NDLON

City Council Set to be first city in the South to Vote on Resolution On Civil Immigration Detainers

Immigrant workers and families will come closer to winning the Right to Remain in New Orleans today as City Council is set to vote on a resolution condemning Sherriff Marlin Gusman’s racial profiling-based deportation policy. Over the last two years the Sheriff has faced mounting pressure through civil rights lawsuits and public outcry to stop submitting to voluntary civil immigration holds also known as immigration detainers.

.Council members James Gray, LaToya Cantrell, and Susan Guidry will introduce a resolution limiting Sherriff Marlin Gusman’s practice of submitting to voluntary requests of federal immigration officials to detain individuals in Orleans Parish Prison. Immigrant workers who have survived the Sherriff’s policy will testify on the disastrous impacts on families; and advocates will testify on the impacts on city budget (the federal government does not reimburse jail costs) and constitutional integrity.

WHO: Council members Gray, Cantrell, and Guidry will introduce resolution. Immigrant workers and families, New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice, Congress of Day Laborers, and advocates for criminal justice reform will testify.
WHERE: City Council Chambers, 1300 Perdido St., New Orleans
WHEN: 10 AM, Thursday, May 15, 2013
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Rights Groups Call on President to Suspend Deportations as Congress Seeks Immigration Reform

05.13.2013 - Washington, DC

Following the first round of mark-up in the Senate Judiciary Committee of the "Gang of 8" immigration reform proposal, rights groups held a telebriefing to call on the President to immediately suspend deportations of those who could be included in the reform.  

The AFL-CIO, MALDEF, United We Dream, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network announced an organizational sign-on letter of immigrant rights groups, begun today, asking the President to take immediate action to alleviate the suffering caused by on-going record deportations and help build the bi-partisan consensus in the Senate through a suspension of removals of those who would qualify for the bill once it passes. 

Lorella Praeli, Director of Advocacy and Policy at United We Dream said, "As DREAMers, who won relief from deportations from the administration, we know firsthand the difference this can make.  We're pushing for an end to deportations for our parents and the rest of the 11 million, who are working, paying taxes, and raising their families in this country.  They should not be threatened with deportation every day when they would be on the path to citizenship Congress is debating now.  The President has deported more people than any other president and we will not stand by while these out-of-control deportation continue, tearing apart our families and communities."

Ana Avendaño, Assistant to the President and Director of Immigration and Community Action at the AFL-CIO said, “America’s low wage workplace will not stabilize until every participant in it has equal rights to stand up for themselves when their wages are stolen or their workplace is unsafe. We owe it to all workers to cease the deportation crisis while Congress finishes the process of creating a roadmap to citizenship for the aspiring Americans already living and working in our communities.”

Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of MALDEF, stated, "It is a simple matter of fairness and justice that we cease removing those immigrants who would be eligible for relief under the proposed bipartisan immigration reform legislation.  The American people and bipartisan leaders nationwide support providing legal protections to those who have labored in our industry and raised families in our community; it would be cruel and nonsensical to deny widely supported and contemplated relief to some, simply because of a delayed effective date.  So long as relief is being seriously debated in Congress, the federal government should suspend deportations of those who could claim protection under the proposed law."

Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said, "It's time for the President to show leadership in the movement to bring justice for immigrant workers and families.    The bi-partisan Senate framework provides a perfect opportunity for the President to galvanize a national consensus.  By taking the threat of deportation off the table,  the President can help bring us one step closer to sensible immigration reform."

Carmen Yvette Martinez, who's husband, Roger Tabora Martinez, was deported on Thursday reflected, "I still don't know why they really pulled us over.  They said there's a warrant for the owner of the car but that's me and that's not true.  The officer just told me they were taking my husband away.  We didn't even know he was deported until he called from Honduras.  My son and I have been suffering terribly. It doesn't make any sense to take away a good person.   I don't want any other family to go through what we have."

A recording of the call can be found at: 

Progress to Deliver On Mandate for Equality Will Be Measured by Actions, Not Words

05.09.2013 - Washington, DC

Responding to the Senate Judiciary Committee first hearing to mark-up amendments for the "Gang of 8" immigration reform proposal, Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network issued the following statement:

"There is an undeniable distance between the politics of immigration reform within the beltway and the reality confronting millions of Americans-in-Waiting outside of the nation's capitol.

The momentum for reform is a mandate for equality. The debate between Senators, with few exceptions, fails to recognize that. Instead they are busying themselves appeasing the imagined fears of the Right and paying too little attention to the real fears of law enforcement and deportations that actually do imperil our safety and require action." ###

Day laborers, immigrant community start rolling fast as deportations continue at 1,100+ each day

05.01.2013 – Mountain View, CA

Maria Marroquin, director of the Mountain View Day Worker Center, and several others plan to abstain
from eating for the next eleven days, one day for each millions of undocumented people in the US
seeking political equality through immigration reform.

We Don't Want to Be Deported Before the Path to Citizenship Opens

04.22.2013 - New Orleans, LA
This morning, five families who are facing deportation entered the Southern regional field office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to demand that the office's public advocate, Bryan Acuna, fulfill his duties by taking on their cases to stop their removals and cease the violent raids and targeting of low-priority cases that are rampant across the region.

Introduction Poses Test for President

Los Angeles, CA - 04.17.2013
In response to the introduction of the Senate 'Gang of 8' immigration reform bill, Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network issued the following statement:  

"President Obama should seize the opportunity presented today by immediately suspending deportations, at a bare minimum for all those who would be included in the bill's legalization provisions.  While it is necessary to study the bill before passing judgment on its contents, one thing remains clear:  the President's own deportation quota policy is the biggest roadblock on the path to citizenship.  He must take steps immediately to end the removal and criminalization of would-be citizens. 

Millions of immigrants have walked a long road to get to this point, and the power we have all built as a movement has forced immigration reform onto the national agenda and created a mandate for equality.  As the bill moves forward, we will continue to fight to make sure our labor and civil rights are fully respected."    

 Freedom of Information Act Suit to Shed Light on Tactics to Halt California TRUST Act

SAN FRANCISCO, April 9, 2013—The Asian Law Cacus, a legal and civil rights organization serving low-income Asian Pacific American communities, has sued federal immigration authorities for information about whether they helped defeat a bill meant to limit entanglement between California law enforcement and U.S. immigration agencies.

The lawsuit seeks information from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and the Department of Homeland Security under the Freedom of Information Act about possible efforts to encourage the Governor’s office and state sheriff’s association to oppose the TRUST Act, AB-4.

Had the TRUST Act passed last year, it would have restricted California's involvement in the Secure Communities program, which relies on local police to hold individuals suspected of being deportable upon arrest until ICE can pick them up for possible deportation. Last summer, the bill reached Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk with robust support from both legislative houses, but he vetoed it. 

As Immigration Reform Again Takes Center Stage This Week…

LA SANTA CECILIA, in Partnership with Leading Migrant Rights Group and the Americas Business Council (abc*) Foundation, Spotlights the Real-Life Faces and Stories of Undocumented Immigrants with the Poignant New Video for Hit Single “El Hielo” (ICE)

Starring an Undocumented Cast of Key Figures in the Fight for Immigrant Rights, New Video by “Los Angeles’ Best Latin Alternative Band”, Directed by Alex Rivera, hits close to home for many.

In conjunction with the video’s release premiering today on VEVO, the band will now appear at immigration reform events on April 9th In Phoenix, Arizona, and April 10th at The U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C.

Watch the video at http://bit.lyelhielovid

Immigrant Communities Rallied Today in Support of the TRUST Act authored by Sen. Eldridge & Rep. Sciortino

03.20.2013

Boston, MA - 

As momentum for federal immigration reform grows, Massachusetts is set to lead the nation by advancing the TRUST act, a state bill to provide immediate relief from deportations, strengthen public safety, and propel the national conversation on immigration reform towards inclusion.  Specifically the bill sets a clear standard for local law enforcement agencies not to submit to burdensome requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) most often prompted by the Secure Communities (S-Comm) program to detain people for deportation who have otherwise been ordered released by the courts. The bill is authored by Sen. Eldridge in the Senate and Rep. Sciortino in the House and was introduced with 34 cosponsors.