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Immigration

A Treacherous Crossing

January 31, 2018 Kathy Kelly, Vcnv.org , , ,
On January 23rd an overcrowded smuggling boat capsized off the coast of Aden in Southern Yemen. Smugglers packed 152 passengers from Somalia and Ethiopia in the boat and then, while at sea, reportedly pulled guns on the migrants to extort additional money from them. The boat capsized, according to The Guardian, after the shooting prompted panic. The death toll, currently 30, is expected to rise. Dozens of children were on board. The passengers had already risked the perilous journey from African shores to Yemen, a dangerous crossing that leaves people vulnerable to false promises, predatory captors, arbitrary detention and tortuous human rights violations. Sheer desperation for basic needs has driven hundreds of thousands of African migrants to Yemen.

The Fight For Immigrant’s Rights; DACA And Beyond

January 29, 2018 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Clearing the FOG Radio. , , ,
In 2017, President Trump repealed Obama's executive order for young immigrants, Dreamers, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which allowed them temporary status in the United States. The repeal took effect in September and advocates have been fighting since then to restore DACA and pass the Dream Act, which would create a path to citizenship. We speak with two immigrant's rights advocates, Mani Martinez of Cosecha Movement and Juan Escalante of America's Voice, about the impacts of current immigration policies and what it would take to permanently protect immigrants in the United States.

“Show Me Your Papers!” Roundups, Checkpoints & National ID Card

January 28, 2018 By John W. Whitehead, Counterpunch.org , ,
No one gets spared the anguish, fear and heartache of living under the shadow of an authoritarian police state. That’s the message being broadcast 24/7 to the citizens and residents of the American police state with every new piece of government propaganda, every new law that criminalizes otherwise lawful activity, every new policeman on the beat, every new surveillance camera casting a watchful eye, every sensationalist news story that titillates and distracts, every new prison or detention center built to house troublemakers and other undesirables, every new court ruling that gives government agents a green light to strip and steal and rape and ravage the citizenry, every school that opts to indoctrinate rather than educate, and every new justification for why Americans should comply with the government’s attempts to trample the Constitution underfoot.

Sanctuary Cities Threatened With Federal Subpoenas

January 25, 2018 Kate Irby, Mcclatchydc.com , , ,
Twenty-three cities and states are facing subpoenas if they do not prove they are complying with federal immigration laws regarding sanctuary cities in a “timely manner,” the Justice Department announced Wednesday. Letters were sent to each of the jurisdictions, which include California, New York City and Chicago, on Wednesday, demanding they provide documentation that proves they are not violating federal law. That law – known as Section 1373 – says state and local governments can’t prevent their employees from communicating with Immigration and Naturalization Service officials about the citizenship or immigration status of any individual. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is threatening to pull federal grants from cities not demonstrating compliance, though multiple federal courts have blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from withholding those funds; the issue is still being litigated.

The Consequences Of Chase & Scatter In The Wilderness

January 19, 2018 Staff, Thedisappearereport.org , , ,
The death of José Cesario is not an aberration. Our report finds that the US Border Patrol routinely chases people, causing them to scatter, and directly contributing to their disappearance and/or death. Since the mid-1990s, the US Border Patrol’s policy of Prevention Through Deterrence has intentionally pushed migration into increasingly remote corridors in the Southwest borderlands. This policy has turned the natural landscape into a lethal weapon that injures, kills, and disappears border crossers. Our report shines a light on the deadly practices that characterize enforcement in these hostile wilderness areas. The result: thousands of known deaths of undocumented border crossers, and an even greater number of disappearances—a crisis that has received far less attention.

ICE Using Deportation Threat As ‘Intimidation Tactic’

January 18, 2018 By Nina Shapiro, Seattletimes.com , , , , ,
Some undocumented immigrants keep their heads down, careful not to attract attention that might get them noticed by federal officers. Not Maru Mora-Villalpando. The 47-year-old Mexican native has been an outspoken activist for years and has been upfront about staying in the United States after her tourist visa expired. Now, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has put Mora-Villalpando in deportation proceedings, and she and her supporters have charged the agency with retaliation. She said she has lived in the United States for more than 25 years. Her daughter, Josefina Alanis Mora, a 20-year-old born in the United States and studying at Western Washington University, called the situation a “nightmare.” Speaking at a protest Tuesday in front of ICE offices in downtown Seattle, Mora-Villalpando said she was with her daughter when she got a knock at the door of her Bellingham home Dec. 20.

Lessons From Immigrant Rights Organizer: We Are Not Our ‘Productivity’

January 16, 2018 Alan Pelaez Lopez, Rewire.news , , ,
When I started organizing as part of DREAM Act mobilization in 2010, I had high hopes: I thought the act would be my way out of poverty, fugitivity, and uncertainty. But I never thought: At the expense of whom? Back then, I lived in fear, which prevented me from slowing down and contextualizing systems of oppression like colonialism, anti-blackness, and patriarchy. My fears were about basic needs: living without heat in another Boston winter, fear of not being able to afford the $1.50 bus ticket, and so on. The fight for daily survival was all-consuming, and these fears made me want to trust the DREAM Act’s promises of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who entered the United States before age 16.

ICE Detains Immigrant Rights Leader Ravi Ragbir, Sparks Manhattan Protests

January 13, 2018 By Nicole Brown and Lauren Cook, Amny.com , , ,
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center on the Lower West Side Thursday, chanting “ICE out now” and demanding to know the whereabouts of a prominent immigrant rights leader, just hours after two city councilmen were arrested during a similar protest in Foley Square. City councilmen Ydanis Rodriguez and Jumaane Williams were among 18 people who were arrested during the Foley Square protest sparked by the arrest of Ravi Ragbir, the executive director of the faith-based immigrant rights group New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City. Ragbir was detained when he showed up for a check-in with ICE, organizers of the rally said. Outside of the ICE building at 201 Varick St. Thursday night, former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said she stands with Ragbir as well as her former colleagues who were arrested.

Trump Ends TPS For 200,000 Salvadorans Seeking Sanctuary

January 9, 2018 By Molly Olmstead, Slate.com , ,
The Trump administration announced Monday it was ending a humanitarian program that allowed nearly 200,000 Salvadorans who fled catastrophic conditions in their home country to remain in the country legally. The program, Temporary Protected Status, was first opened up to Salvadorans—the largest group to benefit from the program—in 2001 after two earthquakes devastated the country and killed more than 1,000 people. The program was repeatedly extended through the Bush and Obama administrations as violence, fueled by gangs, made returning to the country alarmingly dangerous. The danger remains, but the Trump administration has argued that the program was never intended to last as long as it has. The administration has already rescinded the protections for the 59,000 Haitians who arrived after the 2010 earthquake and a couple thousand Nicaraguans.

There Is A Massive Movement Of Refugees Globally

December 27, 2017 By Vijay Prashad, Alternet.org , , ,
On November 28, Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, went before the UN Security Council. Grandi is an old hand in the UN. He came to the UN’s Refugees Agency (UNHCR) from his work as the head of the UN’s agency for the relief to the Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). At UNRWA, Grandi was known as a man of great integrity and sensitivity. The seven-decade exile of the Palestinians moved him. He does not see these matters through the eyes merely of a bureaucrat. He sees them as a human being. No wonder then that his statement to the UN Security Council was emotional. He mentioned directly the dangerous harm to refugees in northern Africa, particularly in Libya - a country torn to bits by NATO’s war on that country in 2011.

Climate Change, Migration, And Homeland Security

December 18, 2017 By Kevin Gosztola , ,
Hosts Rania Khalek and Kevin Gosztola interview journalist Todd Miller, author of Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration, and Homeland Security. It was published by City Lights Books in September and was praised by Bill McKibben, Christian Parenti, and Dahr Jamail, who has appeared on this podcast multiple times. Miller traveled to the Philippines, Honduras, Guatemala, the Mexico-Guatemala border, the United States-Mexico border, and Paris. There he observed and met individuals witnessing the escalating impacts of climate change on their communities. He also attended multiple expos or conventions, where people from the security-industrial complex spoke about how they are preparing for climate change—in order to control borders and make profits off future calamities.

DREAMers Arrested, More Protests Planned

December 18, 2017 ,
Congress has passed a short-term spending bill, delaying the final decision about whether or not to include a clean DREAM Act until December 22nd. In response, we will be taking massive nonviolent direct action in Washington DC and in cities nationwide on December 18th-22nd, starting on the 7th anniversary of when the original DREAM Act died in the Senate, to demand permanent protection for all undocumented youth. This is our best shot at passing the Dream act, we can and must win before the end of the year. We have 11 days to make this happen; we cannot do this without you. Join us on December 18th in Washington D.C. or organize a local action to ensure a clean Dream Act granting permanent protection to undocumented youth is included in the year-end spending bill.

Audit Finds Detainee Abuse At Immigration Prisons

December 16, 2017 Kevin Gosztola, mintpressnews.com , , , ,
The inspector general for the Homeland Security Department conducted unannounced inspections of six immigrant detention facilities overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It uncovered glaring examples of detainee abuse and mistreatment at four of the facilities. Inspections were conducted in response to complaints from immigrant rights groups, as well as complaints to the inspector general, and the report was released as President Donald Trump’s administration seems intent to slash the budget for inspector general offices, like the one at DHS. According to the report [PDF], “We identified problems that undermine the protection of detainees’ rights, their humane treatment, and the provision of a safe and healthy environment.”

The Moral Obligation To Provide Sanctuary

December 11, 2017 Roxana Tynan, huffingtonpost.com , , ,
Other unions and employers can take additional steps to provide protections. Companies and nonprofits should have a plan in place for how to respond in the case of a workplace raid. They should develop systems to keep worker documentation offsite. They should also consult with immigration attorneys to offer legal clinics for employees. When it comes to city and statewide policy efforts to advance sanctuary, California has made us proud. SB 54, the California Values Act, sponsored by Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León, passed in Sept. with a 27-11 vote along party lines, and was signed into law Oct. 5 by Gov. Brown. This legislation prevents state and local law enforcement from aiding federal immigration agents unless someone is convicted of a certain category of crimes. Other efforts in California that were recently passed and signed into law include two bills sponsored by Assemblymember David Chiu. AB 291, the Immigrant Tenant Protection Act, and AB 450, the Employment regulation: Immigration Worksite Enforcement Actions Act, mandate immigrant protections in rental housing and at work.

Undocumented Youth & Allies Protest U.S. Capitol For DACA

December 8, 2017 Fight for the Dream, www.PopularResistance.org , ,
By Staff for Fight for the Dream. On December 7, 2017 at about 2:00 pm, immigrant youth and allies gathered in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center to demand permanent protection for undocumented youth. Eight DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients and allies were arrested at the demonstration, which saw activists travel from as far as New York and California to call on Congress to pass a Dream Act as part of the omnibus spending bill. Staging their own mock Congressional hearing, protesters shared “testimonies” of why they were there and led a crowd chanting “No Dream, No Deal” and “Undocumented and Unafraid.” The 8 DACA recipients and allies participating in the civil disobedience then began a sit-in and occupied Emancipation Hall for approximately 20 minutes before being arrested and removed from the Capitol.
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