is to support an issue or matter of private interest or public concern for non-commercial purposes, without concern for monetary profit. ...

Origin

The group takes its name from California's 1994 Proposition 187, known as the "Save Our State" initiative. The proposition, which would have denied health care and education to illegal immigrant residents of California, was approved by a majority of voters in 1994 but was immediately challenged in court and was eventually struck down by a US district court four years later. California Proposition 187 was a 1994 ballot initiative designed to deny illegal immigrants social services, health care, and public education. ... Map of the boundaries of the United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. ...

The group was incorporated in July 2004 by Ventura resident Joseph Turner, who was unsatisfied with the existing immigration-reform groups whose letter-writing campaigns he deemed ineffectual. In an interview, Turner stated, "Our belief is that if that worked or had any sort of positive influence, we wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in." In contrast, SOS's tactics are statedly "aggressive", and "in-your-face". Their language reflects this, intentionally eschewing what they perceive to be the political correctness that characterized the language of the 1990s. In the opinion of Turner and many of his supporters, political correctness and multiculturalism are both factors that contribute to the continued entry of illegal aliens into the United States. Coordinates: Country United States State California County Ventura Mayor Carl Morehouse Area    - City 84. ... Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ...

Activities and tactics

SOS and counterdemonstrators outside of a Home Depot in Glendale, California, December 10, 2005.

SOS's first campaign was in December 2004, when, after launching a website with a forum, they announced a boycott of Home Depot for funding day labor centers on or near their store locations. Later, in the spring of 2005, SOS protested billboards advertising KRCA-TV's Spanish-language newscast that displayed the Mexico City landmark Angel of Independence in the center of the Los Angeles skyline. Accompanying text read "Los Angeles, CA Mexico. Tu Ciudad. Tu Equipo." ("Your city. Your newsteam.")[1] Reports vary as to whether or not the protests had any effect on their removal. SOS has continued protesting against Home Depot, day-laborer hiring sites, and even works of art they view as reflecting a mentality that encourages illegal immigration. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1500x1000, 402 KB) Summary From my personal collection, taken by me in Glendale, California at a Save Our State protest of Home Depot. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1500x1000, 402 KB) Summary From my personal collection, taken by me in Glendale, California at a Save Our State protest of Home Depot. ... The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products. ... Nickname: Location of Glendale within Los Angeles County and the State of California. ... December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, 21 days before the next year. ... The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products. ... KRCA Channel 62 is a television station in the Los Angeles, California metropolitan region which once broadcast Asian programming (Mandarin Chinese and Korean language). ... This article is about the international language known as Spanish. ... Nickname: Location of Mexico City in central Mexico Coordinates: , Country Mexico Federal entity Federal District Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded c. ... El Ángel de la Independencia (The Angel of Independence), most commonly known by the shortened name El Ángel, is a monument located on a roundabout over Paseo de la Reforma in downtown Mexico City. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: , State California County Los Angeles County Settled 1781 Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government  - Type Mayor-Council  - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa  - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo  - Governing body City Council Area  - City  498. ...

The underlying philosophy of the protests is referred to by Turner as "the transference of pain", a tactic for which he credits his wife. In Turner's words,

"It’s a very simple concept, and it just means that if you do not make it painful enough for an organization or entity to continue doing what they’re doing, then they’re simply going to keep doing it. That pain can take any number of shapes or forms. If you’re a politician, the pain could be at the ballot box or in the polls. If it’s a corporation, it’s inflicting the bottom line or their PR and image and things like that."

Baldwin Park I

The group's next action provoked a great deal of controversy. SOS protested the monumental artwork Danzas Indigenas at the Metrolink station in Baldwin Park, California. The work, commissioned by the city and designed by UCLA professor, Chicana artist, and SPARC founder Judy Baca with community input, featured several inscriptions on Mission-style arches, two of which drew the ire of anti-illegal immigration activists. A quote from the Chicana writer Gloria Anzaldua reads, "This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is, and will be again." The other read "It was better before they came." About the first quote, Turner stated, "It's seditious. It essentially talks about returning this land to Mexico." About the second quote, which Baca states was actually uttered by a white Baldwin Park resident lamenting the influx of Mexican Americans after World War II, Baca has stated that it is deliberately ambiguous to allow the viewer's interpretation of "they" to reveal something about the viewer. SOS claims the referent of "they" is "white people". Map of St. ... Location of Baldwin Park in California Coordinates: Country United States of America State California County Los Angeles Incorporated (city) 1956-01-25 [2] Government  - Mayor Manuel Lozano [1] Area  - City  6. ... The University of California, Los Angeles, generally known as UCLA, is a public university whose main campus is located in the affluent Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. ... The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... Chicano teenager in El Pasos second ward. ... SPARC building, Venice, California The Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) is a non-profit community arts center based in Venice, California. ... Judith Francisca Baca (born September 20, 1946) is an American artist, activist, and University of California, Los Angeles professor of fine arts. ... The Spanish Missions in California (more simply referred to as the California Missions) comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholic Dominicans, Jesuits, and Franciscans, to spread the Christian doctrine among the local Native Americans. ... Categories: Female-related stubs | 1942 births | 2004 deaths | Feminists | Lesbian writers | Queer theory ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

On May 14, 2005, approximately 40 members of Save Our State held signs in front of the monument. Counterprotesters also showed up, shouting such slogans as "Racists go home" and displaying the flag of Mexico when squaring off against the American flags carried by Save Our State. They were joined by a man later identified as Frank “Mohammed” Martinez, a "known agent provocateur".[2] Police in riot gear were called in from several neighboring departments to maintain a wall of separation between the groups. In the day's only incident of physical violence, an SOS protester, a sixty-six year old Minuteman Project volunteer named Laura D. "Dottie" Dalton, was hit in the head by a water bottle lobbed from area of the counterprotesting crowd. She was held overnight for observation but was released the next day. May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Flag of Mexico is a vertical tricolor of green, white, and red with the national coat of arms charged in the center of the white stripe. ... Union Jack. ... The Minuteman Project Civil Defense Corps was started in April 2005 by a group of American citizens to deter illegal crossings of the United States–Mexico border. ...

Response

The event was covered in local newspapers, as well as by writers for the Los Angeles Independent Media Center, and in broadcast media by KPFK's Uprising and What's Right With America (WRWA), a conservative public access talk show in Santa Barbara, California. National conservative websites such as World Net Daily picked up the story after viewing footage posted on WRWA's website.[3] The most shocking footage was of Martinez, who, wearing a turban, made such statements as "Viva Zarqawi, the gringo killer!". Indymedia Logo The Independent Media Center (aka Indymedia or IMC) is a global network of independent journalists and an alternative media outlet which takes a generally left-wing perspective on political and social issues. ... KPFK (90. ... Nickname: Santa Barbara is situated on the southward-facing coast at far right. ... World Net Daily, also known as WND, is a conservative online news site. ... Wikinews has news related to: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed in airstrike Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (Arabic: , , Abu Musab from Zarqa)) (October 20, 1966 – June 7, 2006) was a Jordanian who ran a militant training camp in Afghanistan alongside Osama bin Laden. ...

The SOS website also experienced heavy traffic, with supporters and detractors alike registering thousands of opinions.

The police presence required to separate the two sides was precisely the type of "pain" Turner and his group sought to "transfer" to the city government of Baldwin Park. In an interview, Turner stated,

"The city of Baldwin Park have a monument up there, and the local paper that covers that area just published an article recently said that our very first event cost the city of Baldwin Park $20,000 in overtime for their officers. That only covered the actual Baldwin Park contingent. There were over 200 officers there for our first rally, but the city of Baldwin Park has fewer than 100 full-time police officers, based on the most current numbers available on the Internet. That tells me that probably another $20,000 was spent by the other municipalities that were reinforcing them. Then you have the mayor crying about how the city is under siege and people are saying that they can’t afford the financial burden. Let’s face it: $20,000 in the grand scheme of things in a city the size of Baldwin Park isn’t a huge amount of money, but when you consider that local governments pretty much allocate every single of their budget, it obviously adds up."

Baldwin Park Mayor Manuel Lozano has publicly defended the language of the monument as a work of art, therefore free expression, and has demonstrated his support for counterprotesting organizations with "handshake walk" among their ranks. He has publicly described Save Our State as a 'hate group'. Mayor Lozano led the Baldwin Park City Council to formally proclaim that the monument would remain intact on June 25, 2005. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger, greater) is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer. ... is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Opposition

Opposition to SOS has originated in many quarters and organization of counterdemonstrations has largely been ad hoc. Galvanized by the protest of the monument, a coalition calling themselves "Committee to Defend Danzas Indigenas" was formed, and they helped the city of Baldwin Park to plan the response to the second protest of the monument known as Balwin Park II (BPII). An Inland Empire-based group called the Southern California Human Rights Network began to protest Save Our State within a few months of the beginning of its activities. They group worked with another newly-founded coalition, La Tierra Es De Todos, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The San Diego-based Gente Unida ("People United") extended their anti-Minuteman activities to include anti-SOS actions. Leftist antiwar organizations such as San Gabriel Neighbors for Peace and Justice and the Los Angeles branch of ANSWER also organized in opposition, as did the socialist groups ISO and the Socialist Workers Party. Day laborer organizations such as the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and their supporters the Catholic Charities have both spoken out against SOS and their tactics. Mexican groups such as Mexica Movement, MEChA, La voz de Aztlan, SPARC, Danza Azteca groups, and local musicians and visual artists have all denounced the group. The Inland Empire and its regions within The Inland Empire refers to the region in Southern California located in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in the United States. ... Nickname: Location of San Diego within San Diego County Coordinates: , Country United States State California County San Diego Founded July 16, 1769 Incorporated March 27, 1850 Government  - Mayor Jerry Sanders  - City Attorney Michael Aguirre  - City Council Scott Peters Kevin Faulconer Toni Atkins Tony Young Brian Maienschein Donna Frye Jim Madaffer... In the common law, an answer is the first pleading by a defendant, usually filed and served upon the plaintiff within a certain strict time limit after a civil complaint or criminal information or indictment has been served upon the defendant. ... The International Socialist Organization (ISO) is a socialist organization in the United States. ... The Socialist Workers Party is a communist political party in the United States. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Alleged ties to extremist groups

Save Our State protests a day labor center in Laguna Beach, September 25, 2005

Save Our State has been identified as a race-based hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center^[1]. Image File history File links SOS-LBIII.png‎ Released under the GNU Free Documentation License. ... Image File history File links SOS-LBIII.png‎ Released under the GNU Free Documentation License. ... Location of Laguna Beach within Orange County, California. ... The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American non-profit legal organization, whose stated purpose is to combat racism and promote civil rights through research, education and litigation. ...

References

1. ^ Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Project, 2005

External links

• Official Site

Neutral

• The Red Alert interviews with Joe Turner and LA ANSWER

Support

• California's Second Desperate Immigration SOS
• Save Our State Successful—And Therefore Smeared
• The Immigration Watchdog reports on Laguna Beach September 24, 2005, Glendale December 10, 2005, and Glendale January 7, 2006, Burbank January 21, 2006.
• A Street-Fighter Mentality on Illegal Immigration
• FrontPage Magazine's article on the La Tierra Es De Todos Coalition
• The American Resistance - Photos and detailed description of the event

Opposition

• "All in a day's work" LA Times editorial January 23, 2006
• SPARC responds to SOS
• "Immigration protesters joined by neo-Nazis in California", 2005, Southern Poverty Law Center
• "La Tierra Es De Todos" Immigrants' rights group opposing Save Our State.
• Socialist Worker
• SOS had good turnout in Laguna Beach LA Independent Media Center July 30, 2005
• This Land Is our Land Critical piece published in the Los Angeles City Beat.
• Mexica Movement Turns Tables On Save Our State Rally LA Independent Media Center January 7, 2006
• Internal Strife at SOS - Part I : LA IMC

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American non-profit legal organization, whose stated purpose is to combat racism and promote civil rights through research, education and litigation. ...

News

• "Petition targets aiding of illegal migrants in city" San Bernardino County Sun, April 25, 2006
• "SoCal groups square off over immigration bill" San Jose Mercury News, March 31, 2006
• "Protests shut down job centers" Burbank Leader, March 1, 2006
• "Minuteman ally injured in protest sues city" WorldNetDaily, February 4, 2006
• "Day laborer center approved" Burbank Leader, January 11, 2006
• "25 Laborers Show Up on 1st Day of Burbank Hiring Center" LA Times, January 13, 2006
• "Groups stage nationwide rallies denouncing illegal immigration" The Desert Sun, January 8, 2005
• "A Ventura County group's vow to force Baldwin Park to remove an inscription at a Metrolink station is based on an error, artist says" A hispanicvista.com reprint of a Times article on Baldwin Park

v • d • e United States immigration debate
Issues	Illegal immigration · Trafficking in human beings · Labor shortage · Terrorism · U.S-Mexico Border · Economic impact · Population · Immigration reduction · Legalization · Guest worker program
Proposed legislation	DREAM Act (2001-2007) · H.R. 4437 (2005) · Jackson Lee (2005) · McCain-Kennedy (2005) · SKIL (2006) · S. 2611 (2006) · STRIVE Act (2007) · S. 1348 (2007)
Action	REAL ID (2005) · Secure Fence Act (2006) · 2006 Protests
Organizations	Immigration and Customs Enforcement · CCIR · NIF · FIRM · WAAA · NCLR · FAIR · MMP · MCDC · CCIR · SOS · CIS · NUSA · MPI
Past laws	Naturalization Act (1795) · 14th Amendment (1868) · Chinese Exclusion (1882) · Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 (1907) · Emergency Quota Act (1921) · Immigration Act of 1924 (1924) · Bracero Program (1942-64) · INS Act (1965) · IRCA (1986) · IIRIRA (1996)