Undocumented

Audit Finds Detainee Abuse At Immigration Prisons

December 16, 2017 Kevin Gosztola, mintpressnews.com Educate! Abuse, Deportations, Homeland Security, Immigration, Undocumented

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 Resist! DACA, DREAM Act, Immigration, Undocumented

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.

Going Beyond Sanctuary: Building Freedom Cities

November 28, 2017 Dante Barry, billmoyers.com Create! Immigration, Racism, Sanctuary Cities, Undocumented

By Dante Barry for Moyers and Company - With the election of Donald Trump as president, there has been an alarming increase in the rate of targeted attacks on the country’s most vulnerable communities including immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQ, black people, women and the poor. Around the country, states are consolidating power, increasing police budgets and ICE enforcement. Meanwhile, the federal government is working on repealing policies that have historically provided mobility and protection for communities of color — the most basic, undermining public education. Million Hoodies Movement for Justice, a human rights membership, chapter-based organization made up of eight local groups — from Bard College to Sarasota, Florida and Riverside, California — was formed in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin on March 19, 2012. While activists rallied in Union Square and others united to demanded justice for Trayvon Martin across the country, we asked one of the most fundamental questions: Who has the right to be safe and to feel safe in this country? What happened in September at Cornell University shows how precarious the situation can be. A black student was assaulted by fellow student, 19-year-old John Greenwood, and called the n-word while punched in the face repeatedly. Following the incident, Black Students United’s co-chair & Million Hoodies Cornell University chapter leader Delmar Fears led hundreds of black students into Willard Straight Hall and occupied the building for several hours after delivering a list of demands to the university’s president.

Police Aid Immigration Officials In Crackdown

November 28, 2017 Mica Rosenberg and Reade Levinson, reuters.com Educate! Deportations, Immigration, Police, Undocumented

By Mica Rosenberg and Reade Levinson for Reuters - BENSALEM, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Dozens of police departments in the United States have been granted new powers, or are seeking them, to check the immigration status of people they arrest, aiding President Donald Trump’s broad crackdown on people living in the country illegally. Since Trump took office in January, 29 departments have joined a special program under which they are deputized to perform some tasks of immigration agents, doubling its size in 10 months, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. And the administration hopes that is just the beginning. Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that the administration has also had contact with scores of additional jurisdictions about the program, and 38 of those told Reuters in interviews they have submitted applications for the program or are potentially interested in joining. The program, known as 287(g), deputizes local officers trained by ICE to use federal records to vet arrestees they suspect of being in the country illegally and then turn them over to federal agents if they are. The Department of Homeland Security has said in the past that police forces taking part in the program have flagged tens of thousands of people for deportation. The broad expansion of the program comes as Trump seeks to accelerate arrests and deportations of people living in the United States illegally. The large number of departments expressing interest in the program has not been previously reported.

Labor Fights End To ‘Temporary Protected Status’ For 59K Haitians

November 25, 2017 Max Zahn, transform-network.net Resist! Class Struggle, Haiti, Immigrants, Labor, Undocumented

By Max Zahn for Waging Nonviolence - Wilna Destin, a UNITE HERE organizer, fled political unrest in Haiti 17 years ago for asylum in the United States. After arriving on her own in Miami, Florida, she worked restaurant and hospitality jobs in Orlando, eventually gaining accreditation as a nursing assistant. She married and had two children. She built a life. When the Trump administration announced on Monday night that it would end temporary protected status, or TPS, for approximately 59,000 Haitians in 2019, Destin learned that she will have to leave in a matter of months. “I was shocked,” she said. “I’m not ready to go back.” Labor advocates across the country aren’t ready to see her and her fellow Hatians go either. In the latest surge of labor opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, union leaders and rank-and-file members rallied on short notice Tuesday, vowing to fight the TPS decision and seek a path to citizenship for the Haitians affected by it. TPS is an immigration status granted to foreign-born residents unable to return home due to dangerous or challenging circumstances in their native countries. In 2010, the Obama administration granted TPS to Haitian-born residents after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti that year. “This is a very, very terrible moment for us in the labor movement,” said Gerard Cadet, vice president of Service Employees International Union 1199, at a press conference in lower Manhattan on Tuesday morning. According to Cadet, who was born in Haiti, over 12 percent of SEIU 1199 members are Haitian immigrants.

Asian-Americans Arrested At Paul Ryan’s Office Pushing For Dream Act

November 20, 2017 Kimberly Yam, huffingtonpost.com Resist! DREAM Act, People of Color, Undocumented

By Kimberly Yam for The Huffington Post - The push for the Dream Act, a longstanding wish of immigration reformers, has grown all the stronger since the Trump administration announced it would terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program back in September. DACA was shielding some 800,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation. Some 21,000 of the 154,000 who were eligible to renew their DACA protections at least one more time were not able to do so by the Oct. 5 deadline. Congress now has until March 2018 to find some other way to protect those young people from being deported. While most Dreamers hail from Latin American countries, there were many Asian-Americans who were eligible for DACA as well. Some 16,000 undocumented Asian youth were shielded by the Obama-era program. And currently, there are about 1.7 million undocumented Asian immigrants in the U.S. The group represents the fastest growing demographic among undocumented immigrants.

Facing Deportation, Lucio Perez Adapting To Life In Amherst Church Sanctuary

November 13, 2017 Diane Lederman, masslive.com Resist! Deportation, Immigration, Sanctuary Cities, Undocumented

By Diane Lederman for Mass Live - Living at First Congregational Church for the last month, he misses his wife and children. But with the help of the greater faith community, he has adapted to a new way to be. The church has given sanctuary from deportation to Perez, a Springfield resident who entered the U.S. illegally from Guatemala in 1999. He moved into the church Oct. 19, the same day he had been ordered to fly back to Guatemala. Leaders of Amherst's First Congregational Church pledged Thursday to provide Springfield immigrant Lucio Perez sanctuary from deportation. Through translator Margaret Sawyer from the Pioneer Valley Workers Center, Perez said, "The first few days were hard but now I'm getting used to it." Perez has a small apartment in the church and a portable shower. He attends Pentecostal services three days a week. He reads the Bible. He lifts weights and rides an exercise bicycle. He has a TV and watches movies or listens to music. And he has been helping the church get ready for its Nov. 18 cranberry fair. Perez has lots of visitors, including Amherst College students and a recent guest lecturer from Guatemala. The church has screened and trained a stable of volunteers to help Perez and keep him company. "There are lots of really nice people here," he said through Sawyer. "They give me courage and strength."

Cities Giving Free Legal Representation To Those Facing Deportation

November 13, 2017 Aimée Lutkin, lifehacker.com Create! Deportations, Immigration, Legal System, Undocumented

By Aimée Lutkin for Life Hacker - To say that the current administration has been pushing extremely harsh immigration policies would be putting it mildly. Trump even went so far as to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was intended to protect undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children. The country has experienced sweeping raids that have imperiled many, and as such, American cities are now working together to protect people from dangerous federal policies. The Vera Institute of Justice has just awarded grant money to support an enterprise called the SAFE Cities Network. Cities in eight states have banded together to build a fund that will pay for legal representation for immigrants facing deportation. All cities in the network had to apply to the Vera Institute with a proposal to prove they are committed to spending public dollars on deportation defense, which will then be matched by the institute. In conjunction with the announcement of the SAFE Cities Network, the Vera Institute released a new study that shows having access to a lawyer makes all the difference when it comes to keeping families together. The study highlights the “common misperception” that only illegal immigrants face deportation proceedings...

Child Detained By Border Agents After Surgery Reunited With Family

November 6, 2017 Staff, aclu.org Resist! Children, Detention Centers, Immigration, Undocumented

By Staff of ACLU - SAN ANTONIO — The federal government has released 10-year-old Rosa Maria Hernandez. The American Civil Liberties Union brought a lawsuit seeking to release her from government custody and reunite her with her family. “Rosa Maria is finally free. We’re thrilled that she can go home to heal surrounded by her family's love and support,” said Michael Tan, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “Despite our relief, Border Patrol’s decision to target a young girl at a children’s hospital remains unconscionable. No child should go through this trauma and we are working to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Rosa Maria, who has cerebral palsy, was en route to gallbladder surgery from her home in Laredo, Texas, to Corpus Christi, when she was stopped at an immigration checkpoint. U.S. Border Patrol followed her to the hospital and camped outside her room until she was discharged. Agents then immediately seized Rosa Maria — who was still recovering in her hospital bed — and jailed her 150 miles away in a facility for children, alone and without her parents. They had no warrant. Rosa Maria had never been separated from her parents, and her medical condition requires constant attention. She has lived in her parents’ care in the United States since she was 3 months old.

‘Safe City’ Raids Teach Us About New Era Of Enforcement

October 9, 2017 Staff, www.mijente.net Strategize! Deportations, ICE, Immigration, Undocumented

By Staff of Mijente - Last week Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released information that they haddetained 450 people across the country in cities and counties that have restrictions on the participation of local police in immigration enforcement, or so-called “Sanctuary” cities. Although this was not the 10K person mass raid that community members were warned about a few weeks ago, there are five elements we thought important to highlight that show us that we are in a new era of enforcement that requires us to track emerging tactics and technologies and have with solid and innovative response. And in an era where any contact with local law enforcement becomes an opportunity to detain, deport, and incarcerate, highlighting the role of local governments in creating real sanctuaries and pushing back against criminalization is key. As we figure out what those responses are, here are five things that we should be paying attention to in responding to Operation ‘Safe City’ and any that follow: This is what mass raids look like. We don’t have to wait for a 10,000 person raid to be announced in order to sound the alarm. This is what a raid and the propaganda that follows it looks like. The numbers and regions will vary, but ICE will always say the people they detained are dangerous and emphasize the stories that reinforce that narrative

Dozens Arrested Blocking ICE To Halt Couple’s Deportation

September 26, 2017 Andrea Germanos, www.commondreams.org Resist! Arrest, Deportations, ICE, Immigration, Protests, Undocumented

By Andrea Germanos for Common Dreams - Dozens of people were arrested Monday morning for blocking the federal building housing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Hartford, Connecticut to denounce the deportation of a couple that's lived in the U.S. for over twenty years. Meriden couple Giaconda and Franklin Ramos, who came to the U.S. from Ecuador in 1993 and have no criminal record, are scheduled to board a flight back to their home country on Sept. 29. Demonstrators sat on the ground blocking the entrances and held banners reading "Keep the Ramos family together" and "ICE stop your ethnic cleansing." They, along with other demonstrators gathered to the side of the entrances, chanted "Not one more." The Record Journal describes the Ramoses as "the most recent family facing separation after policy changes under the Trump administration ceased the automatic renewal of deportation stays resulting in a 60 percent increase in removal orders for residents with work tax identification cards." As local Fox 61 explains, the couple "got their first deportation notice from ICE in 2005. Their case was then closed but come 2012, they were granted a stay of removal. However, it was this past June when their stay was denied." Their two sons, 24-year old Jason and 17-year-old Erick, are U.S. citizens and attend Central Connecticut State University.

After Member Is Deported, Teamsters Declare As A Sanctuary Union

September 23, 2017 Sarah Jaffe, www.inthesetimes.com Resist! Immigration, New York (NY), Undocumented, Unions

By Sarah Jaffe for In These TImes - Welcome to Interviews for Resistance. We’re now several months into the Trump administration, and activists have scored some important victories in those months. Yet there is always more to be done, and for many people, the question of where to focus and how to help remains. In this series, we talk with organizers, agitators and educators about how to resist and build a better world. George Miranda: This is George Miranda. I am president of the 120,000-member Teamsters Joint Council 16. It’s an umbrella group made up of 27 different local unions in New York City. Sarah Jaffe: Let’s start at the beginning. One of your members was deported last week, right? George: Correct. Eber Garcia Vasquez was deported basically because his asylum case was rejected. He has been a Teamster for 26 years and has been working in this country and raising his family on that. He has been reporting in routinely, as he is required to. This time, he went in, and they kept him and scheduled him for deportation. He left behind his family, including three kids. He married a U.S. citizen, and his three kids are U.S. citizens. He was on his way to a green card. Now he is in Guatemala. That is the story. If it happens to him, it could happen to anybody.

Latino Officials Arrested In Dream Act Protest Outside Trump Tower

September 23, 2017 Ilana Novick, www.alternet.org Resist! Congress, DACA, Immigration, Undocumented

By Ilana Novick for AlterNet - While Donald Trump was threatening to destroy North Korea in his first major speech to the United Nations, Reps. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) along with New York City council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito were being arrested outside Trump Tower, according to a statement from immigrant advocacy organization Make the Road New York. The four elected officials were among the large crowd protesting the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and demanding that Congress pass the Dream Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children. A group of 12, including the four officials, blocked traffic in busy midtown Manhattan. Espaillat explained that he participated knowing the risk of arrest. "I do not take civil disobedience lightly," he explained in a statement. "As a member of Congress who was once formerly undocumented, I believe this cause is too monumental to sit idly by." Rep. Gutiérrez, a member of the Judiciary Committee and the chair of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, emphasized the importance of participating in this action as part of a larger grassroots movement.

Demonstrators Shout Down Pelosi At San Francisco DREAM Act Event

September 19, 2017 Staff, www.sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com Resist! Congress, DACA, Immigration, Undocumented

By Staff of CBS - Pelosi unsuccessfully attempted to calm down the chanting students. “You’ve had your say, and it’s beautiful music to our ears,” Pelosi said. But when they interrupted again, she shouted “Just stop it now!” Moments later, she was forced to leave the news conference. Meanwhile in San Francisco federal court, six immigrants brought to the United States as children who became teachers, graduate students and a lawyer sued the Trump administration on over its decision to end a program shielding them from deportation. The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco alleges the move violated the constitutional rights of immigrants who lack legal status and provided information about themselves to the U.S. government so they could participate in the program. “The consequences are potentially catastrophic,” said Jesse Gabriel, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “These people can very powerfully and very clearly communicate the extent to which they organized their lives around this program.” The lawsuit joins others filed over President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has allowed nearly 800,000 immigrants to obtain work permits and deportation protection since 2012.

Dreamers Make Clear: ‘No Deal Without Us!’

September 15, 2017 Jessica Corbett, www.commondreams.org Resist! DACA, Immigration, Undocumented

By Jessica Corbett for Common Dreams - 'We are not your bargaining chip,' say activists following late-night meeting between Democratic leaders and president. As Democratic leaders and President Donald Trump make a public display over what was or wasn't agreed to during a closed-door meeting about the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program Wednesday night, the Dreamers themselves say their demand to lawmakers remains clear: a clean bill enshrining current protections, one that doesn't further sacrifice immigrant communities to harsh policies and more deeply militarized enforcement. Despite a joint statement, released late Wednesday from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), saying they had agreed to "enshrine" DACA protections quickly along with enacting border security measures that excluded the president's long-promised border wall between the United States and Mexico, Trump said in a series of Tweets Thursday morning that "no deal was made" and—contradicting comments from the White House legislative director earlier this week—any DACA agreement must include a game plan for the wall.

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