Abolishment of the INS/Border Patrol

Chapter 8 analyzes Chicano/Mexicano processes of asserting independent solutions to the immigration crisis by convening the space for grassroots organizers from throughout the U.S. to participate in a radically democratic practice of decision making. On April 11, 1981 the CCR reconvened a number of the 1,000 grassroots activists who had participated in the National Chicano Immigration Conference the year before to hear the voices of several survivors of migra brutality and remember those that did not survive the abuse of militarized immigration policy. The chapter argues that through the tribunal the CCR demonstrated an alternative practice of belonging, challenging the legitimacy of immigration policy by calling for its abolition. Furthermore the National Chicano Immigration Conference, held in 1980, was a process in which activists, community members and advocates collectively constructed solutions to the immigration crisis from the perspective of the transnational Chicano/Mexicano/Latino community.