Daños dejados por el huracán Sandy, una pesadilla para mexicanos indocumentados

A Josías, el hijo de dos años de Miguel Alarcón Morales, se le agravó un asma porque la familia sigue viviendo en el segundo piso de una vivienda que se inundó con el paso del feroz huracán “Sandy”. La casa está llena de moho y huele a humedad, la pintura se desprende de las paredes, explicó el padre. “No es seguro vivir allí, respirando todo eso,

Criminal justice administration students create video for Hayward Day Laborer Center

Cal State East Bay criminal justice administration students have provided the Hayward Day Labor Center with a video to inform day laborers on protecting themselves against wage theft and other forms of exploitation. Alejandro Galindo, job developer and legal advocate for the center, says the film is so successful that similar organizations across the country are already asking for a similar video to address their needs. Silvina Ituarte, professor and chair of CSUEB’s Criminal Justice Administration Department, learned of this need from consulting with Galindo, and offered a Day Laborer Center project to her student this fall in the “Prejudice, Violence and Hate Crimes” (CRJA 4330) class.  Criminal justice majors Joshua Chavez, Ramneet Dhillon, Robert Huerta, Andreina Leon, Kristen Martin, Vinh Nguyen, Jagdeep Singh, Jaclyn Skinner, Helen Luu and Bryant Weatheroy created the film in about six weeks, with the leadership of Huerta, who owns a film company.

Santa Cruz Sheriff Says He’ll Work with Governor and Ammiano

Santa Cruz County Sheriff-Coroner Phil Wowak said Friday there won’t be immediate changes to how the county handles inmates eligible to be deported under a controversial immigration program, and that future changes are likely to come as part of a broader shift across California. Wowak made the comments after state Attorney General Kamala Harris this week told local jailers that compliance with the Justice Department’s Se Communities program was optional. So far, thousands of illegal immigrants nationwide have been plucked from local jails and sent back to their native country under the 4-year-old program, many without facing serious charges. “Our goal is to get a consistent approach rather than individual interpretations and individual responses from different counties,” Wowak said Friday after returning from an Oakland meeting of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, where Harris’ bulletin was discussed. Wowak stressed that the state’s top cop’s carries no legal weig

Se Communities is a program gone wild – Navarette

President Obama’s over-the-top approach to immigration enforcement — including an overreliance on the harmful program known as Se Communities — has devastated immigrant communities in the United States. And it has divided Democrats. This became clear last year when three Democratic governors — Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Pat Quinn of Illinois, and Andrew Cuomo of New York — announced they were pulling out of Se Communities, only to be informed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that they couldn’t because — despite assurances that the program was optional — participation was mandatory. The bureaucratic snake oil didn’t end there. In theory, Se Communities — which acts as a force multiplier because it requires local police to submit to federal authorities the fingerprints of anyone they arrest who they suspect might be in the country illegally (i.e., anyone who looks Latino) — should focus only on serious and violent criminals. But, in practice…

AG Harris States ICE Holds Voluntary – NBC Latino

California State Attorney General Kamala Harris issued a law enforcement bulletin Tuesday saying that complying with the federal government’s Se Communities program is voluntary. This means that if there is a federal immigration hold placed on someone taken into custody, local law enforcement can decide if they want to honor that hold, she said. This is after a review showed that the se communities program had deported too many people who were not criminals. Agencies from the Chula Vista police department to the San Diego County sheriff’s department told NBC 7 San Diego Wednesday that they were still meeting internally to decide their response to the bulletin.

MORAIN: State Attorney General Sets Own Path on ICE Holds

State Attorney General Kamala Harris waded into the immigration debate, telling local law enforcement Tuesday that they have the power to ignore Obama administration requests that they hold illegal immigrants. By issuing a bulletin to local police and sheriffs, Harris is challenging President Barack Obama, her friend and ally. She campaigned for him four years ago and again this year, and he campaigned for her when she won election in 2010. Harris also is a savvy politician who knows how to count. Latinos probably will support her stand, and they made up more than 20 percent of the California electorate last month. Harris’ position undermines Obama’s Se Communities program, which has led to the deportation of 1.4 million illegal immigrants, many of whom broke no laws but for their undocumented immigration status.

Sheriffs divided on immigration policy – SFGate

Sheriffs in Bay Area counties are divided on whether they must go along with federal requests to turn over suspected illegal immigrants who land in local jails, an issue raised anew this week by state Attorney General Kamala Harris. San Francisco complies only if an immigrant booked on suspicion of a crime already has a serious criminal record. Santa Clara County, under a policy approved last year by its Board of Supervisors, goes a step further and won’t hold anyone for immigration authorities unless the federal government funds the cost of an extra day’s confinement, a price the government has declined to pay. Alameda, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties hand over all inmates sought by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a policy also backed by the California State Sheriffs Association. But Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston says he’s considering a change after meeting with local Latino and clergy groups.