Undocumented

Trump Pandering To Racists With Repeal Of DACA

September 12, 2017 Abraham, www.blackalliance.org Resist! DACA, Immigration, Racism, Trump Administration, Undocumented

By Abraham for BAJI - NEW YORK, NY – This morning Attorney General Sessions announced that the Trump Administration will rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allowed 800,000 immigrant youth to live, work and remain in the United States without the constant fear of deportation. Established in 2012, the program has transformed the lives of young people, including thousands of Black immigrants, bringing stability, along with economic and educational opportunities to marginalized families and communities. “BAJI is appalled by Trump’s decision to rescind DACA. By canceling the program President Trump is yet again pandering to white supremacists over immigrant, Black, and poor communities, as well as millions of organizations, businesses, and allies that support DACA recipients. It is now up to Congress to come up with a long term solution to our broken immigration system that protects human rights and enables immigrant families to live and thrive in the U.S.,” says Opal Tometi, BAJI’s Executive Director and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Global Network. “BAJI stands with the millions of young undocumented immigrants whose lives are on the line, including those protected under DACA. Until dignity, justice, and human rights protections can be afforded all oppressed communities in the U.S....

Slave Labor Widespread At ICE Detention Centers, Lawyers Say

September 12, 2017 Mia Steinle, www.pogo.org Educate! Detention Centers, Exploitation, Immigration, Labor, Prison Labor, Undocumented

By Mia Steinle for POGO - There are nearly 200 federal detention centers across the country. Here, people suspected of violating U.S. immigration laws wait for court hearings to find out if they’ll stay in the United States or be deported. While they wait, many detainees work as part of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “voluntary work program.” They clean, they cook, they do laundry, and they garden—some advocates say they keep the facilities running. For their labor, the detainees are supposed to be paid at least $1 per day, or just under $0.13 per hour for an 8-hour work day. This arrangement has the blessings of both ICE and Congress, the latter of which set the rate over a half a century ago and hasn’t changed it since. However, a growing body of legal experts says paying detainees $1 per day not only violates state minimum wage laws, but also violates the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in all instances except as punishment for people convicted of crimes. Experts argue that, because the majority of detainees have not been convicted of crimes, they should be fairly compensated for their labor. From California to Colorado to Massachusetts, detainees have recently taken legal action against the for-profit companies and local governments that operate the majority of ICE detention centers.

Poignant New Artwork Shows Little Boy Peering Over U.S.-Mexico Border

September 9, 2017 Lee Moran, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Art, Border, Immigration, Undocumented

By Lee Moran for The Huffington Post - “Is this boy looking over the border worried that if things get crazier on the other side, people will massively cross the border in his direction?” A street artist from France has created a thought-provoking piece of art on the U.S.-Mexico border. JR shared a snap of his new work in progress ― an enormous portrait of a young boy playing on the Mexican side of the border ― on Twitter on Wednesday. The striking image has since gone viral on Reddit.

Raising Up Black Immigrants In The DACA Debate

September 9, 2017 Sarah Anderson, www.inequality.org Resist! Black People, DACA, Immigration, Undocumented

By Sarah Anderson for Inequality - By canceling a program that grants work permits and deportation protection for undocumented immigrants, the Trump administration has upended the lives of roughly 800,000 young people who came to the United States as children. Mexicans make up the vast majority of these Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program recipients. But thousands of young black immigrants also stand to lose their protected status — and the challenges they face are often overlooked in the immigration debate. The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) has been working since 2006 to shine a spotlight on the black undocumented population and to fight the structural racism that sucks them into the criminal justice system in disproportionate numbers. According to BAJI, black immigrants make up just 5 percent of the overall immigrant population, but 21 percent of those who are deported as a result of criminal contact. This level of racial targeting gives young black undocumented immigrants particular cause for concern about their insecure status. BAJI estimates that 12,000 DACA recipients are black. The three top countries of origin: Jamaica (5,302 approved applicants), Trinidad and Tobago (4,077 approved), and Nigeria (2,095 approved).

Ending DACA Would Be Cruel And Senseless

September 7, 2017 Jesse Mechanic, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! DACA, Immigration, Trump Administration, Undocumented

By Jesse Mechanic for The Huffington Post - President Trump has unofficially set forth plans to dismantle the Consideration for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). According to reports, he plans to let congress hash out the details over the next six months. There is a fair amount of bipartisan support for DACA and numerous legal challenges are locked and loaded, so fully erasing the law will not be easy. This article is based solely on the intention of destroying DACA and what that intention represents. Ending the program would be heartless and myopic. There seems to be a lot of misinformation swirling about on DACA, so let’s first go over the basics: DACA was implemented through executive order by the Obama administration in 2012. The law grants deferred action (protection from deportation) for people who were brought to the United States illegally as children. Being granted deferred action does not provide legal status or future amnesty. DACA recipients (DREAMers) must apply for renewal of deferred action status every two years.

Ending DACA Lowers Wages And Taxes, Degrades Labor Standards

September 7, 2017 Daniel Costa, www.epi.org Educate! DACA, Immigration, Labor, Undocumented

By Daniel Costa for Economic Policy Institute - Tuesday morning Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration will “wind down,” and in six months, end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a Department of Homeland Security initiative put in place in 2012 that temporarily deferred the deportation of approximately 800,000 young immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. DACA has been an unqualified success and has benefited not only the DACA recipients themselves, but also the country and the economy. The young immigrants who met the requirements and passed the necessary background checks for DACA were promised by the federal government that they would not be removed from the United States for two years at a time, as long as they kept applying to renew, kept a clean criminal record, and were either enrolled in school or graduated, or serving in the military or honorably discharged. Because of these requirements, we know that nearly all of the recipients are deeply integrated into their local American communities and labor markets. Along with protection from removal, DACA recipients are entitled to receive an employment authorization document (EAD), allowing them to be employed in the United States legally, along with certain other benefits

“Treat Us Like Humans”: Emergency Protests Erupt Against DACA Repeal

September 7, 2017 Sarah Jaffe, www.truth-out.org Resist! DACA, Immigration, Protests, Undocumented

By Sarah Jaffe for Truthout - On Tuesday, September 5, the Trump administration announced a "phase-out" of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for immigrant youth. This decision leaves hundreds of thousands of young people vulnerable to deportation -- young people who voluntarily gave the government personal information about themselves in order to gain protections in the first place. Around the country, emergency protest rallies were held. In Kingston, New York, outside of the office of newly elected Republican Congressman John Faso, I spoke with two immigrant organizers about the decision to revoke DACA and the struggle for justice for immigrants. First, I spoke with Alan, an organizer with Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson (Nadie Se Va Del Mid-Hudson). Sarah Jaffe: So, we're outside of Congressman John Faso's office at a rally for DACA right now, Tuesday, September 5. Tell us your story. Alan: I came to this country very young, over two decades ago, my family brought us here. I started kindergarten all the way to high school, everything was working fine, I didn't worry about my status or anything like that, I was young. It wasn't until I was 16, I wanted to get a license just like everyone else -- that's when it hit me. I didn't have papers to show. Then I let that slide. I was like, OK, I can live without that.

Mobilizations Begin To Organize To Protect DACA Immigrants

September 6, 2017 Staff, www.weareheretostay.org Resist! DACA, Immigration, Protests, Undocumented

By Staff of Here To Stay - The DACA program protects 800,000 immigrant youth from deportation and gives them freedom to work and live life. They are in school, and working hard. They are our friends, our classmates, our co-workers and neighbors. It may be yourself. Trump just gave a deadline of March 5th, 2018 for Congress to take action and pass legislation. The administration has ended issuing new DACA applications as of today and will keep handing renewals for people who’s DACA expires before March 5th, 2018. That puts young people and their families in danger – and Donald Trump has the power to keep the program and continue issuing DACA to applicants – we must continue to fight. Republicans in Congress need to decide which side of history they are going to be on. Are they going to protect the 800,000 youth or side with the white supremacists inside and outside the Trump administration? We all have a role to play now to fight back against Trump and this white supremacist agenda to take safety and jobs away from young people of color. We will fight the Trump mass deportation agenda. Immigrant families are beautiful and strong, this is their home and they are #HereToStay!

“Dreamers” Take A Stand For DACA In 24/7 Vigil Outside White House

September 6, 2017 John Zangas, www.dcmediagroup.us Resist! DACA, Immigration, Undocumented, Vigil, White House

By John Zangas for DC Media Group - Washington, DC — Supporters of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are conducting a 24-hour vigil outside the White House despite administration plans to scrap the program within 6 months. In spite of President Trump’s intent to make good on a campaign promise to end DACA, a White House memo leaked on Sunday preserved hopes that political pressure can save the program. An Obama Executive Order of 2012 gave legal status to nearly 800,000 children of undocumented immigrant families. Those children, known as “Dreamers,” their advocates and supporters have been circulating a petition and maintaining a vigil outside the White House since August 20 to keep them from being deported. Advocates say that Dreamers should maintain their legal status because they had little say in their parents’ decision to bring them to the U.S. and that canceling the program is like pulling the rug out from under a government promise. It would force participants to live in the shadows, take away their jobs and put them in jeopardy of deportation, the advocates say. Many Dreamers are legally permitted to work with some serving in the U.S. armed forces, while others attend school.

Conditions Worsen For ICE Detainees Following Hunger Strike

September 6, 2017 Robin Urevich, www.capitalandmain.com Resist! Detention Centers, Hunger Strikes, ICE, Immigration, Undocumented

By Robin Urevich for Capital and Main - Conditions at Adelanto Detention Center, a privately operated prison currently used to detain undocumented immigrants, are said to be grim. Nine detainees, all of whom came to the U.S. seeking asylum, were so fed up that they staged a hunger strike. Guards responded with violence and pepper spray. Adelanto, Calif. – Nine Central American immigrants sat at a table in their dormitory at the troubled Adelanto Detention Center and asked an officer to deliver a list of their demands to higher-ups. The officer at the for-profit facility in the high desert, north of San Bernardino, refused and ordered them to return to their bunks for an inmate count. Instead, the men linked arms and refused to budge. “We wanted to be heard,” said Josue Lemus Campos, 24, from El Salvador. He said he and his fellow protesters had been quiet and peaceful during their June protest. But when the men refused to move, the officer immediately called for reinforcements who rushed in armed with pepper spray. They began shouting orders in English, a language the men don’t fully understand. Minutes later, the guards doused the nine with pepper spray, aiming at their faces.

The Arpaio Pardon: An Injury We Cannot Ignore

September 4, 2017 Jim Gonzalez, www.campaign.r20.constantcontact.com Educate! Immigration, Racism, Undocumented

By Jim Gonzalez for The NiLP Report - In the wake of the former Sheriff Joe Arpaio pardon, most media and political commentators have mainly discussed President Trump's disrespect of the conviction rendered by a federal court. Alarmingly, there is very little focus on how Trump's pardon endorses egregious human rights abuses against Latinos committed by Arpaio for decades, which included illegal detentions, humiliation, torture, and wrongful death. The Maricopa County Medical examiner found 157 deaths (including 39 suicides) between 1996 to 2015 in Arpaio's lockups and "Tent City" concentration camps -- a suicide rate of 24 percent. A 2015 investigation by the Phoenix New Times found that "more than 13,000 claims were filed against the Sheriff's Office over mistreatment, abuse, and ultimately death." Trump's pardon encourages in chilling terms a playbook of oppression against Latinos. It also serves as a harbinger of what Trump intends for the young DREAMers who have received coverage under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA).The Trump/Arpaio practice of branding and abusing Latinos as criminals sends a very clear message to hate groups that it is open season against Latinos in America.

ICE Plans To Start Destroying Records Detailing Immigrant Sexual Abuse And Deaths In Its Custody

September 1, 2017 Kali Holloway, www.truthdig.com Educate! Deportations, ICE, Immigration, Undocumented

By Kali Holloway for AlterNet - The openly anti-immigrant agenda of the Trump administration has led to a drastic increase in deportations of undocumented immigrants, and a looming threat of removal for Dreamers who have spent most of their lives in the U.S. Those policies promise only to further tax the country's immigration detention centers, where watchdog groups and detainees frequently report unsafe conditions. The dangers these detainees face are often revealed through careful reviews of records that document violations of immigrants' human and civil rights. Now the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, better known as ICE, wants permission to destroy those records, which detail immigrant abuses ranging from sexual assaults to wrongful deaths. A press release from the ACLU indicates that ICE has submitted the new request on recordkeeping to the National Archives and Record Administration, which oversees the handling of federal records. Under the new terms, ICE would be allowed to destroy 11 types of records, "including those related to sexual assaults, solitary confinement and even deaths of people in its custody," as well as "regular detention monitoring reports, logs about the people detained in ICE facilities and communications from the public reporting detention abuses."

Could Dozens Of Shuttered Catholic Churches Become Immigrant Sanctuaries?

August 24, 2017 Emma Whitford, www.gothamist.com Resist! Catholic Church, Immigration, Sanctuary Cities, Undocumented

By Emma Whitford for Gothamist - Roman Catholic activists are calling on the Archdiocese of New York to take a stronger stance against deportation. While dozens of churches, mosques and synagogues across the city are opening their doors to immigrants, providing everything from know-your-rights training to physical sanctuary from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, they say Cardinal Timothy Dolan isn't doing his share. Some are calling on Dolan to explicitly denounce deportation, while others see an opportunity in the dozens of empty churches across Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx: buildings that have stood empty since August 2015, when the Archdiocese consolidated parishes as part of a sweeping plan to save on maintenance costs, particularly in parishes with dwindling attendance. Roughly 40 NYC churches have been merged into a neighboring parish since the consolidations, according to the archdiocese; 24 of them are closed for worship. The archdiocese, which also includes counties north of the city, shrank by 20 percent in one year. Felix Cepeda, an advocate for immigration rights and church reform, told Gothamist that the recent uptick in immigration enforcement across the country has inspired him.

100-Plus Immigrants Detained In Tacoma On Hunger Strike

August 18, 2017 Kenny Ocker, www.thenewstribune.com Resist! Detention Centers, Hunger Strikes, Immigration, Undocumented

By Kenny Ocker for The News Tribune - More than 100 immigrants detained at the Northwest Detention Center on Tacoma’s Tideflats started a hunger strike Monday to protest conditions at the facility, according to an immigrant rights group. The three-day strike, which started at noon, is intended to get concessions in terms of food, care and legal access, according to a letter from detainees released by the NWDC Resistance. The immigrant rights group held a protest outside the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement site, during which the letter was read aloud. About 30 people attended. The detention center holds more than 1,500 immigrants whose deportation proceedings are ongoing. Geo Group, a private for-profit prison corporation, runs the facility. “It is very likely that ICE and Geo will try to retaliate by switching them (the striking detainees) to other pods or sending them to solitary,” NWDC Resistance leader Maru Mora Villalpando told the crowd. ICE regional spokeswoman Rose Richeson said the office will not retaliate against participants in the “purported ‘hunger strike.’” “ICE fully respects the rights of all people to voice their opinion without interference and does not retaliate in any way against hunger strikers,” Richeson said.

#OutragedAndUnafraid: Undocumented Youth Confront Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Agenda

July 27, 2017 Jake Johnson, www.commondreams.org Resist! Immigration, Trump Administration, Undocumented

By Jake Johnson for Common Dreams - "For the last 20 years, Republicans and Democrats have failed to deliver on promise after promise to the immigrant community. We will not put our trust in them. We are putting our faith in our people." As the Trump administration continues to take aim at sanctuary cities and carry out a "draconian" immigration agenda that has led to a large spike in detentions, undocumented youth immigrants and activists took to the streets of Austin, Texas, on Wednesday to both demand that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) be kept in place and to "pledge their renewed commitment to winning permanent protection, dignity, and respect for all eleven million undocumented immigrants." In a statement, Cosecha organizers said that Wednesday's actions were meant to call attention to the fact that Texas "leads the country in mass deportations and recently passed SB4, the most anti-immigrant statewide law."Wednesday marks the first time undocumented youth have carried out a day of civil disobedience of this magnitude since President Donald Trump took office, according to Movimiento Cosecha, the group that organized the effort.

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