Two major days are coming up: 1) for those without TVs or calendars, Mother’s Day is May 13, and 2) within the next couple of weeks the House of Representatives is expected to vote on its version of the Violence Against Women Act. The convergence of these two days begs the question: Which mothers are worthy of our protection from violence?

This post originally appeared on Sojourners God’s Politics blog.

We’re urged, these days, to be vigilant. I’m alert to this when taking the subway in Washington, D.C., where loudspeakers remind riders that if they “see it, say it.” Speak up, we’re told, if we see a threat.

More than five hundred people showed up at the Supreme Court today in opposition to Arizona’s SB1070 law. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on four controversial provisions in that law that were blocked by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, namely:

 1. A provision compelling police to question the immigration status of individuals they suspect are undocumented,

 2. A provision allowing police to arrest such individuals without a warrant,

 3. A provision making it a state crime to work without authorization

Years ago, I called up an old friend from high school to chat. It was the Saturday before Easter and I could hear his children giggling in the background, dying eggs with their mother.

I mentioned to my friend that I was working with other immigrants’ rights activists to organize a fundraiser for a group of bakers who had recently been detained in an I.C.E. [Immigration and Customs Enforement] raid in San Diego. The federal agents raided the bakery where the people had worked, blocking off the streets and swarming into the facility with high-powered assault rifles.

This post originally appeared on Matt’s blog at UnDocumented.tv.

February was Black History Month. I ended it pressing for Immigration Reform in the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement.

About every five years the Farm Bill addresses a broad set of food and agricultural policy issues. Commodity price supports, farm credit, trade, agricultural conservation, research, rural development, energy, and foreign and domestic food programs were just some of the issues included in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, as the last Farm Bill legislation was officially titled.

Editor's note: This blog was originally posted last October, but we're reposting it now because in the midst of states passing laws limiting access of social services to immigrants without documents, we thought it would be relevant.