President Should Expand One Bright Spot of Napolitano’s Tenure

In response to Janet Napolitano’s departure from the Department of Homeland Security, Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network issued the following statement:   “Security Janet Napolitano oversaw the Arizonification of the country during her tenure at DHS.   Under her watch, DHS operated with a self-imposed deportation quota, a fact…

Support for Immigration Reform Requires Opposition to Unjust Deportations

Judiciary Hearing was lost opportunity to ask DHS Sec about top priority for Immigrants
 
04.23.2013 – Washington, DC.
 
With Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning,  Senators had an opportunity to ask questions about the broken, unjust status quo.   Instead, the hearing today was characterized by  Sen. Chuck Schumer saying, “we certainly need more drones,” while Sen. Feinstein asked questions about student visa fraud and Jeff Flake mocked border crossing migrants to a room full of laughter. 
 

At 2:30pm this afternoon, the Senate Appropriations Committee will have the opportunity for more substantive questioning of the Secretary responsible for unprecedented criminalization and deportation of immigrants and the $18 billion spent annually on enforcement.  

NDLON Denounces Renewed Term for DHS Secretary Responsible for Arizonification of the US

for immediate release Contact: B. Loewe, NDLON, 773.791.4668   NDLON Denounces Renewed Term for DHS Secretary Responsible for Arizonification of the US Former Arizona Governor Responsible for Sheriff Arpaio’s Immigration Powers Brought State’s Policies to Nation   January 14, 2012 – Washington, DC In response to the announcement that Janet Napolitano would continue in her position…

Day Laborers Respond to Secretary Napolitano’s Immigration Speech

Pablo Alvarado, Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, responded to Secretary Napolitano’s speech today at American University with the following statement:
“We are happy to hear Secretary Napolitano mention S-Comm and ‘termination’ in the same sentence. Despite the political spin and marketing campaign to defend a failed program, S-Comm has proven to be a disastrous policy for our nation and for our communities. It should be ended before it leads to the further Arizonification of the country.
Facts do matter, and the fact remains that New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts have all rejected S-Comm while Alabama, Arizona, and Georgia embrace it wholeheartedly. The program has undermined public safety, imperiled civil rights, and moved the immigration debate in the wrong direction. Rather than bring us closer to immigration reform with legalization for millions of Americans-in-Waiting, S-Comm has been used to defend the false premise that the country needs enforcement quotas to maintain unprecedented rates of deportation. This insidious premise is resulting in the criminalization of an entire generation of our society.
Secretary Napolitano is correct that ‘two opposites cannot simultaneously be true.’ The Administration cannot set its sights on deporting more hardworking individuals than President Eisenhower’s “Operation Wetback” and at the same time authentically claim it is advancing immigration reform. It cannot criminalize and legalize people at the same time. Deportation rates must decline, S-Comm must be ended, and in places like Maricopa County in Arizona, human rights must be vigorously defended and prioritized by the Administration.
We acknowledge the Administration inherited broken immigration laws and a poisonous political environment, but S-Comm has made matters worse. We will continue to work with a growing chorus of voices calling for its complete termination.”
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