Immigrant rights highlighted at NAARPR conference

By Jackson Robak

Chicago, IL – Over 900 people attended the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) over the course of the November 14-16 weekend, bringing together more than 30 chapters of NAARPR with over 12 chapters of the Legalization for All (L4A) network in attendance.

Friday night started with a rally that included 17 speakers, one of whom was Gabriel Quiroz Jr., co-chair of Centro CSO Police Accountability Committee in Los Angeles. Also speaking was longtime Chicano revolutionary Carlos Montes, who said, “Shout out to the African-American leaders of Chicago, you pushed ICE the fuck out of here. LA led the uprising against the ICE attacks, against Trump. Chicago and LA set the tone for the rest of the country.”

On Saturday, November 15, Legalization for All (L4L) presented a workshop, chaired by Jordan Peña of Los Angeles, made up of five affiliated organizations sharing about the work they are doing in their communities to stand up and fight back against ICE.

The other speakers were Vanessa Alvarez with Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance (JIRA), Verita Topete of Centro CSO in Los Angeles, Mira Altobell-Resendez of Minnesota Immigrant Rights Committee, Lyla Salinas of CSO San Jose, and Brandon Gehrke-Quintanilla of Aurora CSO in Colorado. The L4A speakers spoke about targeted attacks against Mexicanos, Central Americans, Chicanos and Latinos; how to build campaigns that broad sections of people can get involved with; demands that seek to protect our communities from ICE raids; deportations, and how to fight and win legalization for all.

Vanessa Alvarez spoke on the fight against “Alligator Alcatraz,” stating, “We won a campaign against … a very cruel attempt to create a deportation camp in Florida. We scared Governor DeSantis into thinking we were going to cause such a ruckus, such a mess for him, that he pivoted and cancelled the plan.”

Another topic was fighting back against repression. Verita Topete from Centro CSO Immigration Committee in Los Angeles, when asked about a major victory for CSO, said, “Getting the charges dropped on Alejandro Orellana. He was a victim of FBI repression and fraudulent felony charges in June of 2025. This was due to the people’s movement in LA against Trump’s attacks. CSO chapters, Stop FBI Repression, NAARPR, and many others pushed back against U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli on a national level. This resulted in a massive victory, and Orellana’s charges were dropped!”

On Sunday, November 16, a resolution was passed that calls upon affiliates of NAARPR to fight back against deportations and ICE raids, as well as demanding an end to all detention center expansions across the country. Brandon Gehrke-Quintanilla of Aurora, Colorado CSO was nominated and elected to the NAARPR executive board. There he will serve as a connection between the shared work of the two organizations.

NAARPR and Legalization for All affiliates gave report-backs on the struggles. Cole Hamilton of Detroit Comité de Acción Comunitaria – Detroit reported, “In Detroit, our first No Kings protest in June was organized around the slogan of a ‘Day Without Immigrants.’ Over 5000 people marched, demanding that Detroit become a sanctuary city.”

Brandon Gehrke-Quintanilla gave an L4A report saying, “Over the last year, we had ten affiliated organizations. Now we have more than 20 affiliated organizations across the country! We have seen this rapid expansion and the level of activity in our organizing because of the fight we’ve been waging against the Trump administration and the deportations in our cities.”

The Legalization for All Network will continue fighting against deportations, against ICE raids, and for legalization of all of the undocumented. Public meetings happen every third Friday of the month, at 5:30 p..m Pacific Time, over Zoom. Please message L4A on social media or email legalizationforall@gmail.com for the link. If your organization would like to be added to the network, message L4A.

#ChicagoIL #IL #ImmigrantRights #NAARPR #CentroCSO