Mission Mission

Credit Kati Jackson

Obviously this isn’t going to turn into an immigration blog because of one post, but I invited people to share their stories of real immigration struggles.  This is one of those stories:

you invited immigration stories on your blog so i figured i would share one. i’m a social worker working with immigrant youth, most of whom are undocumented.

in mid-september, an 18 year old client of mine, let’s call him carlos, went missing for two days. he was waiting for his uncle at a bus stop on 9th and market where a witness told his uncle that the police took him away. his family called the police to locate him, but could not find him. finally, carlos called his family and told them he was in an ICE detention center in arizona. apparently, an undercover police officer tackled him from behind and started asking him questions in english. he didn’t understand and this seemed to upset the police officer more. carlos said the officer hit him, put him in a police car, and took him to 850 bryant. he didn’t get a phone call until he was in arizona.

sanctuary city, not so much.

carlos and his family came to this country from honduras because their lives were being threatened. while i know it shouldn’t matter, this young man fit absolutely no “street” profile. if it had been almost any other client of mine, i might have wondered what he said to the cop or what he was wearing, but not carlos. this kid is all button down shirts and waist high jeans that are appropriately sized. he was enrolled in high school, he was an A and B student, and his attendance was great. i’ve gotten letters of support from all his teachers, sent him his transcripts, and attendance records, but the judge didn’t care about any of it.

his bond was set at $20,000, which is preposterous. the family can manage the 10% for a bondsman, but not the collateral. the alternative is to find a reduced rate or probono lawyer (impossible) to help him fight his case in detention. he would likely argue political asylum, and could spend years in detention fighting that case just to get deported anyway. all we want is for him to be breathe some free air while the wheels of justice turn, which i figured would be cheaper for the feds but perhaps not. the immigration system is uneblievably absurd and cold; they are treating this young man as if he had committed some heinous crime.

Since I’ve never seen a trick or treater on Capp before, I rolled over to Fair Oaks, which apparently is the sugary hotspot of the Mission.  I learned a few interesting things that night: 1) there are way more kids in the Mission than I thought and 2) I didn’t know I could eat 10 Reeses peanut butter cups in a sitting.

Most importantly, this kid’s sandwich costume might be the most badass thing I’ve ever seen.

Even wearing Converse kicks.  It’s like the Mission Taco met Mr. Pickles.

More Mission Halloween after the jump.

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Look, our immigration laws are complete bullshit, but the reality of Murat’s (the The Amuse-Bouche Guy) situation is just absurd.  This guy is married to a U.S. citizen, could have easily stayed here legally, but instead just let his visa expire while he chilled out selling muffins.  His plight is a fucking insult to everyone that has to fight to be here illegally, who have to endure watching their loved ones get deported back countries with oppressive regimes in power while they work for slave wages because of their government-mandated undocumented status, all the while having absolutely no chance to be here legally.

Murat had the golden ticket and opted to not cash it in.  Let’s have a conversation about the people with real problems.

Get sick:

• Eye on blogs
• SFweekly 1,2, 3, 4, 5
• Broke-Ass Stuart
• SFist
• Mission Loc@l
• The list goes on…

(photo from Mission Loc@l)

Aw, fuck.  Unrelated to Trauma filming, Andy writes in with some news from Valencia:

Its kind of a sad and haunting story but on my way home 16th and Valencia was closed off because there is a jumper sitting on the roof.  I hope to god that he doesnt jump and that he is able to work things out.  Its really a bummer and is kind of scary to see in real life.

Oy.  Have also heard people on the scene are taking cell phone pics and cracking jokes.  Quit being assholes.

I figure if I can still unironically enjoy Biggie’s “Mo Money, Mo Problems,” I can link to a 5-year-old interview with my new favorite sticker artist (via Wooster Collective):

What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: art or sex, but even though I don’t have a job right now, I still don’t seem to do either as much as I’d like.
What is your favorite color?: green or purple or something.
Who (or what) do you love?: idiot art, copyright infringement, music, efficient public transportation, soul sistas, Mary Hopkin, vandalism, my friends, etc. I don’t actually love: fascism, racial profiling, police brutality, prison labor.
What other talent would most like to have? I’d like to be able to interact normally with other people and/or play the piano hella good.

Read on…

(Photo by Rick Audet | Thanks for the tip Gwen!)

(photo by jeffgage)

This guy was selling poems at 16th Street BART last night:

The sign inside his typewriter case said “Pick a subject and price then get a poem.”

I’m pretty sure I tried this one as a young lass, with no luck (newsflash: my poems were shitty).  Judging by the crowd surrounding this young poet, he’s doing much better than I ever did.

What do you suppose the most popular poem topic was?  Probably healthcare.

According to reader Eric, it looks like the store famous for their rack of luchador masks might be crossing a boundary:

Have you guys noticed these racist masks that they’re selling at that place on 24th between Capp and South Van Ness?

What the fuck?!?

Corinna fills us in on the latest NorCal reactionary attitude and how her dog defecating everywhere helped coined the term:

I got home from work and my old roommate who I did not very much care for said “I need to talk to you.” Hrm, what about? Then he told me about the “serious problem with Walter.”Apparently, according to him, Walter took the longest, most abundant pee all over his box spring, then took a fat shit on his floor, then dragged his comforter onto the floor and smeared it in his feces and then dragged the comforter all over his room to spread his dog shit all over the place. This behavior seems slightly malicious and from it I can only conclude that this dude was somehow fucking with Walter.

Read on…

Did anyone else spot this in Mission Loc@l?  ”Mr. Pickles in a cowboy hat.”  Cowboy hat? This is the most disgusting attempt at assimilating a Mission icon into American culture to date.

Peep this, East Bay journalism students: if you are going to slam our neighborhood’s favorite pickle’s unfettered sense of style, do it right:

(On a side note, searching for “Mexican Cowboy Hat” in google images is not quite what I expected)