On July 31, 2011, after two Salvadoran immigrants went to Canada to apply for asylum, long-time Twin Cities activist Joe Callahan was arrested by Canadian police at the Pigeon River border station. At the time Joe was alone in his car. The Canadian police used a backpack, maps and other items found in Joe’s car as the grounds for his arrest.
Joe was charged with “aiding and abetting an immigration without a visa,” and “providing false and misleading information.” As a result of these charges, Joe was locked up in the Thunder Bay District Jail in cramped, crowded conditions where inmates are frequently forced to sleep on the floor, as Joe did for the first several days he was there. While Joe was in custody, the authorities added the charge of “smuggling” or “human trafficking.” This charge is much more serious and carries a maximum sentence of ten years.
After one month Joe was released on bail and was allowed to return to the Minneapolis area, pending trial. He is restricted to the Twin Cities area as a condition of his release. Meanwhile, the prosecuting attorney, or “Crown Attorney,” as they are called in Canada, informed Joe’s defense attorneys that he is seeking a sentence of three or four years. The trial will be held in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The date has not yet been set. Joe is being represented by Mary Bird and Francis Thatcher, a prominent attorney in the Aboriginal rights struggle.
Over the last thirty years Joe has been active in solidarity work for Central America and Cuba. He has been an active defender of immigration rights. He was also active against an attempt to reinstate the death penalty in Minnesota. His record in the fight for justice goes back to his youth. As a student he was active in the anti-Vietnam war movement.
For four and a half years Joe worked for the Metro Transit System as a bus driver, and was a member of the Amalgamated Transit Union. He has spent his working life in blue-collar, unionized jobs. Now, because of his legal difficulties, he has been forced to take a lower-paying position as a driver for a small bus company.
Joe Callahan is NOT a human trafficker! Joe is NOT a smuggler! These charges against him are unfounded and they should be dropped. Joe is a political activist concerned about the rights of immigrants. He needs the help of all supporters of democratic rights.
You can aid in Joe’s defense:
- Send donations to: Joe Callahan Support Committee, 2919 Polk St. NE, Minneapolis, Mn 55418
- Circulate this letter and urge others to sign. New signers can sign via email to:
joecallahansupport@hotmail.com
- Attend Joe’s trial in Thunder Bay, Ontario. For more information contact:
supportjoe.wordpress.com or joecallahansupport@hotmail.com
In solidarity,
Michael Rattner, President, Center for Constitutional Rights
Michael Steven Smith, Esq. Co-host, Law and Disorder
Jeff Mackler, Director, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu Jamal
Roger Sheppard, Member, Local 105 IBEW (retired)
Barbara Mutnick, activist, Queens, New York
Cliff Conner, author, “A People’s History of Science”
Marv Gandall, activist, Ottawa Canada
Walker Jones, activist, Ottawa Canada
Bruce Scheff, Chicago, IL
Carol Hayse, LCSW
Steve Echardt, Chicago Cuba Committee
Chicago Committee Against Political Repression
Norine Gutekanst, Organizing Coordinator, Chicago Teachers Union
Carl Finamore, former President (retired), Air Transport Employees, Local Lodge 1781, IAMAW, and current delegate, San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Sue Englander, Instructor, City College of San Francisco
Jon Flanders, IAM 1145, delegate, Troy Area Labor Council
Steve Early, author and labor journalist
Lynn K. Edwards, M.D., Matagalpa, Nicaragua
Richard Robohm, biologist, Matagalpa, Nicaragua
Lisa Savage, CODEPINK, Maine Local Coordinator
Mark and Jolee Zola, Istanbul, Turkey
Rodger Scott, AFT 2121 Executive Board Member & Past President; delegate, San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Allan Fisher, AFT 2121
Anna Fisher, AFT 2121
Dan Kaplan, Executive Secretary, AFT Local 1493, San Mateo (CA) Community College Federation of Teachers
Dianne Feeley, Editor, Against the Current
Alan Wald, Editor, Against the Current
Malik Miah, Editor, Against the Current
John Riddell, Toronto
Suzanne Weiss, Toronto
Art Young, Greater Toronto Workers’Assembly
Linda Meissenheimer, Toronto
Brad Sigal, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition
Marie Braun, Twin Cities Peace Campaign
Dave Bicking, Green Party
Alan Dale, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition
Tracy Molm, Students for a Democratic Society
Eric Angell, co-producer, Our World in Depth
Colleen McGilp, AFSCME (retired)
Jess Sundin, Anti-War Committee
Linden Gawboy, Committee to Stop FBI Repression
Tim O’Brien, Hands Off Honduras, Minneapolis
Tom Fiske, Socialist Workers Party
Anh Pham, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition
Bruce Nestor, Past President, National Lawyers Guild
Joel Greenberg, Chicago, Il.
Mark Satinoff, shop steward, IAM Local Lodge 1894, Queens, NY
Timothy Jordan, architect, Minneapolis
Jerry Lotierzo, Syracuse Peace Council
Marissa Janczewska, Hartford, Connecticut
Howie Hawkins, Teamsters Local 317, Green Party, Syracuse, NY
Annette Gagne, Providence, Rhode Island
Michael Rice, Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, 1941
Shaun Harkin, International Socialist Organization
Lee Sustar, Labor Editor, Socialistworker.org
Joyce Duncan
Ed Kinane, Caribbean/Latin American Coalition, Central NY
Lane Satterblom, David, Panama
Mark Harris, journalist
Kathy Kelly, Co-coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Michael Eisenscher, Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice
Patty Guerrero, Minneapolis
Joe Lombardo, Co-coordinator, United National Antiwar Coalition
Joanne Kinoy, attorney, Chicago
Heinz Leitner, Solidarity Without Borders, Vienna, Austria
Sister Bernie Galvin, Congregation for Divine Providence
Marilyn Levin, Co-coordinator, United National Antiwar Coalition
Bill Leumer, Editorial Board member, Workers Action
Millie Phillips, Socialist Organizer, San Francisco, CA
Paul LeBlanc, Professor of History, La Roche College, author, A Short History of the U.S. Working Class
James E. Owens, New York City
Bill Massey, Member, Party for Socialism and Liberation
Beth Massey, author, Goodly Creatures
Mark A. Lause, historian, University of Cincinnati
Anne Scheetz, M.D., Single-payer activist
Jim Rhodes, Single-payer activist
Jennie Eisert, Anti-War Committee
Beth Shapiro, Women Against Military Madness
Kay Pitney, activist, Minneapolis
Bill Breihan, Sub-District Director, United Steelworkers, Milwaukee, WI
Ron Lare, former Executive Board member, UAW Local 600
Al Weinrub, past 1st Vice President, National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981
Mary Scully, IUE-CWA 201 (retired)
Frank Forrestal, Socialist Workers Party
Note: Organizations for Identification Purposes Only
This letter has been approved by the Joe Callahan Support Committee.
Please circulate this letter as widely as possible to potential supporters.
