Justice | VivirLatino

Archive for the ‘Justice’ Category

DOJ Puts Sheriff Arpaio on Notice. Who Will Put the DOJ on Notice?

11:02 am By Maegan La Mala · Justice|U.S.-Mexico Border · No Comments

11 May 2012

The US Department of Justice is attempting to position itself as tough on racial profiling and violations.

While its arguments in front of the Supreme Court last week against parts of Arizona’s SB1070 were more about asserting the DOJ’s power to enforce immigration laws than insuring the rights of others, especially Latinos, race and ethnicity was an unspoken subtext.
Most recently the U.S. Justice Department kept the pressure on Arizona by targeting Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Following a breakdown in negotiations pushing for his police department to be monitored because of racial profiling allegations, yesterday the department announced its intent to sue. The DOJ is seeking to federally monitor Arpaio’s practices including targeting Latinos (or those perceived as Latinos) for unjustified traffic stops and arrests and prioritizing low level immigration offenses over investigating a backlog of sexual assault cases.

While federal oversight of Arpaio’s office is long overdue (just do a search with Arpaio’s name in our own search box to see for yourself), the question that remains unanswered is how to we get the Federal Justice Department to monitor themselves?

So far the Federal Justice Department has refused to investigate the death of Anastasio Hernández-Rojas or any other death that has occurred on the U.S. Mexican border at the hands of Border Patrol. Some organizations, politicians like Senator Robert Menendez, Reps. Raul Grijalva, Xavier Becerra, Jared Polis and Lucille Roybal-Allard, and individuals are putting pressure on Attorney General Eric holder to open an investigation of all killings committed by the Border Patrol since 2010. Yesterday the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security also demanding an investigation into border patrol related deaths.

If the Department of Justice is interested in doing more than just flexing it’s muscle to show states Federal supremacy, than it needs to take a look at how the U.S. Border Patrol treats both U.S. and Mexican citizens like Anastasio. Otherwise it’s hard to believe that Eric Holder is interested in anything resembling justice.

Why There Will be no Winners in the S.B. 1070 Supreme Court Decision.

4:50 pm By Maegan La Mala · arizona|Immigration|Justice · No Comments

30 Apr 2012

To paraphrase my beloved, It’s not that I’m a pessimist. It’s that I’m practical. It’s why I am not alarmed by reports spinning the questioning of the Justices as signs in favor or displeasure with Arizona’s S.B. 1070. While it would be wonderful to say goodbye to parts of the anti-immigrant law that birthed others, it would not change federal law which essentially functions in the same way.

In the coverage of last week’s hearing, organizations and media outlets tried to feel out what side the Justices were leaning towards based on the questioning. Interestingly enough there was no consensus as to what the line of questioning meant. Some organizations felt that the questioning revealed a sympathy towards Arizona State Law. Others expressed concern about the absence of a discussion of race within the questioning. Some sources predicted a mixed result, with some provisions of S.B. 1070 standing while others would not. Very few sources that I saw were able to muddle through the complicated proceedings in a way that was honest and went beyond advocacy for a specific outcome.

S.B. 1070 is a horrible law but let me be super clear, while S.B. 1070 is absolutely about race, ethnicity, and nationality the Supreme Court is not deciding on if the law violates the civil rights or human rights of individuals. It is deciding on if four specific parts of the law attempt to carry out what the federal government should be doing, enforcing immigration policy. If the case were about racial profiling, then national immigration enforcement policy and practice would also end up being scrutinized. This would include the excessive force of border patrol along the southern border, this would include the use (or not) of prosecutorial discretion, and the enforcement priorities of national programs like Secure Communities. To admit that S.B. 1070 is racist and relies on racial profiling, would mean to admit that policing priorities overall across the county are racist and rely on racial profiling. It is troubling to see liberal institutions insist that racial profiling is out of character for the United States when really it has been a hallmark.

A ruling is expected in late June.

Anastasio Hernandez Rojas Haunting in the Shadow of S.B. 1070

7:15 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Justice|U.S.-Mexico Border · 7 Comments

25 Apr 2012

The criminalization of immigrants in border states like Arizona has been in the news this week since the Supreme Court today begins hearing the U.S. federal government make the case that parts of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 step on the toes of national enforcement and therefore should be nixed. Not so much in the news is the way that federal policy has contributed to that criminalization and in fact has led the way by militarizing the Mexico U.S. border with deadly results.

Two years ago Anastasio Hernandez Rojas was killed by border patrol agents. You can find our original post about it here. At the time of his death, DREAMers in New York City were holding a hunger strike in front of Senator Schumer’s Manhattan office. Today, there is no DREAM Act, no New York Dream Act, and no justice for Anastasio Hernandez Rojas and the family he left behind. What we do have two years later is more hard evidence that the border patrol agents responsible for the death of a father and a husband acted brutally.

Last Friday, the PBS news series, Need to Know, in partnership with the Nation Institute, aired an investigation on the use of excessive force by U.S. border patrol agents. In this episode there is video evidence that 42 year old Hernandez Rojas was beaten. On his hospital deathbed, he is bruised. Eyewitness video features graphic heartbreaking screams of the father of five pleading for his life. Never before released eyewitness video shows a dozen or so border agents standing over and around Hernandez Rojas handcuffed and hogtied on the ground being tased five times. Not in the video, evidence of Hernandez Rojas being aggressive and violent as claimed by officials.

Although the official cause of death on Hernandez Rojas death certificate is homicide, the names of of those involved remain unknown. There is currently no investigation.

Far from being a one off, eight people have been killed along the border over the past two years at the hands of the largest police force in the U.S., border patrol agents. In all the cases there were no investigations. No trials and certainly no convictions. In fact according to the report, when the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request for information regarding Border Patrol policy and procedure on the use of force, specifically taser and deadly force, the response was useless blacked out papers. Is this the additional “boots on the ground” border policy that Obama so proudly proclaims? Is this what is being argued in favor of by a Department of Justice who is defending its right to enforce immigration laws while arguing against state laws like S.B. 1070?

I am not denying the horrible nature of state anti-immigrant legislation which impacts the daily life of all Latinos. But I will also not ignore the spirits of the dead like Anastasio, Sergio Adrian Hernandez Güereca, the spirits of the women sexually assaulted on the border by law enforcement, and Ramses Barron Torres – all crying for justice.

The Legal March Against S.B. 1070

7:50 am By Maegan La Mala · arizona|Immigration|Justice|Politics · 4 Comments

23 Apr 2012

Arizona’s S.B. 1070 has been pushed back against since it’s creation. There have been marches, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, boycotts, petitions, and lawsuits. This week attention turns to the Supreme Court who on Wednesday will hear if parts of the law, in effect since April of 2010, can be enforced by the state or if the law infringes upon a federal power, immigration enforcement. So far, four parts of the law have been blocked from being enforced because they, according to courts, clearly tread on what the federal government should be doing. These are the four parts that will be considered by the court. The court can strike down all four provisions, some, or none. The parts being considered are:

1. The requirement that all residents of the state, regardless of immigration status, be able to show proof of their legal status if a law enforcement agent stops them with a “reasonable suspicion” to
believe that they are undocumented.

2. The provision making it a state crime if a person cannot produce the proof of their immigration status.

3. The provision making it a state crime for a person to be looking for work or be working if they don’t have legal papers.

4. The provision authorizing law enforcement to arrest an individual without a warrant if the officer believes they have committed any offense that would make them deportable.

This is not a case about if the anti-immigrant law denies equal protection under the law for immigrants. This is not a case about the civil or human rights of immigrants. People should be clear that while yes, if the Supreme Court decides that S.B. 1070 indeed goes above and beyond what a state should be doing, it has the potential of stopping other copycat laws from moving forward in other states like in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Utah. But that same court decision against S.B. 1070 will affirm the existence and enforcement of federal policies and practices that predated S.B. 1070, namely programs like Secure Communities. It is the federal government who will be arguing against S.B. 1070. So while a Supreme Court decision against S.B. 1070 could have a domino effect in terms of other state anti-immigrant legislation, it will not erase the climate of fear for the undocumented in the United States. That would take a real effort by the federal government to actually practice discretion when it comes to immigration enforcement priorities, something that honestly cannot happen while policies like S-Comm are pushed as part of immigration policy.

On Wednesday, there are events scheduled in Arizona and all over the country against S.B. 1070 and similar laws.

For a great resource on the Supreme Court S.B. 1070 case, visit the Immigration Policy Center.

Miercoles Musica : Ana Tijoux Shock (on Reclamation)

7:20 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism|Chile|Justice|Music · Comments Off

21 Mar 2012

I haven’t posted anything since last week, since before Romney won the Puerto Rican primary, as if that means anything. I’m planning my next big show happening next week so y head is in that and not in political analysis. But I did want to share this video by French Chilena Ana Tijoux which seems especially fitting given the recent reboot Occupy Wall Street has gotten (with the same problems that originally kept me away), the push for the NY State DREAM Act, Undocumented Coming Out actions across the country, the killing of
Trayvon Martin and this statement from Decolonize Oakland.

As I prepare for my participation on the next stop of the make/shift recLAmation tour, I am reflecting on reclaiming, the words of the Communiqué from Decolonize Oakland are resonating with me. The “occupations” we are seeing are not like the tomas that have been happening in Chilean schools for decades. I think the part about people of color autonomy and self-determination is critical and we can’t have that in spaces where it’s ok for white mean to don Native headdress as ironic statements (as I saw recently at OWS).

The shock is not at the fact that people are stepping up and speaking out, the shock is that people are only now starting to notice the resistance that has been happening for over 500 years.

Special Thanks to Nacional Records

New Lawsuit Targets Another U.S. Deportation Program

12:39 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Justice|Politics · Comments Off

14 Mar 2012

Last week a number of immigration advocacy organizations in Washington D.C. filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security seeking information regarding their Criminal Alien Program (CAP).

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the CAP program provides ICE-wide direction and support in the identification and arrest of those immigrants who are incarcerated within federal, state and local prisons and jails, as well as at-large immigrants with criminal records. This is done through ICE presence in jails and prisons and initiating deportation proceedings against people convicted of criminal offenses. It’s important to note that CAP does not just look at undocumented immigrants but also green-card holders, short-term temporary workers and visitors with proper authorization,

The lawsuit filed by the American Immigration Council (AIC) and the Connecticut chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) alleges that ICE also sweeps up individuals who have been arrested but never convicted of any crime, a violation of due process.
Specifically the two organizations are seeking responsive, non-exempt records regarding CAP under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

While the federal government continues to expand another deportation program, Secure Communities, over the past five years alone, CAP has led to the arrest of more than a million people, and the program was implicated in approximately half of all removal proceedings in FY 2009.

From a press release announcing the lawsuit:

“Although CAP supposedly targets the worst criminal offenders, the limited information we have shows that this is not always the case,” according to Melissa Crow, Director of AIC’s Legal Action Center. “Like Secure Communities, this insidious program seems to target individuals with little or no criminal history for deportation and to incentivize pretextual stops and racial profiling.”

ICE claims that the CAP program saves money and resources but from fiscal years 2005 to 2009 the largest as well as the fastest growing segment of appropriated dollars went to ICE’s Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) office whose budget more than doubled (increasing 104%). While ICE has stated that the focus of the program is high risk violent offenders it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that this investment in criminalizing immigrant communities has increased under Obama as deportation numbers have increased across the board.

Tonight in Brooklyn : NY Contra El Gasoducto Teach-In

1:27 pm By Maegan La Mala · Environment|Events|Justice|New York City|Puerto Rico · 2 Comments

2 Mar 2012

NY Contra El Gasoducto presents

NO AL GASODUCTO Educational fórum

· What is “El Gasoducto” also known as Via Verde?

· Who is going to be affected by it?

· Why is it a threat to the environment?

· Who benefits from it?

· Presentation about Puerto Rico’s Via Verde project also known as the Gasoducto gas pipeline

· Invited speakers

· Short video presentation about fracking (a method for extracting oil and natural gas)

· Question and answers about Gasoducto gas pipeline and fracking

Friday, March 2, 2012 at 7:00pm
at UPROSE – 166A 22nd Street, Brooklyn, NY
(22nd St between 3rd and 4th Ave. – R train to 25th St. in Sunset Park)

Tel: (718) 492-9307 Email: Info@UPROSE.org
FREE ADMISSION

Co-sponsored by: UPROSE and Muevete Youth Movement
More info at virtualboricua.org and on our FaceBook group: facebook.com/groups/nycontraelgasoducto/

VL Digest

13 Dec 2011

Instead of me finding time to write about some of the news stories that are of interest (which seems to be a challenge these past few weeks) I’ve decided to share with you the stories. Yes! These are stories I would love to write more about, share my perspective, challenge our ideas, and forge a conversation about them with VL readers. Perhaps we can do that without individual posts for each piece? Perhaps not, either way, here’s a VL Digest. Have VL readers heard of these stories? What are your thoughts?

An Apology 30 Years In The Making: El Salvador Marks El Mozote Massacre

Yesterday I was reading about the apology the Salvadoran government gave for El Mozote massacre where over 800 women, children, men, people were killed by the Salvadoran military. The Massacre occurred 30 years ago in December. I remember growing up in Maryland and hearing about this massacre by the Salvadoran immigrants who migrated to the Takoma Park and Langley Park area. I remember my parents telling me that some folks who we met may not ever be able to go back home because of a Civil War. It all began to become more clear to me years later when I started reading more on the historical accounts and injustices that were occurring, especially the role the US played in training the military in the Americas.

The Exiles of Puerto Rico

There was a lot of buzz about TEDx San Juan, and I’m eager to see what video is available of our friend Larry La Fountain-Stokes’ presentation of the work, activism, and survival of Puerto Rico’s LGBTQ community. In attendance was Forbe.com blogger Giovanni Rodriguez who shares his ideas of Puerto Ricans as being exiles (inspired by Larry’s usage of queer Puerto Ricans as sexiles who use music, art, songs, and writing to share their testimonios). Rodriguez considers those Puerto Ricans who migrated from the mainland to the US as exiles as well (this would include my parents) who were searching for more secure and better economic opportunities. He argues that many Puerto Ricans leaving now are doing so reluctantly.

Third Party & Independent Candidates 2012

I am often exhausted with hearing only two party debates, discussions and media coverage. This week I went in search of who may be considering running as Third Party and Independent candidates for President of the US in 2012. This site was useful to give me an idea and remind me that there are always more than two options when it comes to voting, and knowing all of those options is what makes someone, in my opinion, an educated voter.

Suffer the Little Children : Immigration Enforcement and the Foster Care System

8:03 am By Maegan La Mala · children|Family|Immigration|Justice|Women · 4 Comments

3 Nov 2011

Shattered Familiess, A report released yesterday by the Applied Research Center, states that current immigration enforcement policies put at risk 15,000 additional children for placement into the foster care system. The report is the first of its kind to research the impact of the intersection of immigration enforcement and the child welfare system.

As many families know, the foster care system already has parents of color, poor parents and immigrant parents in it’s crosshairs. Child welfare, working with local law enforcement who engage in racial profiling, put the long term care of children at risk. Poverty, instead of being looked at as a structural problem, is viewed as criminal neglect. Instead of attempting to attack the root causes of poverty, parents are criminalized and asked “why did you have children if you can’t afford them”. According to the report, children of immigrants are significantly more likely than children of non-immigrant parents to live in low-income families (below 200% poverty line)—35% to 49%. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that immigrant families ay not

I am reminded of the case of Cirila Baltazar Cruz, who lost custody of her daughter when a Mississippi social worker, who didn’t speak the same Indigenous language as Baltazar Cruz and who never sought translation services, found the Oaxacan mother unfit to care for her infant Ruby citing her lack of language skills, as well as fabrications that accused Baltazar Cruz of engaging in criminal activity. Eventually, Cruz was reunited with her daughter, but not before almost losing her permanently, as Ruby was placed in the care of a prominent local family that sought to fast track the child for adoption.

The ARC report presents many like cases, showing that what happened to Baltazar Cruz wasn’t a one off incident, but rather a symptom of how the criminalization of immigrants also seeks to make immigrant parenthood illegal. ARC identified at least 22 states across the country where children in foster care are separated from their parents because of immigration enforcement. Because of the long amount of time it often takes for immigration matters to be resolved, children lose
the opportunity to ever see their parents again when a juvenile dependency
court terminates parental rights. In fiscal year 2011, the United States deported a record-breaking 397,000 people and detained nearly that many. According to never before released federal data acquired by ARC through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, a growing number of deportees are parents. In the first six months of 2011, the federal government removed more than 46,000 mothers and fathers of U.S.-citizen children. ARC conservatively estimates that there are at least 5,100
children currently living in foster care whose parents have
been either detained or deported.

The increase in enforcement programs, like Secure Communities and 287(g, have made the situation worse. In counties where local police have signed 287(g) agreements with
ICE, children in foster care were, on average, about 29 percent more likely to have a detained or deported parent than in other counties.

Lost in Detention Gives Attention to Immigrant Detention and S-Comm but Lacks Alternatives

1:04 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Justice|Media|Politics|Secure Communities · Comments Off

19 Oct 2011

As Bianca posted yesterday, last night PBS’s Frontline featured Lost in Detention with Maria Hinojosa. The hour long investigative show looked at the immigration detention policies that have expanded under the Obama administration, specifically the impact of Secure Communities and the abuses in the ever expanding immigration jail industry.

I watched the special report last night and sadly wasn’t surprised by anything presented. The issue of how the Obama administration has focused on increasing deportations, using programs like Secure Communities, is one we have covered for years. I expect though that this program exposed how the current immigration policy is tearing apart families and leading to physical and sexual abuse inside the big business of detention centers to a new audience.

One of the disappointments I was left with after watching Lost in Detention was the way the show seemed to serve as a mic for the excuses given by the Obama administration for the terror it’s policies create. The answer that seemed to be given by Hinojosa for the question “what can be done to stop the deportations and growth of abuses?” was Comprehensive Immigration Reform. There were snippets of speeches by Obama and an interview with the administration’s vendecomunidad Latina spokesmodel Cecilia Muñoz. Some choice quotes from Muñoz:

“even broken laws have to be enforced.”

“as long as congress gives us $ to deport 400,000. That’s what we’re going to do.”

VivirLatino