Immigrant rights advocates plan to hold a protest in downtown Phoenix on the day that the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments over Arizona’s 2010 immigration enforcement law. Organizers of the April 25 rally say they will protest the state’s immigration law and other state and federal policies that they contend erode civil rights. On that same
In Hostile Terrain: A Human Rights Report on US Immigration Enforcement by Amnesty International
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
Source: Monica Rodriguez, Inland Valley Daily BulletinInland Valley Daily Bulletin | 4/03/12 POMONA — 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…
Mississippi’s controversial illegal immigration crackdown bill died in a state Senate committee Tuesday, bucking a trend in Deep South states for more-stringent enforcement efforts. Reportedly still afoot, however, are other legislative maneuvers to get the core elements of the bill onto the desk of recently elected Gov. Phil Bryant, a strong
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
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.
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.”