Por Johanes Rosello
Mundo Hispanico
Miércoles, Septiembre 14, 2011
En el restaurante Cup & Saucer Diner de Loganville se siente la ausencia de su cocinero Antonio Mejía. El mexicano que antes servía a la clientela del local, ahora aguarda su deportación.
A pesar de que las esperanzas de que Mejía se quede en Georgia parecieran nulas, sus compañeros de trabajo, en particular su supervisora, agotan todos los recursos para evitar que sea separado de su familia.
“Antonio ha estado con nosotros por 12 años y toda la gente que come aquí ama a Antonio. Nosotros somos una familia y si él no está aquí, no es lo mismo”, afirmó Susan Kasnic, supervisora de Mejía.
La policía de Lawrenceville detuvo a Mejía este año manejando sin licencia. Un tiempo después tuvo un accidente vial y esta vez fue encarcelado y puesto en proceso de deportación por su estatus de indocumentado.
El hombre salió de la cárcel pagando una fianza y
comenzó el proceso para legalizar su estatus migratorio y solicitó la cancelación de la orden de deportación existente.
“La cancelación de remoción es un alivio migratorio que otorga un juez de inmigración a extranjeros en proceso de ser removidos del país por un juez de inmigración y que no han cometido delito mayor. El juez de inmigración y no el Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) es quien toma esta determinación”, explicó Danielle Benett, vocera de ICE.
El pasado 23 de agosto, Mejía se presentó a la corte con la esperanza de que saldría bien de su caso. Sin embargo, el juez dijo que el hombre tenía una orden previa de deportación de 1999 por cruzar de manera ilegal la frontera y por esta razón sería enviado a México.
Benett explicó que cruzar la frontera luego de una deportación podría conllevar una pena máxima de 20 años en prisión. Además, señaló que quien entra al país luego de ser deportado no puede arreglar su estatus.
La familia de Mejía no entiende cómo pudo iniciar todo el proceso para legalizar su estatus y que apareciera esta orden de deportación justo en el momento en que pensaban que podría quedarse a vivir legalmente en el país.
“Ahora que ya estaba a punto de agarrar su tarjeta (permiso de trabajo), le dijeron que tenía una deportación y que no puede calificar para ese permiso y no lo entendemos”, expresó Carmen Zamora, esposa de Mejía con quien tiene tres niños estadounidenses.
Pero Kasnic no se detiene. Ella se ha tomado muy en serio la misión de hacer todo lo que esté en sus manos para que Mejía se quede en Georgia. Con este fin, ha mandado cartas a altos funcionarios del gobierno, incluyendo a Janet Napolitano, secretaria del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional, pidiendo que se reconsidere el caso de Mejía.
“Me parece injusto, en especial considerando que tiene tres hijos estadounidenses, que castigando a una persona arruines la vida de otras tres personas que tienen el derecho de estar aquí”, dijo la supervisora de Mejía.
Kasnic se comunicó a la oficina de ICE en Georgia y pudo hablar con un oficial de alto rango a quien no quiso identificar. Al día siguiente de esta conversación, Mejía fue notificado de que tendrá una oportunidad para apelar el caso.
Aaron Ortiz, abogado que trabaja junto a Brennan Bair el caso de Mejía, aclaró que el 22 de octubre es la fecha límite para apelar el caso.
“Una apelación la vamos a perder porque él ya fue deportado previamente en 1999. Lo que vamos a hacer es una petición para reabrir el caso basado en que tiene hijos ciudadanos y que ha pagado los impuestos”, explicó Ortiz
“Si lográramos reabrir el caso, tendríamos una oportunidad para tratar de sacarlo (de la cárcel) y después continuar con el proceso, pero si lo perdemos es porque él ya fue deportado”, aseveró.
http://www.mundohispanico.com/noticias/locales/lucha-contra-deportacion-1857459.html
Showing posts with label Protection of Migrants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Protection of Migrants. Show all posts
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Vermont Breaks Ground in Health Coverage for Migrant Workers
By Yvonne Yen Liu
Colorlines
Jun 13, 2011
Vermont, land of rolling green hills dotted with black and white Holsteins and picturesque red barns. White people, everywhere, lots of them. Home of state-sanctioned town hall meetings that are models for participatory democracy. And now, the first state in our republic to enact universal health care for all. Two weeks ago, Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law H. 202, “An act relating to a single-payer and unified health system.” It’s the first state to plunge into a single-payer system to implement national health care reform, which Harvard economist William S. Hsiao found was the best method to both reign in spiraling costs and diminish disparities.
Nationally, the need is perhaps more dire now than ever as safety net hospitals close down across the country. These hospitals are often places of last resort for care for the uninsured and for undocumented immigrants—populations that are disproportionately comprised of low-income people of color. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 44.4 percent of Latinos lack insurance, as well as 28.5 percent of black people and 21.2 percent of Asian Americans. In contrast, 16.5 percent of whites don’t have coverage.
Vermont takes one bold step towards reversing these disparities by extending coverage to the thousands of undocumented workers who toil in obscurity, hidden by the state’s rural isolation. That victory comes after a two-year, people-led movement to fight for single-payer care, under the banner of Healthcare is a Human Right—an effort that included a heroic, last-ditch campaign by the Vermont Workers Center to repeal an amendment that would have excluded undocumented workers.
Workers like Jose Obeth Santiz Cruz, who traveled a long way to toil without rights on Vermont’s farms. Santiz Cruz’s relatives and friends told him of opportunities to work in dairy farms—it would be hard work and a lonely life, but he could save money to send back to the village of San Isidro, in the Chiapas mountains, where he supported his parents and two siblings. So in early 2009, Santiz Cruz made the trek of over 3,000 miles, stopped at the Mexican border for 20 days before heading North.
His new home, framed by snow-capped Green Mountains to the east and New York’s Adirondacks to the west, was so different from Chiapas. But Santiz Cruz found work at a dairy farm in Franklin County and used his earnings in the initial months to repay the thousands of dollars he owed to the coyotes, as smugglers are called, who helped him cross the border.
One night two years ago, close to Christmas, Santiz Cruz’s coworkers found him dead in the barn. His clothing had gotten caught in a gutter cleaner, a chain-driven motor machine that scrapes out the gutter where cow waste collects. Unable to extricate himself, he was pulled into the motor and strangled to death. Santiz Cruz was only 20 years old.
Santiz Cruz’s death was a wake-up call to local residents that the farmworker community needed support. Migrant farmworkers, most hailing from Mexico or Guatemala, are a relatively new population in Vermont. They began fulfilling the need for labor on small family farms in the state roughly 10 years ago, after children of Vermont farmers chose to not follow the path of their parents into a profession that is increasingly hard to sustain. In 2009, 33 family dairy farms closed down. Those that remain open depend on migrant labor. A third of Vermont’s farmworkers are from Chiapas, many are indigenous Tojolabal, said Brendan O’Neill, cofounder of the Vermont Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project.
The dairy industry in particular relies heavily on imported labor, with most farms employing one to two workers, the largest with 10 workers. Most of those workers are undocumented, like Santiz Cruz, having traveled north out of economic need; others come through guest worker programs. Farmworkers in Vermont earn anywhere from $5 to $10 an hour, the average is $7, working 12 to 15 hour days. Most stay for under two years, sending remittances home, before returning themselves.
These workers have until now gone without access to health care, without oversight of their working conditions for safety and health violations, and without recourse to other services that our social safety net extends to most of our citizens. (Well, it’s now a fight to preserve those services for anyone in this age of budget cuts). A 2007 report by the Vermont Department of Health found that farmworkers face many barriers to health care, including lack of language translation, transportation to providers, and fear of deportation.
“People live with bad injuries, through sickness; they don’t go to see doctors, because of fear of deportation,” explained O’Neill. “Up at the border, we have a really tense ICE presence: [it’s] pretty common to talk to workers close to the border who literally never leave the farm. [They’ve] been there for two years and never stepped foot off the farm.”
As the migrant labor force continues expanding, the problems caused by their isolation from health care, among other services, is becoming more critical.
“We’re seeing more undocumented workers in different industries. Primarily, up til now, they were in the dairy industry, but now they’re at vegetable farms and doing construction,” said James Haslam of the Vermont Workers Center. “We’ve operated a workers rights hotline since 1998. We occasionally got calls [from undocumented workers] and they’ve increased, despite the fact that up til now all our materials are in English. Still, somehow, people find our number.”
The number of Latino farmworkers in Vermont peaked between 2,000 to 2,500, in 2005, according to Cheryl Mitchell, cofounder of the Addison County Farm Worker Coalition and former deputy secretary for Vermont’s Agency of Human Services. The population has gradually decreased as border control has stepped up efforts. With 3.9 percent of Vermont’s total population being people of color, it’s easy to target anyone not white. “Vermont is such a homogenous state, so the potential for racial profiling is scary,” said Mitchell.
Five years ago, at the first public forum on farmworker solidarity, organized by Mitchell’s Addison County Farm Worker Coalition, the Mexican consulate reported that Vermont at the time had the most number of deportations per capita among all states in New England.
After Santiz Cruz’s death, local Vermonters organized a candlelight vigil in his honor. However, fellow farmworkers were afraid to attend, concerned that the border patrol would be present. O’Neill and other organizers with the Vermont Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project raised funds to bring Santiz Cruz’s body to his home in Chiapas for burial. They also created a film, “Silenced Voices,” about their journey to San Isidro with Santiz Cruz’s coffin. The village initially subsisted off of growing coffee, but was unable to sustain itself when global coffee prices fell and free trade agreements (like NAFTA) eliminated Mexican-government subsidies.
For now, O’Neill and his colleagues try to establish links between rural Vermont and the mountain villages of Chiapas—lands separated by vast distances, but united by farmers and workers who struggle under the same forces of global capitalism.
The victory to include undocumented farmworkers in universal health care is a temporary one. Haslam, of the Vermont Workers Center, anticipates more fights ahead. “What we’re doing in Vermont is going on the offensive for human rights,” he said, “building a proactive movement, not just defending what we have, but pushing for and really turning things around.”
http://newamericamedia.org/2011/06/vermont-breaks-ground-in-health-coverage-for-migrant-workers.php
Colorlines
Jun 13, 2011
Vermont, land of rolling green hills dotted with black and white Holsteins and picturesque red barns. White people, everywhere, lots of them. Home of state-sanctioned town hall meetings that are models for participatory democracy. And now, the first state in our republic to enact universal health care for all. Two weeks ago, Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law H. 202, “An act relating to a single-payer and unified health system.” It’s the first state to plunge into a single-payer system to implement national health care reform, which Harvard economist William S. Hsiao found was the best method to both reign in spiraling costs and diminish disparities.
Nationally, the need is perhaps more dire now than ever as safety net hospitals close down across the country. These hospitals are often places of last resort for care for the uninsured and for undocumented immigrants—populations that are disproportionately comprised of low-income people of color. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 44.4 percent of Latinos lack insurance, as well as 28.5 percent of black people and 21.2 percent of Asian Americans. In contrast, 16.5 percent of whites don’t have coverage.
Vermont takes one bold step towards reversing these disparities by extending coverage to the thousands of undocumented workers who toil in obscurity, hidden by the state’s rural isolation. That victory comes after a two-year, people-led movement to fight for single-payer care, under the banner of Healthcare is a Human Right—an effort that included a heroic, last-ditch campaign by the Vermont Workers Center to repeal an amendment that would have excluded undocumented workers.
Workers like Jose Obeth Santiz Cruz, who traveled a long way to toil without rights on Vermont’s farms. Santiz Cruz’s relatives and friends told him of opportunities to work in dairy farms—it would be hard work and a lonely life, but he could save money to send back to the village of San Isidro, in the Chiapas mountains, where he supported his parents and two siblings. So in early 2009, Santiz Cruz made the trek of over 3,000 miles, stopped at the Mexican border for 20 days before heading North.
His new home, framed by snow-capped Green Mountains to the east and New York’s Adirondacks to the west, was so different from Chiapas. But Santiz Cruz found work at a dairy farm in Franklin County and used his earnings in the initial months to repay the thousands of dollars he owed to the coyotes, as smugglers are called, who helped him cross the border.
One night two years ago, close to Christmas, Santiz Cruz’s coworkers found him dead in the barn. His clothing had gotten caught in a gutter cleaner, a chain-driven motor machine that scrapes out the gutter where cow waste collects. Unable to extricate himself, he was pulled into the motor and strangled to death. Santiz Cruz was only 20 years old.
Santiz Cruz’s death was a wake-up call to local residents that the farmworker community needed support. Migrant farmworkers, most hailing from Mexico or Guatemala, are a relatively new population in Vermont. They began fulfilling the need for labor on small family farms in the state roughly 10 years ago, after children of Vermont farmers chose to not follow the path of their parents into a profession that is increasingly hard to sustain. In 2009, 33 family dairy farms closed down. Those that remain open depend on migrant labor. A third of Vermont’s farmworkers are from Chiapas, many are indigenous Tojolabal, said Brendan O’Neill, cofounder of the Vermont Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project.
The dairy industry in particular relies heavily on imported labor, with most farms employing one to two workers, the largest with 10 workers. Most of those workers are undocumented, like Santiz Cruz, having traveled north out of economic need; others come through guest worker programs. Farmworkers in Vermont earn anywhere from $5 to $10 an hour, the average is $7, working 12 to 15 hour days. Most stay for under two years, sending remittances home, before returning themselves.
These workers have until now gone without access to health care, without oversight of their working conditions for safety and health violations, and without recourse to other services that our social safety net extends to most of our citizens. (Well, it’s now a fight to preserve those services for anyone in this age of budget cuts). A 2007 report by the Vermont Department of Health found that farmworkers face many barriers to health care, including lack of language translation, transportation to providers, and fear of deportation.
“People live with bad injuries, through sickness; they don’t go to see doctors, because of fear of deportation,” explained O’Neill. “Up at the border, we have a really tense ICE presence: [it’s] pretty common to talk to workers close to the border who literally never leave the farm. [They’ve] been there for two years and never stepped foot off the farm.”
As the migrant labor force continues expanding, the problems caused by their isolation from health care, among other services, is becoming more critical.
“We’re seeing more undocumented workers in different industries. Primarily, up til now, they were in the dairy industry, but now they’re at vegetable farms and doing construction,” said James Haslam of the Vermont Workers Center. “We’ve operated a workers rights hotline since 1998. We occasionally got calls [from undocumented workers] and they’ve increased, despite the fact that up til now all our materials are in English. Still, somehow, people find our number.”
The number of Latino farmworkers in Vermont peaked between 2,000 to 2,500, in 2005, according to Cheryl Mitchell, cofounder of the Addison County Farm Worker Coalition and former deputy secretary for Vermont’s Agency of Human Services. The population has gradually decreased as border control has stepped up efforts. With 3.9 percent of Vermont’s total population being people of color, it’s easy to target anyone not white. “Vermont is such a homogenous state, so the potential for racial profiling is scary,” said Mitchell.
Five years ago, at the first public forum on farmworker solidarity, organized by Mitchell’s Addison County Farm Worker Coalition, the Mexican consulate reported that Vermont at the time had the most number of deportations per capita among all states in New England.
After Santiz Cruz’s death, local Vermonters organized a candlelight vigil in his honor. However, fellow farmworkers were afraid to attend, concerned that the border patrol would be present. O’Neill and other organizers with the Vermont Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project raised funds to bring Santiz Cruz’s body to his home in Chiapas for burial. They also created a film, “Silenced Voices,” about their journey to San Isidro with Santiz Cruz’s coffin. The village initially subsisted off of growing coffee, but was unable to sustain itself when global coffee prices fell and free trade agreements (like NAFTA) eliminated Mexican-government subsidies.
For now, O’Neill and his colleagues try to establish links between rural Vermont and the mountain villages of Chiapas—lands separated by vast distances, but united by farmers and workers who struggle under the same forces of global capitalism.
The victory to include undocumented farmworkers in universal health care is a temporary one. Haslam, of the Vermont Workers Center, anticipates more fights ahead. “What we’re doing in Vermont is going on the offensive for human rights,” he said, “building a proactive movement, not just defending what we have, but pushing for and really turning things around.”
http://newamericamedia.org/2011/06/vermont-breaks-ground-in-health-coverage-for-migrant-workers.php
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Families of undocumented dairy workers advised; CIRC says immigration system broken
By DAN BARKER
The Fort Morgan Times
Posted: 06/06/2011
Although the Obama administration and the Office of Homeland Defense have said they will not make raids to catch immigrants unless they have committed serious crimes, such a raid did happened in Morgan County when 11 Hispanic dairy workers were arrested last week.
That was part of what was said during a couple of community meetings in Fort Morgan by representatives of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition as they came to talk to the wives and children of the men about what to expect from the court system and how to survive without their husbands' paychecks.
Those who showed up were predominantly women and children, and emotions were evident. Children wanted to talk about what was happening with their daddies and some women could barely restrain tears.
"(Children) cry," said one wife of a prisoner. "They don't understand. They just ask for their dad."
"There's a lot of fear right now," said Julie Gonzales, CIRC director of organization, adding that some families may be afraid to leave their homes.
In addition to a need for food and financial assistance, the women said their children could use some counseling from pastors or counselors.
People often do not understand how hard it is on the children when their parents are taken away, and they are not aware that the children have rights as American citizens, Gonzales said.
The timing of the raid was particularly hard on the families, because it was near the beginning of the month when rent and utility bills are due, she said.
CIRC is trying to set up a fund people can donate aid to, but that has not happened yet, Gonzales said.
In the meantime, those who want to help can take donations to the New Creation Church at 929 E. Burlington Ave., Gonzales said, also noting that other agencies like Caring Ministries might help out.
The families urgently need diapers, milk and infant formula, and can use other food. Donors can also contact Gonzales at 970-891-2712 or Damaris at 970-381-7123.
Eleven men were taken into custody following a grand jury indictment based on an inspection at the Wildcat Dairy in Morgan County. They were part of a group of 20 who were indicted.
Authorities claim a review of work eligibility forms found that the men were ineligible to work in the U.S.
Those who were arrested are charged with using forged social security and alien registration cards to gain employment.
They were advised of the charges and their rights Thursday morning in Morgan County District Court. All 11 face felony charges, including criminal impersonation, criminal impersonation to gain a benefit, possession of a forged social security card and possession of a forged alien registration card.
District Court Judge Douglas Vannoy advised the men that if convicted, these charges could carry penalties of as much as three years in prison, one year of mandatory parole and fines of up to $100,000. He set bail at $50,000 due to fears by the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office that the men could flee the area.
Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Wiard told the judge that plea offers were ready to present to each of the defendants, but the District Attorney's Office is also ready for trial in each case.
CIRC Policy Director Hans Meyer, who is an attorney, cautioned families to look at any plea offers carefully before accepting them, because it could have consequences that last a lifetime.
This is a different situation than many earlier raids, because government officials are claiming they are criminals, not just undocumented workers, he said.
Immigration advocates are hearing contrasting messages from federal agencies, said CIRC Executive Director Julien Ross.
The Office of Homeland Security and the Obama administration have said they will not be pursuing everyday workers or raiding their homes if they have not committed serious crimes unrelated to immigration, he said.
These men face severe charges and exaggerated bond, Ross said.
Bonds of $50,000 seem to compare their actions to murder or kidnapping, which is unjust, Meyer said.
Families and friends know the arrested men are not criminals, that they are committed to supporting their families and are not flight risks, Ross said.
In conducting individual interviews to help counsel families, Meyer said he did not think any of the men had committed any serious crimes or intended any harm to anyone.
The intensity of the prosecution of ordinary workers makes people wonder if this is a political move by local government officials, Ross said.
The U.S. has a broken immigration system and if legislators and administrators do not fix it, this kind of situation will continue to recur, he said.
Ross wondered if it really made sense to spend all of this manpower and money on a few undocumented, minimum wage workers, especially in this time of budget cuts.
"Is this the crime we want to go after," Ross asked. "How much will it cost to hold them indefinitely?"
Even legal immigrants are afraid when this kind of prosecution happens, said one woman who works in agriculture.
She counseled the families to talk to attorneys without fear and tell their stories.
"We know that you are suffering," the woman said. "You have the right to be here."
Families which have been in the U.S. for 10 years and more, and those who have children born in the U.S. - which makes the children U.S. citizens - may be able to argue in immigration court that they should remain in the U.S., Meyer said.
There are also a number of other ways they might be able to stay in the country, but this case is more complex than just the possibility of deportation, he said.
What happens with immigrant status depends on what happens with the criminal charges, Meyer said.
Even if they are known as good workers and family men, a conviction can make them ineligible for immigration, he said.
Those who are pursuing this prosecution are trying to criminalize what people do to make a living in the U.S., Meyer said.
Some of the charges may be called felonies, but are not very serious, but every case must be examined individually, he said.
"The crime here is to be an immigrant," Meyer said.
These charges and any convictions or plea agreements can make it harder to win a case in immigration court and take away the defense that they are solid residents, Meyer said.
Ross said it could be difficult for any of the men to meet bail or to have the bail reset to a lower level.
The men could argue that Morgan County is their home, that this is their community and that they have no incentive to leave, but there are no guarantees that this would make a difference, Meyer said.
It is hard to tell if the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office is willing to lower bail under any circumstances, he told the families.
How bail bond works largely depends on political and emotional issues and the atmosphere in the community, Meyer noted. In some cities these men would not receive such a high bond.
Sometimes there are negotiations during the legal process, but those who are charged must be careful about accepting any agreements, because such agreements could come back to haunt them, he said.
All of this is difficult for the men who have never been in jail, and they can easily become anxious and desperate to get out and support their families, but that might be a mistake, Meyer said.
They need to analyze any offers with the help of their public defenders or other attorneys before making decisions - particularly to understand if an agreement affects their immigration status, he said.
In some cases, it might be best to accept a plea agreement, but in other cases the defendant might lose any immigration opportunity, Meyer warned.
He also warned that men who get out of jail would not technically be allowed to work to support their families, although sometimes they can apply for work permits.
The defendants need to have confidence in their attorneys' advice, Meyer explained. Unfortunately, public defenders often have little experience with immigration law, he said.
These men face two trials on the criminal charges and immigration issues, and the immigration case will depend on how the criminal case is resolved, Meyer said.
Ross said the families' personal stories are important to CIRC members and others.
"We want to honor and respect what you're going through," Gonzales said.
CIRV will continue working to resolve this and other immigration issues, as well as to prevent this kind of situation, Ross said.
Ross explained that employers and workers are in a "Catch-22," and the current system sometimes destroys workers, families and communities.
That is a bad dynamic, because the economy often could not function without immigrant workers, he said.
Document experts have noted that when someone borrows a social security number it can cause problems, and not always intentionally. For example, if the person borrowing the number does not pay enough taxes, the person the number really belongs to could end up owing more taxes.
Some have urged the legislature and officials to increase the number of work permits for non-citizens to avoid the problems of people trying to use unauthorized documents, saying there is a need for those workers.
Gonzales said CIRC and others may try to appeal to the Obama administration and local officials.
She encouraged the families to tell their stories to U.S. legislators in order to touch their hearts.
It is important to let people know about this injustice, and it is urgent to do so now while it is fresh in the public's minds, Gonzales said.
People need to know how the families are suffering, she said.
http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/ci_18215649
The Fort Morgan Times
Posted: 06/06/2011
Although the Obama administration and the Office of Homeland Defense have said they will not make raids to catch immigrants unless they have committed serious crimes, such a raid did happened in Morgan County when 11 Hispanic dairy workers were arrested last week.
That was part of what was said during a couple of community meetings in Fort Morgan by representatives of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition as they came to talk to the wives and children of the men about what to expect from the court system and how to survive without their husbands' paychecks.
Those who showed up were predominantly women and children, and emotions were evident. Children wanted to talk about what was happening with their daddies and some women could barely restrain tears.
"(Children) cry," said one wife of a prisoner. "They don't understand. They just ask for their dad."
"There's a lot of fear right now," said Julie Gonzales, CIRC director of organization, adding that some families may be afraid to leave their homes.
In addition to a need for food and financial assistance, the women said their children could use some counseling from pastors or counselors.
People often do not understand how hard it is on the children when their parents are taken away, and they are not aware that the children have rights as American citizens, Gonzales said.
The timing of the raid was particularly hard on the families, because it was near the beginning of the month when rent and utility bills are due, she said.
CIRC is trying to set up a fund people can donate aid to, but that has not happened yet, Gonzales said.
In the meantime, those who want to help can take donations to the New Creation Church at 929 E. Burlington Ave., Gonzales said, also noting that other agencies like Caring Ministries might help out.
The families urgently need diapers, milk and infant formula, and can use other food. Donors can also contact Gonzales at 970-891-2712 or Damaris at 970-381-7123.
Eleven men were taken into custody following a grand jury indictment based on an inspection at the Wildcat Dairy in Morgan County. They were part of a group of 20 who were indicted.
Authorities claim a review of work eligibility forms found that the men were ineligible to work in the U.S.
Those who were arrested are charged with using forged social security and alien registration cards to gain employment.
They were advised of the charges and their rights Thursday morning in Morgan County District Court. All 11 face felony charges, including criminal impersonation, criminal impersonation to gain a benefit, possession of a forged social security card and possession of a forged alien registration card.
District Court Judge Douglas Vannoy advised the men that if convicted, these charges could carry penalties of as much as three years in prison, one year of mandatory parole and fines of up to $100,000. He set bail at $50,000 due to fears by the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office that the men could flee the area.
Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Wiard told the judge that plea offers were ready to present to each of the defendants, but the District Attorney's Office is also ready for trial in each case.
CIRC Policy Director Hans Meyer, who is an attorney, cautioned families to look at any plea offers carefully before accepting them, because it could have consequences that last a lifetime.
This is a different situation than many earlier raids, because government officials are claiming they are criminals, not just undocumented workers, he said.
Immigration advocates are hearing contrasting messages from federal agencies, said CIRC Executive Director Julien Ross.
The Office of Homeland Security and the Obama administration have said they will not be pursuing everyday workers or raiding their homes if they have not committed serious crimes unrelated to immigration, he said.
These men face severe charges and exaggerated bond, Ross said.
Bonds of $50,000 seem to compare their actions to murder or kidnapping, which is unjust, Meyer said.
Families and friends know the arrested men are not criminals, that they are committed to supporting their families and are not flight risks, Ross said.
In conducting individual interviews to help counsel families, Meyer said he did not think any of the men had committed any serious crimes or intended any harm to anyone.
The intensity of the prosecution of ordinary workers makes people wonder if this is a political move by local government officials, Ross said.
The U.S. has a broken immigration system and if legislators and administrators do not fix it, this kind of situation will continue to recur, he said.
Ross wondered if it really made sense to spend all of this manpower and money on a few undocumented, minimum wage workers, especially in this time of budget cuts.
"Is this the crime we want to go after," Ross asked. "How much will it cost to hold them indefinitely?"
Even legal immigrants are afraid when this kind of prosecution happens, said one woman who works in agriculture.
She counseled the families to talk to attorneys without fear and tell their stories.
"We know that you are suffering," the woman said. "You have the right to be here."
Families which have been in the U.S. for 10 years and more, and those who have children born in the U.S. - which makes the children U.S. citizens - may be able to argue in immigration court that they should remain in the U.S., Meyer said.
There are also a number of other ways they might be able to stay in the country, but this case is more complex than just the possibility of deportation, he said.
What happens with immigrant status depends on what happens with the criminal charges, Meyer said.
Even if they are known as good workers and family men, a conviction can make them ineligible for immigration, he said.
Those who are pursuing this prosecution are trying to criminalize what people do to make a living in the U.S., Meyer said.
Some of the charges may be called felonies, but are not very serious, but every case must be examined individually, he said.
"The crime here is to be an immigrant," Meyer said.
These charges and any convictions or plea agreements can make it harder to win a case in immigration court and take away the defense that they are solid residents, Meyer said.
Ross said it could be difficult for any of the men to meet bail or to have the bail reset to a lower level.
The men could argue that Morgan County is their home, that this is their community and that they have no incentive to leave, but there are no guarantees that this would make a difference, Meyer said.
It is hard to tell if the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office is willing to lower bail under any circumstances, he told the families.
How bail bond works largely depends on political and emotional issues and the atmosphere in the community, Meyer noted. In some cities these men would not receive such a high bond.
Sometimes there are negotiations during the legal process, but those who are charged must be careful about accepting any agreements, because such agreements could come back to haunt them, he said.
All of this is difficult for the men who have never been in jail, and they can easily become anxious and desperate to get out and support their families, but that might be a mistake, Meyer said.
They need to analyze any offers with the help of their public defenders or other attorneys before making decisions - particularly to understand if an agreement affects their immigration status, he said.
In some cases, it might be best to accept a plea agreement, but in other cases the defendant might lose any immigration opportunity, Meyer warned.
He also warned that men who get out of jail would not technically be allowed to work to support their families, although sometimes they can apply for work permits.
The defendants need to have confidence in their attorneys' advice, Meyer explained. Unfortunately, public defenders often have little experience with immigration law, he said.
These men face two trials on the criminal charges and immigration issues, and the immigration case will depend on how the criminal case is resolved, Meyer said.
Ross said the families' personal stories are important to CIRC members and others.
"We want to honor and respect what you're going through," Gonzales said.
CIRV will continue working to resolve this and other immigration issues, as well as to prevent this kind of situation, Ross said.
Ross explained that employers and workers are in a "Catch-22," and the current system sometimes destroys workers, families and communities.
That is a bad dynamic, because the economy often could not function without immigrant workers, he said.
Document experts have noted that when someone borrows a social security number it can cause problems, and not always intentionally. For example, if the person borrowing the number does not pay enough taxes, the person the number really belongs to could end up owing more taxes.
Some have urged the legislature and officials to increase the number of work permits for non-citizens to avoid the problems of people trying to use unauthorized documents, saying there is a need for those workers.
Gonzales said CIRC and others may try to appeal to the Obama administration and local officials.
She encouraged the families to tell their stories to U.S. legislators in order to touch their hearts.
It is important to let people know about this injustice, and it is urgent to do so now while it is fresh in the public's minds, Gonzales said.
People need to know how the families are suffering, she said.
http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/ci_18215649
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Legislation targets employers who shortchange illegal immigrants
By ABBOTT KOLOFF
The Daily Record
March 27, 2011
One woman said she had been threatened with deportation if she continued to press for pay at her restaurant job. One man said he made repeated calls for back pay to a former employer who kept putting him off. Another said a former boss set aside a week's salary as a "deposit" and then kept it.
A group of day laborers, all illegal immigrants, gathered Thursday night at the offices of Wind of the Spirit, an immigrant advocacy group, to go over the status of grievances against former bosses and to learn about a proposed state law that would beef up punishments for employers who withhold wages from workers.
Julio Lopez, a 43-year-old Morristown resident, said he left a job at a painting company in mid-December because he hadn't been paid in weeks and needed money to buy clothes and Christmas gifts for his three children, two of them born in the U.S. He said he has a tax identification number and pays taxes on his wages.
"He kept telling me not to worry," Lopez said of his former boss. "I said "I'm worried; I have a wife and kids.' "
Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, D-Union, filed a bill almost two weeks ago called the Wage Protection Act that would increase penalties for employers found guilty of violating the state's wage laws. Not only would such employers be required to repay illegally withheld wages, they also would be required to pay damages and be fined $1,000 plus 20 percent of withheld wages on the first offense. Convicted employers also would be subject to losing various state licenses.
Justin Braz, Quijano's chief of staff, said the bill was inspired by a Seton Hall Law School report released in January focusing on the alleged exploitation of day laborers. But he added that the bill was broader than that because the problem of employers violating the state's wage laws goes beyond those who hire undocumented workers.
"The intent is to protect all workers who deserve to get paid," he said.
Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, R-Morris, known as one of the most conservative members of the Legislature, at first responded negatively to the idea of aiding day laborers, saying they do not pay taxes. He then said the bill might be a "good idea."
"The more risk you put on hiring day laborers, the less likely you'll hire them," Carroll said. "Maybe then they'll go home. . . . I don't think many people feel sympathy for employers stealing from illegals. If this is an attempt to make sure businesses play by the rules, that's certainly not unfair."
The proposed bill also would allow some workers to file anonymous civil suits because of a fear of retaliation by employers, although they would be required to file a second set of papers using their names. Braz said the proposal would allow a complainant's identity to be kept from the defendant, at least at first — a concept that drew a critical response from a prominent labor attorney last week.
"Due process requires you know who it is to defend yourself," said Wayne Positan, a Roseland attorney. "It's repugnant to due process."
Positan said state and federal laws already deal with the issue of retaliation, and that the bill might create an unnecessary burden on local courts by sending additional complaints there instead of to state and federal agencies designed to deal with them.
The recent Seton Hall report addressed the vulnerability of day laborers, saying they are easy targets for unscrupulous employers because they often are afraid to go to authorities, fearing deportation, or did not know about their legal options. The report was based on a survey of 113 day laborers, mostly Latinos, at seven sites across New Jersey, including Morristown. It included observations of more than another 100 day laborers who did not want to participate in the survey.
Of those surveyed, 54 percent said they had been paid less than they had been promised over the past year, 48 percent had not been paid at all at some point, 94 percent had not been paid for overtime, and 26 percent had been assaulted on the job. Typical weekly incomes during the winter were less than $200, and between $300 and $400 during the spring and summer, the report said.
Yet just three surveyed workers filed complaints with the state Department of Labor, according to the report.
Department of Labor spokeswoman Kerri Gatling said the state does not keep track of types of complaints, so there is no way to know how many of the 9,598 complaints made to the state between June 30, 2009, and July 1, 2010, were from day laborers. The state did recover $8.3 million of wages or overtime for 8,845 workers over that time period, she said. The state does not ask about immigration status, Gatling said.
Diana Mejia, a co-founder of Wind of the Spirit, said her group helped 47 Morris County workers get close to $30,000 in lost wages last year by negotiating with employers, all without help from the state. She said her group routinely holds meetings to help day laborers deal with employers who won't pay them. It also helps clients file complaints with the state.
Just two of the six workers attending Thursday night's meeting had made such a complaint.
Delsi Cardona, a 23-year-old single mother of a 4-year-old boy, said an employer threatened her with deportation after she asked to be paid money that she was owed. She has not yet filed a complaint.
"I'm very afraid," she said.
Alfonso Ortiz, 47, of Morristown hasn't filed a complaint because he came to Wind of the Spirit three years after he said a flooring company stiffed him for $1,100. The law requires filing within two years, Mejia said.
"It's too long," she said of Ortiz's case. "We still say we'll try to help him."
Silvano Jimenez Camacho, 28, of Morristown and Alejandro Flores, 22, of Parsippany both filed complaints with the state. Camacho said he is owed $1,200 from a flooring company where he worked last year. Flores said a pizzeria owner held a week's salary as a "deposit" and kept it, along with his last week's pay, a total of $1,350.
Both of those complaints are waiting to be adjudicated and are not yet available as public records.
Flores has been in the U.S. since he was 16 and has a 4-year-old daughter. He was not initially aware that keeping a week's salary as a "deposit" was unusual.
He also did not seem to know about overtime. He said he has since found another job that pays better, about $800 a week for at least 10 hours a day, six days a week. He added that he sometimes works more than 12 hours a day but gets the same pay.
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20110327/NJNEWS/103280301/Legislation-targets-employers-who-shortchange-illegal-immigrants
The Daily Record
March 27, 2011
One woman said she had been threatened with deportation if she continued to press for pay at her restaurant job. One man said he made repeated calls for back pay to a former employer who kept putting him off. Another said a former boss set aside a week's salary as a "deposit" and then kept it.
A group of day laborers, all illegal immigrants, gathered Thursday night at the offices of Wind of the Spirit, an immigrant advocacy group, to go over the status of grievances against former bosses and to learn about a proposed state law that would beef up punishments for employers who withhold wages from workers.
Julio Lopez, a 43-year-old Morristown resident, said he left a job at a painting company in mid-December because he hadn't been paid in weeks and needed money to buy clothes and Christmas gifts for his three children, two of them born in the U.S. He said he has a tax identification number and pays taxes on his wages.
"He kept telling me not to worry," Lopez said of his former boss. "I said "I'm worried; I have a wife and kids.' "
Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, D-Union, filed a bill almost two weeks ago called the Wage Protection Act that would increase penalties for employers found guilty of violating the state's wage laws. Not only would such employers be required to repay illegally withheld wages, they also would be required to pay damages and be fined $1,000 plus 20 percent of withheld wages on the first offense. Convicted employers also would be subject to losing various state licenses.
Justin Braz, Quijano's chief of staff, said the bill was inspired by a Seton Hall Law School report released in January focusing on the alleged exploitation of day laborers. But he added that the bill was broader than that because the problem of employers violating the state's wage laws goes beyond those who hire undocumented workers.
"The intent is to protect all workers who deserve to get paid," he said.
Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, R-Morris, known as one of the most conservative members of the Legislature, at first responded negatively to the idea of aiding day laborers, saying they do not pay taxes. He then said the bill might be a "good idea."
"The more risk you put on hiring day laborers, the less likely you'll hire them," Carroll said. "Maybe then they'll go home. . . . I don't think many people feel sympathy for employers stealing from illegals. If this is an attempt to make sure businesses play by the rules, that's certainly not unfair."
The proposed bill also would allow some workers to file anonymous civil suits because of a fear of retaliation by employers, although they would be required to file a second set of papers using their names. Braz said the proposal would allow a complainant's identity to be kept from the defendant, at least at first — a concept that drew a critical response from a prominent labor attorney last week.
"Due process requires you know who it is to defend yourself," said Wayne Positan, a Roseland attorney. "It's repugnant to due process."
Positan said state and federal laws already deal with the issue of retaliation, and that the bill might create an unnecessary burden on local courts by sending additional complaints there instead of to state and federal agencies designed to deal with them.
The recent Seton Hall report addressed the vulnerability of day laborers, saying they are easy targets for unscrupulous employers because they often are afraid to go to authorities, fearing deportation, or did not know about their legal options. The report was based on a survey of 113 day laborers, mostly Latinos, at seven sites across New Jersey, including Morristown. It included observations of more than another 100 day laborers who did not want to participate in the survey.
Of those surveyed, 54 percent said they had been paid less than they had been promised over the past year, 48 percent had not been paid at all at some point, 94 percent had not been paid for overtime, and 26 percent had been assaulted on the job. Typical weekly incomes during the winter were less than $200, and between $300 and $400 during the spring and summer, the report said.
Yet just three surveyed workers filed complaints with the state Department of Labor, according to the report.
Department of Labor spokeswoman Kerri Gatling said the state does not keep track of types of complaints, so there is no way to know how many of the 9,598 complaints made to the state between June 30, 2009, and July 1, 2010, were from day laborers. The state did recover $8.3 million of wages or overtime for 8,845 workers over that time period, she said. The state does not ask about immigration status, Gatling said.
Diana Mejia, a co-founder of Wind of the Spirit, said her group helped 47 Morris County workers get close to $30,000 in lost wages last year by negotiating with employers, all without help from the state. She said her group routinely holds meetings to help day laborers deal with employers who won't pay them. It also helps clients file complaints with the state.
Just two of the six workers attending Thursday night's meeting had made such a complaint.
Delsi Cardona, a 23-year-old single mother of a 4-year-old boy, said an employer threatened her with deportation after she asked to be paid money that she was owed. She has not yet filed a complaint.
"I'm very afraid," she said.
Alfonso Ortiz, 47, of Morristown hasn't filed a complaint because he came to Wind of the Spirit three years after he said a flooring company stiffed him for $1,100. The law requires filing within two years, Mejia said.
"It's too long," she said of Ortiz's case. "We still say we'll try to help him."
Silvano Jimenez Camacho, 28, of Morristown and Alejandro Flores, 22, of Parsippany both filed complaints with the state. Camacho said he is owed $1,200 from a flooring company where he worked last year. Flores said a pizzeria owner held a week's salary as a "deposit" and kept it, along with his last week's pay, a total of $1,350.
Both of those complaints are waiting to be adjudicated and are not yet available as public records.
Flores has been in the U.S. since he was 16 and has a 4-year-old daughter. He was not initially aware that keeping a week's salary as a "deposit" was unusual.
He also did not seem to know about overtime. He said he has since found another job that pays better, about $800 a week for at least 10 hours a day, six days a week. He added that he sometimes works more than 12 hours a day but gets the same pay.
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20110327/NJNEWS/103280301/Legislation-targets-employers-who-shortchange-illegal-immigrants
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Reunion after ICE raid
By MARY SWIFT
The Daily Record
March 21, 2011
Tess Maczis believes every person can make a difference.
It’s a big part of the reason the 16-year-old Ellensburg High School junior, co-president of the school’s Peace Club and a student body officer, is one of the high school students now volunteering with APOYO, a not-for-profit organization that provides food and other assistance to the Hispanic community.
“What got me was it was something that happened at our school with people we knew,” she says. “Everybody wanted to do something to help and not just stand by.”
Tess would find a kindred spirit in Dianne Aid. Aid, who now lives in Kent, came to Ellensburg to attend Central Washington University and stayed 20 years. Along the way she met a young Mexican couple, Ramon and Angelica Gonzalez, at church. They were undocumented immigrants struggling to forge a new life. When their second child, Ricardo, was born 17 years ago, they asked Aid to be his godmother.
Time passed.
Eventually, Aid lost touch with the Gonzalez family.
Then in the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 20, agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a raid in Ellensburg and arrested 34 members of the Hispanic community.
Fifteen had criminal arrest warrants. Nineteen were detained on administrative charges (being in the county illegally). The numbers are based on information provided to the Ellensburg Coalition for Humanity by the offices of U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, who met with ICE officials following the raid.
On the west side of the state, Aid, who serves on the national steering committee of what is termed the New Sanctuary Movement, was monitoring what had happened. Aid is a member of St. Matthew’s/San Mateo Episcopal Church in Auburn, the most diverse congregation in the Diocese of Olympia. Fifty percent of its congregation is Latino and its English-speaking members include immigrants from the Fiji Islands, First Nations people, African Americans and Japanese Americans. Aid serves as director of the church’s Jubilee Ministries program, a ministry that focuses on immigration grassroots organizing, legal services and sanctuary.
Names on list
After the raid, an organizer from the United Farmworkers Union went to Ellensburg to compile a list of people detained or not accounted for. The Rev. Ernie Harrelson, pastor of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Yakima, passed the list on to Aid.
Two names leaped out at her: Ramon and Angelica Gonzalez.
On Tuesday after the raid, Aid was attending a meeting of the Washington Immigration Reform Coalition watching a film clip KIRO had done on a rally in Yakima.
“Here was this 17-year-old kid talking about ICE coming into his home. His name is Ricardo. He looks a lot like his mom. I knew then I had to find them,” Aid says. She asked Harrelson to ask Ricardo to contact her.
Ricardo, now a junior at Ellensburg High School, did.
“Are you my godmother?” he asked.
Yes, Aid said.
“I really didn’t know her,” Ricardo says now in a soft voice. “I was so little when she knew us. But my mom had talked about her. I didn’t have an attorney. She said she was going to help me.”
It was one week to the day that Ricardo had watched helplessly as his parents were arrested.
Angelica, facing charges of using false documents, was being held in Yakima. Ramon had been taken directly to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on administrative charges (being in the country illegally) and was awaiting deportation.
“When Ramon got to the detention center, he’d done what a lot of people unwittingly do,” Aid says. “He signed papers for voluntary departure. They ship people out once a week from there. Ramon would have been deported that Saturday (just two days after she and Ricardo spoke).
“So I got hold of an immigration attorney friend of mine,” Aid says. “I said, ‘I don’t care what it takes. Can you stop this?’”
Bond reduced
On Friday, the attorney went to the detention center and talked with Ramon who withdrew his voluntary departure request. A few days later, Angelica was transferred to the detention center. Angelica’s bond had been set at $15,000. No bond had been set for Ramon.
The following Wednesday, a bond hearing took place in the tiny courtroom at the detention center. Aid said supporters were present, including Ricardo who showed up armed with letters of support and character references, including one from Aid.
Angelica’s bond was reduced to $3,000. Ramon’s was set at $1,500.
Ricardo paid their bond with donations from family and friends. The immigration fund at St. Matthews is paying the costs for the bond hearing. “The attorney charged half his usual fee for one person to take them both,” a grateful Aid says.
Released at around 6 that evening, Ramon and Angelica returned home with a relieved Ricardo.
“At first I couldn’t believe it,” he says now. “I called my brothers. I felt really happy. When we got to our house, family and friends were at our house. We ate some cake. People brought flowers and food.”
Angelica and Ramon are now waiting for what happens next.
“They cannot work,” Ricardo says. “My mom has a hearing in October.” As for his father, “they haven’t given him one yet.”
Ricardo, an honor student who had perfect attendance since middle school until his parents were arrested, is trying to refocus on normal high school life.
But it’s a challenge.
“I have to behave now like an adult,” he says. “It’s kind of sad. It’s a hard struggle to pass through and a really hard struggle when your family gets separated.”
Aid says an effort is under way to try to help Ricardo’s parents gain legal status.
“People who have more than 10 years present in the U.S. and have relatives who are United States citizens, if they can prove hardship on that citizen from deportation then they may be granted relief from deportation,” she says. If that fails, Aid says it’s possible that Ricardo himself, a U.S.-born citizen, could petition to have them come back to this country when he is 21.
“They’re getting by. I talk with them a lot now,” Aid says. “We won’t lose contact any more. My thoughts, when Ricardo called me that night were, ‘I have not been here for this child all these years and at this critical juncture, I can do it.’”
http://dailyrecordnews.com/top_story/reunion-after-ice-raid/article_3036524c-53e3-11e0-80d5-001cc4c03286.html
The Daily Record
March 21, 2011
Tess Maczis believes every person can make a difference.
It’s a big part of the reason the 16-year-old Ellensburg High School junior, co-president of the school’s Peace Club and a student body officer, is one of the high school students now volunteering with APOYO, a not-for-profit organization that provides food and other assistance to the Hispanic community.
“What got me was it was something that happened at our school with people we knew,” she says. “Everybody wanted to do something to help and not just stand by.”
Tess would find a kindred spirit in Dianne Aid. Aid, who now lives in Kent, came to Ellensburg to attend Central Washington University and stayed 20 years. Along the way she met a young Mexican couple, Ramon and Angelica Gonzalez, at church. They were undocumented immigrants struggling to forge a new life. When their second child, Ricardo, was born 17 years ago, they asked Aid to be his godmother.
Time passed.
Eventually, Aid lost touch with the Gonzalez family.
Then in the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 20, agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a raid in Ellensburg and arrested 34 members of the Hispanic community.
Fifteen had criminal arrest warrants. Nineteen were detained on administrative charges (being in the county illegally). The numbers are based on information provided to the Ellensburg Coalition for Humanity by the offices of U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, who met with ICE officials following the raid.
On the west side of the state, Aid, who serves on the national steering committee of what is termed the New Sanctuary Movement, was monitoring what had happened. Aid is a member of St. Matthew’s/San Mateo Episcopal Church in Auburn, the most diverse congregation in the Diocese of Olympia. Fifty percent of its congregation is Latino and its English-speaking members include immigrants from the Fiji Islands, First Nations people, African Americans and Japanese Americans. Aid serves as director of the church’s Jubilee Ministries program, a ministry that focuses on immigration grassroots organizing, legal services and sanctuary.
Names on list
After the raid, an organizer from the United Farmworkers Union went to Ellensburg to compile a list of people detained or not accounted for. The Rev. Ernie Harrelson, pastor of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Yakima, passed the list on to Aid.
Two names leaped out at her: Ramon and Angelica Gonzalez.
On Tuesday after the raid, Aid was attending a meeting of the Washington Immigration Reform Coalition watching a film clip KIRO had done on a rally in Yakima.
“Here was this 17-year-old kid talking about ICE coming into his home. His name is Ricardo. He looks a lot like his mom. I knew then I had to find them,” Aid says. She asked Harrelson to ask Ricardo to contact her.
Ricardo, now a junior at Ellensburg High School, did.
“Are you my godmother?” he asked.
Yes, Aid said.
“I really didn’t know her,” Ricardo says now in a soft voice. “I was so little when she knew us. But my mom had talked about her. I didn’t have an attorney. She said she was going to help me.”
It was one week to the day that Ricardo had watched helplessly as his parents were arrested.
Angelica, facing charges of using false documents, was being held in Yakima. Ramon had been taken directly to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma on administrative charges (being in the country illegally) and was awaiting deportation.
“When Ramon got to the detention center, he’d done what a lot of people unwittingly do,” Aid says. “He signed papers for voluntary departure. They ship people out once a week from there. Ramon would have been deported that Saturday (just two days after she and Ricardo spoke).
“So I got hold of an immigration attorney friend of mine,” Aid says. “I said, ‘I don’t care what it takes. Can you stop this?’”
Bond reduced
On Friday, the attorney went to the detention center and talked with Ramon who withdrew his voluntary departure request. A few days later, Angelica was transferred to the detention center. Angelica’s bond had been set at $15,000. No bond had been set for Ramon.
The following Wednesday, a bond hearing took place in the tiny courtroom at the detention center. Aid said supporters were present, including Ricardo who showed up armed with letters of support and character references, including one from Aid.
Angelica’s bond was reduced to $3,000. Ramon’s was set at $1,500.
Ricardo paid their bond with donations from family and friends. The immigration fund at St. Matthews is paying the costs for the bond hearing. “The attorney charged half his usual fee for one person to take them both,” a grateful Aid says.
Released at around 6 that evening, Ramon and Angelica returned home with a relieved Ricardo.
“At first I couldn’t believe it,” he says now. “I called my brothers. I felt really happy. When we got to our house, family and friends were at our house. We ate some cake. People brought flowers and food.”
Angelica and Ramon are now waiting for what happens next.
“They cannot work,” Ricardo says. “My mom has a hearing in October.” As for his father, “they haven’t given him one yet.”
Ricardo, an honor student who had perfect attendance since middle school until his parents were arrested, is trying to refocus on normal high school life.
But it’s a challenge.
“I have to behave now like an adult,” he says. “It’s kind of sad. It’s a hard struggle to pass through and a really hard struggle when your family gets separated.”
Aid says an effort is under way to try to help Ricardo’s parents gain legal status.
“People who have more than 10 years present in the U.S. and have relatives who are United States citizens, if they can prove hardship on that citizen from deportation then they may be granted relief from deportation,” she says. If that fails, Aid says it’s possible that Ricardo himself, a U.S.-born citizen, could petition to have them come back to this country when he is 21.
“They’re getting by. I talk with them a lot now,” Aid says. “We won’t lose contact any more. My thoughts, when Ricardo called me that night were, ‘I have not been here for this child all these years and at this critical juncture, I can do it.’”
http://dailyrecordnews.com/top_story/reunion-after-ice-raid/article_3036524c-53e3-11e0-80d5-001cc4c03286.html
Monday, February 21, 2011
Forum draws immigrants seeking answers
By Jennie Rodriguez
Recordnet Staff Writer
February 21, 2011 12:00 AM
STOCKTON - Elizabeth Hernandez's two toddlers used to light up when they saw their father come home from work every day in his muddy shoes and scuffed clothing.
"He used to play with them," Hernandez said of her husband, a landscaper.
"He is a hard worker," said Hernandez, 23. "He is a very respectful person."
But it's been a month since Hernandez and the couple's children have seen him. He was deported to Mexico before Hernandez, a U.S. citizen, could complete her husband's residency petition.
Hernandez didn't know where to go for help - until Sunday night. That's when a forum was held on immigrants' rights at the St. Mary's Church gymnasium in downtown Stockton, where speakers included a representative from the Mexican Consulate's protection and legal matters department.
It is estimated that there are about 6 million undocumented immigrants from Mexico in the United States. San Joaquin County's agricultural industry draws many in search of work.
"We see that there is a great necessity for people to know their basic rights," said Luis Magana, the forum organizer from Project Voice. "We want to empower the people. The people who live here and work here."
Hernandez was happy to finally have some answers to her questions.
"I've been trying to get information from different people, and they've been telling me the wrong things," she said.
Alejandro Celorio of the Sacramento Mexican Consulate office said undocumented immigrants are among the most vulnerable groups to forgo their civil rights.
Celorio said undocumented immigrants have the right to demand a search warrant, and the right to remain silent when approached by immigration enforcement agents, and yet most are unaware of those rights.
Celorio said most undocumented immigrants who face deportation sign voluntary removal orders when they could have argued their case before a judge.
He said undocumented immigrants also are less likely to report to police when they are victims of crimes for fear of being deported.
"They are afraid of the system," Celorio said.
More than 100 people attended the event.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110221/A_NEWS/102210312/-1/NEWSMAP
Recordnet Staff Writer
February 21, 2011 12:00 AM
STOCKTON - Elizabeth Hernandez's two toddlers used to light up when they saw their father come home from work every day in his muddy shoes and scuffed clothing.
"He used to play with them," Hernandez said of her husband, a landscaper.
"He is a hard worker," said Hernandez, 23. "He is a very respectful person."
But it's been a month since Hernandez and the couple's children have seen him. He was deported to Mexico before Hernandez, a U.S. citizen, could complete her husband's residency petition.
Hernandez didn't know where to go for help - until Sunday night. That's when a forum was held on immigrants' rights at the St. Mary's Church gymnasium in downtown Stockton, where speakers included a representative from the Mexican Consulate's protection and legal matters department.
It is estimated that there are about 6 million undocumented immigrants from Mexico in the United States. San Joaquin County's agricultural industry draws many in search of work.
"We see that there is a great necessity for people to know their basic rights," said Luis Magana, the forum organizer from Project Voice. "We want to empower the people. The people who live here and work here."
Hernandez was happy to finally have some answers to her questions.
"I've been trying to get information from different people, and they've been telling me the wrong things," she said.
Alejandro Celorio of the Sacramento Mexican Consulate office said undocumented immigrants are among the most vulnerable groups to forgo their civil rights.
Celorio said undocumented immigrants have the right to demand a search warrant, and the right to remain silent when approached by immigration enforcement agents, and yet most are unaware of those rights.
Celorio said most undocumented immigrants who face deportation sign voluntary removal orders when they could have argued their case before a judge.
He said undocumented immigrants also are less likely to report to police when they are victims of crimes for fear of being deported.
"They are afraid of the system," Celorio said.
More than 100 people attended the event.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110221/A_NEWS/102210312/-1/NEWSMAP
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Technology and immigration: from a GPS system, to a texting campaign warning of crime sweeps
By Aurelia Fierros, LA Border and Immigration Examiner
The Examiner
January 4, 2009
Technology is now in all existing fields of life. The immigration phenomena for long considered as an issue tossed to the back burner of the U.S. political agenda, is no exception. Curiously, now that there is a more tangible effort to advance towards an immigration system overhaul, is when more devices and applications are being used in aid of undocumented immigrants.
From a cell phone that includes a GPS system that guides those sneaking into the U.S. to water reservoirs, so they don’t die dehydrated in the desert; to text warnings of immigration raids, for those already here. Whether this can be considered as humanitarian help or simply a crime is debatable, but the fact is technology is being used both ways: to help undocumented immigrants remain safe during their desert trek, as well as to catch them in the attempt. Law enforcement’s technology used in the border is another ball game. Too sophisticated to compare.
However, the latest report of technology usage for this matter came from Phoenix, where a local advocate for immigrant and civil rights, has started a text messaging campaign warning about crime sweeps by a high-profile Arizona sheriff.
Lydia Guzman, director of the nonprofit immigrant advocacy group Respect/Respeto, is alerting within minutes to the details of the sweeps, as part of an effort to warn Latinos and others about racial profiling by sheriff's deputies.
Phoenix Deputies have been accused of stopping Hispanics, including citizens and legal immigrants, for minor traffic violations to check their immigration status.
In his own defense, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has said his deputies do not engage in racial profiling, and that he publicizes his crime sweeps ahead of time. Referring to the text warnings Arpaio said the Respect/Respeto group is in favor of open borders and that in any case, such campaign is not interfering with the MCSO operations as the outcome of his raids often result in arrests of a “good number of people, including illegal aliens."
The sheriff added this group is walking a fine line between exercising free speech and breaking the law by helping immigration violators avoid detection, and possibly even warning human-smuggling organizations.
Controversial Sheriff Arpaio has conducted 13 sweeps since March 2008, arresting 669 individuals, about half of whom were held on immigration violations. Meanwhile, the texting campaign warning about Arapio’s crime sweeps will continue.
http://www.examiner.com/x-9270-LA-Border-and-Immigration-Examiner~y2010m1d4-Technology-and-immigration-from-a-GPS-system-to-a-texting-campaign-warning-of-crime-sweeps
The Examiner
January 4, 2009
Technology is now in all existing fields of life. The immigration phenomena for long considered as an issue tossed to the back burner of the U.S. political agenda, is no exception. Curiously, now that there is a more tangible effort to advance towards an immigration system overhaul, is when more devices and applications are being used in aid of undocumented immigrants.
From a cell phone that includes a GPS system that guides those sneaking into the U.S. to water reservoirs, so they don’t die dehydrated in the desert; to text warnings of immigration raids, for those already here. Whether this can be considered as humanitarian help or simply a crime is debatable, but the fact is technology is being used both ways: to help undocumented immigrants remain safe during their desert trek, as well as to catch them in the attempt. Law enforcement’s technology used in the border is another ball game. Too sophisticated to compare.
However, the latest report of technology usage for this matter came from Phoenix, where a local advocate for immigrant and civil rights, has started a text messaging campaign warning about crime sweeps by a high-profile Arizona sheriff.
Lydia Guzman, director of the nonprofit immigrant advocacy group Respect/Respeto, is alerting within minutes to the details of the sweeps, as part of an effort to warn Latinos and others about racial profiling by sheriff's deputies.
Phoenix Deputies have been accused of stopping Hispanics, including citizens and legal immigrants, for minor traffic violations to check their immigration status.
In his own defense, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has said his deputies do not engage in racial profiling, and that he publicizes his crime sweeps ahead of time. Referring to the text warnings Arpaio said the Respect/Respeto group is in favor of open borders and that in any case, such campaign is not interfering with the MCSO operations as the outcome of his raids often result in arrests of a “good number of people, including illegal aliens."
The sheriff added this group is walking a fine line between exercising free speech and breaking the law by helping immigration violators avoid detection, and possibly even warning human-smuggling organizations.
Controversial Sheriff Arpaio has conducted 13 sweeps since March 2008, arresting 669 individuals, about half of whom were held on immigration violations. Meanwhile, the texting campaign warning about Arapio’s crime sweeps will continue.
http://www.examiner.com/x-9270-LA-Border-and-Immigration-Examiner~y2010m1d4-Technology-and-immigration-from-a-GPS-system-to-a-texting-campaign-warning-of-crime-sweeps
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Lawyers Target 'Assembly Line' Practice, Abuse of Poor Immigrants
By Mark Hamblett
The New York Law Journal
January 4, 2010
A movement in the New York legal community to increase pro bono representation of indigent immigrants and weed out incompetent or unscrupulous lawyers who prey on them is gathering momentum.
A group of some 40 to 50 lawyers has been meeting regularly to analyze what is widely regarded as a broken system where many indigent immigrants lack the information and advice they need about asylum applications and other immigration procedures.
The meetings, held periodically at the federal courthouse, were initiated by 2nd Circuit Judge Robert Katzmann, who has made addressing the unmet needs of the immigrant poor his signature issue.
"This is a unique effort, and it's the kind of effort that can be replicated in other circuits." Judge Katzmann said in a recent interview. "You have lawyers, as part of their responsibility to the larger community, willing to roll up their sleeves and think conceptually about how to best improve the delivery of services to the poor."
Judge Katzmann used a February 2007 lecture at the New York City Bar to enlist lawyers in that effort. He said that in response to his comments, groups such as the Federal Bar Council and the American Bar Association sharpened their focus on immigration issues, and law schools created immigration clinics.
But to further press the issue, Judge Katzmann, along with Southern District Judge Denny Chin, began convening small groups of lawyers from large and small firms, agencies and universities, at 500 Pearl St. in Manhattan every six weeks to brainstorm on how to increase pro bono representation in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Asylum cases regularly swamp the circuit's docket, and some lawyers practice what has been called "assembly line" immigration law, representing hundreds of clients, sometimes poorly.
The study group's ideas for improving representation and attracting more attorneys to the campaign were explored during a March 2009 forum at Fordham Law School.
Afterward, the study group broke into three subcommittees, one to focus on increasing pro bono activity, a second to look at "improving the delivery of services to the immigrant poor" and a third to address inadequate or unethical representation.
The conclusions of the three subcommittees, plus additional commentary, are presented in the November Fordham Law Review: "The Robert L. Levine Distinguished Lecture, Overcoming Barriers to Immigrant Representation: Exploring Solutions." The materials considered by the study group can be seen at http://law.fordham.edu/fordham-law-review/15905.htm.
INCREASED DEMAND
The pro bono subcommittee's report, "The Representational and Counseling Needs of the Immigrant Poor" found that "demand outstripped capacity at all levels" for services, including initial counseling of immigrants, the delivery of applications for immigrant benefits, the filing of appeals and responding to notices of removal or deportation.
The demand, the subcommittee said, "has achieved near-crisis proportions," and has been exacerbated by increases in workplace raids and other enforcement activities by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The subcommittee concluded that, short of a dramatic rise in funding at all levels or possible reforms such as permitting appointment of counsel paid for by the government, any increase in the recruitment, training and supervision of more lawyers must come from nonprofit legal service organizations, bar groups, local lawyers, law schools and the generosity of public and private contributors.
The report also lists testimonials from major law firms that helped secure relief for immigrants who were appearing pro se and highlights clinical programs at law schools in New York and Connecticut.
The pro bono report was produced by Jennifer L. Colyer, special counsel and pro bono counsel at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson; Robert Juceam, of counsel at Fried Frank; Sarah French Russell, the Liman program director at Yale Law School; and Lewis J. Liman, a partner with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.
The second subcommittee report on improving service delivery, "The Immigration Representation Project: Meeting the Critical Needs of Low-Wage and Indigent New Yorkers Facing Removal," was written by Jojo Annobil, attorney in charge of the immigration law unit at the Legal Aid Society and an adjunct clinical professor at New York University School of Law.
Ms. Annobil said that the dramatic increase in enforcement actions against "asylum seekers, undocumented immigrants and permanent residents with criminal convictions and other immigration violations has resulted in a deepening due process crisis."
A second report from the subcommittee on improving service delivery, "Barriers to Representation for Detained Immigrants Facing Deportation" presents a case study on problems facing immigrants detained at the Varick Street Detention Facility in Manhattan and addresses the problems facing overwhelmed immigration judges who deal with thousands of pro se litigants, and, the "cancer of disreputable elements of the immigration bar."
The author of that report, Peter L. Markowitz, assistant professor of law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, emphasized that one of the problems "at the heart" of the immigration representation crisis is that there is no right to counsel in immigration proceedings.
SCAM ARTISTS
The third subcommittee report, "Regulating Immigration Legal Service Providers, Inadequate Representation and Notario Fraud," addresses the exploitation of immigrants.
"Immigrants are often easy prey for bogus or incompetent attorneys, 'notarios,' scam artists, and other bad actors who take advantage of immigrants' limited knowledge of U.S. law, lack of English fluency, and lack of cultural knowledge to charge exorbitant fees for wild promises of green cards and citizenship that the bad actors cannot, and in some cases never intended to, deliver," wrote Careen Shannon, of counsel at Fragoman, Del Ray, Bernsen & Loewy.
But this exploitation, she said, "is merely a symptom" of the larger problem of inadequate access to competent legal counsel, and Shannon advocates several changes to local, state and federal law and policy to help improve that access. Among the changes recommended is a toughening of the law on the unauthorized practice of law, by, for example, making it a felony.
Also among the study group's efforts has been a focus on training. The group convened a meeting of legal service providers and community organizations at Cardozo in April 2009 to assist in the training and placement of deferred and furloughed law firm associates.
That was followed by a September training session at Cardozo, and in October, the announcement by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of a plan to partner with private law firms to send deferred associates into immigrant communities, as well as a $2 million city grant to support a team of supervising attorneys to train associates and provide technical support.
For Judge Katzmann, who said he has witnessed first-hand poor immigration lawyering in the 2nd Circuit, the idea behind the study group and the subcommittee reports is to raise awareness and build momentum for serious change.
There is much to do, he said, but the involvement of so many lawyers is a promising sign.
"As a judge who feels frustrated by all-too-inadequate counsel, it is encouraging and energizing to see this extraordinary group of lawyers so dedicated to urging the larger legal community to get involved in improving representation for immigrants," Judge Katzmann said.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202437368127&Lawyers_Target_Assembly_Line_Practice_Abuse_of_Poor_Immigrants
The New York Law Journal
January 4, 2010
A movement in the New York legal community to increase pro bono representation of indigent immigrants and weed out incompetent or unscrupulous lawyers who prey on them is gathering momentum.
A group of some 40 to 50 lawyers has been meeting regularly to analyze what is widely regarded as a broken system where many indigent immigrants lack the information and advice they need about asylum applications and other immigration procedures.
The meetings, held periodically at the federal courthouse, were initiated by 2nd Circuit Judge Robert Katzmann, who has made addressing the unmet needs of the immigrant poor his signature issue.
"This is a unique effort, and it's the kind of effort that can be replicated in other circuits." Judge Katzmann said in a recent interview. "You have lawyers, as part of their responsibility to the larger community, willing to roll up their sleeves and think conceptually about how to best improve the delivery of services to the poor."
Judge Katzmann used a February 2007 lecture at the New York City Bar to enlist lawyers in that effort. He said that in response to his comments, groups such as the Federal Bar Council and the American Bar Association sharpened their focus on immigration issues, and law schools created immigration clinics.
But to further press the issue, Judge Katzmann, along with Southern District Judge Denny Chin, began convening small groups of lawyers from large and small firms, agencies and universities, at 500 Pearl St. in Manhattan every six weeks to brainstorm on how to increase pro bono representation in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Asylum cases regularly swamp the circuit's docket, and some lawyers practice what has been called "assembly line" immigration law, representing hundreds of clients, sometimes poorly.
The study group's ideas for improving representation and attracting more attorneys to the campaign were explored during a March 2009 forum at Fordham Law School.
Afterward, the study group broke into three subcommittees, one to focus on increasing pro bono activity, a second to look at "improving the delivery of services to the immigrant poor" and a third to address inadequate or unethical representation.
The conclusions of the three subcommittees, plus additional commentary, are presented in the November Fordham Law Review: "The Robert L. Levine Distinguished Lecture, Overcoming Barriers to Immigrant Representation: Exploring Solutions." The materials considered by the study group can be seen at http://law.fordham.edu/fordham-law-review/15905.htm.
INCREASED DEMAND
The pro bono subcommittee's report, "The Representational and Counseling Needs of the Immigrant Poor" found that "demand outstripped capacity at all levels" for services, including initial counseling of immigrants, the delivery of applications for immigrant benefits, the filing of appeals and responding to notices of removal or deportation.
The demand, the subcommittee said, "has achieved near-crisis proportions," and has been exacerbated by increases in workplace raids and other enforcement activities by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The subcommittee concluded that, short of a dramatic rise in funding at all levels or possible reforms such as permitting appointment of counsel paid for by the government, any increase in the recruitment, training and supervision of more lawyers must come from nonprofit legal service organizations, bar groups, local lawyers, law schools and the generosity of public and private contributors.
The report also lists testimonials from major law firms that helped secure relief for immigrants who were appearing pro se and highlights clinical programs at law schools in New York and Connecticut.
The pro bono report was produced by Jennifer L. Colyer, special counsel and pro bono counsel at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson; Robert Juceam, of counsel at Fried Frank; Sarah French Russell, the Liman program director at Yale Law School; and Lewis J. Liman, a partner with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.
The second subcommittee report on improving service delivery, "The Immigration Representation Project: Meeting the Critical Needs of Low-Wage and Indigent New Yorkers Facing Removal," was written by Jojo Annobil, attorney in charge of the immigration law unit at the Legal Aid Society and an adjunct clinical professor at New York University School of Law.
Ms. Annobil said that the dramatic increase in enforcement actions against "asylum seekers, undocumented immigrants and permanent residents with criminal convictions and other immigration violations has resulted in a deepening due process crisis."
A second report from the subcommittee on improving service delivery, "Barriers to Representation for Detained Immigrants Facing Deportation" presents a case study on problems facing immigrants detained at the Varick Street Detention Facility in Manhattan and addresses the problems facing overwhelmed immigration judges who deal with thousands of pro se litigants, and, the "cancer of disreputable elements of the immigration bar."
The author of that report, Peter L. Markowitz, assistant professor of law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, emphasized that one of the problems "at the heart" of the immigration representation crisis is that there is no right to counsel in immigration proceedings.
SCAM ARTISTS
The third subcommittee report, "Regulating Immigration Legal Service Providers, Inadequate Representation and Notario Fraud," addresses the exploitation of immigrants.
"Immigrants are often easy prey for bogus or incompetent attorneys, 'notarios,' scam artists, and other bad actors who take advantage of immigrants' limited knowledge of U.S. law, lack of English fluency, and lack of cultural knowledge to charge exorbitant fees for wild promises of green cards and citizenship that the bad actors cannot, and in some cases never intended to, deliver," wrote Careen Shannon, of counsel at Fragoman, Del Ray, Bernsen & Loewy.
But this exploitation, she said, "is merely a symptom" of the larger problem of inadequate access to competent legal counsel, and Shannon advocates several changes to local, state and federal law and policy to help improve that access. Among the changes recommended is a toughening of the law on the unauthorized practice of law, by, for example, making it a felony.
Also among the study group's efforts has been a focus on training. The group convened a meeting of legal service providers and community organizations at Cardozo in April 2009 to assist in the training and placement of deferred and furloughed law firm associates.
That was followed by a September training session at Cardozo, and in October, the announcement by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of a plan to partner with private law firms to send deferred associates into immigrant communities, as well as a $2 million city grant to support a team of supervising attorneys to train associates and provide technical support.
For Judge Katzmann, who said he has witnessed first-hand poor immigration lawyering in the 2nd Circuit, the idea behind the study group and the subcommittee reports is to raise awareness and build momentum for serious change.
There is much to do, he said, but the involvement of so many lawyers is a promising sign.
"As a judge who feels frustrated by all-too-inadequate counsel, it is encouraging and energizing to see this extraordinary group of lawyers so dedicated to urging the larger legal community to get involved in improving representation for immigrants," Judge Katzmann said.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202437368127&Lawyers_Target_Assembly_Line_Practice_Abuse_of_Poor_Immigrants
Monday, January 4, 2010
Advocate uses texting to warn of crime sweeps
The Associated Press
Jan. 4, 2010
PHOENIX — An advocate for immigrant and civil rights has started using text messages to warn residents about crime sweeps by a high-profile Arizona sheriff.
Lydia Guzman, director of the nonprofit immigrant advocacy group Respect/Respeto, is the trunk of a sophisticated texting tree designed to alert thousands of people within minutes to the details of the sweeps, which critics contend are an excuse to round up illegal immigrants.
Guzman said the messages are part of an effort to protect Latinos and others from becoming victims of racial profiling by sheriff's deputies. Deputies have been accused of stopping Hispanics, including citizens and legal immigrants, for minor traffic violations to check their immigration status.
"Everyone is responsible for sending it out to their own networks, and that is how it spreads like wildfire," Guzman said of the text messages.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has repeatedly said his deputies do not engage in racial profiling, and he publicizes the details of his crime sweeps ahead of time. He said he suspects the real goal of the text messages is to help illegal immigrants avoid arrest.
"This little group of people is (in favor of) open borders, and they don't like what I am doing. That is the bottom line," Arpaio said. "But it isn't interfering with our operations because every time we do it, we still arrest a good number of people, including illegal aliens."
Arpaio has conducted 13 sweeps since March 2008, and deputies have arrested 669 people, about half of whom were held on immigration violations.
The sheriff said his opponents are walking a line between exercising free speech and breaking the law by helping immigration violators avoid detection. He said the texts are possibly even tipping off human-smuggling organizations.
Guzman said she sends the messages to a wide range of groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, Copwatch and various immigrant-rights groups such as Somos America and Puente. She concedes that some who receive the text messages likely use the information to avoid being caught and deported.
Andy Hessick, a constitutional law professor at Arizona State University, said sending warnings to people who might be subject to racial profiling would likely be considered free speech. But sending messages with the specific intent of warning illegal immigrants to help them avoid arrest could be akin to being an accomplice after a crime.
David Hudson Jr., a First Amendment scholar at the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, said the messages are protected free speech because they are merely letting people know what Arpaio is doing, similar to publicizing DUI checkpoints and speed traps or flashing your headlights when police are nearby.
"That is not unlawful," he said. "It's the conveyance of truthful information."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/6797608.html
Jan. 4, 2010
PHOENIX — An advocate for immigrant and civil rights has started using text messages to warn residents about crime sweeps by a high-profile Arizona sheriff.
Lydia Guzman, director of the nonprofit immigrant advocacy group Respect/Respeto, is the trunk of a sophisticated texting tree designed to alert thousands of people within minutes to the details of the sweeps, which critics contend are an excuse to round up illegal immigrants.
Guzman said the messages are part of an effort to protect Latinos and others from becoming victims of racial profiling by sheriff's deputies. Deputies have been accused of stopping Hispanics, including citizens and legal immigrants, for minor traffic violations to check their immigration status.
"Everyone is responsible for sending it out to their own networks, and that is how it spreads like wildfire," Guzman said of the text messages.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has repeatedly said his deputies do not engage in racial profiling, and he publicizes the details of his crime sweeps ahead of time. He said he suspects the real goal of the text messages is to help illegal immigrants avoid arrest.
"This little group of people is (in favor of) open borders, and they don't like what I am doing. That is the bottom line," Arpaio said. "But it isn't interfering with our operations because every time we do it, we still arrest a good number of people, including illegal aliens."
Arpaio has conducted 13 sweeps since March 2008, and deputies have arrested 669 people, about half of whom were held on immigration violations.
The sheriff said his opponents are walking a line between exercising free speech and breaking the law by helping immigration violators avoid detection. He said the texts are possibly even tipping off human-smuggling organizations.
Guzman said she sends the messages to a wide range of groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, Copwatch and various immigrant-rights groups such as Somos America and Puente. She concedes that some who receive the text messages likely use the information to avoid being caught and deported.
Andy Hessick, a constitutional law professor at Arizona State University, said sending warnings to people who might be subject to racial profiling would likely be considered free speech. But sending messages with the specific intent of warning illegal immigrants to help them avoid arrest could be akin to being an accomplice after a crime.
David Hudson Jr., a First Amendment scholar at the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, said the messages are protected free speech because they are merely letting people know what Arpaio is doing, similar to publicizing DUI checkpoints and speed traps or flashing your headlights when police are nearby.
"That is not unlawful," he said. "It's the conveyance of truthful information."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/6797608.html
Sunday, December 20, 2009
American Apparel Sticks Up for Immigrant Workers Swept Up in ICE Raids
By Marjorie Clifton, America's Voice
Alternet
December 17, 2009
As the holidays rapidly approach, our focus shifts to shopping, cooking and decking the halls for the invasion of relatives. But, as we hit the shops, we often forget to take a moment to think about the origins of our chic outfits and abounding feasts (those of us lucky enough to still have these).
Those trendy peacoats and ripe, delicious pears didn’t fall off of a sleigh after all.
In Los Angeles, California, a building full of laborers--many foreign-born-- work tirelessly to fill the shelves of American Apparel with their not-so-basic t-shirts and colorful sweaters, enough to fulfill the Christmas wishes of millions of American teens in various stages of blossoming hipster-dom. But, like so many companies, American Apparel has been stuck in the middle of our immigration crisis this year.
In September and October, 1,600 of the company's workers were forced out of jobs, leaving their families divided by an immigration system that continues to plague mixed-status families across the United States. As a result, some of these families will not spend the holidays together and will be struggling just to put food on the table, much less buying presents for the tots.
But, in the spirit of the season, American Apparel has not forgotten the individuals who contributed so much to their company and have fallen victim to a system that continues to penalize families who want nothing more than to be part of our great nation and it’s economy. On Saturday, December 19th, American Apparel will be hosting a Holiday sale at their factory store with up to 80% off all inventory and all proceeds will benefit organizations who support immigrant families, like those let go from American Apparel.
So, for those who live in L.A., grab your shopping list and hit the stores to support immigrant families in crisis this holiday and a company that is exemplifying both the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of America.
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://www.americasvoiceonline.org//144636/
Alternet
December 17, 2009
As the holidays rapidly approach, our focus shifts to shopping, cooking and decking the halls for the invasion of relatives. But, as we hit the shops, we often forget to take a moment to think about the origins of our chic outfits and abounding feasts (those of us lucky enough to still have these).
Those trendy peacoats and ripe, delicious pears didn’t fall off of a sleigh after all.
In Los Angeles, California, a building full of laborers--many foreign-born-- work tirelessly to fill the shelves of American Apparel with their not-so-basic t-shirts and colorful sweaters, enough to fulfill the Christmas wishes of millions of American teens in various stages of blossoming hipster-dom. But, like so many companies, American Apparel has been stuck in the middle of our immigration crisis this year.
In September and October, 1,600 of the company's workers were forced out of jobs, leaving their families divided by an immigration system that continues to plague mixed-status families across the United States. As a result, some of these families will not spend the holidays together and will be struggling just to put food on the table, much less buying presents for the tots.
But, in the spirit of the season, American Apparel has not forgotten the individuals who contributed so much to their company and have fallen victim to a system that continues to penalize families who want nothing more than to be part of our great nation and it’s economy. On Saturday, December 19th, American Apparel will be hosting a Holiday sale at their factory store with up to 80% off all inventory and all proceeds will benefit organizations who support immigrant families, like those let go from American Apparel.
So, for those who live in L.A., grab your shopping list and hit the stores to support immigrant families in crisis this holiday and a company that is exemplifying both the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of America.
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://www.americasvoiceonline.org//144636/
Monday, September 14, 2009
Immigrant advocates to hold candlelight vigil in Morristown
By Minhaj Hassan
Staff Writer, DailyRecord.com
September 11, 2009
The New Jersey Advocates for Immigrant Detainees will hold a candlelight vigil at St. Margaret’s Church, located at 6 Sussex Ave., at 6 p.m. Tuesday to support the rights of children who may be at risk of being separated from their families because of deportations or detentions.
Morristown is a hotbed for immigration issues, given Mayor Donald Cresitello’s support for a controversial federal program that calls for deputizing police officers to serve as immigration agents. Known as 287(g), the mayor has yet to sign an agreement to put the program in place.
The church where the rally will take place, St. Margaret’s Church, is attended by many Hispanics, some of whom are undocumented.
Officials said the vigil is intended to show support for children who live in households where at least one parent is undocumented or is a legal permanent resident.
Participants will call for an end to raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, detentions and deportations because they cause children to separated from their families. The participants will share stories of being separated from their families and will call for federal immigration legislation that prevents the break-up of families
Diana Mejia, who heads the local immigrant resource center, said the 287(g) program will split families and divide the community.
“The people here in Morristown reject the idea that immigrants are to be treated like criminals,” she said. “People in our community from all walks of life are coming out in droves in support of all families who work and live in our town - with or without papers. We are all members of the same community.”
According to the American Friends Service Committee, an immigrant rights group, New Jersey is detaining some 1,000 immigrants in county jails or the Elizabeth Detention Center.
Morristown is one of 10 municipalities where an immigration reform vigil is taking place. The other towns include Bridgeton, Dumont, Freehold, Hightstown, Jersey City, Highland Park, Keyport, Montclair and Newark.
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20090911/UPDATES01/90911019
Staff Writer, DailyRecord.com
September 11, 2009
The New Jersey Advocates for Immigrant Detainees will hold a candlelight vigil at St. Margaret’s Church, located at 6 Sussex Ave., at 6 p.m. Tuesday to support the rights of children who may be at risk of being separated from their families because of deportations or detentions.
Morristown is a hotbed for immigration issues, given Mayor Donald Cresitello’s support for a controversial federal program that calls for deputizing police officers to serve as immigration agents. Known as 287(g), the mayor has yet to sign an agreement to put the program in place.
The church where the rally will take place, St. Margaret’s Church, is attended by many Hispanics, some of whom are undocumented.
Officials said the vigil is intended to show support for children who live in households where at least one parent is undocumented or is a legal permanent resident.
Participants will call for an end to raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, detentions and deportations because they cause children to separated from their families. The participants will share stories of being separated from their families and will call for federal immigration legislation that prevents the break-up of families
Diana Mejia, who heads the local immigrant resource center, said the 287(g) program will split families and divide the community.
“The people here in Morristown reject the idea that immigrants are to be treated like criminals,” she said. “People in our community from all walks of life are coming out in droves in support of all families who work and live in our town - with or without papers. We are all members of the same community.”
According to the American Friends Service Committee, an immigrant rights group, New Jersey is detaining some 1,000 immigrants in county jails or the Elizabeth Detention Center.
Morristown is one of 10 municipalities where an immigration reform vigil is taking place. The other towns include Bridgeton, Dumont, Freehold, Hightstown, Jersey City, Highland Park, Keyport, Montclair and Newark.
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20090911/UPDATES01/90911019
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Immigrants Don’t Feel Safe in ‘Sanctuary City’
New America Media
News Report
By Elena Shore
April 17, 2009
Editor’s Note: Once a beacon for immigrants, San Francisco is no longer seen as a safe place to live for some families. Residents who spoke at a recent city hearing say they are under siege because of immigration raids on private homes that are tearing families apart.
San Francisco’s history as a sanctuary city for immigrants and pioneer in civil rights is being seriously undermined by recent policy changes by the mayor that are hurting a growing number of families. That was the core message at a hearing jointly held by the city’s immigrant rights and human rights commissions at City Hall on April 13 to examine the impacts of federal immigration enforcement on San Francisco communities.
“The city of San Francisco has led the nation,” said Jamal Dajani, chair of the Immigrant Rights Commission. The question now, he said, is whether it will continue to be a leader on immigrant rights.
City Supervisor David Campos noted that San Francisco had led the fight for equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. “The chair where you’re sitting is where Harvey Milk used to sit,” Campos said to one commissioner, referring to the slain city supervisor and gay rights activist. “We have a history of taking a stand. We are proud that we have been and continue to be a city of refuge.”
In 1989, San Francisco passed the "City of Refuge" Ordinance, which prohibits city employees from assisting federal agents in making immigration arrests unless required by federal or state law or a warrant. It’s been known as a sanctuary city ever since.
But even in this so-called sanctuary city, immigrants say they are living in fear.
A year ago, in what immigrant rights groups saw as a step backward, Mayor Gavin Newsom changed the city’s policy toward undocumented youth. In July 2008, he began allowing undocumented minors with criminal records to be turned over to immigration authorities.
Claiming that the sanctuary city policy was not meant to protect criminals, Newsom acted after a widely publicized shooting, in which an undocumented immigrant shot and killed a father and his two sons. The incident set off a debate over the city’s sanctuary law that protects undocumented immigrants from deportation.
Since then, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has stepped up raids on private homes.
“We’ve all read about ICE raids, but they are worse than what you’ve read,” said UC Davis law professor Bill Ong Hing, at the hearing. “The fabric of the community is ruined, in many of these communities, because everyone is afraid.”
ICE’s fugitive operations program, which conducts raids on private homes in San Francisco, can now more easily go after immigrants with no criminal convictions, according to Aarti Kohli, director of immigration policy at UC Berkeley’s Warren Institute.
Fugitive operations teams were created in 2003 to remove fugitive aliens who posed a threat to the community. Instead, they have focused on arresting undocumented immigrants without criminal convictions, according to a report released by the Migration Policy Institute. The program’s budget went from an initial $9 million to $218 million last year.
In 2006, the annual quota for each seven-person fugitive operations team increased from 125 arrests to 1,000. And ICE removed the requirement that at least 75 percent of those arrested be criminals. As a result, 73 percent of those captured nationally between 2003 and February 2008 had no criminal conviction.
In this sanctuary city, there have been at least eight raids since May 2, 2008, affecting 54 people, not including their families, according to Francisco Ugarte, staff attorney with the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network. “I say ‘at least’,” he said, “because they are conducted in secret.”
San Francisco is now filled with stories of families that have been broken by ICE raids, and some were told at the hearing. Ivan Carreño recounted how his father, Refugio, was arrested at his home on Jan. 27 and deported to Mexico. His mother, Guadalupe Carreño Castro, will be deported in five months, leaving Ivan and two other children, all citizens, on their own.
“Please bring my dad back and don’t take my mom because I really love my parents and stuff,” Carreño said. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do without my dad.”
Ana Ruth Quintanilla says she has fallen into a deep depression since immigration authorities entered her home on Sept. 11, 2008. Quintanilla was one of six people arrested that day; three were deported, and Quintanilla and two others were released with electronic monitoring devices on their ankles. But Quintanilla isn’t sure if she is one of the lucky ones.
“Whenever I go to the grocery store,” Quintanilla said, “I’m afraid ICE is going to come deport me.”
Amos Lim, a community organizer with Out4Immigration who emigrated from Singapore in 1999, was unable to get legal status through his marriage. “I’m an immigrant and this is my husband,” he said, noting that he and his husband Mickey are one of 48,000 same-sex couples registered as domestic partners in California. But because the federal government doesn’t recognize their marriage, his husband did not have the right to sponsor him for a green card.
Things have gotten worse for immigrants in San Francisco in the last decade, says Supervisor David Chu, who practiced immigration law 10 years ago. He attributed it to a shift in the national climate.
“It is not popular to protect immigrants,” said Campos. But, supervisors noted, San Francisco’s history has been one of standing up for the rights of minorities, even when it wasn’t popular.
The Immigrant Rights Commission, which advises the mayor on issues affecting immigrants, plans to use the hearing to push for changes to enforcement practices. “We want to hear from impacted communities in order to recommend more humane federal policies,” said commission chair Dajani, “rather than waste limited resources to create division and a climate of fear.”
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=0d16cc2e654071b66a1133add7b43ae1
News Report
By Elena Shore
April 17, 2009
Editor’s Note: Once a beacon for immigrants, San Francisco is no longer seen as a safe place to live for some families. Residents who spoke at a recent city hearing say they are under siege because of immigration raids on private homes that are tearing families apart.
San Francisco’s history as a sanctuary city for immigrants and pioneer in civil rights is being seriously undermined by recent policy changes by the mayor that are hurting a growing number of families. That was the core message at a hearing jointly held by the city’s immigrant rights and human rights commissions at City Hall on April 13 to examine the impacts of federal immigration enforcement on San Francisco communities.
“The city of San Francisco has led the nation,” said Jamal Dajani, chair of the Immigrant Rights Commission. The question now, he said, is whether it will continue to be a leader on immigrant rights.
City Supervisor David Campos noted that San Francisco had led the fight for equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. “The chair where you’re sitting is where Harvey Milk used to sit,” Campos said to one commissioner, referring to the slain city supervisor and gay rights activist. “We have a history of taking a stand. We are proud that we have been and continue to be a city of refuge.”
In 1989, San Francisco passed the "City of Refuge" Ordinance, which prohibits city employees from assisting federal agents in making immigration arrests unless required by federal or state law or a warrant. It’s been known as a sanctuary city ever since.
But even in this so-called sanctuary city, immigrants say they are living in fear.
A year ago, in what immigrant rights groups saw as a step backward, Mayor Gavin Newsom changed the city’s policy toward undocumented youth. In July 2008, he began allowing undocumented minors with criminal records to be turned over to immigration authorities.
Claiming that the sanctuary city policy was not meant to protect criminals, Newsom acted after a widely publicized shooting, in which an undocumented immigrant shot and killed a father and his two sons. The incident set off a debate over the city’s sanctuary law that protects undocumented immigrants from deportation.
Since then, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has stepped up raids on private homes.
“We’ve all read about ICE raids, but they are worse than what you’ve read,” said UC Davis law professor Bill Ong Hing, at the hearing. “The fabric of the community is ruined, in many of these communities, because everyone is afraid.”
ICE’s fugitive operations program, which conducts raids on private homes in San Francisco, can now more easily go after immigrants with no criminal convictions, according to Aarti Kohli, director of immigration policy at UC Berkeley’s Warren Institute.
Fugitive operations teams were created in 2003 to remove fugitive aliens who posed a threat to the community. Instead, they have focused on arresting undocumented immigrants without criminal convictions, according to a report released by the Migration Policy Institute. The program’s budget went from an initial $9 million to $218 million last year.
In 2006, the annual quota for each seven-person fugitive operations team increased from 125 arrests to 1,000. And ICE removed the requirement that at least 75 percent of those arrested be criminals. As a result, 73 percent of those captured nationally between 2003 and February 2008 had no criminal conviction.
In this sanctuary city, there have been at least eight raids since May 2, 2008, affecting 54 people, not including their families, according to Francisco Ugarte, staff attorney with the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network. “I say ‘at least’,” he said, “because they are conducted in secret.”
San Francisco is now filled with stories of families that have been broken by ICE raids, and some were told at the hearing. Ivan Carreño recounted how his father, Refugio, was arrested at his home on Jan. 27 and deported to Mexico. His mother, Guadalupe Carreño Castro, will be deported in five months, leaving Ivan and two other children, all citizens, on their own.
“Please bring my dad back and don’t take my mom because I really love my parents and stuff,” Carreño said. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do without my dad.”
Ana Ruth Quintanilla says she has fallen into a deep depression since immigration authorities entered her home on Sept. 11, 2008. Quintanilla was one of six people arrested that day; three were deported, and Quintanilla and two others were released with electronic monitoring devices on their ankles. But Quintanilla isn’t sure if she is one of the lucky ones.
“Whenever I go to the grocery store,” Quintanilla said, “I’m afraid ICE is going to come deport me.”
Amos Lim, a community organizer with Out4Immigration who emigrated from Singapore in 1999, was unable to get legal status through his marriage. “I’m an immigrant and this is my husband,” he said, noting that he and his husband Mickey are one of 48,000 same-sex couples registered as domestic partners in California. But because the federal government doesn’t recognize their marriage, his husband did not have the right to sponsor him for a green card.
Things have gotten worse for immigrants in San Francisco in the last decade, says Supervisor David Chu, who practiced immigration law 10 years ago. He attributed it to a shift in the national climate.
“It is not popular to protect immigrants,” said Campos. But, supervisors noted, San Francisco’s history has been one of standing up for the rights of minorities, even when it wasn’t popular.
The Immigrant Rights Commission, which advises the mayor on issues affecting immigrants, plans to use the hearing to push for changes to enforcement practices. “We want to hear from impacted communities in order to recommend more humane federal policies,” said commission chair Dajani, “rather than waste limited resources to create division and a climate of fear.”
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=0d16cc2e654071b66a1133add7b43ae1
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Immigration summit to view raid alternatives
Immigration summit to view raid alternatives
by Daniel Gonzalez
March 27, 2009
The Arizona Republic
A national summit bringing together supporters of immigration reforms aimed at curtailing illegal immigration without the use of raids begins today in Phoenix.
Speakers from more than 25 immigrant advocacy and labor organizations are scheduled to speak at the two-day Reform Not Raids National Summit, organized by Somos America/We Are America Coalition.
Speakers will discuss the impact of immigration raids on businesses, workers and families, the Obama administration's stance on immigration reform, and a federal program that allows local police to double as federal immigration agents, said Hector Yturralde, president of the coalition.
About 150 people have registered for the summit being held at the First Institutional Baptist Church, 1141 E. Jefferson St.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/03/27/20090327forum0327.html
by Daniel Gonzalez
March 27, 2009
The Arizona Republic
A national summit bringing together supporters of immigration reforms aimed at curtailing illegal immigration without the use of raids begins today in Phoenix.
Speakers from more than 25 immigrant advocacy and labor organizations are scheduled to speak at the two-day Reform Not Raids National Summit, organized by Somos America/We Are America Coalition.
Speakers will discuss the impact of immigration raids on businesses, workers and families, the Obama administration's stance on immigration reform, and a federal program that allows local police to double as federal immigration agents, said Hector Yturralde, president of the coalition.
About 150 people have registered for the summit being held at the First Institutional Baptist Church, 1141 E. Jefferson St.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/03/27/20090327forum0327.html
Friday, March 27, 2009
ICE 101: Immigration on the Legal Front Line
ICE 101: Immigration on the Legal Front Line
26 March 2009
By STEVE SALDIVAR
Mission Local
On a recent Thursday evening, a new type of army began assembling in a nondescript Steuart Street conference room. The 24 men and women—most dressed in business attire—were to be part of a quick reaction force.
Their objective: set free the rising numbers of undocumented workers detained in federal immigration raids in neighborhoods like the Mission. These foot soldiers—all Bay Area lawyers by day—were about to learn their rules of engagement.
“You have to get to your client as soon as possible,” said Sin Yen Ling, an attorney who works closely with the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco
“There’s no policy. In many cases the law is still unwritten,” she said. “It’s balls to the wall.”
Ling is part of an effort lead by both by The Equal Justice Society and the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network, advocacy groups aimed at counseling new and settled immigrants, to develop and teach area lawyers to effectively counter the increase in immigration raids by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, known as ICE.
Ling and Francisco Ugarte, a 5-year Mission District resident and immigration attorney for Dolores Street Community Services, have opened this crash course in immigration law to any interested lawyer with hopes of building a new Rapid Response Network- lawyers working pro bono for ICE detainees.
The two-hour boot camp was designed to give attorneys an introduction to navigating what can seem to be a bewildering bureaucracy of the federal immigration and detention system.
These training sessions come at a time when ICE activity is escalating. Last September, Fugitive Operations Teams arrested more than 1157, including 436 in northern California. 20 percent of those in custody had criminal histories and were in the country illegally, according to ICE.
http://missionlocal.org/2009/03/ice-101/
26 March 2009
By STEVE SALDIVAR
Mission Local
On a recent Thursday evening, a new type of army began assembling in a nondescript Steuart Street conference room. The 24 men and women—most dressed in business attire—were to be part of a quick reaction force.
Their objective: set free the rising numbers of undocumented workers detained in federal immigration raids in neighborhoods like the Mission. These foot soldiers—all Bay Area lawyers by day—were about to learn their rules of engagement.
“You have to get to your client as soon as possible,” said Sin Yen Ling, an attorney who works closely with the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco
“There’s no policy. In many cases the law is still unwritten,” she said. “It’s balls to the wall.”
Ling is part of an effort lead by both by The Equal Justice Society and the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network, advocacy groups aimed at counseling new and settled immigrants, to develop and teach area lawyers to effectively counter the increase in immigration raids by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, known as ICE.
Ling and Francisco Ugarte, a 5-year Mission District resident and immigration attorney for Dolores Street Community Services, have opened this crash course in immigration law to any interested lawyer with hopes of building a new Rapid Response Network- lawyers working pro bono for ICE detainees.
The two-hour boot camp was designed to give attorneys an introduction to navigating what can seem to be a bewildering bureaucracy of the federal immigration and detention system.
These training sessions come at a time when ICE activity is escalating. Last September, Fugitive Operations Teams arrested more than 1157, including 436 in northern California. 20 percent of those in custody had criminal histories and were in the country illegally, according to ICE.
http://missionlocal.org/2009/03/ice-101/
Saturday, November 29, 2008
House of shattered dreams: US deports more Mexicans
House of shattered dreams: US deports more Mexicans
29 November 2008
Khaleej Times Online
TIJUANA - The double fence that separates Mexico from the United States near Tijuana is just a few hundred metres away from the Casa del Migrante - the migrant's house.
The white church of Father Luis Kendzierski, which sits on a hill and is visible from the city centre, is always surrounded by scores of people.
The men who approach the church have often lived and worked in the United States for up to 25 years before being picked up by police, taken before US immigration authorities and deported to Tijuana.
In the migrants' home there is accommodation for up to 400 men. They can stay there for 12 days and get food and clothing, as well as being enabled to phone their relatives in Mexico, to organize their forced trip home. And then they are taken home by bus.
"For most of them this is a catastrophe. They realize here that their dream is shattered," Father Kendzierski said. "After many years of work in the United States they return, not richer but older."
The United States is not only sealing its southern border with a fence in order to stem the inflow of Mexicans and Central Americans. They have also tightened legislation in order to send back Latinos who have already reached the United States illegally.
Hundreds of thousands of people are being sent back along the 3,000-kilometre-long border. And given that the "traditional" illegal gateways near cities have become insurmountable, migrants seek out more out-of-the-way places over dangerous, mountainous pathways into the United States.
In the first nine months of this year, some 97,000 Mexicans and Central Americans were arrested and sent back from the 120-kilometre stretch in Cochise County, Arizona alone.
"This is a lot more than last year," said Gustavo Morales Cirion, the Mexican "protection consul" in Douglas, Arizona, who is in charge of migrants. In the whole Tucson sector the figure of returnees was as high as 266,000.
In southern California, in San Diego, there are some 25,000 indigenous people from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Most of them are "indocumentados," without papers. But even though they daily face the threat of deportation, over the years they have let down their guard enough to flaunt the rules and celebrate their cultural festivals out in the open.
They need something festive to make up for their dangerous crossings into the US and their illegal labour in the tomato, avocado and strawberry fields around San Diego. US farm owners, faced with immigration crackdowns, say they don't know who will harvest their crops.
With more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the US today, most of them from Latin America, it's a similar story in US construction sites, hotels and many other vibrant branches of the economy.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayarticleNew.asp?section=todaysfeatures&xfile=data/todaysfeatures/2008/November/todaysfeatures_November30.xml
29 November 2008
Khaleej Times Online
TIJUANA - The double fence that separates Mexico from the United States near Tijuana is just a few hundred metres away from the Casa del Migrante - the migrant's house.
The white church of Father Luis Kendzierski, which sits on a hill and is visible from the city centre, is always surrounded by scores of people.
The men who approach the church have often lived and worked in the United States for up to 25 years before being picked up by police, taken before US immigration authorities and deported to Tijuana.
In the migrants' home there is accommodation for up to 400 men. They can stay there for 12 days and get food and clothing, as well as being enabled to phone their relatives in Mexico, to organize their forced trip home. And then they are taken home by bus.
"For most of them this is a catastrophe. They realize here that their dream is shattered," Father Kendzierski said. "After many years of work in the United States they return, not richer but older."
The United States is not only sealing its southern border with a fence in order to stem the inflow of Mexicans and Central Americans. They have also tightened legislation in order to send back Latinos who have already reached the United States illegally.
Hundreds of thousands of people are being sent back along the 3,000-kilometre-long border. And given that the "traditional" illegal gateways near cities have become insurmountable, migrants seek out more out-of-the-way places over dangerous, mountainous pathways into the United States.
In the first nine months of this year, some 97,000 Mexicans and Central Americans were arrested and sent back from the 120-kilometre stretch in Cochise County, Arizona alone.
"This is a lot more than last year," said Gustavo Morales Cirion, the Mexican "protection consul" in Douglas, Arizona, who is in charge of migrants. In the whole Tucson sector the figure of returnees was as high as 266,000.
In southern California, in San Diego, there are some 25,000 indigenous people from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Most of them are "indocumentados," without papers. But even though they daily face the threat of deportation, over the years they have let down their guard enough to flaunt the rules and celebrate their cultural festivals out in the open.
They need something festive to make up for their dangerous crossings into the US and their illegal labour in the tomato, avocado and strawberry fields around San Diego. US farm owners, faced with immigration crackdowns, say they don't know who will harvest their crops.
With more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the US today, most of them from Latin America, it's a similar story in US construction sites, hotels and many other vibrant branches of the economy.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayarticleNew.asp?section=todaysfeatures&xfile=data/todaysfeatures/2008/November/todaysfeatures_November30.xml
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wayne County activists protest federal raids on migrants
Wayne County activists protest federal raids on migrants
Stephanie Veale
November 6, 2008
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Some community activists in Wayne County believe that raids on local migrant worker families have become incessant and aggressive, but a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement says federal agents are just doing their job.
John and Nancy Ghetner of Sodus, who spoke Wednesday night at the monthly meeting of the Rochester Committee on Latin America, say methods used by immigration agents are dishonest and illegal.
They pointed to a Sept. 28 raid that led to the arrest of 14 people. Two had previous arrest warrants for failing to leave or stay out of the country after deportation, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and 12 were arrested and charged with being in the United States illegally.
John Ghetner criticized the methods he says were used in that raid, as did Sister Luci Romero and Padre Jesus Flores, who work closely with the migrant worker community. They said agents showed up to a mobile home park at 6 a.m. on Sunday dressed in civilian clothing. Sister Luci said the occupants of the homes were too scared not to open the door for the agents, since they were shining flashlights through the windows and pounding on the doors.
"The raids are destroying the community," she said through a translator. "Every (migrant worker) family is missing at least one person. ... They're either back in Mexico, in jail, or somewhere else."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Mike Gilhooly says no houses were broken into and no children were arrested during the Sept. 28 raid. Agents do not need search warrants when they carry out fugitive operations, because they are required to ask permission before entering any building, Gilhooly said.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
Stephanie Veale
November 6, 2008
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Some community activists in Wayne County believe that raids on local migrant worker families have become incessant and aggressive, but a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement says federal agents are just doing their job.
John and Nancy Ghetner of Sodus, who spoke Wednesday night at the monthly meeting of the Rochester Committee on Latin America, say methods used by immigration agents are dishonest and illegal.
They pointed to a Sept. 28 raid that led to the arrest of 14 people. Two had previous arrest warrants for failing to leave or stay out of the country after deportation, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and 12 were arrested and charged with being in the United States illegally.
John Ghetner criticized the methods he says were used in that raid, as did Sister Luci Romero and Padre Jesus Flores, who work closely with the migrant worker community. They said agents showed up to a mobile home park at 6 a.m. on Sunday dressed in civilian clothing. Sister Luci said the occupants of the homes were too scared not to open the door for the agents, since they were shining flashlights through the windows and pounding on the doors.
"The raids are destroying the community," she said through a translator. "Every (migrant worker) family is missing at least one person. ... They're either back in Mexico, in jail, or somewhere else."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Mike Gilhooly says no houses were broken into and no children were arrested during the Sept. 28 raid. Agents do not need search warrants when they carry out fugitive operations, because they are required to ask permission before entering any building, Gilhooly said.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
Sunday, November 2, 2008
San Francisco protests immigrant raids
San Francisco protests immigrant raids
Published Oct 31, 2008
Worker's World
Protesting flagrant violations of immigrant worker rights, several hundred people organized by May 1st San Francisco, Movement for Unconditional Amnesty and Latin American Alliance for Immigrant Rights noisily demonstrated during the evening rush hour at the local office of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement in downtown San Francisco on Oct. 23.
The previous day, about two dozen homes were raided throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Mission, Tenderloin and Bayview districts within the city of San Francisco, in South San Francisco and in the East Bay city of Richmond.
Despite the status of San Francisco as a “sanctuary city” for immigrants without documentation, San Francisco police assisted federal immigration agents in the arrests of several people.
Claiming the raids were necessary to apprehend members of the Latin@ “MS-13” street gang, authorities said they were part of ICE’s “Operation Community Shield.” In Richmond the SWAT team was used.
However, family and friends of the still-detained immigrant workers told the assembled crowd and media that their arrested loved ones were absolutely not involved in gang activity.
Organizers of the emergency protest said this harassment and persecution of undocumented workers will not happen without a response.
Cindy Sheehan, candidate for Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s seat in the U.S. Congress, added her support for the full citizenship of all people working in California.
Already planned is another immigrant rights demonstration in San Francisco on Oct.
27, part of a National Day of Action against racial profiling in Arizona.
http://www.workers.org/2008/us/san_francisco_1106/
Published Oct 31, 2008
Worker's World
Protesting flagrant violations of immigrant worker rights, several hundred people organized by May 1st San Francisco, Movement for Unconditional Amnesty and Latin American Alliance for Immigrant Rights noisily demonstrated during the evening rush hour at the local office of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement in downtown San Francisco on Oct. 23.
The previous day, about two dozen homes were raided throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Mission, Tenderloin and Bayview districts within the city of San Francisco, in South San Francisco and in the East Bay city of Richmond.
Despite the status of San Francisco as a “sanctuary city” for immigrants without documentation, San Francisco police assisted federal immigration agents in the arrests of several people.
Claiming the raids were necessary to apprehend members of the Latin@ “MS-13” street gang, authorities said they were part of ICE’s “Operation Community Shield.” In Richmond the SWAT team was used.
However, family and friends of the still-detained immigrant workers told the assembled crowd and media that their arrested loved ones were absolutely not involved in gang activity.
Organizers of the emergency protest said this harassment and persecution of undocumented workers will not happen without a response.
Cindy Sheehan, candidate for Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s seat in the U.S. Congress, added her support for the full citizenship of all people working in California.
Already planned is another immigrant rights demonstration in San Francisco on Oct.
27, part of a National Day of Action against racial profiling in Arizona.
http://www.workers.org/2008/us/san_francisco_1106/
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tough Times, Deportations: Return of the 1930s
Tough Times, Deportations: Return of the 1930s
La Raza, Commentary, Translated by Elena Shore
Posted: Oct 28, 2008
New American Media
CHICAGO -- It happened during the Great Depression in the 1930s: At least one million people of Mexican ancestry were illegally deported by U.S. authorities who argued that they were a burden on the economy. This chapter is remembered today as among the darkest in the history of civil rights violations in the United States.
History, however, is repeating itself.
Today, as in the Great Depression, the crisis that this country is going through has once again resulted in an intensification of anti-immigrant measures, including strengthening the border wall and the increasingly common practice of raids.
With the exception of immigrant rights groups, no one defends these families. Although both presidential candidates have spoken in favor of immigration reform that offers a path to citizenship for the 12 million undocumented immigrants who live in the country, in practice they have barely touched the issue because it is so unpopular.
According to the Pew Hispanic Center, for the first time in a decade legal immigration has exceeded illegal immigration. The numbers suggest that the time has come to rethink our immigration strategies. We must ask ourselves whether it makes sense to continue building the border wall.
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=37d3d64ed81f4fa4f8d9ef164924e739
La Raza, Commentary, Translated by Elena Shore
Posted: Oct 28, 2008
New American Media
CHICAGO -- It happened during the Great Depression in the 1930s: At least one million people of Mexican ancestry were illegally deported by U.S. authorities who argued that they were a burden on the economy. This chapter is remembered today as among the darkest in the history of civil rights violations in the United States.
History, however, is repeating itself.
Today, as in the Great Depression, the crisis that this country is going through has once again resulted in an intensification of anti-immigrant measures, including strengthening the border wall and the increasingly common practice of raids.
With the exception of immigrant rights groups, no one defends these families. Although both presidential candidates have spoken in favor of immigration reform that offers a path to citizenship for the 12 million undocumented immigrants who live in the country, in practice they have barely touched the issue because it is so unpopular.
According to the Pew Hispanic Center, for the first time in a decade legal immigration has exceeded illegal immigration. The numbers suggest that the time has come to rethink our immigration strategies. We must ask ourselves whether it makes sense to continue building the border wall.
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=37d3d64ed81f4fa4f8d9ef164924e739
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Rhode Island bishop leaps into public arena
Rhode Island bishop leaps into public arena
By RAY HENRY
September 20, 2008
Hattiesburg American
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The motto of Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin comes from a Bible verse reminding believers that God has given them "no cowardly spirit."
And he has not been timid during three years as the most prominent religious leader in Rhode Island, the nation's most heavily Catholic state.
Tobin used his edgy humor last year to publicly skewer former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is Catholic and supports abortion rights. In the diocesan newspaper, during the Republican presidential primary, Tobin addressed the candidate by first name - "Hey Rudy" - and called his stand on abortion pathetic.
Tobin recently took on U.S. immigration authorities and Gov. Don Carcieri, himself a Catholic, by condemning mass immigration raids in the state. An annoyed Carcieri pushed back, saying some priests don't agree with the bishop's stand.
Tobin realizes his social pronouncements are unpopular with many people, perhaps the majority of his diocese, which covers the entire state. He doesn't care.
"When we teach, we don't take a public opinion poll first," Tobin said in a recent interview. "Jesus didn't do surveys."
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080920/LIFESTYLE/809200320
By RAY HENRY
September 20, 2008
Hattiesburg American
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The motto of Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin comes from a Bible verse reminding believers that God has given them "no cowardly spirit."
And he has not been timid during three years as the most prominent religious leader in Rhode Island, the nation's most heavily Catholic state.
Tobin used his edgy humor last year to publicly skewer former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is Catholic and supports abortion rights. In the diocesan newspaper, during the Republican presidential primary, Tobin addressed the candidate by first name - "Hey Rudy" - and called his stand on abortion pathetic.
Tobin recently took on U.S. immigration authorities and Gov. Don Carcieri, himself a Catholic, by condemning mass immigration raids in the state. An annoyed Carcieri pushed back, saying some priests don't agree with the bishop's stand.
Tobin realizes his social pronouncements are unpopular with many people, perhaps the majority of his diocese, which covers the entire state. He doesn't care.
"When we teach, we don't take a public opinion poll first," Tobin said in a recent interview. "Jesus didn't do surveys."
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080920/LIFESTYLE/809200320
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Migration workers making plans to respond to government raids
By Dennis Sadowski
Catholic Explorer
7/30/2008
While it's probably not imminent, Helen Vasquez and the staff at the Guadalupe Center in Huntingburg, Ind., are getting ready for an immigration raid. With 10,000 Hispanic immigrants in the counties of Dubois, Spencer and Daviess in the Diocese of Evansville, Ind., Vasquez expects that the factories and farms where many of them work are in the cross hairs of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Luz Ostrognai of Fort Wayne, Ind., attends the July 28 opening Mass at the 2008 National Migration Conference in Washington. More than 600 people were expected at the conference addressing a number of current topics related to immigration, pastoral care, refugee resettlement and human trafficking. Ostrognai said she works in immigration services for Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
With 10,000 Hispanic immigrants in the counties of Dubois, Spencer and Daviess in the Diocese of Evansville, Ind., Vasquez expects that the factories and farms where many of them work are in the cross hairs of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Vasquez is well aware of the turmoil that families and communities from Massachusetts to California have experienced in the aftermath of recent ICE raids. She's thankful that southwest Indiana has not been targeted yet. But she expects it's only a matter of time before ICE makes its move.
"The potential for a raid is very big," she told Catholic News Service July 29 during the 2008 National Migration Conference in Washington. "So it's very important to us to be prepared."
Vasquez, a retired federal employee who now works as a consultant in family-based immigration, has been among a small contingent of faith-based workers in the area three hours south of Indianapolis who have spent the last year developing a raid-response plan.
Much of their effort has focused on educating members of the largely Salvadoran immigrant population about their constitutional rights, identifying attorneys to handle cases and lining up the necessary paperwork to protect the families and property of undocumented immigrants.
Even though there has been no large-scale raid, anxiety is pervasive among the immigrants Vasquez knows. She said immigrants also have come to distrust local police, who often stop Hispanics to check their immigration status and make arrests for minor traffic violations. In many cases, the arrest is the first step toward deportation, she explained.
Vasquez was on hand for a July 29 workshop led by lawyers from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Migration and Refugee Services and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, known as CLINIC, during the migration conference. She wanted to pick up a few pointers as well as share what she has learned with others from across the U.S. who are just starting to write their own raid-response plans.
"Raids are pervasive," Karen Herrling, a staff attorney with CLINIC in Washington, told workshop participants. "They're happening every day in our communities."
Herrling said more raids can be expected, especially as ICE builds its force of fugitive operations teams pursuing undocumented immigrants from 75 teams to 104 by the end of September.
Noting what Herrling called an "explosion" in workplace raids, Ryan Dwyer, policy adviser for Migration and Refugee Services, said the bishops have questioned the effectiveness of such massive actions.
"The bishops' position at this point on raids is that while enforcement of employment eligibility needs to be done we don't believe raids are the most effective or humane way of going about it," he said.
Dwyer outlined a plan seeking broader collaboration with law enforcement officials to minimize the negative impact on families, particularly children, when enforcing immigration laws. He called for alternatives to detention for immigrants who are no threat to society or are not a flight risk, a slowing of court proceedings to allow immigrants to secure appropriate legal representation, and more adequate clergy access to those immigrants being detained.
The same concerns were spelled out in a March 24 letter to Julie Myers, assistant secretary for ICE in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, from Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration. The letter followed a meeting between Myers and committee members.
Bishop Wester also urged Myers to end the commingling of children from immigrant families whose parents are incarcerated on immigration charges with juveniles being held on criminal charges.
The workshop focused on practical aspects of developing a plan, from basic education to media relations. Herrling outlined CLINIC's model which she offered as the basis for any statewide or regional raid-response plan. The plan includes five response teams: community education and outreach to immigrants, community liaison to key leaders, legal services, social services and media relations.
Susan Schreiber, senior attorney for CLINIC in Chicago and part of a team drafting a raid-response plan in Illinois, reminded the gathering of the importance of involving
people from the grass roots so that the needs of immigrants are fully addressed.
"This is a process that involves partners and a buy-in of the participants," Schreiber said.
Schreiber described an ongoing effort in Illinois that encompasses the identification of volunteers to help the families of someone taken into custody during a raid to lining up safe gathering places for immigrants who may be concerned they will be targeted next for detention.
She also suggested developing a relationship with ICE officials ahead of any potential raid so that if questions arise regarding questionable actions by agents they can be addressed quickly.
"Every community may or may not experience an enforcement action, but every community wants to think about how do I do outreach to my community, how to do safe planning in my community, how to identify places for people to gather in the event of an enforcement action," Schreiber said.
"Keep in mind this is a lot of work," she added. "I think everybody is motivated, ... but it's definitely a big challenge to realize how much work is involved."
http://www.uscatholicmission.org/cnsworkersplan.pdf
Catholic Explorer
7/30/2008
While it's probably not imminent, Helen Vasquez and the staff at the Guadalupe Center in Huntingburg, Ind., are getting ready for an immigration raid. With 10,000 Hispanic immigrants in the counties of Dubois, Spencer and Daviess in the Diocese of Evansville, Ind., Vasquez expects that the factories and farms where many of them work are in the cross hairs of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Luz Ostrognai of Fort Wayne, Ind., attends the July 28 opening Mass at the 2008 National Migration Conference in Washington. More than 600 people were expected at the conference addressing a number of current topics related to immigration, pastoral care, refugee resettlement and human trafficking. Ostrognai said she works in immigration services for Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
With 10,000 Hispanic immigrants in the counties of Dubois, Spencer and Daviess in the Diocese of Evansville, Ind., Vasquez expects that the factories and farms where many of them work are in the cross hairs of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Vasquez is well aware of the turmoil that families and communities from Massachusetts to California have experienced in the aftermath of recent ICE raids. She's thankful that southwest Indiana has not been targeted yet. But she expects it's only a matter of time before ICE makes its move.
"The potential for a raid is very big," she told Catholic News Service July 29 during the 2008 National Migration Conference in Washington. "So it's very important to us to be prepared."
Vasquez, a retired federal employee who now works as a consultant in family-based immigration, has been among a small contingent of faith-based workers in the area three hours south of Indianapolis who have spent the last year developing a raid-response plan.
Much of their effort has focused on educating members of the largely Salvadoran immigrant population about their constitutional rights, identifying attorneys to handle cases and lining up the necessary paperwork to protect the families and property of undocumented immigrants.
Even though there has been no large-scale raid, anxiety is pervasive among the immigrants Vasquez knows. She said immigrants also have come to distrust local police, who often stop Hispanics to check their immigration status and make arrests for minor traffic violations. In many cases, the arrest is the first step toward deportation, she explained.
Vasquez was on hand for a July 29 workshop led by lawyers from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Migration and Refugee Services and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, known as CLINIC, during the migration conference. She wanted to pick up a few pointers as well as share what she has learned with others from across the U.S. who are just starting to write their own raid-response plans.
"Raids are pervasive," Karen Herrling, a staff attorney with CLINIC in Washington, told workshop participants. "They're happening every day in our communities."
Herrling said more raids can be expected, especially as ICE builds its force of fugitive operations teams pursuing undocumented immigrants from 75 teams to 104 by the end of September.
Noting what Herrling called an "explosion" in workplace raids, Ryan Dwyer, policy adviser for Migration and Refugee Services, said the bishops have questioned the effectiveness of such massive actions.
"The bishops' position at this point on raids is that while enforcement of employment eligibility needs to be done we don't believe raids are the most effective or humane way of going about it," he said.
Dwyer outlined a plan seeking broader collaboration with law enforcement officials to minimize the negative impact on families, particularly children, when enforcing immigration laws. He called for alternatives to detention for immigrants who are no threat to society or are not a flight risk, a slowing of court proceedings to allow immigrants to secure appropriate legal representation, and more adequate clergy access to those immigrants being detained.
The same concerns were spelled out in a March 24 letter to Julie Myers, assistant secretary for ICE in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, from Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Migration. The letter followed a meeting between Myers and committee members.
Bishop Wester also urged Myers to end the commingling of children from immigrant families whose parents are incarcerated on immigration charges with juveniles being held on criminal charges.
The workshop focused on practical aspects of developing a plan, from basic education to media relations. Herrling outlined CLINIC's model which she offered as the basis for any statewide or regional raid-response plan. The plan includes five response teams: community education and outreach to immigrants, community liaison to key leaders, legal services, social services and media relations.
Susan Schreiber, senior attorney for CLINIC in Chicago and part of a team drafting a raid-response plan in Illinois, reminded the gathering of the importance of involving
people from the grass roots so that the needs of immigrants are fully addressed.
"This is a process that involves partners and a buy-in of the participants," Schreiber said.
Schreiber described an ongoing effort in Illinois that encompasses the identification of volunteers to help the families of someone taken into custody during a raid to lining up safe gathering places for immigrants who may be concerned they will be targeted next for detention.
She also suggested developing a relationship with ICE officials ahead of any potential raid so that if questions arise regarding questionable actions by agents they can be addressed quickly.
"Every community may or may not experience an enforcement action, but every community wants to think about how do I do outreach to my community, how to do safe planning in my community, how to identify places for people to gather in the event of an enforcement action," Schreiber said.
"Keep in mind this is a lot of work," she added. "I think everybody is motivated, ... but it's definitely a big challenge to realize how much work is involved."
http://www.uscatholicmission.org/cnsworkersplan.pdf
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)