They Want to Work

It has been more than six months since the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Redondo Beach, click Calif., violated the Constitution with an ordinance making it illegal for day laborers to solicit work from the sidewalk. The city had used the ordinance to crack down on immigrant laborers in…

Sheriff Hall’s Annual 287(g) Snow Job – Nashville Scene

It’s budgetary hearing season in Metro government, and that means media outlets are reporting on various cuts and belt-tightenings faced by city departments. FOX 17’s intrepid reporter, Sky Arnold, dusted off an old story about the Davidson County Sheriff Office’s controversial 287(g) program and made it his own. For nearly 90 seconds, Arnold says that the federal program that enables the DSCO to actively police immigrant communities, slap its members (such as pregnant women and overachieving high school students) with paltry offenses like traffic citations and deport them to their countries of origin is working for taxpayers because the sheriff said so. In doing so, Arnold perpetuates the myth that the program actually saves taxpayers money because all of those deported illegal aliens aren’t clogging up the county jail. – 04.03.2012

ICE Activates S-Comm in WA Despite State Opposition – Seattle Times

Silently and without fanfare, cheap U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has activated in every county in Washington a controversial program that will allow the fingerprints of everyone booked into local jails to be checked against a national immigration database. Se Communities, as the federal program is known, case now exists in all 39 Washington counties as well as in jurisdictions in 45 other states. The idea behind it, according to ICE, is to identify, detain and eventually deport those immigrants who are subject to removal from the country — with a particular focus on those who have committed serious crimes.

Day laborer supporters rally in Pomona – ContraCostaTimes

A group of day laborers urged Pomona City Council members on Monday night to continue providing funding for the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center. The center, also known as the Pomona Day Labor Center, has been open for about 15 years with financial support from the city. In recent years, the center received financial assistance through the city’s now defunct redevelopment agency. The center has not received funding since the middle of last year following the approval of state legislation approving the dismantling of redevelopment agencies around the state. The passage of the legislation kicked off months in which the future of redevelopment agencies became unclear. Day laborers and their supporters, which included students, labor organizers, immigrant rights activists and others, held a rally outside of Pomona City Hall prior to the start of Monday’s meeting. – Contra Costa Times 04.03.2012

The poor among you

By Ken Camp, Managing Editor | Source: BaptistStandard.com Published: March 30, 2012 They gather at dawn at day-labor centers or designated parking lots where contractors hire workers. Some stop on their way to pick up a cheap breakfast taco at a convenience store, ing their meal from an employee earning minimum wage. At the store,…

S-Comm Under Fire in New Bedford – South Coast Today

Under the Se Communities program, fingerprints taken by local police are automatically sent to federal immigration authorities. If there is a match, police are authorized to hold the suspect for an extra 48 hours, not including weekends. The program is currently active in Suffolk County and will go into effect throughout the state in 2013. “The country has to have rules and we have to have laws that we follow,” Hodgson said. “If you think those laws are unfair, then change the laws.” Critics say Se Communities alienates immigrants from police and has resulted in a swell of deportation cases of otherwise law-abiding people who have lived in the country for decades. “I see it every day from a human perspective,” said defense attorney Rachel Self. “It’s a rare day that I have that a true criminal winds up actually being picked up in this.”

El corrido de la HB56 – Agave Norteno

Tema: EL CORRIDO DE LA HB56 / Cantante: El Compa “Tino Grupo: Agave Norteño / Autor: Antonio Compean Gonzalez Editor: Eric C. Resendiz / Productor Ejecutivo: Cesar Marfil “El corrido de la HB56” Vivíamos días muy felicessin preocuparnos de nada… Sí, todo era tan bonito,una vida cotidiana.Pero llegó el Bentley,a gobernar Alabama. Y que pondría…

“A Better Life”

I watched the film, “A Better Life,” recently at the Mountain View Day Workers’ Center.  The star of the movie, Damien Bichir, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.”  His acting beautifully conveyed the wide variety of emotions he felt as he experienced ongoing rejection and betrayal in his business and personal life.  I was mesmorized.  Even though I do volunteer at…

Screening of “A Better Life” and a Panel Discussion With the Director – Long Island Wins

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network, together with the Ford Foundation, will host a special screening of the acclaimed film A Better Life, starring Academy Award-nominated actor Demián Bichir as a day laborer striving to provide better opportunities for his son. Following the screening, a panel of distinguished guests, including A Better