NYC Se Communities Bill Fails Transgender Immigrant Communities » Sylvia Rivera Law Project

A coalition of anti-violence advocates who work with immigrant survivors of family and intimate partner violence, there human trafficking, sexual assault, and survivors of homophobic and transphobic violence in New York welcomed legislation introduced today by New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and City Council members Melissa Mark-Viverito and Daniel Dromm that would limit the application of the federal Se Communities Program in New York City, but emphasized that more needs to be done to protect survivors of violence from deportation resulting from collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. The City’s proposal to refuse to honor ICE holds— requests to turn over a detainee to immigration detention—in select cases is an important step in acknowledging that there is no place for ICE in our criminal justice system.

New York City Council to Consider 2 Bills Limiting Deportations

Two bills that members of the New York City Council plan to propose on Thursday would place further limits on the city’s cooperation with federal authorities seeking to detain and deport immigrants. The bills come in response to Se Communities, a federal immigration-enforcement plan that has been criticized by immigrants’ advocates, order civil liberties lawyers and elected officials in the state and across the country. If they pass, the laws will reaffirm the city’s reputation as one of the most immigrant-friendly municipalities in the nation, though the bill also risks provoking a confrontation with the Obama administration. “What we don’t want is New York City’s agencies having to participate in deporting people who present no risk and in fact may be adding a great deal to the City of New York,” Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker and lead sponsor on one of the bills, said in an interview Wednesday.

ACLU Florida urges U.S. leaders to end 287(g) deportation program Collier uses » marconews.com Mobile

In a letter to state-based politicians Friday, the ACLU of Florida urged an end to a controversial immigration enforcement policy in which Collier County participates. Under scrutiny is the 287(g) policy, set to expire at year’s end, that allows local police to act as immigration enforcers. The program “does not belong anywhere in Florida,” said Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida executive director, in a letter to Florida’s U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, a Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Democrat, along with outgoing Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Fort Myers, and several other state and local officials. Rubio and Nelson weren’t immediately available for comment Friday; Mack’s office declined comment. The ACLU contends the policy leads to racial profiling and “generating fear and a marked mistrust of police among both documented and undocumented individuals in the Latino community.”

Walnut Creek contractor pleads not guilty to holding day laborer captive in Lafayette house – San Jose Mercury News

A 51-year-old Walnut Creek contractor has pleaded not guilty to charges that he held a day laborer captive and robbed him in a Lafayette house in October. Defendant Tod Morton appeared in a Walnut Creek courthouse Friday on felony charges of false imprisonment and second-degree robbery in connection with an Oct. 15 incident that police and

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

Los Angeles sheriff to stop turning over low-level offenders to immigration

The Los Angeles County sheriff will no longer honor federal requests to detain suspected illegal immigrants nabbed for low-level crimes like petty theft and graffiti after new state guidelines noted the practice is voluntary, a spokesman said on Wednesday. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca announced the change a day after California’s attorney general issued a directive, welcomed by immigration activists, that compliance with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention requests was discretionary. Attorney General Kamala Harris is the highest state official so far to join a handful of dissenting authorities in major U.S. cities who oppose a cooperation program between immigration agents and local law enforcement known as “Se Communities. A spokesman for Baca, who has in the past supported federal immigration requests, said new guidelines were being written and would likely come into effect by the end o