By Roshan Nebhrajani
The Miami Herald
Posted on Fri, Jul. 22, 2011
A 24-acre stretch of land in Southwest Ranches, just off of U.S. 27 bordering Pembroke Pines, may be the future home to one of the nation’s largest immigrant detention facilities.
The proposed center will have 1,800 beds, far surpassing the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, which has capacity for 700, according to the Immigration Customs Enforcement.
“The new facility’s size is consistent with the existing demand for beds in the Miami area,” said ICE public affairs officer Dani Bennett.
South Florida is home to two of the state’s five facilities: the Krome Service Processing Center and the Broward Transitional Center.
The transitional center “houses only non-violent populations with less serious or no criminal history,” according to Bennett.
Krome is divided into three pods for detainees with serious or criminal backgrounds and six dormitories for non-violent detainees.
Krome has 581 beds and normally operates at or near maximum capacity, according to ICE spokesman Nestor Yglesias.
The new facility is going to be built to meet a demand for 1,500 to 2,000 beds in the South Florida area. It will reduce transfers and enable detainees to have better access to legal services in their area, Bennett said.
But immigrant activists have rallied against the new detention facility.
The Florida Immigrant Coalition conducted a phone survey polling the citizens of Southwest Ranches of their opinions of the new facility. The coalition asked: “Do you want a prison in Southwest Ranches?”
Of the 229 residents that responded, 203 — 89 percent — selected no, according to Natalia Jaramillo.
Additionally, “growers are worried about it because it would create an exodus of farm workers,” Jaramillo said.
Community organizer and immigrant rights activist Diego Sanchez thinks the new center will increase immigrant raids. “We’ve seen a lot of those already and it’s only going to get worse,” Sanchez said.
Southwest Ranches was selected over Florida City and Belle Glade, which also applied for the center.
“It would have been a heck of a boost for the economy. It would have created jobs during construction as well as permanent jobs,” said Otis Wallace, Florida City mayor. “But ICE is currently negotiating with Southwest Ranches, and what that means is that all other negotiations are off.”
The Corrections Corporation of America, a private corrections management company, purchased the land in Southwest Ranches in 1998, and has since been marketing the land to officials in Southwest Ranches and government agencies for possible development, according to CCA spokesman Steve Owen.
Although the deal between ICE and Southwest Ranches is, for now, tentative, once Corrections Corporation of America gets the green light to build, they can get the center built “pretty quickly,” according to Owen.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/22/v-print/2326928/one-of-the-nations-largest-immigrant.html#ixzz1T1ax2Mns
Showing posts with label Expulsions in FL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Expulsions in FL. Show all posts
Monday, July 25, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Internal Documents Prove ICE Misled Public About Secure Communities
By Thomas Francis
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
February 22, 2011
Officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deliberately misled the public and local law enforcement agencies about the immigration-enforcement program Secure Communities.
Internal e-mails obtained by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network show how ICE spokespersons rehearsed phrases that would frame Secure Communities as targeting the most violent illegal immigrants, even as evidence mounted that the majority of those deported through Secure Communities were arrested for a non-violent crime or detained despite having no criminal record.
Launched in 2008, Secure Communities is an information-sharing program through which local law enforcement agencies provide federal immigration officials with access to biometric information such as fingerprints of arrestees. If cross-referencing reveals a suspect is in the United States illegally, immigration officials can issue a detainer and deport the undocumented immigrant.
The Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center allege Secure Communities encourages racial profiling and discourages immigrants from reporting crimes or otherwise cooperating voluntarily with law enforcement.
Among documents released is an undated internal memo titled “Guidance for Handling Sensitive Jurisdictions.” The memo coaches ICE staff to say Secure Communities “focuses ICE enforcement on the worst of the worst,” emphasizing that the program “does not focus on undocumented aliens who are victims of, or innocent witnesses, to crime.”
Both seem to act as weasel phrases, exploiting the ambiguity of the word “focus.” That word speaks to the agency’s intent, but it obscures the real-world effect of Secure Communities: namely, that it deports more of the “low-priority” non-criminal immigrants than it does violent criminals who rank as “high-priority” targets.
The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting published an investigation on Jan. 31 that showed how these trends are even more pronounced in Florida, where only 20 percent of those deported through the program had been convicted of a violent crime. Immigrants with no criminal history accounted for 42 percent of Florida deportations through Secure Communities.
But the most flagrantly misleading aspect of Secure Communities deals with the claim, first made during the program’s 2009 debut, that local jurisdiction could simply “opt out” if they weren’t comfortable sharing information with ICE.
An August 2009 e-mail shows how an ICE spokesperson, Randi Greenberg, acknowledged the opt-out provision might not be around to stay. “The SC initiative will remain voluntary at both the state and local level,” wrote Greenberg, referring to a conversation with Secure Communities Acting Director Marc Rapp. “Until such time as localities begin to push back on participation, we will continue with this current line of thinking.”
Eventually, a handful of local governments, including California’s Santa Clara County, did push back, and the e-mail records disclosed by ICE show how the agency inched away from its prior claims about the ability to opt out.
A January 2010 correspondence documents how two ICE officials recommend that Rapp do away with Secure Communities’ voluntary feature. “Because of course if we adopt the ‘it’s not an option’ point of view, that certainly simplifies life, no?” wrote an ICE official whose name is redacted.
In June 2010, Greenberg updated ICE’s frequently-asked-questions section, which included a revision of the phrasing related to the opt-out. Judging by the reaction of at least one ICE official, this was a common event.
“I’m totally confused now,” wrote an ICE staffer whose name is redacted. “I’ve got so many versions of the opt-out language I don’t know what’s current and what’s not. It seems like we have different language for different purposes and it’s confusing.”
Records show that in 2010 ICE watered down the opt-out policy until it was only possible for a local law enforcement agency to opt out of receiving messages about the immigration status of those arrested. It was no longer possible to refuse sharing information with ICE, though ICE still called this an “opt-out.”
It wasn’t until October 2010 that federal officials acknowledged that local jurisdictions could not opt out of Secure Communities. ICE, backed by anti-immigration groups, continued to defend the program on the basis that an illegal immigrant is, by definition, a criminal and that the federal government has an obligation to deport immigrants it learns are residing in the United States illegally.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement formalized its partnership with Secure Communities in June 2010, a period during which it was hard to discern whether local agencies could opt out or not.
In its role as the custodian of identification records for all the state’s law enforcement agencies, FDLE had ample reason to obtain a clear definition of whether those agencies could opt before partnering with Secure Communities.
Heather Smith, a spokesperson for FDLE, told FCIR that none of Florida’s local law enforcement agencies has requested to opt out of Secure Communities.
“Florida’s local law enforcement has actively shared arrest fingerprint information with the federal government for years,” Smith said. “There are no local law enforcement agencies in Florida who have expressed to FDLE that they would like to opt out of this program.”
http://fcir.org/2011/02/22/internal-documents-prove-ice-misled-public-about-secure-communities/
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
February 22, 2011
Officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deliberately misled the public and local law enforcement agencies about the immigration-enforcement program Secure Communities.
Internal e-mails obtained by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network show how ICE spokespersons rehearsed phrases that would frame Secure Communities as targeting the most violent illegal immigrants, even as evidence mounted that the majority of those deported through Secure Communities were arrested for a non-violent crime or detained despite having no criminal record.
Launched in 2008, Secure Communities is an information-sharing program through which local law enforcement agencies provide federal immigration officials with access to biometric information such as fingerprints of arrestees. If cross-referencing reveals a suspect is in the United States illegally, immigration officials can issue a detainer and deport the undocumented immigrant.
The Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center allege Secure Communities encourages racial profiling and discourages immigrants from reporting crimes or otherwise cooperating voluntarily with law enforcement.
Among documents released is an undated internal memo titled “Guidance for Handling Sensitive Jurisdictions.” The memo coaches ICE staff to say Secure Communities “focuses ICE enforcement on the worst of the worst,” emphasizing that the program “does not focus on undocumented aliens who are victims of, or innocent witnesses, to crime.”
Both seem to act as weasel phrases, exploiting the ambiguity of the word “focus.” That word speaks to the agency’s intent, but it obscures the real-world effect of Secure Communities: namely, that it deports more of the “low-priority” non-criminal immigrants than it does violent criminals who rank as “high-priority” targets.
The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting published an investigation on Jan. 31 that showed how these trends are even more pronounced in Florida, where only 20 percent of those deported through the program had been convicted of a violent crime. Immigrants with no criminal history accounted for 42 percent of Florida deportations through Secure Communities.
But the most flagrantly misleading aspect of Secure Communities deals with the claim, first made during the program’s 2009 debut, that local jurisdiction could simply “opt out” if they weren’t comfortable sharing information with ICE.
An August 2009 e-mail shows how an ICE spokesperson, Randi Greenberg, acknowledged the opt-out provision might not be around to stay. “The SC initiative will remain voluntary at both the state and local level,” wrote Greenberg, referring to a conversation with Secure Communities Acting Director Marc Rapp. “Until such time as localities begin to push back on participation, we will continue with this current line of thinking.”
Eventually, a handful of local governments, including California’s Santa Clara County, did push back, and the e-mail records disclosed by ICE show how the agency inched away from its prior claims about the ability to opt out.
A January 2010 correspondence documents how two ICE officials recommend that Rapp do away with Secure Communities’ voluntary feature. “Because of course if we adopt the ‘it’s not an option’ point of view, that certainly simplifies life, no?” wrote an ICE official whose name is redacted.
In June 2010, Greenberg updated ICE’s frequently-asked-questions section, which included a revision of the phrasing related to the opt-out. Judging by the reaction of at least one ICE official, this was a common event.
“I’m totally confused now,” wrote an ICE staffer whose name is redacted. “I’ve got so many versions of the opt-out language I don’t know what’s current and what’s not. It seems like we have different language for different purposes and it’s confusing.”
Records show that in 2010 ICE watered down the opt-out policy until it was only possible for a local law enforcement agency to opt out of receiving messages about the immigration status of those arrested. It was no longer possible to refuse sharing information with ICE, though ICE still called this an “opt-out.”
It wasn’t until October 2010 that federal officials acknowledged that local jurisdictions could not opt out of Secure Communities. ICE, backed by anti-immigration groups, continued to defend the program on the basis that an illegal immigrant is, by definition, a criminal and that the federal government has an obligation to deport immigrants it learns are residing in the United States illegally.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement formalized its partnership with Secure Communities in June 2010, a period during which it was hard to discern whether local agencies could opt out or not.
In its role as the custodian of identification records for all the state’s law enforcement agencies, FDLE had ample reason to obtain a clear definition of whether those agencies could opt before partnering with Secure Communities.
Heather Smith, a spokesperson for FDLE, told FCIR that none of Florida’s local law enforcement agencies has requested to opt out of Secure Communities.
“Florida’s local law enforcement has actively shared arrest fingerprint information with the federal government for years,” Smith said. “There are no local law enforcement agencies in Florida who have expressed to FDLE that they would like to opt out of this program.”
http://fcir.org/2011/02/22/internal-documents-prove-ice-misled-public-about-secure-communities/
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Quarter of Those Deported Through Violent Illegals Program Have No Criminal Record
By AllGov.Com
February 20, 2011
A review of federal records by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting found that 28% of the more than 75,000 immigrants deported since Secure Communities was created in 2008 have been “non-criminal” immigrants, while just 23% of those detained and deported have convictions for violent crimes such as murder or rape.
According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with the Secure Communities program, “the fingerprints of everyone arrested and booked are not only checked against FBI criminal history records, but they are also checked against DHS immigration records.
If fingerprints match DHS records, ICE determines if immigration enforcement action is required, considering the immigration status of the alien, the severity of the crime and the alien's criminal history.”
However, Secure Communities’ rate of going after non-criminal illegals is even higher in Florida than in the country as a whole (42%), while only 20% of deportations consisted of violent criminals. Some of Florida’s largest counties have yet higher rates, including Orange County (63%), Palm Beach County (62%), Broward County (57%) and Miami-Dade County (51%).
http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Quarter_of_Those_Deported_Through_Violent_Illegals_Program_Have_No_Criminal_Record_110220
February 20, 2011
A federal program designed to locate and remove violent illegal immigrants from the U.S. has been more effective in deporting undocumented immigrants with no criminal backgrounds.
A review of federal records by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting found that 28% of the more than 75,000 immigrants deported since Secure Communities was created in 2008 have been “non-criminal” immigrants, while just 23% of those detained and deported have convictions for violent crimes such as murder or rape.
According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with the Secure Communities program, “the fingerprints of everyone arrested and booked are not only checked against FBI criminal history records, but they are also checked against DHS immigration records.
If fingerprints match DHS records, ICE determines if immigration enforcement action is required, considering the immigration status of the alien, the severity of the crime and the alien's criminal history.”
However, Secure Communities’ rate of going after non-criminal illegals is even higher in Florida than in the country as a whole (42%), while only 20% of deportations consisted of violent criminals. Some of Florida’s largest counties have yet higher rates, including Orange County (63%), Palm Beach County (62%), Broward County (57%) and Miami-Dade County (51%).
http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Quarter_of_Those_Deported_Through_Violent_Illegals_Program_Have_No_Criminal_Record_110220
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Immigration laws: Husband faces deportation, family fights for American dream
By ELYSA BATISTA
Naples Daily News
February 11, 2011
Editor's note: This is the second story in a series examining the upcoming legislative session, several proposed immigration bills, and how they will affect business, law enforcement and the people who could face scrutiny.
Her husband awaits deportation to Mexico and there’s the specter of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials swooping into town to take her away from her children. Yet, Modesta Velasco takes it one day at a time.
Waking up around 4 a.m. Velasco takes a quick shower before preparing breakfast and lunch in the shared kitchen of the trailer where she rents a room.
After all the preparations are set, the 27-year-old makes sure to slowly wake up her three sons by popping in a DVD of their favorite kids show, “CBeebies.” As soon as they start to stir, she’ll tell them to help wake each other up before getting them ready for school and off to a sitter.
“Because if you just wake them up they’re cranky,” she said with a laugh, before quickly becoming serious. “They’re so little and even as an adult you want to sleep when you are tired, but we have to get up.”
Velasco then makes her way to the parking lot of a local supermarket to catch a bus to the fields.
“We have no choice,” she said.
Unwanted changes
It has been six months since Velasco has seen her husband, Ismael Maya.
Maya, 29, was arrested in Virginia in the summer, as he was heading back down to Immokalee after the end of the picking season. He was sentenced to 10 months in jail and is expected to be deported soon after he finishes his sentence.
Velasco said that she last spoke with her husband in December and that she has not heard from him since.
“If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know what would happen to me,” she said of her sons.
Yet doing two parents’ jobs on her own is difficult, admitted Velasco, especially when it comes to taking care of 6-year-old Jesus, 5-year-old Jose, and 3-year-old Seviriano.
Right after her husband was taken, Velasco said, Jesus took it hard and started to perform poorly in school.
“He would arrive at home and refuse to do his homework,” she said. “He would cry over the slightest thing.”
Nevertheless, as time goes by, Velasco said her son has taken it upon himself to be the man of the house.
Yet her sons need their father, she said.
“They are not at fault in this,” said Velasco.
She knows her family’s future hangs on many outside factors, main among them is deportation.
Velasco said she has heard people say that immigration has been known to stop work buses as they’re leaving the fields.
“I just ask God that I’m not on one of the buses that gets searched when leaving work. That would be too much… I don’t think I would be able to keep it together if I’m not with my kids,” she said. “They are everything I have, and if I’m separated from them I think I’d die. That’s what I think. I would die without my kids. I love them very much.”
Sudden loss
The fact that families can be separated by deportation is a reality that many in Immokalee deal with daily, and one that Immokalee resident Celia Jimenez has not yet adjusted to.
The pain, she said, is still too raw.
Jimenez and her family were driving Jan. 21 when Collier County sheriff’s deputies stopped the family.
Her husband, Carlos L. Jimenez Cruz, 30, was arrested for driving with no valid driver’s license.
“They are going to deport him to Mexico,” said Jimenez, 30, as tears stream down her face. “My kids come home and ask ‘Where is our papa?’”
It’s like everything is going fine until one day something happens, she said recently.
“You would move heaven and earth to keep everything as it is, but you can’t,” said Jimenez, who has called Immokalee home for more than 10 years.
“That’s the situation that’s happening to me and that I’m suffering through... It’s a kind of suffering that I’ve never suffered before.”
In addition to having an impact on Jimenez, her husband’s arrest and pending deportation is having an effect on their three children- especially her 18-month-old son Orlando.
“He’s afraid that I’m going to go away,” she said while holding the infant, who has refused to be away from her even for a short while.
But in spite of the hard road ahead for her family, Jimenez said she won’t give up on the dream that her husband will be returned to her.
“Not having him, life is not the same for me,” she said, adding that she is looking into getting her husband an attorney. “I am going to fight.”
Know your rights
The immigration debate heating up in the state capital is something residents need to know, said Redlands Christian Migrant Association family social worker Laura Perez. “It’s bad because it’s something that’s changing right now and it’s something the parents don’t even know is happening,” said Perez on Tuesday.
“You want them to be aware of what’s going on, because if you don’t know it’s happening, you can’t stop it.”
Perez said if those opposed to such legislation just sit quietly waiting to see what happens, then decisions will be made without them.
So in anticipation of additional crackdowns if such legislation were to pass, RCMA recently hosted “Conozca sus Derechos” or “Know your Rights,” a workshop for parents at their charter school. The workshop is aimed at teaching documented and undocumented residents in Immokalee what are their rights and what they can do if they are stopped by law enforcement or immigration officials.
More than 120 people attended the nearly two-hour workshop conducted by Juan Pablo Chavez and Grey Torrico with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, a coalition of more than 40 Florida nonprofits, government agencies and advocate groups.
Through skits performed with the help of workshop attendees, Chavez and Torrico walked the crowd through different scenarios including a recreation of what undocumented immigrants and their families could expect if they were caught in an immigration raid or picked up by law enforcement.
A little comedy also helped Chavez lighten the mood, without drawing away from the seriousness of the discussion.
“So since you’ve already sacrificed seeing your three novelas tonight, let’s really focus,” said Chavez, drawing a laugh from the crowd.
Life goes on
On a recent rainy afternoon, Velasco prepared a simple snack for Jose and Jesus — a glass of milk and small pieces of traditional Mexican sweet bread — as the family awaited the arrival of Seviriano from day care.
As her two oldest sons played with paper airplanes and occasionally went outside to climb a tree, Velasco spoke of how she met her husband while keeping an eye on the two rambunctious boys.
Maya and Velasco were both born in opposite sides of the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
Velasco, who arrived in the U.S. in 2002, said the couple met in Georgia while working for the same company and fell in love.
They travelled the picking seasons until her oldest son was born and the family established roots in Immokalee, she said.
Maya’s handwritten love notes to Velasco, as well as family pictures, bible excerpts and the boys’ school projects and awards decorate the single room the family shared.
Being separated from her husband — who would go out of his way to be involved in their sons’ education and making her smile — has not gotten easier, she said.
But when asked if she would leave the country, Velasco said she would do whatever she could to be able to remain in the U.S. and make sure her kids have a bright future.
“When my oldest son screamed right after his birth I cried for joy. That moment is one that I will never forget. It’s a moment of joy that I carry,” she said. “For them I give my all at work, so I can push them forward.”
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/feb/11/immigration-laws-husband-faces-deportation-family/
Naples Daily News
February 11, 2011
Editor's note: This is the second story in a series examining the upcoming legislative session, several proposed immigration bills, and how they will affect business, law enforcement and the people who could face scrutiny.
Her husband awaits deportation to Mexico and there’s the specter of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials swooping into town to take her away from her children. Yet, Modesta Velasco takes it one day at a time.
Waking up around 4 a.m. Velasco takes a quick shower before preparing breakfast and lunch in the shared kitchen of the trailer where she rents a room.
After all the preparations are set, the 27-year-old makes sure to slowly wake up her three sons by popping in a DVD of their favorite kids show, “CBeebies.” As soon as they start to stir, she’ll tell them to help wake each other up before getting them ready for school and off to a sitter.
“Because if you just wake them up they’re cranky,” she said with a laugh, before quickly becoming serious. “They’re so little and even as an adult you want to sleep when you are tired, but we have to get up.”
Velasco then makes her way to the parking lot of a local supermarket to catch a bus to the fields.
“We have no choice,” she said.
Unwanted changes
It has been six months since Velasco has seen her husband, Ismael Maya.
Maya, 29, was arrested in Virginia in the summer, as he was heading back down to Immokalee after the end of the picking season. He was sentenced to 10 months in jail and is expected to be deported soon after he finishes his sentence.
Velasco said that she last spoke with her husband in December and that she has not heard from him since.
“If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know what would happen to me,” she said of her sons.
Yet doing two parents’ jobs on her own is difficult, admitted Velasco, especially when it comes to taking care of 6-year-old Jesus, 5-year-old Jose, and 3-year-old Seviriano.
Right after her husband was taken, Velasco said, Jesus took it hard and started to perform poorly in school.
“He would arrive at home and refuse to do his homework,” she said. “He would cry over the slightest thing.”
Nevertheless, as time goes by, Velasco said her son has taken it upon himself to be the man of the house.
Yet her sons need their father, she said.
“They are not at fault in this,” said Velasco.
She knows her family’s future hangs on many outside factors, main among them is deportation.
Velasco said she has heard people say that immigration has been known to stop work buses as they’re leaving the fields.
“I just ask God that I’m not on one of the buses that gets searched when leaving work. That would be too much… I don’t think I would be able to keep it together if I’m not with my kids,” she said. “They are everything I have, and if I’m separated from them I think I’d die. That’s what I think. I would die without my kids. I love them very much.”
Sudden loss
The fact that families can be separated by deportation is a reality that many in Immokalee deal with daily, and one that Immokalee resident Celia Jimenez has not yet adjusted to.
The pain, she said, is still too raw.
Jimenez and her family were driving Jan. 21 when Collier County sheriff’s deputies stopped the family.
Her husband, Carlos L. Jimenez Cruz, 30, was arrested for driving with no valid driver’s license.
“They are going to deport him to Mexico,” said Jimenez, 30, as tears stream down her face. “My kids come home and ask ‘Where is our papa?’”
It’s like everything is going fine until one day something happens, she said recently.
“You would move heaven and earth to keep everything as it is, but you can’t,” said Jimenez, who has called Immokalee home for more than 10 years.
“That’s the situation that’s happening to me and that I’m suffering through... It’s a kind of suffering that I’ve never suffered before.”
In addition to having an impact on Jimenez, her husband’s arrest and pending deportation is having an effect on their three children- especially her 18-month-old son Orlando.
“He’s afraid that I’m going to go away,” she said while holding the infant, who has refused to be away from her even for a short while.
But in spite of the hard road ahead for her family, Jimenez said she won’t give up on the dream that her husband will be returned to her.
“Not having him, life is not the same for me,” she said, adding that she is looking into getting her husband an attorney. “I am going to fight.”
Know your rights
The immigration debate heating up in the state capital is something residents need to know, said Redlands Christian Migrant Association family social worker Laura Perez. “It’s bad because it’s something that’s changing right now and it’s something the parents don’t even know is happening,” said Perez on Tuesday.
“You want them to be aware of what’s going on, because if you don’t know it’s happening, you can’t stop it.”
Perez said if those opposed to such legislation just sit quietly waiting to see what happens, then decisions will be made without them.
So in anticipation of additional crackdowns if such legislation were to pass, RCMA recently hosted “Conozca sus Derechos” or “Know your Rights,” a workshop for parents at their charter school. The workshop is aimed at teaching documented and undocumented residents in Immokalee what are their rights and what they can do if they are stopped by law enforcement or immigration officials.
More than 120 people attended the nearly two-hour workshop conducted by Juan Pablo Chavez and Grey Torrico with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, a coalition of more than 40 Florida nonprofits, government agencies and advocate groups.
Through skits performed with the help of workshop attendees, Chavez and Torrico walked the crowd through different scenarios including a recreation of what undocumented immigrants and their families could expect if they were caught in an immigration raid or picked up by law enforcement.
A little comedy also helped Chavez lighten the mood, without drawing away from the seriousness of the discussion.
“So since you’ve already sacrificed seeing your three novelas tonight, let’s really focus,” said Chavez, drawing a laugh from the crowd.
Life goes on
On a recent rainy afternoon, Velasco prepared a simple snack for Jose and Jesus — a glass of milk and small pieces of traditional Mexican sweet bread — as the family awaited the arrival of Seviriano from day care.
As her two oldest sons played with paper airplanes and occasionally went outside to climb a tree, Velasco spoke of how she met her husband while keeping an eye on the two rambunctious boys.
Maya and Velasco were both born in opposite sides of the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
Velasco, who arrived in the U.S. in 2002, said the couple met in Georgia while working for the same company and fell in love.
They travelled the picking seasons until her oldest son was born and the family established roots in Immokalee, she said.
Maya’s handwritten love notes to Velasco, as well as family pictures, bible excerpts and the boys’ school projects and awards decorate the single room the family shared.
Being separated from her husband — who would go out of his way to be involved in their sons’ education and making her smile — has not gotten easier, she said.
But when asked if she would leave the country, Velasco said she would do whatever she could to be able to remain in the U.S. and make sure her kids have a bright future.
“When my oldest son screamed right after his birth I cried for joy. That moment is one that I will never forget. It’s a moment of joy that I carry,” she said. “For them I give my all at work, so I can push them forward.”
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/feb/11/immigration-laws-husband-faces-deportation-family/
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Immigration laws: Proposed bills to stir controversy about illegals
By JENNA BUZZACCO-FOERSTER
Naples Daily News
February 10, 2011
Editor's note: This is the first story in a series examining the upcoming legislative session, several proposed immigration bills, and how they will affect business, law enforcement and the people who could face scrutiny.
Florida Sen. Mike Bennett doesn’t think Florida should deal with immigration laws. Neither does his colleague, state Rep. William Snyder.
But since Washington isn’t doing anything about immigration, both men are hoping to get in front of the debate here in Florida.
“Even though I filed that bill, I don’t think we should have it,” Bennett said. “I think it should be a federal (issue) not a state (issue).”
Seven bills focusing on a wide-range of immigration issues have been filed in advance of the 2011 legislative session, with Bennett’s Senate bill and Snyder’s House bill garnering the most attention. Both South Florida legislators’ bills make it a state crime for non-U.S. residents to fail to carry alien registration documents – like green cards, visas and passports – and require businesses to use a federal database to check the immigration status of new hires.
The 2011 legislative session begins on March 8 and lasts through April.
While Republican leaders spent much of the summer throwing their support behind a hardcore Arizona-style enforcement crackdown to Florida, that rhetoric has eased up in recent months. That comes as the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and immigrant rights groups have called the bills unconstitutional, saying racial and ethnic profiling will be the primary means for law enforcement.
Despite opposition, Bennett, R-Bradenton, and Snyder, R-Stuart, say they are trying to push a debate on the issue.
“There’s going to be a lot of bad, sad stories as we deal with immigration,” Bennett said. “If we do something, there is going to be a price to pay.”
As the debate, and presumably the bills, move forward, legislative watchers believe Snyder’s bill – which was introduced last summer with the support of then-State Attorney General Bill McCollum – is expected to have the most traction as it moves through the process.
Bennett’s proposal, on the other hand, has been met with doubt from his colleagues. He too is hesitant to say whether he would support the bill in the end, because the issue should be handled at the federal level.
One reason for doubt, said Paul Ortiz, an immigration specialist at the University of Florida, is that the Senate bill is “incredibly vague.”
“The argument is that these types of laws, no matter what, would increase (racial profiling),” Ortiz said. “It doesn’t matter if race is not a standard here. We all know race is going to be perhaps the most important identifier here. But what does an undocumented person look like? That’s the crux of this.”
While there have been concerns that an Arizona-style law would increase racial or ethnic profiling, Eugene Milhizer, the dean of Ave Maria School of Law, said that likely won’t be a problem in Florida since the Senate bill prohibits profiling.
Milhizer, who reviewed the proposed Florida Senate bill in January, said Bennett’s bill appeared “to be similar to the Arizona law in the most important aspects.”
“I don’t see any Fourth Amendment problems here,” Milhizer said. “Of course the law might be subject to abuse, but this is true of all laws and the proposed Florida statute specifically prohibits racial profiling.”
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches of a person without a warrant.
•••
Snyder has been tweaking his bill along the way. The recent holdup is whether language should require law enforcement officers to verify the immigration status of people encountered during “lawful stops” or only during the course of a “criminal investigation.
“The (legislative) system isn’t designed for anything to fly through. It’s designed for thoughtful mediation and thoughtful discussion and debate,” Snyder said. “I’m a big believer in letting the system work. I’ve done my part. I have fulfilled to this point what I said I would do, which was introduce a bill and walk it through the process.”
Wording the bill so that a status check is triggered during a criminal investigation would eliminate arguments that the bill would allow officers to simply demand papers from people doing everyday activities – like jogging or walking a dog – that don’t require a person to carry identification.
The ACLU of Florida doesn’t expect Snyder to alter the proposed language too much, and has vowed to challenge the bill.
“We haven’t seen anything in writing that will alleviate that concern for us,” said Danielle Prendergast, the director of public policy at the ACLU of Florida.
Bennett’s bill is meant to “discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens in this state,” and a status check is triggered if a person is lawfully stopped or arrested, and the law enforcement officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person is an undocumented resident.
His bill also states that a person is presumed to be lawfully in the country if he or she can provide a Florida driver’s license or identification card, a tribal enrollment card or any other valid state or federal identification. But Bennett is the first to acknowledge the bill he filed last year “will not be the bill that comes out of the legislative process.”
•••
Enforcing immigration laws was a rally cry for Florida Republicans throughout the summer, but support the rhetoric surrounding the need for legislation has tapered off.
That could be because supporters are now facing push back from the business community.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce – which was among the GOPs biggest financial supporters in last year’s election – has told legislators to proceed with caution when they deal with immigration laws.
“Any actions that are taken on immigration reform should take into consideration the chilling effect that may have on foreign investment,” said David Brill, president of the Florida Chamber.
Florida has a greater reliance on tourism than Arizona, Brill said, and Arizona has lost an estimated $141 million in revenue because of decline in tourism and conferences since Senate Bill 1070 was enacted last year.
SOMOS Republicans, a national Hispanic GOP group, has also warned of the repercussions of enacting an immigration law. The group issued a release critical of Snyder’s plan that proclaimed it was an “anti-immigration law” that will “destroy the little Havana’s robust economy which Cuban fathers helped to create in Miami.”
That criticism may be falling on ears in high places.
Gov. Rick Scott – who during his primary campaign ran ads calling Arizona’s immigration law common sense – continues to say law enforcement officers should be able to ask for immigration documentation including during routine traffic stops. Yet Jenn Meale, the governor’s spokeswoman, declined to say whether Scott would support proposed legislation.
“Gov. Scott believes that the federal government needs to secure our borders,” Meale said. “If someone is in Florida and violates the law, law enforcement should be able to request proper identification. We can enforce immigration laws without racial profiling.”
State Attorney General Pam Bondi said she intends to simply monitor any legislation regarding immigration, unlike McCollum.
Bennett said his goal isn’t meant to target a person based on race or ethnicity, and his bill would only be triggered if the person is acting outside the limits of the law.
“I don’t want an Arizona-style bill,” he said.
That’s good news to some, who say an Arizona-style law wouldn’t work in the Sunshine State.
“A cut and paste of the Arizona law in Florida is the wrong approach,” said Sterling Ivey, the spokesman for Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnum. “So the solution has to allow for a stable, legal work force for all industries including the agriculture sector.”
•••
Racial and ethnic profiling isn’t the only constitutional concern.
Milhizer, of Ave Maria School of Law, said there could be constitutional issues when it pertains to whether the state law has interfered with federal authorities over immigration.
Milhizer said the fact the proposed legislation provides for criminal penalties over immigration “seems to conflict with federal law, and thus would exceed the state’s authority and be unconstitutional.”
Arizona lawmakers have already run into legal trouble when it comes to their law. A variation of the original law was passed by Arizona legislators in April, and shortly thereafter the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state saying immigration enforcement was federal in scope.
A federal judge blocked aspects of the law in July, but the ruling is now under appeal.
With lawsuits come legal fees, and Angelina Castro, an immigration attorney from Palm City, said Floridians should be concerned about the fiscal cost that comes from enacting an immigration law.
“I’m not sure why we want to incur this kind of expense for our state,” said Castro, the former director of the Florida Immigration Advocacy Center. Arizona has “spent millions of dollars defending the bill from lawsuits. Is that something Florida wants to do? I know that is not something I want to do with my tax money.”
But proponents say allowing the state, county and local law enforcement officers to arrest people who are illegally in the state, as well as requiring businesses to report the immigration status of its employees, would reduce costs in health care and schools.
“We need laws like this, laws are meant to be followed, those who don’t want to follow the law, that means you’re outside the law,” said Bill Landis, chairman of the Florida Minutemen, a citizens watchdog group focused on border protection.
“There is a big problem, and the problem is the federal government has not done their job.”
University of Florida’s Ortiz said he expects there to be continued opposition to the proposed law, but ultimately it won’t stop legislators from moving forward.
“We’re trying to recover from a major, major recession and there’s a lot of anger out there,” he said.
“During these times of crisis we look for scapegoats and look for people to blame. We’re not going to do much about investment bankers, they’re powerful people … but we can say something about Mexican workers. They’re powerless, they can’t vote and they can’t operate politically.”
Jim Turner from Treasure Coast Newspapers contributed to this story.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/feb/10/illegal-immigration-laws-arizona-florida-snyder/
Naples Daily News
February 10, 2011
Editor's note: This is the first story in a series examining the upcoming legislative session, several proposed immigration bills, and how they will affect business, law enforcement and the people who could face scrutiny.
Florida Sen. Mike Bennett doesn’t think Florida should deal with immigration laws. Neither does his colleague, state Rep. William Snyder.
But since Washington isn’t doing anything about immigration, both men are hoping to get in front of the debate here in Florida.
“Even though I filed that bill, I don’t think we should have it,” Bennett said. “I think it should be a federal (issue) not a state (issue).”
Seven bills focusing on a wide-range of immigration issues have been filed in advance of the 2011 legislative session, with Bennett’s Senate bill and Snyder’s House bill garnering the most attention. Both South Florida legislators’ bills make it a state crime for non-U.S. residents to fail to carry alien registration documents – like green cards, visas and passports – and require businesses to use a federal database to check the immigration status of new hires.
The 2011 legislative session begins on March 8 and lasts through April.
While Republican leaders spent much of the summer throwing their support behind a hardcore Arizona-style enforcement crackdown to Florida, that rhetoric has eased up in recent months. That comes as the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and immigrant rights groups have called the bills unconstitutional, saying racial and ethnic profiling will be the primary means for law enforcement.
Despite opposition, Bennett, R-Bradenton, and Snyder, R-Stuart, say they are trying to push a debate on the issue.
“There’s going to be a lot of bad, sad stories as we deal with immigration,” Bennett said. “If we do something, there is going to be a price to pay.”
As the debate, and presumably the bills, move forward, legislative watchers believe Snyder’s bill – which was introduced last summer with the support of then-State Attorney General Bill McCollum – is expected to have the most traction as it moves through the process.
Bennett’s proposal, on the other hand, has been met with doubt from his colleagues. He too is hesitant to say whether he would support the bill in the end, because the issue should be handled at the federal level.
One reason for doubt, said Paul Ortiz, an immigration specialist at the University of Florida, is that the Senate bill is “incredibly vague.”
“The argument is that these types of laws, no matter what, would increase (racial profiling),” Ortiz said. “It doesn’t matter if race is not a standard here. We all know race is going to be perhaps the most important identifier here. But what does an undocumented person look like? That’s the crux of this.”
While there have been concerns that an Arizona-style law would increase racial or ethnic profiling, Eugene Milhizer, the dean of Ave Maria School of Law, said that likely won’t be a problem in Florida since the Senate bill prohibits profiling.
Milhizer, who reviewed the proposed Florida Senate bill in January, said Bennett’s bill appeared “to be similar to the Arizona law in the most important aspects.”
“I don’t see any Fourth Amendment problems here,” Milhizer said. “Of course the law might be subject to abuse, but this is true of all laws and the proposed Florida statute specifically prohibits racial profiling.”
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches of a person without a warrant.
•••
Snyder has been tweaking his bill along the way. The recent holdup is whether language should require law enforcement officers to verify the immigration status of people encountered during “lawful stops” or only during the course of a “criminal investigation.
“The (legislative) system isn’t designed for anything to fly through. It’s designed for thoughtful mediation and thoughtful discussion and debate,” Snyder said. “I’m a big believer in letting the system work. I’ve done my part. I have fulfilled to this point what I said I would do, which was introduce a bill and walk it through the process.”
Wording the bill so that a status check is triggered during a criminal investigation would eliminate arguments that the bill would allow officers to simply demand papers from people doing everyday activities – like jogging or walking a dog – that don’t require a person to carry identification.
The ACLU of Florida doesn’t expect Snyder to alter the proposed language too much, and has vowed to challenge the bill.
“We haven’t seen anything in writing that will alleviate that concern for us,” said Danielle Prendergast, the director of public policy at the ACLU of Florida.
Bennett’s bill is meant to “discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens in this state,” and a status check is triggered if a person is lawfully stopped or arrested, and the law enforcement officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person is an undocumented resident.
His bill also states that a person is presumed to be lawfully in the country if he or she can provide a Florida driver’s license or identification card, a tribal enrollment card or any other valid state or federal identification. But Bennett is the first to acknowledge the bill he filed last year “will not be the bill that comes out of the legislative process.”
•••
Enforcing immigration laws was a rally cry for Florida Republicans throughout the summer, but support the rhetoric surrounding the need for legislation has tapered off.
That could be because supporters are now facing push back from the business community.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce – which was among the GOPs biggest financial supporters in last year’s election – has told legislators to proceed with caution when they deal with immigration laws.
“Any actions that are taken on immigration reform should take into consideration the chilling effect that may have on foreign investment,” said David Brill, president of the Florida Chamber.
Florida has a greater reliance on tourism than Arizona, Brill said, and Arizona has lost an estimated $141 million in revenue because of decline in tourism and conferences since Senate Bill 1070 was enacted last year.
SOMOS Republicans, a national Hispanic GOP group, has also warned of the repercussions of enacting an immigration law. The group issued a release critical of Snyder’s plan that proclaimed it was an “anti-immigration law” that will “destroy the little Havana’s robust economy which Cuban fathers helped to create in Miami.”
That criticism may be falling on ears in high places.
Gov. Rick Scott – who during his primary campaign ran ads calling Arizona’s immigration law common sense – continues to say law enforcement officers should be able to ask for immigration documentation including during routine traffic stops. Yet Jenn Meale, the governor’s spokeswoman, declined to say whether Scott would support proposed legislation.
“Gov. Scott believes that the federal government needs to secure our borders,” Meale said. “If someone is in Florida and violates the law, law enforcement should be able to request proper identification. We can enforce immigration laws without racial profiling.”
State Attorney General Pam Bondi said she intends to simply monitor any legislation regarding immigration, unlike McCollum.
Bennett said his goal isn’t meant to target a person based on race or ethnicity, and his bill would only be triggered if the person is acting outside the limits of the law.
“I don’t want an Arizona-style bill,” he said.
That’s good news to some, who say an Arizona-style law wouldn’t work in the Sunshine State.
“A cut and paste of the Arizona law in Florida is the wrong approach,” said Sterling Ivey, the spokesman for Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnum. “So the solution has to allow for a stable, legal work force for all industries including the agriculture sector.”
•••
Racial and ethnic profiling isn’t the only constitutional concern.
Milhizer, of Ave Maria School of Law, said there could be constitutional issues when it pertains to whether the state law has interfered with federal authorities over immigration.
Milhizer said the fact the proposed legislation provides for criminal penalties over immigration “seems to conflict with federal law, and thus would exceed the state’s authority and be unconstitutional.”
Arizona lawmakers have already run into legal trouble when it comes to their law. A variation of the original law was passed by Arizona legislators in April, and shortly thereafter the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state saying immigration enforcement was federal in scope.
A federal judge blocked aspects of the law in July, but the ruling is now under appeal.
With lawsuits come legal fees, and Angelina Castro, an immigration attorney from Palm City, said Floridians should be concerned about the fiscal cost that comes from enacting an immigration law.
“I’m not sure why we want to incur this kind of expense for our state,” said Castro, the former director of the Florida Immigration Advocacy Center. Arizona has “spent millions of dollars defending the bill from lawsuits. Is that something Florida wants to do? I know that is not something I want to do with my tax money.”
But proponents say allowing the state, county and local law enforcement officers to arrest people who are illegally in the state, as well as requiring businesses to report the immigration status of its employees, would reduce costs in health care and schools.
“We need laws like this, laws are meant to be followed, those who don’t want to follow the law, that means you’re outside the law,” said Bill Landis, chairman of the Florida Minutemen, a citizens watchdog group focused on border protection.
“There is a big problem, and the problem is the federal government has not done their job.”
University of Florida’s Ortiz said he expects there to be continued opposition to the proposed law, but ultimately it won’t stop legislators from moving forward.
“We’re trying to recover from a major, major recession and there’s a lot of anger out there,” he said.
“During these times of crisis we look for scapegoats and look for people to blame. We’re not going to do much about investment bankers, they’re powerful people … but we can say something about Mexican workers. They’re powerless, they can’t vote and they can’t operate politically.”
Jim Turner from Treasure Coast Newspapers contributed to this story.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/feb/10/illegal-immigration-laws-arizona-florida-snyder/
Thursday, November 4, 2010
More deportation cases being dismissed
Standard Examiner
Thursday, November 4, 2010 - 11:23am
MIAMI -- Immigration judges are dismissing deportation cases in greater numbers around the country.
In August and September, for example, judges at Miami immigration court dismissed 631 deportation cases compared with 449 in June and July.
In fact, the 324 cases immigration judges dismissed in August was the highest monthly case termination figure in the last 12 months, according to statistics the Justice Department's immigration court system released last week.
Gerda Pierre, 22, was among the hundreds of immigrants in deportation proceedings whose cases were recently dismissed in Miami immigration court.
Pierre, a Bahamian-born Haitian, learned Oct. 7 when she appeared in immigration court that she no longer faced deportation and would be allowed instead to apply for a green card.
"I felt like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders," said Pierre, who had been in proceedings since 2006. "I felt free."
While immigration court officials would not speculate on why judges are terminating more cases than before, some attorneys said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement trial attorneys now seem more willing to drop deportation cases against certain foreign nationals.
But other attorneys in Miami said they had not noticed any change in ICE attitude and that any increase may be tied to the federal government's decision to grant Temporary Protected Status or TPS to undocumented Haitian immigrants.
"We haven't seen any significant change and have heard that some ICE officials believe the Morton memo simply reiterated existing policy," said Cheryl Little, executive director of Miami-based Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. "We've had some cases terminated lately, but that likely would have happened regardless."
Still, some say ICE trial attorneys are more willing to apply recent guidelines by ICE chief John Morton that allow them to drop deportation cases against immigrants who have pending or approved petitions, known as I-130s, filed on their behalf by a U.S. relative.
"They are terminating cases of people with pending or approved I-130s; that's what's going on," said Wilfredo Allen, a prominent Miami immigration attorney. "If you have people who can adjust status through family, why keep them in court? We are seeing this on a more systematic basis, while before it was more sporadic."
Morton issued a memorandum in August outlining a new ICE policy under which trial attorneys were ordered to "promptly dismiss proceedings" against foreign nationals facing deportation who had a petition filed on their behalf by a relative.
Foreign nationals whose deportation cases are dismissed because they qualify for permanent residence through an I-130 can then seek a green card through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Homeland Security agency that oversees immigration benefits.
Gillian M. Brigham, an ICE spokeswoman, said case terminations derived from multiple factors, not just ICE trial attorneys filing motions to dismiss.
"It is important to note that administrative immigration cases can be terminated for a variety of reasons other than ICE filing a motion to dismiss," she said.
Of the cases terminated in Miami in August and September, only a few were the result of ICE motions to dismiss, she said.
"In August, approximately 26 cases in Miami were terminated based on an ICE motion to dismiss," Brigham said. "In September, approximately 30 cases in Miami were terminated based on an ICE motion to dismiss. These cases only account for a percentage of the total immigration court cases that were terminated in Miami in August and September."
http://www.standard.net/topics/courts/2010/11/04/more-deportation-cases-being-dismissed
Thursday, November 4, 2010 - 11:23am
MIAMI -- Immigration judges are dismissing deportation cases in greater numbers around the country.
In August and September, for example, judges at Miami immigration court dismissed 631 deportation cases compared with 449 in June and July.
In fact, the 324 cases immigration judges dismissed in August was the highest monthly case termination figure in the last 12 months, according to statistics the Justice Department's immigration court system released last week.
Gerda Pierre, 22, was among the hundreds of immigrants in deportation proceedings whose cases were recently dismissed in Miami immigration court.
Pierre, a Bahamian-born Haitian, learned Oct. 7 when she appeared in immigration court that she no longer faced deportation and would be allowed instead to apply for a green card.
"I felt like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders," said Pierre, who had been in proceedings since 2006. "I felt free."
While immigration court officials would not speculate on why judges are terminating more cases than before, some attorneys said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement trial attorneys now seem more willing to drop deportation cases against certain foreign nationals.
But other attorneys in Miami said they had not noticed any change in ICE attitude and that any increase may be tied to the federal government's decision to grant Temporary Protected Status or TPS to undocumented Haitian immigrants.
"We haven't seen any significant change and have heard that some ICE officials believe the Morton memo simply reiterated existing policy," said Cheryl Little, executive director of Miami-based Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. "We've had some cases terminated lately, but that likely would have happened regardless."
Still, some say ICE trial attorneys are more willing to apply recent guidelines by ICE chief John Morton that allow them to drop deportation cases against immigrants who have pending or approved petitions, known as I-130s, filed on their behalf by a U.S. relative.
"They are terminating cases of people with pending or approved I-130s; that's what's going on," said Wilfredo Allen, a prominent Miami immigration attorney. "If you have people who can adjust status through family, why keep them in court? We are seeing this on a more systematic basis, while before it was more sporadic."
Morton issued a memorandum in August outlining a new ICE policy under which trial attorneys were ordered to "promptly dismiss proceedings" against foreign nationals facing deportation who had a petition filed on their behalf by a relative.
Foreign nationals whose deportation cases are dismissed because they qualify for permanent residence through an I-130 can then seek a green card through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Homeland Security agency that oversees immigration benefits.
Gillian M. Brigham, an ICE spokeswoman, said case terminations derived from multiple factors, not just ICE trial attorneys filing motions to dismiss.
"It is important to note that administrative immigration cases can be terminated for a variety of reasons other than ICE filing a motion to dismiss," she said.
Of the cases terminated in Miami in August and September, only a few were the result of ICE motions to dismiss, she said.
"In August, approximately 26 cases in Miami were terminated based on an ICE motion to dismiss," Brigham said. "In September, approximately 30 cases in Miami were terminated based on an ICE motion to dismiss. These cases only account for a percentage of the total immigration court cases that were terminated in Miami in August and September."
http://www.standard.net/topics/courts/2010/11/04/more-deportation-cases-being-dismissed
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
As immigration fight grinds on, family's options are dwindling
By CARRIE WELLS
Herald Tribune
Saturday, October 2, 2010
SARASOTA - Wendy Garcia has lived in Sarasota under political asylum for more than a decade, and the 21-year-old has built a life and family here.
But political changes in her native country of Guatemala led the U.S. to revoke her asylum status and technically make her an illegal immigrant.
On Monday, Garcia, her fiance and their 3-month-old son will travel to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Tampa to find out if her request for a one-year reprieve from deportation will be granted, or if she and her baby will have to immediately leave the U.S. They are scrambling to get together food and money to support her and baby Christopher if they are sent back to Guatemala, as expected.
The move by ICE to deport Garcia appears to contradict recent statements and memos by top federal officials, including President Barack Obama.
John Morton, the head of ICE, recently directed agents to make it a priority to deport only those immigrants with criminal records. He even suggested that the agency cancel deportations of some immigrants who were likely to win legal status, which could include Garcia.
President Obama has said he objects to deporting immigrants who do not have criminal records, saying in a 2008 speech that "nursing mothers torn from their babies," would be an example of immigration failure.
And yet ICE continues to pursue deportation of many immigrants low on the priority list. That means people like Garcia, who, according to records, has never had so much as a speeding ticket in Sarasota and has had political asylum for years.
Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman for ICE, said the agency has deported a record number of criminal immigrants and still has an obligation to deport illegal immigrants, even if they are not high on the priority list.
"This administration is committed to smart, effective immigration reform, prioritizing the arrest and removal of criminal aliens and those who pose a danger to national security," she said.
But, she added, "our agents are mandated by Congress to enforce U.S. immigration laws."
ICE officials would not comment on why Garcia and her parents were targeted. But the long, and some say sordid, relationship the U.S. had with Guatemala from the 1950s to the 1980s could be a factor.
According to the Washington Post, documents declassified in the 1990s showed that the U.S. government was closely aligned with Guatemalan security forces for decades, despite the fact that those forces battling leftist insurgents had killed thousands of civilians in the Central American nation during its long and bloody civil war.
In 1999, the Post reported, former President Bill Clinton said America was wrong to have supported the security forces that reportedly tortured or killed thousands of civilians, mainly of them rural Mayans.
Garcia came to the U.S. a decade ago with her father, a former soldier in the Guatemalan army. The family, including her mother and two brothers, were granted political asylum because her father had been a soldier in the American-backed war, Garcia said. Two years ago, the family was told the political asylum had been revoked because the country was considered safe again for army veterans.
Since then, the family has filed various appeals, all denied. In July, her father was arrested at work in Sarasota and deported after being held for a week in a detention center in Miami. Her mother, brother and nephew left voluntarily.
The stress and uncertainty of Garcia's immigration status has left Garcia and her fiance, Eliezer Rivera, 27, unable to sleep at night. Rivera, a full-time student at the University of South Florida who supports the family with a music-recording business, has lost clients and seen his grades drop since the ICE letter arrived. Rivera is a legal resident from the Dominican Republic and can apply for citizenship in November.
"I always wanted to have a family and for everything to be normal," Garcia, 21, said recently as she bounced son Christopher on her knee in their north Sarasota rental home. "It's going to separate us and I don't know for how long."
Garcia wants to stay, get married, gain citizenship and raise her child in America. Immigration lawyers say her chance of gaining citizenship is minimal, but could be bolstered by a recent federal appeals court ruling that allowed a Guatemalan woman to avoid deportation and seek political asylum due to her gender.
The California court reversed a deportation order for a Nevada woman based on an argument that because 3,800 Guatemalan woman have been murdered since 2000, just being a woman could qualify Garcia and other female illegal immigrants for asylum.
For now, though, if Garcia's plea for a reprieve is denied in Tampa Monday, she will be forced to leave, taking Christopher with her. Rivera would then try to bring her back legally.
The couple have packed away most of their belongings and baby toys; Rivera must find a cheaper place to live in order to support himself here, and Garcia and the baby in Guatemala.
But on the fridge remains a magnet with a calendar the couple made in happier times. "I hope to see you in love every single one of these days," it says in Spanish.
The uncertainty over Garcia's immigration status has stalled her wedding. The couple said they weren't sure if getting married would be seen as a false attempt to keep Garcia in the country.
"I respect the immigration law, but I hate the inhuman decision," said Rivera, who has been with Garcia for three years. "The government doesn't care if you're a student and fighting for a future. They don't care."
The couple worry in particular about how baby Christopher will fare in Guatemala. The small city where Garcia is from, Huehuetenango, has no running water and scarce electricity. Education is limited.
A one-year reprieve would give the couple time to raise money to make life easier if they had to return to Guatemala.
Cheryl Little, the executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, a Miami-based organization that provides pro-bono legal support to immigrants, said that despite Morton's directive to ICE agents, she still sees many cases like Garcia's. Comprehensive immigration reform must be passed by Congress, she said.
"It's been very frustrating for us because we constantly hear immigration officials talk about how they're targeting dangerous criminals, and yet when we go into the detention centers that's not who we're seeing," Little said.
In Congress, comprehensive reforms that could allow Garcia to stay in the country has stalled due to partisan disagreement.
Maggie Davis, a local writer and client of Rivera's music-recording business, heard the couple's story and wrote letters to numerous government officials, pleading to give Garcia that year's reprieve.
"I have a feeling that what's going on in Tampa is an attempt to produce some very pretty numbers," she said. "This is my guess: that they are picking up people who are easy to locate. Why are we deporting people who we gave asylum to? Of all the people we could pick to deport, Wendy is down on the list."
Navas, the ICE spokeswoman, said that Garcia had the "full due process of law," and that her appeals had been exhausted.
"ICE is continuing to work with Ms. Garcia-Alfaro on her arrangements to depart the U.S. while remaining sensitive to her family situation and needs," she said."
Rivera is distraught. "It's like somebody's cutting my fingers off," said Rivera. "How am I going to prepare for this?"
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101002/ARTICLE/10021035/2055/NEWS?p=all&tc=pgall
Herald Tribune
Saturday, October 2, 2010
SARASOTA - Wendy Garcia has lived in Sarasota under political asylum for more than a decade, and the 21-year-old has built a life and family here.
But political changes in her native country of Guatemala led the U.S. to revoke her asylum status and technically make her an illegal immigrant.
On Monday, Garcia, her fiance and their 3-month-old son will travel to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Tampa to find out if her request for a one-year reprieve from deportation will be granted, or if she and her baby will have to immediately leave the U.S. They are scrambling to get together food and money to support her and baby Christopher if they are sent back to Guatemala, as expected.
The move by ICE to deport Garcia appears to contradict recent statements and memos by top federal officials, including President Barack Obama.
John Morton, the head of ICE, recently directed agents to make it a priority to deport only those immigrants with criminal records. He even suggested that the agency cancel deportations of some immigrants who were likely to win legal status, which could include Garcia.
President Obama has said he objects to deporting immigrants who do not have criminal records, saying in a 2008 speech that "nursing mothers torn from their babies," would be an example of immigration failure.
And yet ICE continues to pursue deportation of many immigrants low on the priority list. That means people like Garcia, who, according to records, has never had so much as a speeding ticket in Sarasota and has had political asylum for years.
Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman for ICE, said the agency has deported a record number of criminal immigrants and still has an obligation to deport illegal immigrants, even if they are not high on the priority list.
"This administration is committed to smart, effective immigration reform, prioritizing the arrest and removal of criminal aliens and those who pose a danger to national security," she said.
But, she added, "our agents are mandated by Congress to enforce U.S. immigration laws."
ICE officials would not comment on why Garcia and her parents were targeted. But the long, and some say sordid, relationship the U.S. had with Guatemala from the 1950s to the 1980s could be a factor.
According to the Washington Post, documents declassified in the 1990s showed that the U.S. government was closely aligned with Guatemalan security forces for decades, despite the fact that those forces battling leftist insurgents had killed thousands of civilians in the Central American nation during its long and bloody civil war.
In 1999, the Post reported, former President Bill Clinton said America was wrong to have supported the security forces that reportedly tortured or killed thousands of civilians, mainly of them rural Mayans.
Garcia came to the U.S. a decade ago with her father, a former soldier in the Guatemalan army. The family, including her mother and two brothers, were granted political asylum because her father had been a soldier in the American-backed war, Garcia said. Two years ago, the family was told the political asylum had been revoked because the country was considered safe again for army veterans.
Since then, the family has filed various appeals, all denied. In July, her father was arrested at work in Sarasota and deported after being held for a week in a detention center in Miami. Her mother, brother and nephew left voluntarily.
The stress and uncertainty of Garcia's immigration status has left Garcia and her fiance, Eliezer Rivera, 27, unable to sleep at night. Rivera, a full-time student at the University of South Florida who supports the family with a music-recording business, has lost clients and seen his grades drop since the ICE letter arrived. Rivera is a legal resident from the Dominican Republic and can apply for citizenship in November.
"I always wanted to have a family and for everything to be normal," Garcia, 21, said recently as she bounced son Christopher on her knee in their north Sarasota rental home. "It's going to separate us and I don't know for how long."
Garcia wants to stay, get married, gain citizenship and raise her child in America. Immigration lawyers say her chance of gaining citizenship is minimal, but could be bolstered by a recent federal appeals court ruling that allowed a Guatemalan woman to avoid deportation and seek political asylum due to her gender.
The California court reversed a deportation order for a Nevada woman based on an argument that because 3,800 Guatemalan woman have been murdered since 2000, just being a woman could qualify Garcia and other female illegal immigrants for asylum.
For now, though, if Garcia's plea for a reprieve is denied in Tampa Monday, she will be forced to leave, taking Christopher with her. Rivera would then try to bring her back legally.
The couple have packed away most of their belongings and baby toys; Rivera must find a cheaper place to live in order to support himself here, and Garcia and the baby in Guatemala.
But on the fridge remains a magnet with a calendar the couple made in happier times. "I hope to see you in love every single one of these days," it says in Spanish.
The uncertainty over Garcia's immigration status has stalled her wedding. The couple said they weren't sure if getting married would be seen as a false attempt to keep Garcia in the country.
"I respect the immigration law, but I hate the inhuman decision," said Rivera, who has been with Garcia for three years. "The government doesn't care if you're a student and fighting for a future. They don't care."
The couple worry in particular about how baby Christopher will fare in Guatemala. The small city where Garcia is from, Huehuetenango, has no running water and scarce electricity. Education is limited.
A one-year reprieve would give the couple time to raise money to make life easier if they had to return to Guatemala.
Cheryl Little, the executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, a Miami-based organization that provides pro-bono legal support to immigrants, said that despite Morton's directive to ICE agents, she still sees many cases like Garcia's. Comprehensive immigration reform must be passed by Congress, she said.
"It's been very frustrating for us because we constantly hear immigration officials talk about how they're targeting dangerous criminals, and yet when we go into the detention centers that's not who we're seeing," Little said.
In Congress, comprehensive reforms that could allow Garcia to stay in the country has stalled due to partisan disagreement.
Maggie Davis, a local writer and client of Rivera's music-recording business, heard the couple's story and wrote letters to numerous government officials, pleading to give Garcia that year's reprieve.
"I have a feeling that what's going on in Tampa is an attempt to produce some very pretty numbers," she said. "This is my guess: that they are picking up people who are easy to locate. Why are we deporting people who we gave asylum to? Of all the people we could pick to deport, Wendy is down on the list."
Navas, the ICE spokeswoman, said that Garcia had the "full due process of law," and that her appeals had been exhausted.
"ICE is continuing to work with Ms. Garcia-Alfaro on her arrangements to depart the U.S. while remaining sensitive to her family situation and needs," she said."
Rivera is distraught. "It's like somebody's cutting my fingers off," said Rivera. "How am I going to prepare for this?"
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101002/ARTICLE/10021035/2055/NEWS?p=all&tc=pgall
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Migrant backers see no relief
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
The Miami Herald
June 20, 2010
For Leslie Cocche, the morning of March 12 began like any other school day.
She stood at the Fort Lauderdale Tri-Rail station listening to music through her ear buds while awaiting the train to Miami, where she attends Miami Dade College.
Suddenly, a U.S. Border Patrol agent began questioning her, eventually discovering that the 18-year-old Peruvian was in the country illegally. Cocche was arrested, handcuffed and handed over for deportation proceedings.
Cocche's detention, along with many other recent arrests of undocumented immigrants in South Florida and across the country, have raised questions about whether the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is misleading the public about enforcement.
In contrast to the controversial Arizona state law that would allow police officers to request immigration papers from individuals only after they stop them for suspicions activities, federal immigration agents are allowed to demand documents from any foreign national at any time.
After President Barack Obama took office, Homeland Security said that immigration authorities would focus on removing convicted foreign criminals -- a shift that initially encouraged those who saw it as a prelude to legalization of the nation's estimated 10.8 million undocumented immigrants.
But now Homeland Security is under fire by disillusioned activists who believe the Obama administration is only paying lip service to a different strategy, and that in reality it is detaining criminal and noncriminal immigrants the same way the administration of George W. Bush did.
``The situation has not changed,'' said David Leopold, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, who will take office July 1. ``It's a failure in the field to follow the administration's stated enforcement priorities.''
Officials of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Homeland Security agency in charge of deportations, say the critics are wrong. They acknowledge that deportations of noncriminal immigration-law violators are continuing, but say the agency now views them as ``low-priority.''
ICE released figures last week saying they indicate a downward trend in removals of noncriminal foreign nationals in the past year and a half.
Figures from Oct. 1 to June 7 show that the number of criminal and noncriminal removals are almost even, at more than 113,000 each.
The number of noncriminal removals still exceeds that of criminal deportations, but only by 257 people.
That is a change from the last two fiscal years, when annual noncriminal removals outpaced criminal removals by more than 100,000 people.
ICE officials said figures for criminal deportations reflect removals of "foreign nationals convicted of crimes'' in the United States, but they did not specifically explain what kinds of crimes they were convicted of.
Nicole Navas, an ICE spokeswoman in Miami, said that though her agency's priority is to remove convicted "criminal aliens," it is still detaining and deporting noncriminal foreign nationals who violate immigration laws.
"ICE is charged with and mandated by Congress to enforce the nation's immigration laws," said Navas. "As a law enforcement agency, ICE never said we were going to cease arresting noncriminal aliens. Noncriminals are simply the lowest priority. ICE still detains and removes noncriminals, but ICE's priority as an agency is to remove criminal aliens with convictions."
She added: "ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes efforts first on those convicted criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, not sweeps or raids to target undocumented immigrants indiscriminately. Across the country, we exercise lawful discretion in order to focus our efforts on violent and dangerous criminals in order to make our streets safer."
Immigrant-rights activists said they were skeptical about ICE's figures and the agency's statement that they represent a downward trend.
``Unfortunately, ICE has a history of playing fast and loose with statistics,'' said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Miami-based Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. ``The ICE definition of criminal includes people found guilty of minor violations, like an expired driver's license and illegal entry into the United States. ICE even has classified people who weren't convicted as criminals.''
ICE officials said figures for criminal deportations reflect removals of foreign nationals convicted of crimes in the United States, but they did specify what kinds of crimes they were convicted of.
Critics expected a dramatic -- not a gradual -- reduction in the number of detentions and deportations of noncriminal immigrants under the Obama administration.
``The Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center is seeing more people than ever without criminal histories being targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,'' Little said. ``Unfortunately, the kinder, gentler immigration policies that were promised by this administration are woefully lacking.''
Some immigration attorneys contend enforcement under the Obama administration has become even more aggressive.
``The situation is worse today,'' said Coral Gables immigration attorney Eduardo Soto, who has practiced immigration law for almost 20 years. ``There seems to be pressure on immigration officials to remove as many aliens as possible, no matter whether they have criminal records or not.''
Tania Galloni, an immigration attorney in Little's organization, is representing Cocche and her family.
After Cocche was arrested, Galloni wrote a letter to ICE noting that proceedings against her client contradicted the administration's public statements that criminals were now the priority.
``This is not only harmful to an exceptional young woman,'' Galloni wrote, ```but would also fly directly in the face of the administration's public statements that its immigration enforcement priority is to target dangerous criminal aliens.''
The Cocche case is particularly galling to immigrant rights advocates because she is a criminal-justice student at Miami Dade College, and is in the country not by choice but because her parents brought her here when she was a child.
Legislation repeatedly introduced in Congress as the DREAM Act would grant young undocumented students green cards.
When Cocche arrived at the Fort Lauderdale Tri-Rail station, as on past occasions, she saw two Border Patrol agents on the boarding platform, and paid them little attention.
This time, an agent asked Cocche for her immigration documents, which she could not produce.
``She was found to be illegally in the United States, arrested and placed in removal proceedings,'' said Victor C. Colón, the U.S. Border Patrol's assistant chief patrol agent for the Miami Sector.
Cocche was detained at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach for 11 days. Subsequently, her sister and parents were placed in deportation proceedings as well.
Cocche was eventually released with the promise that she and her family would report later to immigration court in Miami.
"If they lose their case they could all be deported, all because Border Patrol singled Leslie out that one...morning," Galloni said. ``And deporting Leslie and her sister Kellyn would not be in our interest since they are star students who would have a very bright future here."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/20/v-fullstory/1691403/noncriminal-undocumented-aliens.html
The Miami Herald
June 20, 2010
For Leslie Cocche, the morning of March 12 began like any other school day.
She stood at the Fort Lauderdale Tri-Rail station listening to music through her ear buds while awaiting the train to Miami, where she attends Miami Dade College.
Suddenly, a U.S. Border Patrol agent began questioning her, eventually discovering that the 18-year-old Peruvian was in the country illegally. Cocche was arrested, handcuffed and handed over for deportation proceedings.
Cocche's detention, along with many other recent arrests of undocumented immigrants in South Florida and across the country, have raised questions about whether the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is misleading the public about enforcement.
In contrast to the controversial Arizona state law that would allow police officers to request immigration papers from individuals only after they stop them for suspicions activities, federal immigration agents are allowed to demand documents from any foreign national at any time.
After President Barack Obama took office, Homeland Security said that immigration authorities would focus on removing convicted foreign criminals -- a shift that initially encouraged those who saw it as a prelude to legalization of the nation's estimated 10.8 million undocumented immigrants.
But now Homeland Security is under fire by disillusioned activists who believe the Obama administration is only paying lip service to a different strategy, and that in reality it is detaining criminal and noncriminal immigrants the same way the administration of George W. Bush did.
``The situation has not changed,'' said David Leopold, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, who will take office July 1. ``It's a failure in the field to follow the administration's stated enforcement priorities.''
Officials of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Homeland Security agency in charge of deportations, say the critics are wrong. They acknowledge that deportations of noncriminal immigration-law violators are continuing, but say the agency now views them as ``low-priority.''
ICE released figures last week saying they indicate a downward trend in removals of noncriminal foreign nationals in the past year and a half.
Figures from Oct. 1 to June 7 show that the number of criminal and noncriminal removals are almost even, at more than 113,000 each.
The number of noncriminal removals still exceeds that of criminal deportations, but only by 257 people.
That is a change from the last two fiscal years, when annual noncriminal removals outpaced criminal removals by more than 100,000 people.
ICE officials said figures for criminal deportations reflect removals of "foreign nationals convicted of crimes'' in the United States, but they did not specifically explain what kinds of crimes they were convicted of.
Nicole Navas, an ICE spokeswoman in Miami, said that though her agency's priority is to remove convicted "criminal aliens," it is still detaining and deporting noncriminal foreign nationals who violate immigration laws.
"ICE is charged with and mandated by Congress to enforce the nation's immigration laws," said Navas. "As a law enforcement agency, ICE never said we were going to cease arresting noncriminal aliens. Noncriminals are simply the lowest priority. ICE still detains and removes noncriminals, but ICE's priority as an agency is to remove criminal aliens with convictions."
She added: "ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes efforts first on those convicted criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, not sweeps or raids to target undocumented immigrants indiscriminately. Across the country, we exercise lawful discretion in order to focus our efforts on violent and dangerous criminals in order to make our streets safer."
Immigrant-rights activists said they were skeptical about ICE's figures and the agency's statement that they represent a downward trend.
``Unfortunately, ICE has a history of playing fast and loose with statistics,'' said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Miami-based Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. ``The ICE definition of criminal includes people found guilty of minor violations, like an expired driver's license and illegal entry into the United States. ICE even has classified people who weren't convicted as criminals.''
ICE officials said figures for criminal deportations reflect removals of foreign nationals convicted of crimes in the United States, but they did specify what kinds of crimes they were convicted of.
Critics expected a dramatic -- not a gradual -- reduction in the number of detentions and deportations of noncriminal immigrants under the Obama administration.
``The Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center is seeing more people than ever without criminal histories being targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,'' Little said. ``Unfortunately, the kinder, gentler immigration policies that were promised by this administration are woefully lacking.''
Some immigration attorneys contend enforcement under the Obama administration has become even more aggressive.
``The situation is worse today,'' said Coral Gables immigration attorney Eduardo Soto, who has practiced immigration law for almost 20 years. ``There seems to be pressure on immigration officials to remove as many aliens as possible, no matter whether they have criminal records or not.''
Tania Galloni, an immigration attorney in Little's organization, is representing Cocche and her family.
After Cocche was arrested, Galloni wrote a letter to ICE noting that proceedings against her client contradicted the administration's public statements that criminals were now the priority.
``This is not only harmful to an exceptional young woman,'' Galloni wrote, ```but would also fly directly in the face of the administration's public statements that its immigration enforcement priority is to target dangerous criminal aliens.''
The Cocche case is particularly galling to immigrant rights advocates because she is a criminal-justice student at Miami Dade College, and is in the country not by choice but because her parents brought her here when she was a child.
Legislation repeatedly introduced in Congress as the DREAM Act would grant young undocumented students green cards.
When Cocche arrived at the Fort Lauderdale Tri-Rail station, as on past occasions, she saw two Border Patrol agents on the boarding platform, and paid them little attention.
This time, an agent asked Cocche for her immigration documents, which she could not produce.
``She was found to be illegally in the United States, arrested and placed in removal proceedings,'' said Victor C. Colón, the U.S. Border Patrol's assistant chief patrol agent for the Miami Sector.
Cocche was detained at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach for 11 days. Subsequently, her sister and parents were placed in deportation proceedings as well.
Cocche was eventually released with the promise that she and her family would report later to immigration court in Miami.
"If they lose their case they could all be deported, all because Border Patrol singled Leslie out that one...morning," Galloni said. ``And deporting Leslie and her sister Kellyn would not be in our interest since they are star students who would have a very bright future here."
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/20/v-fullstory/1691403/noncriminal-undocumented-aliens.html
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Plan will help to deport Lee County's jailed illegal immigrants
Already in SW Florida, plan to be in effect here by 2012
By Chris Umpierre
cumpierre@news-press.com
June 14, 2009
Illegal immigrants with criminal records booked into the Lee County Jail could be identified for deportation at a higher rate thanks to a new federal program being expanded by the Obama administration.
The program - which began as a pilot effort in October and operates in 50 U.S. counties, including Collier and Charlotte - will expand to Lee and all U.S. jails by 2012.
The Secure Communities program checks the immigration status of every person booked into local jails by matching inmates' fingerprints to federal immigration databases. While computerized immigration checks are run in federal and state prisons, local jails lack the time and resources to screen all inmates.
Based on the pilot program, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimates that if fingerprints from all 14 million bookings in local jails each year were screened, about 1.4 million criminal aliens would be found. That would be about 10 times the 117,000 criminal illegal immigrants ICE deported last year.
"Right now, when we book someone in jail we have no way to determine their immigration status unless they're a self-proclaimed alien," said Lee County Capt. Tom Eberhardt, whose agency recently met with ICE to discuss the Secure Communities program. "What (ICE) is finding out is that this is an extra tool to pick out (criminal illegal immigrants) in a quicker way."
Eberhardt, who oversees Lee's jail operations, said Lee sends ICE biographical information - not fingerprints - if an inmate admits to being foreign born during booking. ICE could take days to reply, by which time some detainees had been released.
Secure Communities' finger-print database, in contrast, notifies local jails of positive immigration matches with the Department of Homeland Security database within an hour, Navas said.
ICE estimates the number of incarcerated criminal aliens in the U.S. at between 300,000 and 450,000 people.
Eberhardt declined to estimate how many illegal immigrants are being housed in Lee's jail, but he did say that ICE typically places detainers on nine to 20 of its inmates each day.
ICE spokesman Richard Rocha said his agency will give priority to deporting the most dangerous offenders: national security risks or those convicted of violent crimes such kidnapping and murder.
"What people need to understand is this program is geared to helping ICE prioritize the most egregious alien criminals so those individuals are prosecuted first and not released back to our communities," Rocha said.
Program positives
Supporters of the program say that Secure Communities would not only make communities safer but that it would save counties thousands of dollars in housing inmates that legally shouldn't be here.
"Anything we can do to get illegal aliens out of jails is for the better," said state Rep. Trudi Williams, a Fort Myers Republican who sponsored a bill similar to the Secure Communities program last year. The bill died in a committee on state affairs.
"Jails are so expensive to begin with. If you fill them with illegals who shouldn't be here in the first place, it gets even more expensive."
According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, it costs $27,375 a year to house and feed an inmate.
Secure Communities flagged nearly 1,000 illegal immigrants being held by authorities from January to April, ICE said.
The illegal status of those people "would have otherwise remained undetected," ICE said.
Racial profiling?
Victor Valdes, the civil rights commissioner for the League of United Latin American Citizens Florida, is concerned that Secure Communities would lead to racial profiling.
"We are opposed to this because we can see (officers) stopping people riding bicycles or riding in the back of trucks to find if they are legal. They'll use any kind of excuse to arrest them," said Valdes, a Naples resident.
Valdes isn't alone. In April, a coalition of immigrant rights groups wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and told her that the program "creates an incentive for police to arrest people on pretextual or minor crimes so that their immigration status can be checked."
Immigration officials say universal checks will reduce allegations of bias.
"The fingerprints of all persons arrested and booked will be processed through the system, regardless of race, nationality or ethnicity," David Venturella, the executive director for Secure Communities, said.
Collier experience
Collier County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Michelle Batten said it was too early to say how successful Secure Communities has been for her agency. Collier started running the program in mid-February, Batten said.
Collier is one of nine test agencies in Florida doing the program. The other counties are St. Johns, Clay, Duval, Miami-Dade, Marion, Hillsborough, Charlotte and St. Lucie.
"Secure Communities is something every law enforcement agency should be doing," Batten said. "We're more than happy to be participating."
ICE didn't respond to a request for the number of illegal criminal immigrants who were detained for deportation hearings in Collier since the program began.
Fort Myers immigration attorney Ricardo Skerrett said Secure Communities will work well in Collier and other communities if the program is run like ICE indicates.
"It definitely should be the priority of the government to deport criminal aliens instead of wasting resources to do raids and deporting people who have been here for years who have no criminal record and are no threat to society," Skerrett said.
"But this is only a good idea if it's used in the right purpose and used to deport felons."
http://news-press.com/article/20090614/NEWS01/906140390
By Chris Umpierre
cumpierre@news-press.com
June 14, 2009
Illegal immigrants with criminal records booked into the Lee County Jail could be identified for deportation at a higher rate thanks to a new federal program being expanded by the Obama administration.
The program - which began as a pilot effort in October and operates in 50 U.S. counties, including Collier and Charlotte - will expand to Lee and all U.S. jails by 2012.
The Secure Communities program checks the immigration status of every person booked into local jails by matching inmates' fingerprints to federal immigration databases. While computerized immigration checks are run in federal and state prisons, local jails lack the time and resources to screen all inmates.
Based on the pilot program, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimates that if fingerprints from all 14 million bookings in local jails each year were screened, about 1.4 million criminal aliens would be found. That would be about 10 times the 117,000 criminal illegal immigrants ICE deported last year.
"Right now, when we book someone in jail we have no way to determine their immigration status unless they're a self-proclaimed alien," said Lee County Capt. Tom Eberhardt, whose agency recently met with ICE to discuss the Secure Communities program. "What (ICE) is finding out is that this is an extra tool to pick out (criminal illegal immigrants) in a quicker way."
Eberhardt, who oversees Lee's jail operations, said Lee sends ICE biographical information - not fingerprints - if an inmate admits to being foreign born during booking. ICE could take days to reply, by which time some detainees had been released.
Secure Communities' finger-print database, in contrast, notifies local jails of positive immigration matches with the Department of Homeland Security database within an hour, Navas said.
ICE estimates the number of incarcerated criminal aliens in the U.S. at between 300,000 and 450,000 people.
Eberhardt declined to estimate how many illegal immigrants are being housed in Lee's jail, but he did say that ICE typically places detainers on nine to 20 of its inmates each day.
ICE spokesman Richard Rocha said his agency will give priority to deporting the most dangerous offenders: national security risks or those convicted of violent crimes such kidnapping and murder.
"What people need to understand is this program is geared to helping ICE prioritize the most egregious alien criminals so those individuals are prosecuted first and not released back to our communities," Rocha said.
Program positives
Supporters of the program say that Secure Communities would not only make communities safer but that it would save counties thousands of dollars in housing inmates that legally shouldn't be here.
"Anything we can do to get illegal aliens out of jails is for the better," said state Rep. Trudi Williams, a Fort Myers Republican who sponsored a bill similar to the Secure Communities program last year. The bill died in a committee on state affairs.
"Jails are so expensive to begin with. If you fill them with illegals who shouldn't be here in the first place, it gets even more expensive."
According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, it costs $27,375 a year to house and feed an inmate.
Secure Communities flagged nearly 1,000 illegal immigrants being held by authorities from January to April, ICE said.
The illegal status of those people "would have otherwise remained undetected," ICE said.
Racial profiling?
Victor Valdes, the civil rights commissioner for the League of United Latin American Citizens Florida, is concerned that Secure Communities would lead to racial profiling.
"We are opposed to this because we can see (officers) stopping people riding bicycles or riding in the back of trucks to find if they are legal. They'll use any kind of excuse to arrest them," said Valdes, a Naples resident.
Valdes isn't alone. In April, a coalition of immigrant rights groups wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and told her that the program "creates an incentive for police to arrest people on pretextual or minor crimes so that their immigration status can be checked."
Immigration officials say universal checks will reduce allegations of bias.
"The fingerprints of all persons arrested and booked will be processed through the system, regardless of race, nationality or ethnicity," David Venturella, the executive director for Secure Communities, said.
Collier experience
Collier County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Michelle Batten said it was too early to say how successful Secure Communities has been for her agency. Collier started running the program in mid-February, Batten said.
Collier is one of nine test agencies in Florida doing the program. The other counties are St. Johns, Clay, Duval, Miami-Dade, Marion, Hillsborough, Charlotte and St. Lucie.
"Secure Communities is something every law enforcement agency should be doing," Batten said. "We're more than happy to be participating."
ICE didn't respond to a request for the number of illegal criminal immigrants who were detained for deportation hearings in Collier since the program began.
Fort Myers immigration attorney Ricardo Skerrett said Secure Communities will work well in Collier and other communities if the program is run like ICE indicates.
"It definitely should be the priority of the government to deport criminal aliens instead of wasting resources to do raids and deporting people who have been here for years who have no criminal record and are no threat to society," Skerrett said.
"But this is only a good idea if it's used in the right purpose and used to deport felons."
http://news-press.com/article/20090614/NEWS01/906140390
Monday, January 19, 2009
Immigration "fugitive" raids in Dallas, Miami; ICE abuses protested
Immigration "fugitive" raids in Dallas, Miami; ICE abuses protested
Submitted by WW4 Report
Sun, 01/18/2009
From Dec. 14 to Dec. 18, ICE agents from three local fugitive operations teams arrested 84 immigrants from Costa Rica, Mexico, Nepal and Nicaragua in the Dallas metropolitan area. The arrests were made in Argyle, Arlington, Balch Springs, The Colony, Carrollton, Dallas, Denton, Duncanville, Farmers Branch, Fort Worth, Garland, Haltom City, Irving, Kennedale, Mesquite, Plano, Richardson and Rowlett. Of the total 84 people arrested, 64 reportedly had final removal orders; the other 20 were out-of-status immigrants encountered during the course of the raids. Forty of the 84 reportedly had criminal histories. ICE was assisted in the operation by the US Marshals Service, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the police departments of Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco and Grand Prairie. (ICE news release, Dec. 19)
In a five-day operation ending Dec. 23, ICE agents arrested 110 immigrants in the South Florida areas of Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa. ICE said 81 of those arrested were "fugitives" who had failed to comply with deportation orders; the other 29 were out-of-status immigrants encountered during the raids. According to ICE, 24 of the 110 people arrested had criminal histories. Most of the arrests (47) took place in Miami-Dade County; 30 arrests were in Broward County; 15 in Palm Beach County; seven in the Orlando area and 11 in Tampa. Of the total 110 people arrested, 17 were released under the Alternatives to Detention Program because they were verified to be sole caregivers of young children or had medical concerns. The other 93 people were being held in ICE custody. Those arrested came from countries including Guatemala, Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Moldova, Cuba, Bahamas, Nicaragua, Peru, Poland, Jamaica, Bangladesh, Mexico, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and Gambia. (ICE news release, Dec. 23)
The pre-Christmas raid in South Florida followed similar ICE operations in the same area in November. At a Dec. 9 press conference, several community groups called for an investigation into ICE abuses during a Nov. 19 raid in Homestead. ICE apparently used a human trafficking investigation to obtain warrants for the Nov. 19 operation, in which the agency swept up 77 people, none of whom were charged criminally in connection with the trafficking case. In a complaint sent to R. Alexander Acosta, the US Attorney who helped ICE secure the warrants, community members said ICE agents beat at least six Guatemalan men during the raid; officials at the Broward Transitional Center, where some of those arrested were detained, were so concerned that they called for an official inquiry into the injuries.
Jonathan Fried, executive director of the Homestead-based community group WeCount!, said a Guatemalan woman saw agents beat her husband and throw him on the floor in front of their four-year-old daughter. Witnesses also reported several incidents of ICE agents pointing guns to residents' heads, including in front of children; using excessive force in executing search warrants; and using racial profiling to detain bystanders. (News release from WeCount! & Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Dec. 10; Miami Herald, Dec. 10; South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Dec. 10; New York Times, Dec. 9)
ICE announced in a Nov. 21 news release that it had arrested four "sex traffickers" and "rescued" nine "victims" on Nov. 19 while executing search warrants tied to the investigation of more than a dozen brothels and stash houses in Palm Beach and Broward counties where immigrant women were reportedly forced into prostitution. (ICE news release, Nov. 21) (In a Nov. 25 news release, ICE reported the arrests of 71 people from Nov. 17 to 21 as part of a "fugitive" operation in Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa—see INB, Nov. 30.)
ICE spokesperson Nicole Navas announced on Dec. 9 that the ICE agents involved in the Nov. 19 raid on the sex slave ring are under investigation for the alleged abuses. "The ICE Office of Investigations strongly denies all allegations of agent misconduct," said Navas. "However, as is routine protocol, all allegations have been forwarded to the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility for their independent review." Steve Mocsary, special agent in charge of the Office of Professional Responsibility in Plantation, Florida, said the investigation could take months. (Sun-Sentinel, Dec. 10) Advocates said the internal probe was insufficient, and called for a robust investigation by the ICE Office of Inspector General or the US Attorney's office in Miami. (NYT, Dec. 9)
http://www.ww4report.com/node/6688
Submitted by WW4 Report
Sun, 01/18/2009
From Dec. 14 to Dec. 18, ICE agents from three local fugitive operations teams arrested 84 immigrants from Costa Rica, Mexico, Nepal and Nicaragua in the Dallas metropolitan area. The arrests were made in Argyle, Arlington, Balch Springs, The Colony, Carrollton, Dallas, Denton, Duncanville, Farmers Branch, Fort Worth, Garland, Haltom City, Irving, Kennedale, Mesquite, Plano, Richardson and Rowlett. Of the total 84 people arrested, 64 reportedly had final removal orders; the other 20 were out-of-status immigrants encountered during the course of the raids. Forty of the 84 reportedly had criminal histories. ICE was assisted in the operation by the US Marshals Service, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the police departments of Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco and Grand Prairie. (ICE news release, Dec. 19)
In a five-day operation ending Dec. 23, ICE agents arrested 110 immigrants in the South Florida areas of Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa. ICE said 81 of those arrested were "fugitives" who had failed to comply with deportation orders; the other 29 were out-of-status immigrants encountered during the raids. According to ICE, 24 of the 110 people arrested had criminal histories. Most of the arrests (47) took place in Miami-Dade County; 30 arrests were in Broward County; 15 in Palm Beach County; seven in the Orlando area and 11 in Tampa. Of the total 110 people arrested, 17 were released under the Alternatives to Detention Program because they were verified to be sole caregivers of young children or had medical concerns. The other 93 people were being held in ICE custody. Those arrested came from countries including Guatemala, Haiti, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Moldova, Cuba, Bahamas, Nicaragua, Peru, Poland, Jamaica, Bangladesh, Mexico, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and Gambia. (ICE news release, Dec. 23)
The pre-Christmas raid in South Florida followed similar ICE operations in the same area in November. At a Dec. 9 press conference, several community groups called for an investigation into ICE abuses during a Nov. 19 raid in Homestead. ICE apparently used a human trafficking investigation to obtain warrants for the Nov. 19 operation, in which the agency swept up 77 people, none of whom were charged criminally in connection with the trafficking case. In a complaint sent to R. Alexander Acosta, the US Attorney who helped ICE secure the warrants, community members said ICE agents beat at least six Guatemalan men during the raid; officials at the Broward Transitional Center, where some of those arrested were detained, were so concerned that they called for an official inquiry into the injuries.
Jonathan Fried, executive director of the Homestead-based community group WeCount!, said a Guatemalan woman saw agents beat her husband and throw him on the floor in front of their four-year-old daughter. Witnesses also reported several incidents of ICE agents pointing guns to residents' heads, including in front of children; using excessive force in executing search warrants; and using racial profiling to detain bystanders. (News release from WeCount! & Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Dec. 10; Miami Herald, Dec. 10; South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Dec. 10; New York Times, Dec. 9)
ICE announced in a Nov. 21 news release that it had arrested four "sex traffickers" and "rescued" nine "victims" on Nov. 19 while executing search warrants tied to the investigation of more than a dozen brothels and stash houses in Palm Beach and Broward counties where immigrant women were reportedly forced into prostitution. (ICE news release, Nov. 21) (In a Nov. 25 news release, ICE reported the arrests of 71 people from Nov. 17 to 21 as part of a "fugitive" operation in Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, Orlando and Tampa—see INB, Nov. 30.)
ICE spokesperson Nicole Navas announced on Dec. 9 that the ICE agents involved in the Nov. 19 raid on the sex slave ring are under investigation for the alleged abuses. "The ICE Office of Investigations strongly denies all allegations of agent misconduct," said Navas. "However, as is routine protocol, all allegations have been forwarded to the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility for their independent review." Steve Mocsary, special agent in charge of the Office of Professional Responsibility in Plantation, Florida, said the investigation could take months. (Sun-Sentinel, Dec. 10) Advocates said the internal probe was insufficient, and called for a robust investigation by the ICE Office of Inspector General or the US Attorney's office in Miami. (NYT, Dec. 9)
http://www.ww4report.com/node/6688
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Federal agents accused of roughing up immigrants during Homestead raid
Federal agents accused of roughing up immigrants during Homestead raid
BY TRENTON DANIEL
tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com
The Miami Herald
Immigration advocates accused federal agents of using excessive force on immigrants in a raid in Homestead -- an allegation federal authorities deny.
A coalition of immigrant advocates is demanding that the U.S. attorney's office in Miami investigate the arrests of dozens of Mexicans and Guatemalans taken into custody as undocumented immigrants last month during a raid targeting a separate group of alleged sex-trade traffickers in Homestead.
The advocates, along with local community leaders, say the 42 Mexicans and 35 Guatemalans -- who were not involved in sex-trade trafficking -- were rounded up Nov. 19 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. They accused ICE agents of using excessive force when they took the foreign nationals into custody.
Nicole Navas, an ICE spokeswoman, denied allegations of agent misconduct. ''As is routine protocol, all allegations have been forwarded to the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility for their independent review,'' Navas wrote in an e-mail to The Miami Herald.
She said agents conducting the raids also came across undocumented immigrants and, under the law, were obligated to arrest them.
"'This is a mandate we take seriously and cannot and will not turn a blind eye to illegal activity," Navas added.
A spokeswoman from the U.S. attorney's office said the allegations were forwarded to the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/806518.html
BY TRENTON DANIEL
tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com
The Miami Herald
Immigration advocates accused federal agents of using excessive force on immigrants in a raid in Homestead -- an allegation federal authorities deny.
A coalition of immigrant advocates is demanding that the U.S. attorney's office in Miami investigate the arrests of dozens of Mexicans and Guatemalans taken into custody as undocumented immigrants last month during a raid targeting a separate group of alleged sex-trade traffickers in Homestead.
The advocates, along with local community leaders, say the 42 Mexicans and 35 Guatemalans -- who were not involved in sex-trade trafficking -- were rounded up Nov. 19 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. They accused ICE agents of using excessive force when they took the foreign nationals into custody.
Nicole Navas, an ICE spokeswoman, denied allegations of agent misconduct. ''As is routine protocol, all allegations have been forwarded to the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility for their independent review,'' Navas wrote in an e-mail to The Miami Herald.
She said agents conducting the raids also came across undocumented immigrants and, under the law, were obligated to arrest them.
"'This is a mandate we take seriously and cannot and will not turn a blind eye to illegal activity," Navas added.
A spokeswoman from the U.S. attorney's office said the allegations were forwarded to the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/806518.html
Monday, November 10, 2008
111 Arrested in Florida Immigration Raid
111 Arrested in Florida Immigration Raid
Nov 09, 2008
New American Media
MIAMI - Two days after immigrant rights groups in southern Florida sent a letter asking president-elect Barack Obama to intervene and curb immigration raids, ICE announced the arrest of 111 undocumented immigrants in a new Florida raid, Univision reports. The five-day operation was carried out in Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa and surrounding areas. Those arrested in Florida are from Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Tunisia, Romania and Venezuela. Of the 111 arrested, 69 remain in ICE custody of ICE and 42 were released on parole.
On Thursday, Florida activists called for a moratorium on raids until Congress passes an immigration reform bill that includes a path to legalization. The office of the president-elect responded, saying that "our position is well-known" and that his commitment “to immigration reform and all the important issues for Latinos in the U.S. still stands."
ICE teams will continue to seek out and detain "foreigners who have ignored a judge's order to leave the country," said Michael Rozos, director of ICE in Florida.
During fiscal year 2008 (Oct. 1, 2007 to Sept. 30, 2008) ICE deported nearly 350,000 immigrants, the majority of them of Latin American origin. The figure represents an 20 percent increase over the number deported in fiscal year 2007.
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=023baa26afb181beaef5e956369f7eeb
Nov 09, 2008
New American Media
MIAMI - Two days after immigrant rights groups in southern Florida sent a letter asking president-elect Barack Obama to intervene and curb immigration raids, ICE announced the arrest of 111 undocumented immigrants in a new Florida raid, Univision reports. The five-day operation was carried out in Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa and surrounding areas. Those arrested in Florida are from Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Tunisia, Romania and Venezuela. Of the 111 arrested, 69 remain in ICE custody of ICE and 42 were released on parole.
On Thursday, Florida activists called for a moratorium on raids until Congress passes an immigration reform bill that includes a path to legalization. The office of the president-elect responded, saying that "our position is well-known" and that his commitment “to immigration reform and all the important issues for Latinos in the U.S. still stands."
ICE teams will continue to seek out and detain "foreigners who have ignored a judge's order to leave the country," said Michael Rozos, director of ICE in Florida.
During fiscal year 2008 (Oct. 1, 2007 to Sept. 30, 2008) ICE deported nearly 350,000 immigrants, the majority of them of Latin American origin. The figure represents an 20 percent increase over the number deported in fiscal year 2007.
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=023baa26afb181beaef5e956369f7eeb
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