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

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,…