Author Archives: Zack L.

The number of immigration bills and resolutions appearing in state legislatures across the country declined steeply in the first quarter of this year, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

More than 1,500 bills were introduced the first quarter of 2011. This year only 865 have been introduced in 45 state legislatures and the District of Columbia during the same period, said the report released Tuesday.

The number of laws enacted is also down. As of March 31, 27 states enacted 24 laws and adopted 74 resolutions. That represents a 30 percent drop in the number of measures enacted in the first quarter of 2012, compared to the same period a year ago.  An additional five bills were awaiting governors’ signatures.

State Sen. John Watkins, R-Va., said that the drop off is due to the case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, regarding the constitutionality of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, known as SB1070.

“This issue has not dropped off of the radar screen in state legislatures,” he said in a NCSL news release. “Some states are waiting to see how the Supreme Court rules on immigration issues before moving ahead with their own policy debates.”

While the Supreme Court case may explain the drop in part, some states are questioning whether laws like SB1070 are good for their economy, said David Leopold, incoming general council for the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association.

“These types of laws don’t help the states economically,”  Leopold said. “In fact, there’s evidence out there that they actually hurt the state’s gross domestic product.”

This year, five states — Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Rhode Island, and West Virginia — introduced omnibus enforcement bills, each includin elements similar to those in SB1070, according to the report. Mississippi’s and West Virginia bills have failed; The others were pending as of March 31.

This was originally published by the National Journal.

An investigation by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado revealed that the Garfield County Sheriff’s Department (GCSD) has referred several victims of domestic violence to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, resulting in those individuals being placed in deportation proceedings because they chose to report acts of domestic violence to law enforcement.

In a letter dated May 2, 2012, the ACLU and the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) explained to Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario that such referrals were “out of step with Colorado law” and “created a strong and perverse disincentive for undocumented victims and witnesses of domestic violence to report the abuse to law enforcement.” The ACLU and CCADV urged Sheriff Vallario to put an immediate end to this “harmful practice” and extended an offer to collaborate with the Sheriff to create a new policy that would encourage victims of domestic violence to contact the police when abuse occurs. In a brief response to the ACLU, GCSD has signaled its unwillingness to consider a policy change.

ACLU Staff Attorney Rebecca T. Wallace said: “When undocumented victims of domestic violence are referred to ICE as a result of reporting the abuse to law enforcement, the signal to the undocumented population is clear. If you call the police to report domestic violence, you may end up being deported.”

According to the ACLU letter, this message “has the predictable effect of deterring undocumented people from contacting the police to report crimes of domestic violence and diminishing the goodwill towards peace officers that undoubtedly GCSD wishes to foster with the substantial immigrant community in the Roaring Fork Valley.”

Ms. Wallace explained that “effective law enforcement requires that victims of crime, whether documented or undocumented, feel safe reporting crime to law enforcement. This is particularly true in conflicts involving domestic violence, which often occurs behind closed doors in the context of an intimate relationship.” It is with this concern in mind that the Colorado legislature, even while passing a law requiring sheriffs to report certain arrestees to ICE, carved out an explicit exception to the reporting requirement for domestic violence arrestees. The law is called Senate Bill 90 (SB-90), and the domestic violence exception to SB-90 provides for sheriffs to refrain from reporting a domestic violence arrestee to ICE unless and until that individual is
convicted.

“The ACLU generally opposes programs such as SB-90 and Secure Communities, in part because they target people for referral to ICE at the time of arrest, sometimes capturing people who may never even be charged with a state crime, including crime victims, witnesses and individuals subjected to unconstitutional arrests,” said ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein. “These programs not only deter people from accessing the criminal justice system, but also invite racial profiling by state and local law enforcement. That being said, SB-90′s domestic violence exception at least mitigates some of the possible negative effects of arrestee referrals.”

According to the letter, adherence to SB-90′s domestic violence exception is necessary to protect domestic violence victims, because it is not uncommon for victims of domestic violence to be mistakenly arrested on domestic violence charges. The letter explains that this can occur because, “abusers will report their victims to the police in an effort to further victimize them.” Additionally, self-defending victims are sometimes . . . caught up in dual arrests when law enforcement are unable to ascertain who the ‘predominant aggressor’ is.”
Ms. Wallace emphasized that “to avoid deterring domestic violence victims from reporting the abuse to law enforcement, it is essential that undocumented domestic violence arrestees not be reported to ICE until after conviction.” Yet, according to the letter, the Garfield County Sheriff’s Department automatically reports to ICE all domestic violence arrestees whom they suspect to be undocumented, without waiting to learn if the person is convicted. The ACLU interviewed and reviewed the records of undocumented women who were the victims of serious domestic violence, reported the crime to law enforcement, were arrested on domestic violence charges, and were booked into the Garfield County Jail. In each case, all charges against the victims were dismissed, yet – according to the letter – because GCSD employees automatically reported the victims to ICE at booking, the victims were placed in deportation proceedings.

“In talking to these victims, they clearly and reasonably felt re-victimized by being sent into ICE detention simply because they had interacted with the police about the abuse,” Ms. Wallace said. “Their experiences have a tremendous chilling effect on the large undocumented community in the Roaring Fork Valley and the state. The message being sent to this community is that if you are being abused, don’t call the police.”

According to Mr. Silverstein: “When GCSD chooses to automatically report domestic violence arrestees to ICE, it thwarts the will of the Colorado legislature, which through strong bi-partisan support, carved out an explicit protection for domestic violence victims to ensure that SB-90 would not deter them from reporting domestic abuse to law enforcement.” The letter posits that the ripple effect of this protection extends directly to abused children, because there is a strong co-occurrence of child abuse in homes plagued by domestic violence. Thus, often the call reporting domestic violence is law enforcement’s gateway into learning about and stopping child abuse.

“During the course of our investigation, we were gratified that several counties – when they learned why SB-90s domestic violence exception is essential to encouraging domestic violence reporting – were readily willing to change their policies to reflect the values of Coloradoans’,” said Ms. Wallace.

“Jefferson County, Mesa County, and Hinsdale County are just a few of those counties that were receptive to ACLU advocacy, and we commend them taking this step to ensure the undocumented community feels safe contacting the police to complain of domestic abuse. Negotiations with several other counties are ongoing. Given the receptivity of these counties, and the strong evidence that GCSD has referred domestic violence victims to ICE, we were surprised and dismayed that GCSD is unwilling to alter its policy.”

On Sunday, May 20th, 2012 over 100 MOSES leaders actioned to hold Wayne County Sheriff Benny N. Napoleon accountable for the actions of his officers and deputies and demand that they stop impounding cars and arresting undocumented immigrants who merely have expired licenses.  In the plaza of Ste. Annes Catholic Church, the action was lead by undocumented immigrants of Wayne County, where Detroit is located.

Wayne County Sheriff Benny N. Napoleon commended the work of MOSES and its committed leadership, and committed to work with MOSES to create a racial profiling training for all of his deputies in the entire county. Sheriff Napoleon also committed publicly to allow his deputies and officers to use discretion with undocumented immigrants starting today by submitting a brief to his deputies througout the county – that hardworking business owners, mothers, students, etc, no longer must be detained merely for not having proper documentation.

Great victory for MOSES and immigrants in Wayne Country. This is incredible. This is how we alter the future of Detroit!

J. Michael Tasse, Oragnizer, MOSES

The Justice Department has rightfully decided to sue Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio for violating the civil rights of the people he was sworn to protect and serve.

The Fair Immigration Reform Movement, a network of community-based immigrant advocacy organizations in 30 states, said other lawmakers, including the Supreme Court, must take heed that violating the civil rights of all people will not be tolerated.

“Arpaio has racially discriminated, racially profiled and openly violated the civil rights of immigrants for years and it is time he pays for these egregious misdeeds,” said Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director of the Center for Community Change, a FIRM member. “The fact that Arpaio’s state enacted a vehemently anti-immigrant ‘show me your papers’ law shows that the Supreme Court must strike down the law before other law enforcement officials and politicians like Arpaio continue his practices.”

“Arpaio has shown a total willingness to use his power for all the wrong reasons: to punish hardworking people who come to this country to make better lives for themselves and their families,” said Petra Falcon, Executive Director of Promise Arizona, also a FIRM member. “I hope the Supreme Court follows the Justice Department’s lead and strikes down Arizona’s anti-immigration law.”

Congratulations to the Black Immigration Network (BIN) for their recent conference in Atlanta. Several organizations from the Fair Immigration Reform Movement participated.  BIN will continue to be an important resource and space for alliance building within the broader immigrant rights and progressive movements.

     - Francesca Menes, Florida Immigrant Coalition

Below is a blog post link on the Black Immigration Network 3rd National Conference.

http://ht.ly/aIlKA

The Justice Department says they’re putting Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio onfinal notice.

Over 100 days after first issuing a report which found Arpaio’s Maricopa Country Sheriff’s Office to be in violation of civil rights laws, DOJ has sent a letter telling Arpaio that they have concluded that an agreement “cannot be secured through voluntary means.” DOJ is required under the law to notify a party before they sue them in court.

DOJ said in a letter to Arpaio last month that they didn’t believe the issue could be settledthrough negotiations.

This was originally published by Talking Points Memo.

Carmen and Leonor faced the cameras today and openly asked why they deserved to pay such a heavy price for wanting to have their children be happy.  Both moms are scheduled to be deported within weeks.  Sitting next to them, friends and loved ones, including three of their five US-born children, called on Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to grant them a chance of a lifetime to reach their American Dream together as a family.

Thousands upon thousands of US-born citizens will likely spend this Mother’s Day facing an uncertain future and a broken family.  According to a March ICE report, 46,486 parents of US-born citizens were deported from the United States during the first half of 2011.  In contrast, the New York Times reports that in the decade between 1998 and 2007, nearly 100,000 such parents were deported.  An estimated 4 million US-born children have a least one parent who is an unauthorized immigrant.

“We are looking at the fruits of an untenable system that continues to rot.  Families with deep roots in the community, hard-working men and women, entire communities are compromised by the blind enforcement machinery that this Administration has failed to stop, despite their continued assurances that more humane policies are forthcoming,” stated Angelica Salas, executive director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

The rate of humane decision-making by ICE in at least 300,000 deportation cases clogging up the immigration court system has been so dismal, that watchdog Family Unity Commissions have been established in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Los Angeles Commission member, Jessica Dominguez, stated:  “It is urgent that we work together to find justice for these families and their US-born citizens.  America is the country where these families have flourished and where they hope their children will be happy.  Why make these families pay the huge toll of banishment?”

Rosemary Allegra, an American of Italian descent, just learned that her friend Carmen has been wearing an electronic ankle bracelet during the past 8 months and may soon be deported.  “It makes me angry to know she has been treated this way.  This is for bad people and by God she is not a bad person.  Her family is very loving, hard-working, and they have reared their children the right way, trying to live the American way,” she adds.

As to the Commission’s urgent petition to keep families together, “Our request is for humane policies to be adhered-to and it has nothing to do with election-year politics.  We have to care more about human life and family unity than political survival and party harmony,” said Ms. Salas.

A Brooklyn mom who failed three times to get the feds to cancel her deportation finally has won a reprieve — and she broke down in tears when she found out.

“We were crying,” Sara Martinez of Sunset Park said Sunday, a week after the Daily News wrote about her plight.

The 47-year-old Ecuadoran house cleaner, whose 6-year-old daughter was born here, was ordered to leave the country after border agents detained her on a bus from Rochester to the city.

She was hoping the government would cut her a break after President Obama announced he wanted to focus on deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records.

The feds are closing about 7% of the 300,000 deportation cases under review, but Martinez had been told that even though she has a clean record, hers was not among them.

Immigration advocates said her case highlighted Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s uneven hand in applying Obama’s new policy.

After her appeals to ICE were denied three times, she got the good news on Friday.

“I’m just doing what any mom would do for her children,” she said. “There are thousands of others out there with my story.”

She said she stayed in the U.S. after coming here in 2005 so her daughter could get a good education. She described the threat of deportation as a “nightmare.”

In the city, barely more than 207 cases under review have been closed.

“We remain concerned,” said Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn). “It took months and a massive campaign for ICE to follow its own rules. Cases like Sara’s are too common.”

Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, said Martinez could have become one of “many senseless deportations that have been ripping our community apart.”

This was originally published by the New York Daily News.

Six people protesting the state’s controversial immigration law were led away and detained Thursday morning after a sit-down protest near the Alabama Senate chamber.

The protesters prayed and sang “Amazing Grace” and “This Light of Mine,” and called for the repeal of the controversial law before being led to a separate room in the Alabama State House. Two senators knelt and prayed with the protesters, but were not detained.

The six were released later in the day.

Rev. Angela Wright, pastor of Beloved Community United Church of Christ in Birmingham, identified the protesters as the Rev. Fred Hammond of Tuscaloosa; Clemencia Robledo of Tuscaloosa; Hope Hamilton Schumacher of Birmingham; John Estes of Birmingham; Salvadore Cervantes of Montgomery and Drew Statham of Birmingham. Wright said they were members of Alabama’s Conscience, a group seeking repeal of the law, known as HB 56.

The protesters wore white T-shirts with “Repeal Alabama’s Pain” written in red. Schumacher called “For all mothers separated from their children,” as security came by. Schumacher brought her baby with her to protest; the child was given to another member in the crowd before Schumacher was arrested.

“Stop the pain of Alabama,” Cervantes said while being detained.

Pat Harris, the secretary of the Senate who presides over the daily operations of the chamber, said those who were handcuffed were not arrested and that no charges were pressed. He said they were handcuffed initially after they blocked the walkways outside of the Senate chamber and that, after they had been asked to move out of the aisle, some began to assemble again in the walkway. Harris said the protesters were taken downstairs and he discussed the incident with security.

“We made the decision not to press any charges,” Harris said

The Senate is expected to consider changes to the law that passed the House last month. A date has not been set. Opponents have called for the repeal of the law, and have increased demonstrations and protests at the State House in recent weeks.

“The purpose was twofold,” Wright said. “One purpose was to express moral outrage and opposition to HB 56, Alabama’s inhumane immigration law, and secondly to challenge the Senate to take action and to move through their fear of standing up to the opposition they face.”

Sens. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro and Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, knelt and prayed with the six as they were led away by Capitol Police. Singleton demanded the police take them away as well.

“They have a right for their voices to be heard,” Singleton said. Neither man was detained.

Both Singleton and Ross want to see the law repealed. Ross said the law was destructive.

“We need to be thinking about keeping families together,” he said. “We don’t need to destroy families.”

This was originally published by the Montgomery Advertiser.