No amount of hate filled rhetoric, unlawful racist detentions, or tear gas can mask these essential truths that were made so clear by the millions workers themselves. People whose courage in the face of repression, and the potential loss of jobs , continue to pour out from the shadows and into the streets. Not only to heroically defend their rights and dignity, but have also revitalized the historical relevance of May Day, in which migrant workers of years past fought and died for the rights of all workers as they helped established the eight hour work day.

Since the movement lead by the undocumented has re-emerged, the inaction and silence from congress has become deafening. Though the neo-fascist seinsbrenner bill was for the most part defeated, the inability of congress to draft a new more humane and sensible legislative solution has left an extremely repressive and violent vacuum. Most notably the arrogant abuse of power exemplified by Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputized vigilantes. His shame full application of the Homeland Security Departments ill conceived 287g agreements have forced entire communities of workers in Maricopa county to live in constant states fear and terror.

This series of prints designed by Shepard Fairey and Ernesto Yerena originated from photographs taken during the historic 2006 may day march and to me reflect some of that determination and dignity that is driving this most important assertion of workers rights in recent history. I want to thank both of them for they’re work thoughout the years. I also want to thank Marco Amador from Produciones Cimarron for his work and consultation on the project and for his work along side the communities themselves.

¡La Lucha Sigue!

Hopefully see you in the streets.

-Shepard Fairey

A report from the Pew Hispanic Center, a respected nonpartisan research group, found that migration from Mexico has come to a virtual standstill, and the number of illegal immigrants in the United States may even be in decline. But you wouldn't know that from the overheated debate, which makes it sound as if immigrants are coming in droves, committing kidnappings and then freeloading on food stamps.

When it comes to issues like Arizona's strict enforcement law, President Barack Obama's DREAM Act order, or arguments about border security, there are plenty of distortions, large and small, that enter the political discourse. PolitiFact, the national politics website of the Tampa Bay Times, has long been tracking and debunking inaccurate statements about immigration. We've found that immigration claims are especially prone to exaggerations and falsehoods. For example, 29 percent of all claims we check earn a False or Pants on Fire. But for immigration, 35 percent do. With that in mind, let’s find the border between truth and fiction.

Decapitated bodies in Arizona?

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled key portions of an Arizona immigration law that was considered one of the nation’s strictest. The court struck down provisions making it a crime for illegal immigrants to seek work and for local officials to jail illegal immigrants for acts that could lead to deportation. But it gave provisional approval to part of the law that required law enforcement officers to check immigration status if they had reasonable suspicions when stopping people for other reasons.

Supporters of the 2010 law said it was necessary because Arizona couldn’t afford the social costs of so much illegal immigration. It's true that illegal immigrants can enroll their children in public schools. When they show up with emergency conditions at hospitals, the hospitals are required to stabilize them.

But the law’s supporters -- including Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer -- went too far with several dramatic but unsubstantiated claims about crime. Brewer said the situation was so bad that law enforcement was finding decapitated bodies. "Our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert, either buried or just lying out there, that have been beheaded," she said.

It was a powerful story, but it wasn't true.

Medical authorities in Arizona, though, told PolitiFact that in the vast majority of border deaths, the cause was exposure -- extreme heat in summer, extreme cold in winter -- not criminal violence. The remainder of deaths, fewer than 5 percent, were related to the process of human smuggling, such as auto accidents. PolitiFact rated Brewer’s statement Pants on Fire.

Another inaccurate talking point was that Phoenix was "the No. 2 kidnapping capital of the world."

We couldn’t find any evidence from law enforcement to prove this statistic. Meanwhile, private security companies told us that Phoenix was nowhere near the top of their lists for kidnappings. These firms were negotiating hostage releases from cities like Mexico City; Caracas, Venezuela; and Tegucigalpa, Honduras. When Arizona Sen. John McCain repeated the erroneous "kidnapping capital" statement in 2010, we rated his statement False.

‘Freeloaders’

Another theme we've seen: that illegal immigrants are freeloaders taking advantage of federal welfare programs. Those types of charges are often repeated in anonymous chain e-mails, on blogs and Facebook. "More than 43 percent of all food stamps are given to illegals," said a typical claim, this one from a Facebook post promoting "10 Illegal Alien Facts."

When PolitiFact researched the numbers, though, we found the claim ridiculously false and rated it Pants on Fire. About 46.4 million people receive food stamps, so 43 percent of that number would be just under 20 million. That significantly exceeds estimates for how many illegal immigrants are in the country. The Pew Hispanic Center put the number at 11.2 million in 2010.

On top of that, most social welfare programs bar illegal immigrants from receiving benefits and require proof of immigration status. That includes food stamps, as well as cash welfare assistance, Medicaid, and even the new health care law. It's true that some children of illegal immigrants qualify for benefits if they were born in the United States and are citizens. (Critics derisively call them "anchor babies.") But there aren't nearly enough of those types of children -- an estimated 4 million -- to account for 43 percent of food stamp recipients.

Another claim is that illegal immigrants dominate public housing run by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, or HUD. "Nearly 60 percent of all occupants of HUD properties in the U.S. are illegals," the Facebook post said. That statement too earned a Pants on Fire, because it would require half of all illegal immigrants in the country to live in that housing. And again, HUD requires proof of legal status.

Frank Sharry, executive director of the pro-immigration group America's Voice, said that these kinds of anonymous attacks aren't typical of the public's views of illegal immigrants, but they are out there. "Polling shows that attitudes toward immigration are improving. But the people who don’t like it are really nasty," he said. "The haters have gotten more intense."

Henry A. S. Dearborn built Fort Scammel on the island in 1808 as part of the national second system of fortifications. It was named after Alexander Scammell, Adjutant general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, who was killed in action during the Battle of Yorktown. The fort was designed for harbor defense, with cannon batteries designed to protect the main shipping channel into Portland harbor, along with Fort Preble. In the 1840s–1870s, as part of the national third system of fortifications, Fort Scammel was modernized. Thomas Lincoln Casey, known for his work on the Washington Monument rebuilt the fort in 1862 at the time of the American Civil War. Of all the forts in Casco Bay, Fort Scammel was the only fort to fire a shot and be fired upon in battle, in early August, 1813. …

The island was later the site of an immigration quarantine station from 1907 to 1937, and was considered the 'Ellis Island of the North'. The quarantine station was busiest in the early 1920s, after the adoption of the Emergency Quota Act, which restricted the number of immigrants who could enter the country. In November 1923, the ships President Polk and George Washington were diverted from New York City to Portland and 218 immigrants from those ships were quarantined at the station.

The island was considered "ideal" by immigration officials. A Grand Trunk Railway station was located at the docks in Portland, allowing easy rail access for immigrants arriving in Portland. Additionally, William Husband, Commissioner General of United States Immigration, said the whole island was secure and "The whole of House Island was available in that case, instead of those detained being obliged to go out under guard with only few patches of green grass upon which they might set foot, as at some other places."