DHS Inspector General Report Provides Further Proof ICE Cannot Reform Itself

OIG Report on Se Communities Deportation Program Heightens Controversy over Failed Program. Advocates Decry report as “window dressing,” and renew calls: “End SCOMM. Don’t Mend it.”   04.06.2012. Washington, DC.  Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General issued two reports on the much-maligned “Se Communities” deportation program. The reports, which come after two…

Phoenix to March Against SB1070 and Federal Deportation Programs During SCOTUS Hearing

  Supreme Court Should Strike Down Arizona Bill, Local March to Call for End to Similar Federal Programs.       Who: A Wide Coalition of Organizations  When: April 25th. March to begin at 3pm Arizona Time. Where: Opening Rally at Civic Space Park   March: Highlighting Phoenix PD, Federal Courthouse, 4th Ave Jail, Wells Fargo Tower, Immigration and Customs…

Amnesty International: US Immigration Policy Violates Human Rights

Amnesty International’s new report, “In Hostile Terrain: Human rights violations in immigration enforcement in the U.S. Southwest,” examines the human rights violations associated with immigration enforcement at the border and in the interior of the United States. The report finds that the United States is failing in its obligations under international law to ensure human rights of immigrants. Among its findings are: * Recent immigration policy in border areas has pushed undocumented immigrants to use dangerous routes through the U.S. desert; hundreds of people die each year as a result. * Immigration enforcement in the United States is a federal responsibility. Federal immigration officials are increasingly working in collaboration with state and local law enforcement agencies but improper oversight of state and local law enforcement has led to increased racial profiling. – New America Media 04.03.2012

L.A. County’s Sheriff Lee Baca, an undocumented immigrant’s son

KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has profiled Los Angeles County’s top lawman Sheriff Lee Baca, check an unorthodox cop who has come under fire not only for allegations of violence inside the county jail system, but for his seemingly contradictory positions regarding immigrants. While Baca has made a point of reaching out to Muslims to ease fears about discrimination, he is also a supporter of Se Communities, a controversial federal-local partnership that sends the fingerprints of people booked at county facilities to immigration authorities. Further complicating his stance is his background, as he’s the son of an undocumented immigrant. From the story: The sheriff’s story is, in some ways, typical L.A.: “My mother was born in the state of Michoacan, Mexico, and she came to the United States when she was less than a year old,” Baca says. The sheriff has revealed that his mother was an illegal immigrant who worked as a seamstress. – Multi-American 04.03.2012