Time for PG county to reconsider Se Communities program

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My main goal for this year was driving a car. I had been practicing with my husband for about two months and I was able to pass the road test and se my driver’s license. Being it was my first time to drive a car by myself and I was so excited, ed I rushed to my car and drove to my night class at Prince George’s Community College, without turning on my headlights. I was pulled over by a police officer, 60mg and issued a warning. At this moment, one thing crossed my mind: If this happened to me when I was an illegal immigrant, I would have faced se system database scanning and I would have been given to federal agencies and deported. It is hard to imagine how shocking this might be, but it is a real story for many Prince George’s residents. Numerous families in Prince George’s County have faced this situation.

Immigrant’s detainment sparks outcry | Yale Daily News

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Juana Islas, a New Haven resident and undocumented Mexican immigrant, broke down in tears before a crowd gathered at City Hall Thursday evening as she recounted the story of how her brother Josemaria Islas may now face deportation after having just settled felony charges. Josemaria Islas, who is currently in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was arrested last July by the Hamden police investigating an attempted armed robbery. Though the victim identified Islas as the perpetrator, he was not convicted of any crime due to a lack of evidence, and instead he enrolled in a state rehabilitation program allowing individuals charged with non-serious crimes to have charges waived after a period of probation. But rather than releasing Islas to move forward with rehabilitation, judicial marshals continued to detain him in voluntary compliance with an ICE hold request, which may lead to his deportation. But immigrant rights advocates are criticizing the judicial marshal

Centreville Day Laborers Site Almost Ready

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It’s been more than a year since Fairfax County Supervisor Michael Frey called a public meeting to discuss the proposal to open a hiring site for immigrant day laborers in Centreville. “The atmosphere was obviously pretty heated,” he says.  But Frey, a Republican, says most of the objections came from residents who had a problem with federal immigration policy. “The people that were objecting were objecting because they believed all the day laborers were here illegally, and wanted that problem solved,” Frey says.  Frey understands those concerns. But he points out the county has little power to influence federal immigration enforcement, and the center is a way to keep immigrant workers who are looking for work from gathering on street corners and impeding commerce and traffic. It will also keeping the workers themselves safer, Frey adds. Alice Foltz is the temporary director of the Centreville Immigration Forum, a coalition of churchgoers that came up with the idea…

Lawsuit Demands Transparency Between GA Law Enforcement and ICE

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This week the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) and the ACLU of Georgia filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suit seeks public records documenting the effects of Georgia’s increasing involvement in immigration enforcement, find including information that will shed light on increasing reports of racial profiling and police abuse. The two organizations requested the records over six months ago. With representation by the ACLU of Georgia, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and the NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic, the lawsuit alleges that DHS and ICE have failed to comply with the Freedom of Information Act, and demands the release of the requested records. Azadeh Shahshahani, counsel for the ACLU of Georgia commented, “Transparency is integral to a democratic society.  Yet by withholding the records, ICE is preventing the shining of much needed light on the extent of the collaboration between this…”

Day Laborers Will Be Key to Recovery After the Storm

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When storms like Sandy strike we are reminded of how much we need each other and of how dependent on each other we are for our own wellbeing. Bearing down for the storm exposes our uneven resources and the fragility of our daily lives. Making it through demonstrates our resilience and shows us the monumental task of rebuilding.

What will it take to recover from the super storm that struck the East Coast? How do we repair after a disaster? Downed power lines, empty gas tanks, see flooded tunnels, destroyed homes, lost family members: No one could have predicted what Sandy would do to places completely unaccustomed to that type of weather.

As the region gets ready for recovery one thing is true. Day laborers, migrant, and low-wage workers will be key to rebuilding New York and other affected areas. The workers who lend their labor to homeowners and contractors on a daily basis are gathering at worker centers and at street corner hiring sites, ready and available to help those in need of relief.

Feds delay review of Obama immigration program – USA Today

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Seventeen months have passed since the Department of Homeland Security announced it would create an internal civil rights review of the Obama administration’s signature immigration enforcement program, but now department officials cannot say when, or if, they will complete it. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton announced in June 2011 that his agency would create a statistical monitoring tool to ensure that law enforcement agencies were not using the Se Communities program to engage in racial profiling. The program screens all people booked into local jails for federal immigration violations. Despite calls from a Homeland Security task force and outside groups to complete the review, officials are not sure when that will be possible.

Day Laborers Offer Help in Rebuilding Efforts After Storm

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New York and East Coast Worker Centers & Street Corner Hiring Sites Re-Open to Provide Ready and Reliable Labor 
to Homeowners and Businesses Damaged by Sandy

11.05.2012 – New York City, NY

As New York and much of the East Coast turn to deal with the flooding and damage caused by the super storm, day laborer worker centers and street corner hiring sites have reopened their doors and workers have made themselves available for all repair efforts.

Day laborers served a critical role in the reconstruction of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and are committed to helping rebuild places damaged by the storm, especially the hard-hit New York region.

Homeowners and employers can find the help they need by contacting worker centers in their area listed below or at hireadaylaborer.org