Weekly Immigration Wire: Child of Immigrants Nominated to Supreme Court

by: The Media Consortium

Thu May 28, 2009 at 10:58:02 AM EST

by Nezua, TMC MediaWire Blogger

On Tuesday, President Obama announced Sonia Sotomayor as his pick to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Sotomayor could be the first Latina appointed to the Supreme Court. Predictably, attacks and slurs from the Right are already flying. Regardless, Sotomayor would be an excellent choice for the Supreme Court, signaling to Latino/as that the White House is aware of our need for more representation in government.

Weekly Immigration Wire: Women Central to Immigration Story

by: The Media Consortium

Thu May 21, 2009 at 10:58:16 AM EST

by Nezua, TMC MediaWire Blogger

Celebrated stories of early American pioneers, explorers, and immigrants typically center around men of fortitude and bravery. Depictions of modern-day migrants are still very male-centric, and this cultural lens is a default in most cases. But women play a central and overlooked role in today's immigration story. Even when not directly highlighted, women often bear the weight of keeping families together and helping them grow stronger.  

The Luis Ramirez Murder: A Logical Step in the Process of Establishing a Subhuman Class

by: The Editors

Tue May 12, 2009 at 15:49:31 PM EST

Three things immediately shock the conscious soul upon learning about the murder of Luis Ramirez. The simple manner in which he died is the first of those.

Ramirez, a father of three, was beaten to death in the streets of Pennsylvania by as many as seven young men who were at the end of a night of drinking. The motive? Judging by the slurs heaped upon him along with the many blows to his body: apparently nothing more than being out at night while Mexican. The teens who ganged up on Ramirez came upon him walking with a young woman, reportedly his girlfriend's sister. Obviously bringing threat, they asked him what he was doing out at that time of day. Then they set upon him. In the end it was a final hard kick to the skull which left the 25-year-old father convulsing on the concrete with fatal brain damage.

Apr 22 2009 Warning: If You Were Born on a Military Base, You Might Be Deportable!

by: DreamActivist

Sat Apr 25, 2009 at 12:35:47 PM EST

The US Constitution states that a US citizen can’t be deported unless he has committed treason or terrorism. Not one part of the US Government is looking into my case of a US citizen being deported. I was sent back to England where I have no family and had to live in the streets until I was able to get into a Hostel a few weeks later. I signed a wavier for deportation under great direst because they told me I would be deported anyway. I didn’t think a US Federal agent would lie or not do his job.

-Kevin Dale Cartee, Deported U.S. Citizen

Something is seriously wrong when a country deports its own citizens either through error or some misguided attempt to enforce immigration laws.

Meet Kevin Dale Cartee. He recently got deported back to the United Kingdom. Why? He happened to be born to a U.S. citizen and military officer on an army base.

Kevin holds a Citizen Born Abroad of a US Citizen certificate (DS-1359). But the United States could care less. Everyone from the officials at ICE to the office of Senator Chambliss were less interested in hearing his story and investigating his claims than simply deporting him back to where he was born.

Weekly Immigration Wire: The Importance of Building Toward Change

by: The Media Consortium

Thu Apr 23, 2009 at 11:00:25 AM EST

As the U.S. moves closer and closer to enacting immigration reform, the situation on the ground is evolving as well. Nothing is static for an issue that touches so many people across so many communities. This week's wire follows up on trends observed last week: holding mainstream media accountable, enforcement tactics, and immigration's positive effect on the economy.

Student Activists Shutdown Tancredo's Nativism

by: DreamActivist

Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 19:17:35 PM EST

Former Congressperson, Tom Tancredo, was not allowed to speak at a recent event in University of North Carolina hosted by the Youth for Western Civilization [Read: Youth Against Multiculturalism and Diversity].

Protestors shutdown the event through their non-violent chanting. Someone threw a brick through a window. And just for that, all hell broke lose or so the media spins. Our resident anti-immigrant demagogue William Gheen was quick to compare it to the persecution of Jews.

That's really a case of the pot calling the kettle black given that his organization--ALIPAC--has ties to right wing hate groups according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Setback for free speech?  Boo-hoo. Get over it.

At least Tancredo and his cronies do not have to worry about being invaded and detained by ICE whenever they practice their hate free speech.

This is also the same Tom Tancredo that asked ICE to arrest and detain college immigration advocates when they were testifying for the DREAM Act in 2007.

Apparently, ‘free speech’ is only convenient when the speech in question is in agreement to one’s own sentiments and belief systems.

Bellingham Raid Focus Results in Drastically Different Outcome

by: nezua

Fri Apr 17, 2009 at 14:47:45 PM EST

Shortly after, Janet Napolitano confessed that the raid had taken even her by surprise, that she was not consulted, and that she would order a review. Speaker Pelosi was soon quoted speaking out against the devastating effects our "enforcement" tactics have been having on communities.

Did the focus have an effect on how this raid played out in the aftermath?

Unified Labor Movement Supporting "Rights-Based" Immigration Reform

by: nezua

Tue Apr 14, 2009 at 15:40:14 PM EST

LOOKS LIKE THERE'S SOME ORGANIZING going on behind the scenes. This is pretty big. And overall, it's very exciting news.

The nation's two major labor federations have agreed for the first time to join forces to support an overhaul of the immigration system, leaders of both organizations said on Monday. The accord could give President Obama significant support among unions as he revisits the stormy issue in the midst of the recession. ...

The accord endorses legalizing the status of illegal immigrants already in the United States and opposes any large new program for employers to bring in temporary immigrant workers, officials of both federations said.

-Immigration Accord by Labor Boosts Obama Effort

I've already offered my feelings on that angle (illustrated below).  But follow me behind the cut for a liveblog of most of the call.

Jailed without Justice: Report Slams Immigrant Detention in the U.S.

by: rachelfirm

Tue Mar 31, 2009 at 14:07:34 PM EST

 Originally posted at Standing FIRM:

Adding to the growing concern over immigrant detention in this country, a report released by Amnesty International last week blasts the current system. The report finds that tens of thousands of immigrants - both undocumented, legal residents and even some U.S. Citizens - have been held without access to due process and many have been left to "languish" in deplorable conditions.

Among the findings of the report are:

• People in immigration custody don't have the same guarantees as criminal detainees to challenge their detention before a court, make a phone call or obtain legal representation.

• Detainees can be transferred from one facility to another, sometimes in another state, with no notice given to their families or attorneys.

• Two-thirds of people in federal immigration custody are housed in state or county detention facilities, usually alongside criminal detainees, even though violations of immigration law are considered administrative, not criminal, and asylum seekers have committed no violation.

• Immigrants are subject to excessive use of restraints such as handcuffs, waist chains and leg restraints.

This is not news to many of us who have followed the shocking stories of immigrant deaths in detention, complaints of the horrible conditions and proof that the privatized prison system has made a fortune off of the exponential increase in the number of immigrants detainees.

As Keith Olbermann said during his "Still Bushed" segment this week, where he referred to immigrant detention centers as "Gitmo Jr.'s":

The most startling fact about Amnesty‘s report, nobody at Immigration, nobody at the horrifically acronymed ICE, nobody hearing the details of this American Gulag is denying anything.

Dora Shriro, who was hired by the DHS head Janet Napolitano to oversee the immigrant detention system, recently said that she will be open to working with organizations such as Amnesty International to help improve the system. Shriro said:

I have learned that the best way to achieve change is to work closely with partners inside and outside of government, including vital organizations such as Amnesty International, which will issue a report raising concerns about immigration detention later today. I will carefully consider this important report.

Read the full Amnesty Internation report here.

Weekly Immigration Wire: 'Systematic Failures' in U.S. Detention Healthcare

by: The Media Consortium

Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 12:19:11 PM EST

by Nezua TMC MediaWire Blogger

This week, two comprehensive reports on the health of immigrant detainees were released by Human Rights Watch and the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. As Public News Service reports, "Immigrants are, literally, dying for decent care."

Weekly Immigration Wire: Congress Signals Change for Immigration Policies

by: The Media Consortium

Thu Mar 12, 2009 at 12:07:10 PM EST

By Nezua
TMC MediaWire Blogger

Since the Obama administration came into power, the absence of movement on immigration issues has made activists on both sides of the debate anxious. Most reasoned that there was so much on the new President’s agenda, critical issues would have to wait for their turn.

Weekly Immigration Wire: Obama Administration Absent on Immigration

by: The Media Consortium

Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 12:36:16 PM EST

President Obama is shaking up the established political and corporate order with a bold economic agenda. Sadly, immigration reform remains untouched by Obama’s energizing blueprint for Change. Immigration policy and programs are still tied to President George W. Bush and former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff: Paramilitary-style raids, detention centers, and the deputizing of otherwise-engaged local police forces continue to stand strong.

Late BREAKING NEWS: Napolitano Said She Didn't Know About The Raid & Orders Investigation!

by: dee321

Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 18:31:51 PM EST

Weekly Immigration Wire: Detention Industry Surges in Economic Crisis

by: The Media Consortium

Thu Feb 19, 2009 at 14:54:11 PM EST

by Nezua Media Consortium Blogger

The nation's eyes are fixed upon a trembling economy. It affects our ability to survive, to thrive, and even think rationally. Today's economic crisis is also impacting the lives of immigrants and immigration reform on multiple levels, be it through provisions to the economic stimulus bill, individual lawmen exceeding the bounds of their office, or a scrambling Pentagon viewing immigrants as easy recruits.

Weekly Immigration Wire: Policy Must Inspire Allegiance, Not Anger

by: The Media Consortium

Thu Feb 12, 2009 at 13:46:36 PM EST

by Nezua Media Consortium Blogger

George W. Bush told the world that the US was targeted for 9/11 because "we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world." And as President Obama said in his inaugural address:

The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

Weekly Immigration Wire: Abuses Rampant in US Detention Centers

by: The Media Consortium

Fri Feb 06, 2009 at 13:28:44 PM EST

by Nezua Media Consortium Blogger

In political circles, we sometimes use the phrase "police state," to describe losses of civil liberties or the encroachment of penal processes into our lives. But how does such a thing manifest in our every day experience? Some would point to the all-too-casual use of electric shock devices by legal authorities. Others would quickly mention the United States' swiftly growing enterprise of detention centers, barbed wire and concrete compounds or camps managed by Immigrations Customs and Enforcement (ICE).  

Nativists target Chatham County NC with their messages of intolerance

by: Immigrat_CH

Mon Feb 02, 2009 at 10:11:11 AM EST

Yep, Willy Gheen and his merry band of armchair radicals have their panties in a wad over a recent resolution passed by the Chatham County Board of Commissioners and the county's Human Relations Commission indicating  strong opposition to any of its law enforcement agencies contracting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (ICE)

The program in question is called the 287(g) program. It authorizes ICE and local law enforcement agencies to enter into an agreement to provide local law enforcement officers with training so they could function under the supervision of sworn ICE officers.

Under the program, every person charged with a crime, whether it's for driving without a license or murder, is asked certain questions to determine if they are legally within the United States. If a person is determined to be an illegal alien, then the person would be held for deportation.

We applaud Chatham County and it's courageous Board of Commissioners and County Sheriff Richard Webster for taking this stand to protect the rights of citizens of Chatham County, both legal and illegal.

You're probably familiar with the 287(g) program and how it has been abused by that media whore, Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County Arizona. Arpaio as completely ignored the out of control crime in his county, where more than 44,000 felony warrants await service, while he galavants around the county harassing folks for "being brown".

Sheriff Webster and his department have better things to do than enforce Federal law and waste the taxpayers money.

Willy Gheen see's it differently though and has issued a "Red Alert" (how silly and juvenile) to motivate his handful of armchair radicals to flood the county offices with faxes, phone calls and emails, demanding "his will be done"!

The vote on this resolution was unanimous.  

Immigrant Rights Activists March on ICE on Day After Inauguration

by: MATTorg

Thu Jan 22, 2009 at 13:33:40 PM EST

From the story-

The pro-immigrant activists, many immigrants themselves, marched on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters to remind the fledgling administration of their demand for a "just and humane" immigration policy.

"It's an opportunity to celebrate, but also to point forward to the great need for immigration reform in the months ahead," said Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum.

Immigrant advocates believe Pres. Barack Obama will stick to his promise to begin work on comprehensive immigration reform in his first year in office. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said the immigration system is "broken." And even before a major overhaul is proposed, activists hope for changes to some of the most criticized aspects of current immigration policy.

These may include the huge backlog in naturalization requests, the workplace raids that have sown chaos in immigrant communities, inhumane detention centers, or the "287(g)" program, which delegates immigration enforcement to state troopers, county sheriffs or local police.

The activists that gathered outside ICE headquarters were guided by interdenominational religious leaders in a "ceremonial cleansing," marking what they hope will be the agency's shift away from what they deem an "enforcement-only" approach.

The event was organized by the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), a coalition of state-level and national groups working for comprehensive immigration reform. FIRM also ran an ad campaign on signs atop Washington, D.C. cabs that showed real immigrants' faces and said: "Mr. President, count on me." Also distributed were T-shirts and signs bearing the slogan, "I am immigrant America."

FIRM's blog on Inauguration Day noted that in his inaugural address, Obama "spoke of a country that ensures freedom for all ... Now, it's our time to make sure that the same freedom and the same values include the immigrants of America."

http://www.matt.org/english/bl...

Chertoff Raids own House

by: jackie @ americasvoice

Thu Dec 11, 2008 at 21:29:26 PM EST

Cross-posted at America's Voice.

No not really, but the Washington Post is reporting that Department of Homeland Security Head Michael Chertoff has had undocumented workers cleaning his home for over four years:

Every few weeks for nearly four years, the Secret Service screened the IDs of employees for a Maryland cleaning company before they entered the house of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation's top immigration official.

The company's owner says the workers sailed through the checks -- although some of them turned out to be illegal immigrants. 

Coupled with last week's announcement that a high-ranking New England Border Patrol official had undocumented workers cleaning her home, hypocrisy at DHS now seems to be the rule, rather than the exception. In "Chertoff hired company that used illegal workers," the Associated Press points out just how hypocritical the situation is:

Speaking Oct. 23 on the state of immigration, Chertoff boasted about his department's record year for worksite enforcement cases - which led to more than 6,000 arrests.

He also said, "We need to make sure our own house is in order," referring not to his own home, but to the federal government, which now is required to use a federal online database to check whether the workers are in the country legally.

This stunning piece of news is yet another piece of evidence pointing to our need for a change of direction at DHS and the passage of real, comprehensive immigration reform.

The Sleeping Giant is Awake and Bleeding

by: nezua

Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 14:30:25 PM EST

The Clotty Red Stopper should not be yanked from its bottle so casually, as both Sarah Palin and John McCain ought to know by now. Demons claw at the cork all night. They gain legs in the silences left by the Left and are called forth from many foaming mouths on the Right.

Marcello Lucero was killed late Saturday night near the commuter railroad station in Patchogue, N.Y., a middle-class village in central Long Island. He was beaten and stabbed. The friend who crouched beside him in a parking lot as he lay dying, soaked in blood, said Mr. Lucero, who was 37, had come to the United States 16 years ago from Ecuador.

The police arrested seven teenage boys, who they said had driven into the village from out of town looking for Latinos to beat up. The police said the mob cornered Mr. Lucero and another man, who escaped and later identified the suspects to the police. A prosecutor at the arraignment on Monday quoted the young men as having said: "Let's go find some Mexicans."

-A Death in Patchogue