CA Assembly passes bill to restore trust in police, curb deportations as national immigration reform debate intensifies

Press ReleasesLeave a comment

 

 
TRUST Act heads to state Senate in wake of findings that police involvement in deportation has made crime victims less likely to seek help

Sacramento – Today, following several impassioned floor speeches, the California Assembly approved the TRUST Act (AB 4 – Ammiano) by a vote of 44 to 20. The nationally-watched bill would limit harmful deportations often stemming from trivial or discriminatory arrests and rebuild community confidence in local law enforcement.

The vote comes days after an unprecedented survey of Latinos in four cities, including Los Angeles, confirmed that police involvement with immigration enforcement has significantly undermined community confidence, with 44% of responds less likely to contact police officers if they have been a victim of a crime. Among undocumented immigrants, 70% were less likely to contact law enforcement.

New Orleans City Council Backs Immigrants in Latest Blow to Sheriff’s Deportation Practices

Press ReleasesLeave a comment

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
###