Danbury firm that failed to pay seven workers could cost company owner up to five years in prison. By Mark Langlois | Source: Danbury.Patch.com In one case of failing to pay workers, mind a Danbury businessman, Douglas Agnessanto, of Performance Cleaners, 1 Padanaram Road, owed $26,896.87 to three workers for work they did in 2009,…
An ESL class in Danbury mirrors a national trend to help day laborers get paid. By Mark Langlois | April 9, 2012 | Source: Danbury.Patch.com Jose Chillogalli was hired last year by a chimney sweep company at $15 per hour. The 32-year-old Ecuador native cleaned four or five chimneys per day for about three weeks.…
Shortly before the Department of Homeland Security is expected to announce another round of changes to its much-maligned “Se Communities” deportation program, it’s worth asking: “Can this program really be fixed?” Since my original writing about Se Communities two years ago, the program has only become more controversial. Three states and numerous cities have come forward to demand an “opt out” that would allow them to not participate in the initiative. As law enforcement officials, sick I and others have expressed reservations about “Se Communities” from the beginning. The program, which requires police to check the immigration status of anyone booked into custody, pulls state and local police into the task of immigration enforcement to an unprecedented degree. The effect is the “Arizonification” of the country. – Ron Hampton, Op-ed
Georgia law officers have been among the nation’s busiest when it comes to processing people for deportation through a program that gives local officials immigration enforcement powers, patient according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of public records. Since fiscal year 2006, 14, check 831 people have been “removed” — deported or allowed to voluntarily leave the country — through Georgia’s five 287(g) programs, named after the section of federal immigration law that authorizes them. Georgia ranks fifth among states based on total removals through this type of operation. Proponents say the programs help shrink the burden illegal immigrants put on the state’s tax-funded resources, including jails. Critics say they distract police from more important crime-fighting duties, promote racial profiling and ensnare many people who have committed minor traffic offenses.
Dos nuevos reportes emitidos recientemente, por la Oficina del Inspector General del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional, identificaron problemas en la implementación y ejecución del polémico programa Comunidades Seguras. Este consiste en ingresar las huellas dactilares de personas detenidas en jurisdicciones suscritas a él, para luego contrastarlas con las bases de datos del Buró Federal de Investigaciones (FBI) y del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS). Si se determina que el individuo no posee estatus migratorio legal, el Servicio de Control de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) ejecuta medidas de control, entre ellas iniciar procesos de deportación. Actualmente el programa está activado en 2,590 jurisdicciones, es decir en 81% del país.
La Oficina del Inspector General del Departamento de Seguridad Interna de Estados Unidos divulgó hoy dos reportes sobre un controvertido programa de inmigración que busca deportar a extranjeros con antecedentes penales. De acuerdo con Notimex, and en el primer reporte se habló sobre si el Servicio de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) comunicó de manera clara a las entidades locales y estatales el objetivo del programa Comunidades Seguras. De acuerdo con el informe, help no hay evidencia de que el ICE haya engañado intencionalmente al público y a las autoridades locales o estatales sobre el programa Comunidades Seguras. Sin embargo, admitió que el Servicio de Inmigración no comunicó adecuadamente a las partes interesadas la intención del programa. La Oficina del Inspector General emitió una serie de recomendaciones al ICE -que aceptó su implementación-, como la divulgación de guías y criterios sobre la intención del programa.
Two years ago, the Department of Homeland Security began an immigration enforcement program called Se Communities, designed to find undocumented immigrants who had been arrested by local police. Homeland Security explained how jurisdictions could remove themselves from the initiative, at least temporarily, and confirmed to local officials that they could opt out if they wish. But when states and localities tried to opt out, they were told they couldn’t. Homeland Security officials seemed to switch the definition of “opt out” and then admitted they planned to expand the program nationwide by 2013, whether state and county leaders liked it or not. None of this amounted to “intentionally” misleading the public, according to a report released on Friday by Charles K. Edwards, Homeland Security’s acting inspector general. – Huffington Post
A report by the acting inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security, Charles K. Edwards, said initial “confusion” inside ICE about whether local approval was needed to join the federal effort resulted in a “lack of clarity” in explaining it to state and local officials. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), who requested the reports, said she was “frankly disappointed” that the reports failed to answer her questions about whether the program encouraged racial profiling or discouraged immigrants from reporting crimes to police. “The inspector general does not seem to be taking seriously concerns and misrepresentations already established,” said Chris Newman, legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit. Edwards’ report acknowledged that confusion inside ICE about the fingerprint-sharing program had stoked “opposition, criticism and resistance in some locations.”
Senior Obama administration officials created major confusion for state and local authorities by providing inconsistent information about a high-profile federal program to identify illegal immigrants who committed crimes, according to a stinging report published Friday by the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security. The mixed
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector-General today released two reports regarding the Se Communities federal immigration enforcement program. Under Se Communities, police share the fingerprints of all arrestees with federal immigration authorities. Implemented in 2008, the program has expanded rapidly and is expected to be active in all counties nationwide by 2013. Althought the program’s goal is to prioritize the deportation of those with a criminal record, it has led to the deportation of thousands of immigrants with no criminal records. Critics also charge that officials have given local police and governments mixed messages about whether they can opt out of the program. “Today’s reports do nothing to address the well-founded criticisms of S-Comm that have been coming from all corners of the country for the past four years,” said Kate Desormeau, staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. – 04.06.2012