Agence France-Presse
The Montreal Gazette
October 23, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Parents who entered the United States illegally so fear for their future in Alabama that many are drawing up legal custody papers in case they have to leave their children behind following deportation.
"They could just run us out of the country when we are out in the street with the kids," fretted Ruben, who asked that his family name not be used.
But "now I have found a job, and I have three kids to support. I can't just leave out of fear. We have to tough it out," the Mexican migrant said.
His answer: to spell out legally what happens with his kids if the worst happens to him and his wife, Marina.
A federal appeals court last week blocked provisions in the nation's toughest immigration law that required schools to check whether students were in the United States legally or not, and required immigrants to carry an alien registration card.
But it also backed new police powers for detaining anyone suspected of being illegal immigrants, as well as provisions making it illegal for undocumented immigrants to enter into business transactions.
Since Alabama's state law HB 56 took effect September 28, thousands of families have all but stampeded out of Alabama, social and humanitarian groups here said.
Still others have decided to stay and live in fear. They desperately strain to stay below the radar, for example buying more food less often so that they can leave home less often.
Ruben and Marina are among more than 500 families that sought out legal aid to set up power of attorney paperwork in case they should be whisked out of their children's lives.
U.S.-born children do not have to leave the country but parents being deported may have to decide if their kids should be left alone abroad.
"We like to go shopping together, the five of us. And it is far away. So (fearing that we might be caught and deported), we had a power of attorney drawn up," Marina said, adding hopefully: "God help us!"
Among the legal issues parents are scrambling to try to plan for: who will care for their children in case of an unwanted family separation, and who will care for homes they may have bought, the advocacy group Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama said.
The group said it had about 20 visits a day before the law was passed, and that the volume surged to 70-100 visits a day since it took effect.
Ruben works eight hours a day seven days a week taking care of a golf course for 7.60 dollars an hour. "We can't go back to Mexico because we are very poor there, and in most of the United States things are bad too, so for now, we have to stay here," explains Marina.
Miguel, a construction worker, said he was trying to arrange legally for his sister in a neighboring state to come collect to Alabama to get his children in case he is picked up and deported.
"I am having trouble sleeping, having nightmares about being caught and deported. And the worst thing is imagining what could happen to my kids," he said.
Vanessa Stevens, a spokewoman at HICA, said HB 56 "is making impossible the everyday life of immigrants . . . It is sad to say, but that's the goal of this law, they want immigrant out of here."
"Many people fled for fear and that is hurting our local economy and our reputation as a state in the country and in the world," Stevens said.
Nationwide, there are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, most of them from Latin America and the largest group from neighboring Mexico.
The Pew Hispanic Center, the top U.S. institute for the study of the Hispanic community, estimates that in Alabama there are 130,000 undocumented immigrants.
Though Arizona proposed the first immigration law that criminalized undocumented aliens, its most controversial provisions, such as empowering the police to question a person's immigration status, were blocked by the courts.
But other states have followed suit with their own laws in defiance of Washington.
The legislation has not been without cost. In Georgia and Alabama, a shortage of workers has appeared in key sectors including agriculture as immigrants head for the borders.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/world/Families+fear+will+deport+parents+leave+kids+home+alone/5593724/story.html#ixzz1bdQiq7N2
Showing posts with label Expulsions in AL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Expulsions in AL. Show all posts
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Alabama law affects all aspects of immigrant life
By Perla Trevizo
Times Free Press
Saturday, October 15, 2011
FORT PAYNE, Ala. -- The full provisions of Alabama's new immigration law have yet to be implemented, but already its impact in the immigrant community -- including fear -- is considered much larger than in other states with similar get-tough measures.
"I don't think we saw anywhere near the level of terror from families and children we are seeing [in Alabama]," said Mary Bauer, legal director with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., in a telephone news conference last week.
It's been over two weeks since Alabama's law -- considered by many on both sides of the debate as the toughest in the country -- went into effect. Advocates and immigrants say the result has been a climate of fear that affects everything from families and schools to business and agriculture.
In other states, "we've heard stories of families choosing to leave and rotting crops [because farmers can't find laborers], but not wholesale terror and destruction of families," Bauer said. "The other laws didn't have provisions involving schoolchildren, and the most onerous provisions were [blocked by courts]."
Count Valentina Rodriguez among the immigrants who are afraid for themselves and their children.
The single mother worries about what would happen to her 10-year-old daughter if Rodriguez should be stopped by a police officer and detained for being in the country illegally.
Rodriguez went to Niko Services for Immigrants, a Florida-based nonprofit that has an office in Fort Payne, last week to ask what she could do to sign a power of attorney so friends could keep her daughter if she is deported.
"We don't want people to feel sorry for us, but as parents, these are things you think about," said the Mexico native.
IMPACT
Alabama's immigration law took effect Sept. 29 after a federal judge upheld most of it, including requirements that police officers check the immigration status of people they detain for other reasons and that public schools determine the status of their students and report it to the state.
However, the public school provision temporarily was blocked Friday by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
Nicholas Milano, director of Niko Services, said he's been getting calls day and night from people asking him what they should do.
Bauer said a complaint hotline at Southern Poverty received more than 2,000 calls statewide in less than one week. Calls ranged from sick immigrants who didn't want to drive to a hospital, to parents reporting their Hispanic children being call "wetbacks" and bullied in school, she said.
Fort Payne City Superintendent of Schools Jimmy Cunningham said he's not aware of anything like that happening in his school district. Children are being enrolled in school regardless of legal status, he said, and the documentation is to be used for reporting purposes only.
But parents are afraid, and there have been reports of children taken out of school or not showing up for class. Hispanic students make up about 31 percent of all students in the Fort Payne school district. Since the law went into effect, 34 of 968 Hispanic students withdrew, Cunningham said.
Merchants along the main street of Fort Payne said business has decreased 40 to 50 percent.
"People are not leaving their homes" because they're not here legally and are afraid of being stopped by police, said Silvestre Juan, a naturalized citizen from Guatemala who operates Tienda Latino, where he sells Latin American products and offers money-transfer services.
Jose Barrios, who was visiting Juan, said he has four brothers who left for Tennessee and Kentucky once the law went into effect. But Barrios said his U.S.-born children, ages 8, 13 and 15, and his home keep him in Alabama.
"My wife and I have talked about it, but we just don't know what to do," said the Mexico native who entered illegally in 1992 and has lived in Fort Payne for 14 years.
He signed a power of attorney giving his brother, a legal permanent resident, custody of his children if he and his wife are deported.
A few blocks from Tienda Latino, Juan Vitela talked about the possibility of closing his store, La Unica Beauty Shop, because business is so bad.
Norberta Vitorio, 48, said she lost her job last week after telling her boss she was afraid to drive.
"He asked me if I was in the country illegally, and when I said 'yes,' he told me I couldn't work there anymore because he could get in trouble," she said.
The Mexico native said she plans to go back to her country in January.
The section of the new law that frightens people most is the provision that gives law enforcement the right to check their immigration status if they're detained on other charges or reasons, residents said. Many fear it can lead to racial profiling. It's also the provision that has been blocked by federal judges in other states, including Georgia and Arizona. But it was not part of the Alabama provisions that were blocked by Friday's court ruling.
Vitela said he left the store with another friend, also Hispanic, last week and was followed closely by a police car. As he made a right turn, he was stopped for crossing into the other lane. He and his passenger were asked for their driver's licenses. Each produced his license but noted that passengers had not been asked for ID before.
ENFORCEMENT
The role of local law enforcement in the new law doesn't concern only immigrants. Police and public officials have their own worries.
"We haven't had any training on it whatsoever," said Fort Payne Police Chief Randy Bynum. "It really means a lot of unknowns; we just don't know how we are going to handle it."
So far they haven't made any arrests under the new law, he said.
Ricky Harcrow, DeKalb County Commission president for 16 years, said the county is in limbo on many aspects of the law, including what is required for people renewing their tags. Do they need to verify legal documentation in person or can they still mail it in?
He also worries about how enforcement may affect local governments.
"The cost of [the law enforcement implementation] can get astronomical," he said. "There are so many things involved ... that can be a nightmare."
The law may be hard to implement initially, but something needs to be done about illegal immigration, Harcrow said.
In justifying the bill, its authors cited the economic hardship that illegal immigration has caused the state in health, education and costs for public benefits.
"Illegal immigration is encouraged when public agencies within this state provide public benefits without verifying immigration status," the bill reads.
TWEAK THE LAW?
The Hispanic community in Fort Payne, the largest share of unauthorized immigrants in the country, has grown 86 percent since 2000 -- from 1,574 to 2,930 in 2010 -- attracted primarily by work in the poultry and hosiery industries.
Immigration, legal or illegal, has helped fill jobs that might be hard to fill otherwise, Harcrow said. But he also said immigrants have taken jobs away from people who "probably would have done" the work. Still, he would like to see the law tweaked to include some program or exemption for farmers or poultry growers who need seasonal help, which often is filled by undocumented workers.
"I do think that needs to be looked at on the local level; we know what we need," Harcrow said.
As states get tougher with immigration, farmers have reported crops rotting in the field because they can't get enough workers.
Stephen Talley, from Talley's Farm in Crossville, Ala., said he lost the only Hispanic employee he had on his 12-acre farm, where he grows strawberries and pumpkins. The Mexico native returned to his country with his wife and two U.S.-born children at the end of August, Talley said, when the law originally was scheduled to go into effect. Talley said he wasn't aware of his status.
"Some of the bigger farms are seeing a larger impact, especially apple farmers," he said.
Workers are hard to find, he said.
"During strawberry season I might need five or six people, but from October through April, I don't. I can't supply anyone with s full-time job," he said.
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/oct/15/alabama-law-affects-aspects-of-immigrant-life/?print
Times Free Press
Saturday, October 15, 2011
FORT PAYNE, Ala. -- The full provisions of Alabama's new immigration law have yet to be implemented, but already its impact in the immigrant community -- including fear -- is considered much larger than in other states with similar get-tough measures.
"I don't think we saw anywhere near the level of terror from families and children we are seeing [in Alabama]," said Mary Bauer, legal director with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., in a telephone news conference last week.
It's been over two weeks since Alabama's law -- considered by many on both sides of the debate as the toughest in the country -- went into effect. Advocates and immigrants say the result has been a climate of fear that affects everything from families and schools to business and agriculture.
In other states, "we've heard stories of families choosing to leave and rotting crops [because farmers can't find laborers], but not wholesale terror and destruction of families," Bauer said. "The other laws didn't have provisions involving schoolchildren, and the most onerous provisions were [blocked by courts]."
Count Valentina Rodriguez among the immigrants who are afraid for themselves and their children.
The single mother worries about what would happen to her 10-year-old daughter if Rodriguez should be stopped by a police officer and detained for being in the country illegally.
Rodriguez went to Niko Services for Immigrants, a Florida-based nonprofit that has an office in Fort Payne, last week to ask what she could do to sign a power of attorney so friends could keep her daughter if she is deported.
"We don't want people to feel sorry for us, but as parents, these are things you think about," said the Mexico native.
IMPACT
Alabama's immigration law took effect Sept. 29 after a federal judge upheld most of it, including requirements that police officers check the immigration status of people they detain for other reasons and that public schools determine the status of their students and report it to the state.
However, the public school provision temporarily was blocked Friday by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
Nicholas Milano, director of Niko Services, said he's been getting calls day and night from people asking him what they should do.
Bauer said a complaint hotline at Southern Poverty received more than 2,000 calls statewide in less than one week. Calls ranged from sick immigrants who didn't want to drive to a hospital, to parents reporting their Hispanic children being call "wetbacks" and bullied in school, she said.
Fort Payne City Superintendent of Schools Jimmy Cunningham said he's not aware of anything like that happening in his school district. Children are being enrolled in school regardless of legal status, he said, and the documentation is to be used for reporting purposes only.
But parents are afraid, and there have been reports of children taken out of school or not showing up for class. Hispanic students make up about 31 percent of all students in the Fort Payne school district. Since the law went into effect, 34 of 968 Hispanic students withdrew, Cunningham said.
Merchants along the main street of Fort Payne said business has decreased 40 to 50 percent.
"People are not leaving their homes" because they're not here legally and are afraid of being stopped by police, said Silvestre Juan, a naturalized citizen from Guatemala who operates Tienda Latino, where he sells Latin American products and offers money-transfer services.
Jose Barrios, who was visiting Juan, said he has four brothers who left for Tennessee and Kentucky once the law went into effect. But Barrios said his U.S.-born children, ages 8, 13 and 15, and his home keep him in Alabama.
"My wife and I have talked about it, but we just don't know what to do," said the Mexico native who entered illegally in 1992 and has lived in Fort Payne for 14 years.
He signed a power of attorney giving his brother, a legal permanent resident, custody of his children if he and his wife are deported.
A few blocks from Tienda Latino, Juan Vitela talked about the possibility of closing his store, La Unica Beauty Shop, because business is so bad.
Norberta Vitorio, 48, said she lost her job last week after telling her boss she was afraid to drive.
"He asked me if I was in the country illegally, and when I said 'yes,' he told me I couldn't work there anymore because he could get in trouble," she said.
The Mexico native said she plans to go back to her country in January.
The section of the new law that frightens people most is the provision that gives law enforcement the right to check their immigration status if they're detained on other charges or reasons, residents said. Many fear it can lead to racial profiling. It's also the provision that has been blocked by federal judges in other states, including Georgia and Arizona. But it was not part of the Alabama provisions that were blocked by Friday's court ruling.
Vitela said he left the store with another friend, also Hispanic, last week and was followed closely by a police car. As he made a right turn, he was stopped for crossing into the other lane. He and his passenger were asked for their driver's licenses. Each produced his license but noted that passengers had not been asked for ID before.
ENFORCEMENT
The role of local law enforcement in the new law doesn't concern only immigrants. Police and public officials have their own worries.
"We haven't had any training on it whatsoever," said Fort Payne Police Chief Randy Bynum. "It really means a lot of unknowns; we just don't know how we are going to handle it."
So far they haven't made any arrests under the new law, he said.
Ricky Harcrow, DeKalb County Commission president for 16 years, said the county is in limbo on many aspects of the law, including what is required for people renewing their tags. Do they need to verify legal documentation in person or can they still mail it in?
He also worries about how enforcement may affect local governments.
"The cost of [the law enforcement implementation] can get astronomical," he said. "There are so many things involved ... that can be a nightmare."
The law may be hard to implement initially, but something needs to be done about illegal immigration, Harcrow said.
In justifying the bill, its authors cited the economic hardship that illegal immigration has caused the state in health, education and costs for public benefits.
"Illegal immigration is encouraged when public agencies within this state provide public benefits without verifying immigration status," the bill reads.
TWEAK THE LAW?
The Hispanic community in Fort Payne, the largest share of unauthorized immigrants in the country, has grown 86 percent since 2000 -- from 1,574 to 2,930 in 2010 -- attracted primarily by work in the poultry and hosiery industries.
Immigration, legal or illegal, has helped fill jobs that might be hard to fill otherwise, Harcrow said. But he also said immigrants have taken jobs away from people who "probably would have done" the work. Still, he would like to see the law tweaked to include some program or exemption for farmers or poultry growers who need seasonal help, which often is filled by undocumented workers.
"I do think that needs to be looked at on the local level; we know what we need," Harcrow said.
As states get tougher with immigration, farmers have reported crops rotting in the field because they can't get enough workers.
Stephen Talley, from Talley's Farm in Crossville, Ala., said he lost the only Hispanic employee he had on his 12-acre farm, where he grows strawberries and pumpkins. The Mexico native returned to his country with his wife and two U.S.-born children at the end of August, Talley said, when the law originally was scheduled to go into effect. Talley said he wasn't aware of his status.
"Some of the bigger farms are seeing a larger impact, especially apple farmers," he said.
Workers are hard to find, he said.
"During strawberry season I might need five or six people, but from October through April, I don't. I can't supply anyone with s full-time job," he said.
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/oct/15/alabama-law-affects-aspects-of-immigrant-life/?print
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Immigrants in Ala. fear families being torn apart
By Mark Strassmann
ABC News
October 14, 2011
(CBS News)--Alabama has put itself on the front lines of the battle against illegal immigration with a tough new law. But that law is being challenged as unconstitutional. On Friday, a panel of federal judges in Atlanta weighed in on the most controversial parts of the law, overturning -- at least for now -- two major provisions.
The law requires schools to check the immigration status of students, which the judges have suspended. It also requires legal immigrants to carry papers proving their legal status; the judges suspended that too. But the court let stand a provision that allows the police to detain immigrants they suspect are illegal.
The law took effect six weeks ago and had swift and dramatic effects in Alabama. CBS News correspondent Mark Strassman reports on what this all means.
Liz Betancourt is scared to leave the house in Florence, Alabama.
"I am illegal," she said. "I am not from here."
Her family moved from Mexico to the U.S. when Liz was an infant. She's now 19, but has never applied for citizenship or a green card.
Under the state's new law, if she's picked up by police, she could be deported. And during that process, which can take months, there's no legal guarantee her daughter Idelfy -- born in Alabama and a U.S. citizen -- would stay with her.
But the widespread perception among illegal immigrants is deportation would split families apart -- although deported parents would be allowed to take their children with them.
"We just came here to work," said Betancourt. "Our parents ... they just come here to give their children a good education."
Even a routine trip to the store has many illegal immigrants here worried they'll end up arrested. And in case they're deported, some parents are signing papers, turning over legal care of their kids to someone else.
If Betancourt's deported, her aunt, a U.S. citizen, would care for Idelfy so the baby could stay here.
Fear of deportation is spreading through families living here illegally. In Albertville, Alabama's public schools, 81 of 1,100 Hispanic students have dropped out in the last two weeks.
Alabama employers like farmer Keith Smith are also feeling the effects. Smith needs 20 workers to harvest his sweet potatoes. Most mornings, he's lucky now if only nine show up.
"They're putting me out of business, this law," said Smith, "And if things don't change, if they don't come up with something better, people like me -- we're a has-been."
On the contrary, Scott Beason, the Republican state senator who sponsored the state's new law, argued: "They're displacing Alabama workers. And our goal is to have many Alabamians as possible working."
He points to Alabama's unemployment rate -- just under 10 percent -- and the estimated $290 million Alabama spends educating and caring for illegal immigrants.
"Has the impact been what you expected?" Strassman asked.
"I think so," answered Beason. "All the focus is on the illegal alien and the challenge they may have for being here illegally. People always forget the person who were unable to start a business or who lost their business because the competitor down the road hired an illegal alien."
The Friday decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals here in Atlanta is only temporary. Its final decision could be months away. And Liz Betancourt -- the woman interviewed in our story -- was fired by her cleaning company right after she spoke with CBS News.
CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley asked Strassman what happens next in the court fight.
"Friday's decision conflicts with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision about a similar provision in Arizona's law -- the provision that focuses on whether a local or state police agency can check the immigration status of someone simply because they're suspected of a crime. Because those decisions conflict, legal scholars now say it is much more likely this issue will reach the U.S. Supreme Court."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/14/eveningnews/main20120777.shtml
ABC News
October 14, 2011
(CBS News)--Alabama has put itself on the front lines of the battle against illegal immigration with a tough new law. But that law is being challenged as unconstitutional. On Friday, a panel of federal judges in Atlanta weighed in on the most controversial parts of the law, overturning -- at least for now -- two major provisions.
The law requires schools to check the immigration status of students, which the judges have suspended. It also requires legal immigrants to carry papers proving their legal status; the judges suspended that too. But the court let stand a provision that allows the police to detain immigrants they suspect are illegal.
The law took effect six weeks ago and had swift and dramatic effects in Alabama. CBS News correspondent Mark Strassman reports on what this all means.
Liz Betancourt is scared to leave the house in Florence, Alabama.
"I am illegal," she said. "I am not from here."
Her family moved from Mexico to the U.S. when Liz was an infant. She's now 19, but has never applied for citizenship or a green card.
Under the state's new law, if she's picked up by police, she could be deported. And during that process, which can take months, there's no legal guarantee her daughter Idelfy -- born in Alabama and a U.S. citizen -- would stay with her.
But the widespread perception among illegal immigrants is deportation would split families apart -- although deported parents would be allowed to take their children with them.
"We just came here to work," said Betancourt. "Our parents ... they just come here to give their children a good education."
Even a routine trip to the store has many illegal immigrants here worried they'll end up arrested. And in case they're deported, some parents are signing papers, turning over legal care of their kids to someone else.
If Betancourt's deported, her aunt, a U.S. citizen, would care for Idelfy so the baby could stay here.
Fear of deportation is spreading through families living here illegally. In Albertville, Alabama's public schools, 81 of 1,100 Hispanic students have dropped out in the last two weeks.
Alabama employers like farmer Keith Smith are also feeling the effects. Smith needs 20 workers to harvest his sweet potatoes. Most mornings, he's lucky now if only nine show up.
"They're putting me out of business, this law," said Smith, "And if things don't change, if they don't come up with something better, people like me -- we're a has-been."
On the contrary, Scott Beason, the Republican state senator who sponsored the state's new law, argued: "They're displacing Alabama workers. And our goal is to have many Alabamians as possible working."
He points to Alabama's unemployment rate -- just under 10 percent -- and the estimated $290 million Alabama spends educating and caring for illegal immigrants.
"Has the impact been what you expected?" Strassman asked.
"I think so," answered Beason. "All the focus is on the illegal alien and the challenge they may have for being here illegally. People always forget the person who were unable to start a business or who lost their business because the competitor down the road hired an illegal alien."
The Friday decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals here in Atlanta is only temporary. Its final decision could be months away. And Liz Betancourt -- the woman interviewed in our story -- was fired by her cleaning company right after she spoke with CBS News.
CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley asked Strassman what happens next in the court fight.
"Friday's decision conflicts with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision about a similar provision in Arizona's law -- the provision that focuses on whether a local or state police agency can check the immigration status of someone simply because they're suspected of a crime. Because those decisions conflict, legal scholars now say it is much more likely this issue will reach the U.S. Supreme Court."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/14/eveningnews/main20120777.shtml
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Indocumentados en Alabama hacen planes en caso de ser deportados
Alistan documentos legales para encargar hijos y pertenencias en Estados Unidos
Univision.com
Fecha: 10/10/2011
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Los miedos causados tras la puesta en vigor de la ley migratoria HB 56 de Alabama van en aumento. Una semana después, inmigrantes indocumentados, aterrados ante la amenaza de ser arrestados y deportados, acuden a notarios para dejar a sus hijos bajo la custodia de familiares o amigos, y también sus propiedades y pertenencias.
Entre otras medidas, la severa ley migratoria, considerada la más dura en su tipo en Estados Unidos, permite a las policías locales (estatal y municipal) arrestar a inmigrantes si sus agentes tienen duda razonable que se trata de indocumentados, y a las escuelas a verificar el estado migratorio de alumnos nuevos y padres de familia.
The Associated Press escribió que el paso que están dando los indocumentados “habría parecido inconcebible hace muy poco”, y agregó que además de familiares y amigos, en algunos casos los indocumentados incluyen a compañeros de trabajo en los poderes notariales.
Un reciente informe del Consejo Nacional de La Raza (NCLR) y de The Urban Institute, reveló que en Estados Unidos viven entre 3 millones y 5 millones de niños estadounidenses hijos de inmigrantes indocumentados. En el estado de Alabama viven entre 25 mil y 50 mil extranjeros sin la debida autorización para permanecer en Estados Unidos.
Datos del Instituto Pew Hispanic señalan que la mayoría de los indocumentados son de origen Latinoamericano, principalmente de México.
Clima de incertidumbre
La semana pasada, decenas de residentes indocumentados firmaron documentos en los que autorizan a otros a cuidar de sus hijos de ser necesario, confirmaron grupos de asistencia a inmigrantes.
Una pareja que vive sin papeles en el cercano condado de Shelby logró la promesa del jefe del hombre, de enviar a sus tres hijos -todos ciudadanos estadounidenses- a México si encarcelan a la pareja, reportó The Associated Press.
Uno de los autores de la polémica ley HB 56 de Alabama, el senador estatal republicano Scott Beason, dijo que dichas preocupaciones no se plantearon cuando los legisladores consideraban la medida.
Beason se pregunta si las versiones no están destinadas a suscitar simpatía por los inmigrantes que están aquí sin un permiso de permanencia legal por parte de las autoridades federales.
No tienen a nadie
María Patiño y su esposo son originarios de México, viven en Alabama y no tienen parientes cercanos que los asista en caso de ser detenidos y deportados.
Dijo que cada vez que acude a dejar a sus hijos a la escuela “reza” para que no tenga un encuentro con la policía, la detengan, la arresten y la entreguen al servicio de inmigración, que la pondrá en proceso de deportación.
Un encuentro casual con la Policía podría terminar con sus dos hijos de escuela primaria sin padres, si ella y su marido son repatriados a México o los menores son colocados en adopción, escribió AP.
La pareja está indocumentada en Estados Unidos y no tienen amigos ni familiares como para cuidar de los hijos.
"Cada vez que salgo no sé si volveré", dijo Patiño, de 27 años, llorando. "No puedo dejar de trabajar. Mis hijas necesitan zapatos y otras cosas".
Número de ayuda
Ante tal panorama de incertidumbre o preocupaciones, defensores de los inmigrantes reiteraron la existencia de una línea telefónica gratuita: 1(800) 982- 1620, para reportar los actos de abusos a los que está dando origen la ley migratoria HB 56.
"Nosotros hemos recibido más llamadas de las que hemos podido manejar", dijo una activista del Centro Nacional para Leyes de Inmigración. "Lo importante a saber es que si deja su número de teléfono y un recado, nosotros le devolveremos la llamada".
La información que reciba el Centro durante los próximos días a través de la línea telefónica gratuita 1(800) 982-1620) será vital, ya que la jueza que dio luz verde a la Ley HB 56 de Alabama, dejó la puerta abierta para que defensores de los inmigrantes regresen a su Corte y le soliciten nuevamente que detenga esta ley, si es que llegan a demostrar que ésta está causando daño a la población del estado de Alabama.
"Esto, claro, va a acosar y a espantar a mucha gente de que no matriculen a sus hijos, que no los sigan llevando (a la escuela). Así es que esto es lo más peligroso (de la ley migratoria HB 56), en mi opinión", apuntó.
Otras preocupaciones
La HB 56 convirtió en delito criminal si un indocumentado solicita una licencia de manejar o comercial en Alabama, y permite que se anulen contratos hechos con indocumentados.
A finales de septiembre una corte de distrito decretó medidas cautelares para garantizar que no se pueda impedir a indocumentados pedir trabajo, que no se pueda criminalizar a quienes asistan a indocumentados, que los negocios pueden seguir deduciendo salarios de indocumentados de impuestos estatales, y que los trabajadores no pueden demandar a empleadores que contraten a indocumentados.
Empresarios agrícolas de Alabama temen que la HB 56 los impacte negativamente al provocar una grave escasez de campesinos que impida el levantamiento de las cosechas.
© 2011 Univision Communications Inc.
Univision.com
Fecha: 10/10/2011
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Los miedos causados tras la puesta en vigor de la ley migratoria HB 56 de Alabama van en aumento. Una semana después, inmigrantes indocumentados, aterrados ante la amenaza de ser arrestados y deportados, acuden a notarios para dejar a sus hijos bajo la custodia de familiares o amigos, y también sus propiedades y pertenencias.
Entre otras medidas, la severa ley migratoria, considerada la más dura en su tipo en Estados Unidos, permite a las policías locales (estatal y municipal) arrestar a inmigrantes si sus agentes tienen duda razonable que se trata de indocumentados, y a las escuelas a verificar el estado migratorio de alumnos nuevos y padres de familia.
The Associated Press escribió que el paso que están dando los indocumentados “habría parecido inconcebible hace muy poco”, y agregó que además de familiares y amigos, en algunos casos los indocumentados incluyen a compañeros de trabajo en los poderes notariales.
Un reciente informe del Consejo Nacional de La Raza (NCLR) y de The Urban Institute, reveló que en Estados Unidos viven entre 3 millones y 5 millones de niños estadounidenses hijos de inmigrantes indocumentados. En el estado de Alabama viven entre 25 mil y 50 mil extranjeros sin la debida autorización para permanecer en Estados Unidos.
Datos del Instituto Pew Hispanic señalan que la mayoría de los indocumentados son de origen Latinoamericano, principalmente de México.
Clima de incertidumbre
La semana pasada, decenas de residentes indocumentados firmaron documentos en los que autorizan a otros a cuidar de sus hijos de ser necesario, confirmaron grupos de asistencia a inmigrantes.
Una pareja que vive sin papeles en el cercano condado de Shelby logró la promesa del jefe del hombre, de enviar a sus tres hijos -todos ciudadanos estadounidenses- a México si encarcelan a la pareja, reportó The Associated Press.
Uno de los autores de la polémica ley HB 56 de Alabama, el senador estatal republicano Scott Beason, dijo que dichas preocupaciones no se plantearon cuando los legisladores consideraban la medida.
Beason se pregunta si las versiones no están destinadas a suscitar simpatía por los inmigrantes que están aquí sin un permiso de permanencia legal por parte de las autoridades federales.
No tienen a nadie
María Patiño y su esposo son originarios de México, viven en Alabama y no tienen parientes cercanos que los asista en caso de ser detenidos y deportados.
Dijo que cada vez que acude a dejar a sus hijos a la escuela “reza” para que no tenga un encuentro con la policía, la detengan, la arresten y la entreguen al servicio de inmigración, que la pondrá en proceso de deportación.
Un encuentro casual con la Policía podría terminar con sus dos hijos de escuela primaria sin padres, si ella y su marido son repatriados a México o los menores son colocados en adopción, escribió AP.
La pareja está indocumentada en Estados Unidos y no tienen amigos ni familiares como para cuidar de los hijos.
"Cada vez que salgo no sé si volveré", dijo Patiño, de 27 años, llorando. "No puedo dejar de trabajar. Mis hijas necesitan zapatos y otras cosas".
Número de ayuda
Ante tal panorama de incertidumbre o preocupaciones, defensores de los inmigrantes reiteraron la existencia de una línea telefónica gratuita: 1(800) 982- 1620, para reportar los actos de abusos a los que está dando origen la ley migratoria HB 56.
"Nosotros hemos recibido más llamadas de las que hemos podido manejar", dijo una activista del Centro Nacional para Leyes de Inmigración. "Lo importante a saber es que si deja su número de teléfono y un recado, nosotros le devolveremos la llamada".
La información que reciba el Centro durante los próximos días a través de la línea telefónica gratuita 1(800) 982-1620) será vital, ya que la jueza que dio luz verde a la Ley HB 56 de Alabama, dejó la puerta abierta para que defensores de los inmigrantes regresen a su Corte y le soliciten nuevamente que detenga esta ley, si es que llegan a demostrar que ésta está causando daño a la población del estado de Alabama.
"Esto, claro, va a acosar y a espantar a mucha gente de que no matriculen a sus hijos, que no los sigan llevando (a la escuela). Así es que esto es lo más peligroso (de la ley migratoria HB 56), en mi opinión", apuntó.
Otras preocupaciones
La HB 56 convirtió en delito criminal si un indocumentado solicita una licencia de manejar o comercial en Alabama, y permite que se anulen contratos hechos con indocumentados.
A finales de septiembre una corte de distrito decretó medidas cautelares para garantizar que no se pueda impedir a indocumentados pedir trabajo, que no se pueda criminalizar a quienes asistan a indocumentados, que los negocios pueden seguir deduciendo salarios de indocumentados de impuestos estatales, y que los trabajadores no pueden demandar a empleadores que contraten a indocumentados.
Empresarios agrícolas de Alabama temen que la HB 56 los impacte negativamente al provocar una grave escasez de campesinos que impida el levantamiento de las cosechas.
© 2011 Univision Communications Inc.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
After Ruling, Hispanics Flee an Alabama Town
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
The New York Times
October 3, 2011
ALBERTVILLE, Ala. — The vanishing began Wednesday night, the most frightened families packing up their cars as soon as they heard the news.
They left behind mobile homes, sold fully furnished for a thousand dollars or even less. Or they just closed up and, in a gesture of optimism, left the keys with a neighbor. Dogs were fed one last time; if no home could be found, they were simply unleashed.
Two, 5, 10 years of living here, and then gone in a matter of days, to Tennessee, Illinois, Oregon, Florida, Arkansas, Mexico — who knows? Anywhere but Alabama.
The exodus of Hispanic immigrants began just hours after a federal judge in Birmingham upheld most provisions of the state’s far-reaching immigration enforcement law.
The judge, Sharon Lovelace Blackburn, upheld the parts of the law allowing state and local police to ask for immigration papers during routine traffic stops, rendering most contracts with illegal immigrants unenforceable and requiring schools to ascertain the immigration status of children at registration time.
When Judge Blackburn was finished, Alabama was left with what the governor called “the strongest immigration law in this country.” It went into effect immediately, though her ruling is being appealed by the Justice Department and a coalition of civil rights groups.
In the days since, school superintendents have reassured parents — one even did so on television in Spanish — that nothing had changed for children who were already enrolled. Wary police departments around the state said they were, for now, awaiting instructions on how to carry out the law.
For many immigrants, however, waiting seemed just too dangerous. By Monday afternoon, 123 students had withdrawn from the schools in this small town in the northern hills, leaving behind teary and confused classmates. Scores more were absent. Statewide, 1,988 Hispanic students were absent on Friday, about 5 percent of the entire Hispanic population of the school system.
John Weathers, an Albertville businessman who rents and has sold houses to many Hispanic residents, said his occupancy had suddenly dropped by a quarter and might drop further, depending on what happens in the next week. Two people who had paid off their mortgages called him asking if they could sell back their homes, Mr. Weathers said.
Grocery stores and restaurants were noticeably less busy, which in some cases may be just as well, because some employees stopped showing up. In certain neighborhoods the streets are uncommonly quiet, like the aftermath of some sort of rapture.
Drawn by work in the numerous poultry processing plants, Hispanic immigrants have been coming to Albertville for years, long enough ago that some of the older ones gained amnesty under the immigration law of 1986. But the influx picked up over the last decade, and the signs on Main Street are now mostly bilingual, when they include English at all.
What the new immigration law means on a large scale will become clearest in a place like Albertville, whether it will deliver jobs to citizens and protect taxpayers as promised or whether it will spell economic disaster as opponents fear.
Critics of the law, particularly farmers, contractors and home builders, say the measure has already been devastating, leaving rotting crops in fields and critical shortages of labor. They say that even fully documented Hispanic workers are leaving, an assessment that seems to be borne out in interviews here. The legal status of family members is often mixed — children are often American-born citizens — but the decision whether to stay rests on the weakest link.
Backers of the law acknowledge that it might be disruptive in the short term, but say it will prove effective over time.
“It’s going to take some time for the local labor pool to develop again,” said State Senator Arthur Orr, Republican of Decatur, “but outside labor shouldn’t come in and just beat them every time on cost and put them out of business.”
Mr. Orr said there were already signs that the law was working, pointing out that the work-release center in Decatur, about 50 miles to the northwest, was not so long ago unable to find jobs for inmates with poultry processors or home manufacturers. Since the law was enacted in June, he said, the center has been placing more and more inmates in these jobs, now more than 150 a day.
On Monday morning, one of the poultry processing plants in Albertville had a job fair, attracting an enormous crowd, a mix of Hispanic, black and white job-seekers, lining up outside the plant and down the street.
“This needed to be done years ago,” Shannon Lolling, 36, who has been unemployed for over a year, said of the law.
Mr. Lolling’s problem seemed to be with the system that had brought the illegal-immigrant workers here, not with the workers themselves.
“That’s why our jobs went south to Mexico,” he said. “They pay them less wages and pocket the money, keep us from having jobs.”
Not far from the plant, in the Hispanic neighborhoods, it is hard to differentiate the silence of the workday, the silence of abandonment or the silence of paralyzing fear.
Many Hispanics have chosen to stay for now, saying, with little apparent conviction, that the law will surely be blocked by the president, the judge, “the government.” Until then, they are not leaving their homes unless absolutely necessary. They send others to buy their groceries and tell their children to quit the soccer team and to come home right after school. Rumors of raids and roadblocks are rampant, and though the new law has nothing to say about such things, distrust is primed by anecdotes, like one told by a local Hispanic pastor who said he was pulled over outside Birmingham on Wednesday, within hours of the ruling. His friend who was driving — and who is in the United States illegally — is now in jail on an unrelated misdemeanor charge, the pastor said, adding that while he was let go, a policeman told him he was no longer welcome in Alabama.
“I am afraid to drive to church.,” a 54-year-old poultry plant worker named Candelaria said, adding, “The lady that gives me a ride to work said she is leaving. She said she felt like a prisoner.”
All summer long, Allen Stoner, a lawyer in Decatur, has been helping his Hispanic clients fill out forms appointing friends or family members as guardians of their children, who are in many cases American-born citizens. This way, the children would not be transferred to social services if the parents were arrested and deported.
Much of this was done by the time the judge’s ruling came down, though last week Mr. Stoner’s clients began to contact him immediately to ask what they should be doing. Monday was quiet.
“We had a lot of phone calls Thursday and Friday,” Mr. Stoner said, “but it has plummeted.”
He did not know for sure, but he figured his clients were gone.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/us/after-ruling-hispanics-flee-an-alabama-town.html?_r=2&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
The New York Times
October 3, 2011
ALBERTVILLE, Ala. — The vanishing began Wednesday night, the most frightened families packing up their cars as soon as they heard the news.
They left behind mobile homes, sold fully furnished for a thousand dollars or even less. Or they just closed up and, in a gesture of optimism, left the keys with a neighbor. Dogs were fed one last time; if no home could be found, they were simply unleashed.
Two, 5, 10 years of living here, and then gone in a matter of days, to Tennessee, Illinois, Oregon, Florida, Arkansas, Mexico — who knows? Anywhere but Alabama.
The exodus of Hispanic immigrants began just hours after a federal judge in Birmingham upheld most provisions of the state’s far-reaching immigration enforcement law.
The judge, Sharon Lovelace Blackburn, upheld the parts of the law allowing state and local police to ask for immigration papers during routine traffic stops, rendering most contracts with illegal immigrants unenforceable and requiring schools to ascertain the immigration status of children at registration time.
When Judge Blackburn was finished, Alabama was left with what the governor called “the strongest immigration law in this country.” It went into effect immediately, though her ruling is being appealed by the Justice Department and a coalition of civil rights groups.
In the days since, school superintendents have reassured parents — one even did so on television in Spanish — that nothing had changed for children who were already enrolled. Wary police departments around the state said they were, for now, awaiting instructions on how to carry out the law.
For many immigrants, however, waiting seemed just too dangerous. By Monday afternoon, 123 students had withdrawn from the schools in this small town in the northern hills, leaving behind teary and confused classmates. Scores more were absent. Statewide, 1,988 Hispanic students were absent on Friday, about 5 percent of the entire Hispanic population of the school system.
John Weathers, an Albertville businessman who rents and has sold houses to many Hispanic residents, said his occupancy had suddenly dropped by a quarter and might drop further, depending on what happens in the next week. Two people who had paid off their mortgages called him asking if they could sell back their homes, Mr. Weathers said.
Grocery stores and restaurants were noticeably less busy, which in some cases may be just as well, because some employees stopped showing up. In certain neighborhoods the streets are uncommonly quiet, like the aftermath of some sort of rapture.
Drawn by work in the numerous poultry processing plants, Hispanic immigrants have been coming to Albertville for years, long enough ago that some of the older ones gained amnesty under the immigration law of 1986. But the influx picked up over the last decade, and the signs on Main Street are now mostly bilingual, when they include English at all.
What the new immigration law means on a large scale will become clearest in a place like Albertville, whether it will deliver jobs to citizens and protect taxpayers as promised or whether it will spell economic disaster as opponents fear.
Critics of the law, particularly farmers, contractors and home builders, say the measure has already been devastating, leaving rotting crops in fields and critical shortages of labor. They say that even fully documented Hispanic workers are leaving, an assessment that seems to be borne out in interviews here. The legal status of family members is often mixed — children are often American-born citizens — but the decision whether to stay rests on the weakest link.
Backers of the law acknowledge that it might be disruptive in the short term, but say it will prove effective over time.
“It’s going to take some time for the local labor pool to develop again,” said State Senator Arthur Orr, Republican of Decatur, “but outside labor shouldn’t come in and just beat them every time on cost and put them out of business.”
Mr. Orr said there were already signs that the law was working, pointing out that the work-release center in Decatur, about 50 miles to the northwest, was not so long ago unable to find jobs for inmates with poultry processors or home manufacturers. Since the law was enacted in June, he said, the center has been placing more and more inmates in these jobs, now more than 150 a day.
On Monday morning, one of the poultry processing plants in Albertville had a job fair, attracting an enormous crowd, a mix of Hispanic, black and white job-seekers, lining up outside the plant and down the street.
“This needed to be done years ago,” Shannon Lolling, 36, who has been unemployed for over a year, said of the law.
Mr. Lolling’s problem seemed to be with the system that had brought the illegal-immigrant workers here, not with the workers themselves.
“That’s why our jobs went south to Mexico,” he said. “They pay them less wages and pocket the money, keep us from having jobs.”
Not far from the plant, in the Hispanic neighborhoods, it is hard to differentiate the silence of the workday, the silence of abandonment or the silence of paralyzing fear.
Many Hispanics have chosen to stay for now, saying, with little apparent conviction, that the law will surely be blocked by the president, the judge, “the government.” Until then, they are not leaving their homes unless absolutely necessary. They send others to buy their groceries and tell their children to quit the soccer team and to come home right after school. Rumors of raids and roadblocks are rampant, and though the new law has nothing to say about such things, distrust is primed by anecdotes, like one told by a local Hispanic pastor who said he was pulled over outside Birmingham on Wednesday, within hours of the ruling. His friend who was driving — and who is in the United States illegally — is now in jail on an unrelated misdemeanor charge, the pastor said, adding that while he was let go, a policeman told him he was no longer welcome in Alabama.
“I am afraid to drive to church.,” a 54-year-old poultry plant worker named Candelaria said, adding, “The lady that gives me a ride to work said she is leaving. She said she felt like a prisoner.”
All summer long, Allen Stoner, a lawyer in Decatur, has been helping his Hispanic clients fill out forms appointing friends or family members as guardians of their children, who are in many cases American-born citizens. This way, the children would not be transferred to social services if the parents were arrested and deported.
Much of this was done by the time the judge’s ruling came down, though last week Mr. Stoner’s clients began to contact him immediately to ask what they should be doing. Monday was quiet.
“We had a lot of phone calls Thursday and Friday,” Mr. Stoner said, “but it has plummeted.”
He did not know for sure, but he figured his clients were gone.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/us/after-ruling-hispanics-flee-an-alabama-town.html?_r=2&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
Monday, June 13, 2011
Guía mexicana para evitar deportaciones; Una nueva ley en Alabama motiva la respuesta consular
Yucatan.com.mx
11 Junio 2011
MÉXICO (Notimex).- El Consulado de México en Atlanta divulgó la "Guía sobre la Ley HB56", de Alabama, Estados Unidos, donde detalla los alcances de esa legislación promulgada la víspera y los riesgos que corren los mexicanos indocumentados con su aplicación.
En el documento se señala que a partir del 1 de septiembre los indocumentados que sean arrestados en Alabama no podrán salir bajo fianza, por lo que recomienda evitar cualquier discusión con policías y exigir en todo momento ayuda consular.
El Consulado anticipó que publicará boletines y cápsulas informativas en español sobre el tema en diversos medios.
En tanto, anticipó que de acuerdo con esa ley cualquier policía podrá preguntar la situación migratoria de la persona y, en su caso, arrestarla.
Quien conduzca sin licencia también podrá ser arrestado, al igual que aquellos que se suban a un automóvil en la calle para ser contratados para algún trabajo.
La ley convierte en delito transportar, hospedar u ocultar a indocumentados, incluso si son familiares, así como fomentar que personas sin documentos se trasladen a Alabama.
Será delito permanecer en el Estado sin documentos, rentar una vivienda a un indocumentado, usar documentos falsos para conseguir trabajo o solicitar un servicio público y hasta pedir trabajo sin documentos.
De hecho, cualquier contrato que se firme con personas indocumentadas se considerará sin validez oficial.
En ese sentido, la guía señala que pueden ser arrestados los mexicanos que no tengan identificación oficial legal de Alabama, licencia de conducir, pasaporte mexicano vigente con visa y sello de entrada u otra identificación oficial vigente de Estados Unidos.
Ante la eventualidad de ser detenido sin ninguno de esos documentos el ciudadano mexicano debe decir su nombre, dirección y fecha de nacimiento y pedir hablar con un abogado o con el Consulado, pero no debe contestar preguntas. Se subraya la recomendación de seguir las indicaciones y conducirse con respeto hacia los oficiales en caso de ser detenido.
En contexto:
Ley HB56 | Medidas
Detalles de la nueva guía de un Consulado mexicano ante la entrada en vigor de la Ley HB56:
"No discuta"
"Lo peor que puede hacer es discutir con un oficial, intentar huir, decir mentiras o resistirse al arresto", subraya con énfasis la guía consular.
Cumplimiento de la ley
"Aunque las leyes prohiben ser detenido por el color de piel, la nacionalidad o idioma es necesario respetar en todo momento leyes y reglamentos para no tener problemas con la policía", añade.
Ayuda consular
"En caso de ser detenido es necesario exigir el apoyo consular y en ningún caso firmar ningún documento que no entienda".
http://www.yucatan.com.mx/20110611/nota-13/134456-guia-mexicana-para-evitar-deportaciones.htm
11 Junio 2011
MÉXICO (Notimex).- El Consulado de México en Atlanta divulgó la "Guía sobre la Ley HB56", de Alabama, Estados Unidos, donde detalla los alcances de esa legislación promulgada la víspera y los riesgos que corren los mexicanos indocumentados con su aplicación.
En el documento se señala que a partir del 1 de septiembre los indocumentados que sean arrestados en Alabama no podrán salir bajo fianza, por lo que recomienda evitar cualquier discusión con policías y exigir en todo momento ayuda consular.
El Consulado anticipó que publicará boletines y cápsulas informativas en español sobre el tema en diversos medios.
En tanto, anticipó que de acuerdo con esa ley cualquier policía podrá preguntar la situación migratoria de la persona y, en su caso, arrestarla.
Quien conduzca sin licencia también podrá ser arrestado, al igual que aquellos que se suban a un automóvil en la calle para ser contratados para algún trabajo.
La ley convierte en delito transportar, hospedar u ocultar a indocumentados, incluso si son familiares, así como fomentar que personas sin documentos se trasladen a Alabama.
Será delito permanecer en el Estado sin documentos, rentar una vivienda a un indocumentado, usar documentos falsos para conseguir trabajo o solicitar un servicio público y hasta pedir trabajo sin documentos.
De hecho, cualquier contrato que se firme con personas indocumentadas se considerará sin validez oficial.
En ese sentido, la guía señala que pueden ser arrestados los mexicanos que no tengan identificación oficial legal de Alabama, licencia de conducir, pasaporte mexicano vigente con visa y sello de entrada u otra identificación oficial vigente de Estados Unidos.
Ante la eventualidad de ser detenido sin ninguno de esos documentos el ciudadano mexicano debe decir su nombre, dirección y fecha de nacimiento y pedir hablar con un abogado o con el Consulado, pero no debe contestar preguntas. Se subraya la recomendación de seguir las indicaciones y conducirse con respeto hacia los oficiales en caso de ser detenido.
En contexto:
Ley HB56 | Medidas
Detalles de la nueva guía de un Consulado mexicano ante la entrada en vigor de la Ley HB56:
"No discuta"
"Lo peor que puede hacer es discutir con un oficial, intentar huir, decir mentiras o resistirse al arresto", subraya con énfasis la guía consular.
Cumplimiento de la ley
"Aunque las leyes prohiben ser detenido por el color de piel, la nacionalidad o idioma es necesario respetar en todo momento leyes y reglamentos para no tener problemas con la policía", añade.
Ayuda consular
"En caso de ser detenido es necesario exigir el apoyo consular y en ningún caso firmar ningún documento que no entienda".
http://www.yucatan.com.mx/20110611/nota-13/134456-guia-mexicana-para-evitar-deportaciones.htm
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