Detention Watch Network will make its voice heard In Washington, DC

by: willcoley

Tue Sep 08, 2009 at 12:27:17 PM EDT

If you're working against our nation's rapidly expanding deportation and detention system, you can't afford to miss this gathering in DC later this month: it's our moment to organize! More information here.

Weekly Immigration Wire: Key Legal Battles in Fight for Immigrant Rights

by: The Media Consortium

Thu Jun 11, 2009 at 12:28:23 PM EDT

While the United States’ legal system is founded on grand ideals like all  humans being equal, the law is rarely as benevolent or efficient in practice,  especially for immigrants. Different classes of people receive different  consideration, and the subsequent disparities are glaringly evident in the lives  of immigrants. This week’s Wire focuses on immigration-related legal battles,  including unconstitutional raids by Immigrations Customs and Enforcement (ICE)  and the rights to have competent representation in a court of law.

may day: are you ready to hit the streets this may 1st?

by: rachelfirm

Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 14:51:08 PM EDT

One week from today, hundreds of thousands of people will be marching in the streets, demanding immigrant rights and calling for just and humane immigration reform. May Day, a day historically used to celebrate the the contributions of working people, has become THE day for the immigrant rights movement in recent years.

In 2006, millions of people took to the streets in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and everywhere in between to demand justice for immigrants. It was a show of enormous power and solidarity and the spark ignited by the 2006 marches is burning strong in the lead up to May 1st 2009.

Now that Obama's Been Elected, Let our Voices be Heard

by: rachelfirm

Tue Nov 25, 2008 at 14:13:31 PM EST

We turned out the immigrant and Latino vote. We demanded that our voices be heard on November 4th, and the son of IMMIGRANTS will be entering the White House in January.

So - what now? How do we ensure that the change we voted for is seen in a tangible way? How do we make sure that our concerns and our vision for immigrants' rights is heard at the top levels of goverment?

In a recent piece at the Huffington Post, Sally Kohn eloquently wrote:

The single greatest thing we can do to honor the spirit of Obama’s campaign and life work is bring as much enthusiasm to holding Obama accountable as we did to electing him.

Personally, I could not agree more. I’m sure some people will be hesitant to begin pushing Obama, so many of us are still reveling in the glory of this historic election and want nothing more than to keep believing the ballots cast on November 4th will equal the change we need. But our civic engagement cannot end with Election Day.

Obama’s campaign proved that America can truly harness its people power for positive and progressive change. NOW is the time to keep that momentum rolling.

Ok, so, how can you help? For a start, you can tune into the December 4th event “Realizing the Promise: A Forum on Community Faith and Democracy, organized by the Campaign for Community Values and the Gamaliel Foundation (for which Obama once worked) at which thousands of grassroots leaders will demand new jobs for a greener economy, an inclusive health care that includes everyone, re-regulation of industries that have taken advantage of our communities, and a comprehensive reform of our immigration system to make it work for everyone in our communiity!

Check out this great video about the event:

Legal Resident Jailed Indefinitely: Accused of lying to ICE agent

by: ragemail

Mon Aug 11, 2008 at 14:15:45 PM EDT

New Report Details Abuse at Privately Run ICE Detention Center

by: ragemail

Wed Jul 16, 2008 at 19:01:51 PM EDT

Detainee Deaths lead IG to conclude that ICE needs to account for its treatment of immigrants

by: ragemail

Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 12:48:11 PM EDT

   The federal immigration agency should report all deaths in detention promptly, not only to the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, but also to state authorities where required by law, the inspector general has recommended after a "special review" of the deaths of two immigrant detainees.
   Congress, advocates for immigrants and the news media have highlighted the lack of systematic accountability in such cases, and documented problems with the medical care provided in the detention system, a patchwork of county jails, privately run prisons and federal facilities.

   That inspection, by the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee, also found that only 11 of 20 detainees with chronic conditions were regularly scheduled for chronic care clinics, and that its policies did not fulfill requirements to notify the Homeland Security Department - the system's parent agency - or the Justice Department of deaths.

International and domestic human rights groups have called on ICE to account for the poor treatment of detainees, especially as it concerns medical care. Among, the human rights groups condemning ICE are Human Rights Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union, Asian human rights groups and Human Rights First, amongst other human rights groups.

Here's some breaking Oklahoma news:

by: James Benjamin

Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 04:46:10 AM EDT

A federal judge has delayed part of [a] state law directed at illegal immigration from taking effect next month. The judge, Robin J. Cauthron of District Court, issued a preliminary injunction that said provisions of the law were "substantially likely" to be unconstitutional. Those provisions require private companies to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires or face penalties. The decision came on a lawsuit filed by the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Oklahoma Chamber and other business groups.

Cross-posted from The Mahatma X Files.

Senator Kennedy: A Champion for Immigrant Rights

by: alexwill

Thu May 22, 2008 at 09:44:08 AM EDT

Since I heard the news about Senator Kennedy's seizures on Saturday, I have been reflecting on his amazing place in history, fighting for civil rights for all. Especially since hearing the diagnosis of a malignant glioma, up until the positive news this morning that (as I write this) Senator Kennedy will be released from the hospital in a few minutes, there has been flood of positive reflections. I am sure he will return to work fighting for the rights of all, fighting right up to the last minute.

I wanted to focus on this article in found in today's Globe. It was a timeline of just some highlights of major legislative achievements of the man some have called the most successful Senator in history. I thought specifically significant was the bill listed as his first major achievement:

1965: Immigration
In his first major legislative accomplishment, the 32-year-old Kennedy managed the successful floor battle to pass the Hart-Celler Act, a reform of immigration policy that abolished quotas and lifted a 1924 ban on immigration from Asia.

"Illegal" Is Never a Noun

by: Duke Reed

Sun Jan 20, 2008 at 00:00:00 AM EST

On the issue of immigration, politicians and much of the mainstream media are playing with our minds. By repeating the phrase "illegal immigrants," they're creating a misleading stereotype. It's inaccurate. And, it's distracting us from the real issue -- economic exploitation of all low-wage workers in the United States.

The Republicans did it in their YouTube debate on CNN. In the first 30 minutes, the Republicans repeatedly used the term "illegal immigrant" and spent the time sparring over which of them could treat them more harshly. Were the painters who worked on Romney's house and the low-wage workers in Giuliani's New York City really such a grave threat to America

CNN's John King used the term, too. And so did CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Campbell Brown in the most recent Democratic debate in Las Vegas. And, some of the Democratic candidates also used it, though Kucinich specifically refused ("There are no illegal human beings"). But he's in the minority. The term is everywhere in the press. You can find it in the Washington Post and in the New York Times, as well as the doubly derogatory term "illegal alien" in the Washington Times. They've all got "illegal" on the brain.

Branding people with the Scarlet "I" creates a fearful stigma. The vast majority of immigrants, whatever their legal status, are law-abiding members of society. Yet, the "illegal" description is so pervasive that it has us thinking about punishment and revenge, instead of solutions to the real problem -- the economic exploitation of people, both immigrant and native-born.

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The focus of this week's Republican debate on immigration makes one thing clear: We have entered the age of selective humanity. In other words, some humans are more human than others. Nowhere in the debate talk of "illegal aliens" and "sanctuary mansions" or who or what is "American" was there any notion that the undocumented were humans.

As a result, much of the "debate" around immigration has been and continues to be defined by the rage of the anti-immigrant right, a right that champions and humanizes those that shoot and jail migrants instead of focusing on the migrants themselves - who are stripped of anything beyond the parasitic, criminal image that makes for "fiery" television head-butting. Such a climate does not look at the violence and abuse suffered by migrants. It does not ascribe humanity to them.

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