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From Coast to Coast : More Actions Against Secure Communities

12:55 pm By Maegan La Mala · Activism|Immigration|Justice|New York City|Secure Communities · 1 Comment

26 Aug 2011

When the Secure Communities Task Force took their sham of a “community hearing” to Arlington, Virginia earlier this week, they heard testimony for, but mostly against the deportation policy that has contributed to a million deportations under the Obama administration.

It should be noted, that in the video above Maria Bolanos, whom we have written about, is peaking directly to the assistant director of Secure Communities , Marc Rapp.

Like in meetings past, the action included a call for task force members to resign and a walk out. After the walk out, the meeting did continue.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the site of the first S-Comm task force meeting, there was a protest at the federal detention facility, that ended in the arrests of five people, included DREAMers. All of those arrested have since been released.

Department of Homeland Security Road Show : Next Stop Today in Arlington, VA

8:09 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Secure Communities|Virginia · Comments Off

24 Aug 2011

Apologies for taking a few days off from the site to spend time with visiting familia. One thing is for sure, that in spite of little earthquakes, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) demonstrates that the passage of time doesn’t change a thing.

After holding such successful taskforce meetings in Los Angeles and Chicago, DHS is holding another meeting tonight at George Mason Law School at 3351 Fairfax Drive in Arlington, Virginia to hear testimony on the Secure Communities deportation policy.

Like with the other meetings, local organizations are holding press conferences and actions to show their appreciation. Today at 5:15 p.m. ET, followed by March at 5:30 p.m, there will be a press Conference at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 3304 Washington Blvd., Arlington, VA.

Andy Mathe Deported to South Africa on Tuesday Night : Family Faces Same Outcome

9:15 am By Maegan La Mala · Georgia|Immigration · 1 Comment

29 Jul 2011

On Tuesday, July 26th Immigration and Customs Enforcement put Andy Mathe on a Delta airplane out of Atlanta to South Africa. He was deported to the country his mom, grandmother and siblings left almost five years ago. As news came in on Tuesday evening, there were updates, tweets, and phone calls. None were enough to stop what the current administration seemed determined to do, deport this young man and separate him from his family here, especially his mother.

Now the rest of the family that remains in the US is preparing to meet the same fate as Andy. On August 2nd the Mathe family will check-in with ICE authorities under their order of supervision. The entire family’s plea to remain in the U.S. was rejected along with Andy’s. Whether the family will be detained and deported at the August 2nd visit remains to be seen, it seems like a very likely possibility given how things went down with Andy earlier this week.

Under the terms of the newly released memo by John Morton this family meets the requirement for discretion. Advocates hope the Obama administration; Rep. John Lewis and immigration authorities do not once again fail the Mathe-Karekezi family. It seems clear to me, as I feared and told people in the days following the release of the Morton memo, that the actual application of discretion would fall far from what advocates hope.

DREAM Activist is asking people to call Rep. John Lewis to act on behalf of the Mathe family members that remain in the United States.

1. Atlanta office: 404-659-0116
2. Washington D.C. office: 202-225-3801

Sample Script:

“Hi I was calling to ask that Rep. Lewis stop delaying action, Andy has already been deported and the rest of the family is next. Rep. Lewis needs to contact ICE directly and write a letter demanding the Mathe family not be deported.”

If you are in the Chicago area, there is a rally scheduled for this coming Tuesday in support of the family, organized by Immigrant Youth Justice League.

Action Update on Andy Mathe : Likely Deportation to Happen Tonite

12:29 pm By Maegan La Mala · Activism|Immigration · 1 Comment

26 Jul 2011

Edited at 5:15 pm EST :
There are a few actions you can take to defend Andy Mathe’s right to stay.
You can call Delta Customer Service : 404-765-5000 and just keep saying ‘customer service’ until you get a person. Ask Delta to not cooperate with ICE.

The script: “Hi i was calling to ask that Andy Mathe not be deported to his death on the Delta flight today at 7:00pm from Atlanta to South Africa. Delta should not fly anyone to their death, this is a human rights issue. Refuse to allow ICE to fly Andy to his death!!”

There is also a petition being tweeted around, also targeting Delta.

It is a long shot, as it’s likely that Delta and ICE have some sort of contract (which is probably something that should be looked into.

According to sources close to the Mathe family, deferred action was denied allegedly because his age, not being currently enrolled in school, and not living with his mother.

Note – nothing because of him being a dangerous/bad/criminal immigrant.

Andy’s Mom, featured in the video below is heartbroken. She didn’t even get to say goodbye to her son.

Edited at 4:05 pm est to add: Just heard word that Andy has been picked up by ICE. It is likely that he will be sent home via a Delta airlines flight that leaves Atlanta to South Africa every day at 7 pm est.
Stay tuned as we update with more actions for people to take.
Obama doesn’t deport DREAMers huh?

An update on Andy Mathe, the young man who is facing deportation to South Africa, and whose story here generated some interesting (read troubling) commentary on who “deserves” to be fought for.

The latest via DREAMActivist:

This should be good news but it isn’t, yesterday at 6:00 pm Andy called his mother, Hope, from detention to let her know that ICE told him “you are going home on Tuesday or Wednesday.” What ICE wouldn’t do is tell him if that means home to South Africa or home to Atlanta.

Right now we don’t know where Andy is, he could be sitting at the airport for the only 7:00 pm flight directly to South Africa. We need your urgent action to find out where Andy is. Last time ICE attempted to deport Andy he talked his way off of the plane by sharing his story with the Delta pilot who then refused to take off with him on board, ICE has already threatened to ‘drug and deport’ him next time.

Yesterday, a letter informing President Obama of Andy’s situation, was hand delivered as Obama was at the National Council of la Raza Conference (more on that later). DREAMActvist is asking for people to make phone calls on Andy’s behalf:

Please call John Morton’s office, the head of ICE, at 1-800-821-9358. Tell the person who picks up:

“Hi, I was calling to ask that Andy Mathe not be deported, he will be killed if he is sent back. His alien number is: 088-488-386.”

NY’ers & Others Want Out of Secure Communities While L.A’s Sheriff Says Immigrants Deserve It

1:53 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Los Angeles|New York City|Politics|Secure Communities · 3 Comments

17 May 2011

Tomorrow, come rain or shine, individuals and organizations will gather outside of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Manhattan office to demand that he immediately end the agreement that brought Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE’s) “Secure Communities” mass deportation program to New York State exactly one year ago.

The rally, scheduled to start at 11 am EST, comes in the midst of heightened (and dare I say long overdue) controversy around the S-Comm program that requires police to automatically forward the fingerprints of every arrested person to federal immigration databases . Earlier this month the Congressional Hispanic Caucus asked President Obama for a moratorium on the program on the grounds that the program deports “good” immigrants not just those with criminal backgrounds. Last Friday, U.S. Congressional members representing parts of New York, Congresswoman Velazquez and Congressman Serrano, sent a a letter to NY Governor Cuomo requesting that he pull the state from the program citing how it has become “a mass deportation immigration enforcement tool.”

This assertion, that the problem with Secure Communities is not just that it targets “good” immigrants along with the “bad” criminal ones, but that it is part of a larger enforcement, detention, and deportation machine that has been amped up under Obama, sets this NY campaign somewhat apart from others. Campaigns in Maryland and bills like the SMART bill in Illinois and the TRUST Act in California focus on the “misuse” of the program in deporting those without serious criminal convictions as opposed to an all out recall of the program for the way it furthers a national immigration policy that refuses to acknowledge the humanity of immigrants in favor of deportation. Read more…

A DREAM Activist and Friend Faces Deportation

12:32 pm By Maegan La Mala · DREAM Act|Immigration · 8 Comments

12 Apr 2011

The numerous posts I have written throughout the years pushing for calls, petitions and support for people who would have/could have been eligible to live in the U.S. without fear, namely the DREAMers, is proof of the deception of the Obama administration.

On April 1st, it was reported that Department of Homeland Security head, Janet Napolitano said that DREAMers were not targets for immigration. Whoever believed this was fool. Recently, activist and friend, Prerna Lal received notice that she was being placed in removal proceedings.

From her website :

The Notice to Appear for a Master Hearing is for November 10, 2011, just four days short of my 12 year anniversary in this country.

(So much for Barack Obama not deporting DREAM-eligible youth or am I just too old and educated to qualify now?)

I’m the grandchild of a U.S. citizen and the daughter of legal permanent residents of the United States. The fact that I’m in removal proceedings is incomprehensible as a matter of fact and law…

… I’ll take the Notice to Appear as a compliment. It looks like I’m an important enough threat to be the target of ICE enforcement efforts. I thought DHS Secretary Napolitano was prioritizing removing so-called “criminal aliens” from the country and students like me were not the target of ICE enforcement efforts. I was wrong. Funnily, I’ve never received a speeding ticket or citation, let alone seen the inside of a police station. My only “crime” is that I turned 21 before my mother became a legal permanent resident of the United States. Unfortunately, I can’t stop aging. I’d love to know how to reverse the process. I’m sure everyone would.

But you know what’s a bigger crime? Separating a mother from her child. Separating a child from her mother based on an arbitrary age. I don’t know how my parents are supposed to survive this, considering all their hopes and dreams for the future are pinned on me, considering they came to this country only to give me a better life.

It’s also unfortunate that no court of law would hear my claim of the years of pain, anguish and trauma that I’ve faced by the simple fact that according to immigration law, my only parents are not my immediate relatives.

They are legal permanent residents now. They will be U.S. citizens soon. And they still won’t have the right to keep their youngest daughter in this country.

God Bless America.

If you can help Prerna out by donating some funds to pay for her trips to court, etc, please do so here.

Secure Communities : New Numbers Show Same Old Problems

7:36 am By Maegan La Mala · Cities|Immigration|Secure Communities · 34 Comments

25 Mar 2011

Yesterday, a coalition of organizations, including the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Center for Constitutional Rights and the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic of the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, who have been pressing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be real and transparent as to how Secure Communities actually works, released some new numbers and analysis of those numbers. The specific focus of the analysis is ICE’s claim that Secure Communities (S-Comm) focuses on “dangerous criminal immigrants”. The new analysis shows that claim to be completely false.

“Nationally, 1 in 4 people deported under S-Comm haven’t been convicted of any crime. That ratio jumps to over 50% in Boston, certain areas of California, and in multiple examples across the country..” Explained Bridget Kessler of Benjamin Cardozo School of Law

25 percent overall non-criminal deportations and in an urban area like Boston as jump to over half shows that the focus of ICE and of immigration policy under Obama overall, is deport as many as you can so you can claim success in “the war against illegals“.

When questioned during a recent House Appropriations Committee Hearing on March 11th, Director of ICE John Morton admitted,, “we do in fact remove non-criminals through Secure Communities.”

In other words it’s a shell game with words and lives. You can take a peek at some of the numbers below and they are disturbing, especially when looking at larger urban areas with large Latino immigrant populations. With the focus on rapid expansion of Secure Communities, it becomes clear whose security is being prioritized and it is not that of the families whose lives are torn apart.
Read more…

Urgent Action Alert : Afro-Colombian Faces Deportation

8:58 am By Maegan La Mala · Colombia|Immigration · 3 Comments

11 Feb 2011

Late last night I received an urgent appeal asking for help to prevent the deportation of Wilder Peña.

Wilder Peña is currently detained in an immigration detention facility in Batavia, NY and scheduled for deportation to Colombia on February 28. His life was threatened following a massacre of ten persons and the assassination of three members of his family and several of his friends at the hands of illegal armed groups. Unfortunately, due to poor legal representation he was denied asylum. Two appeals, made by the same lawyer, were also denied. Pending deportation to a country where he could potentially be killed, Wilder fled to Canada, leaving his partner and their infant son behind. He was detained at the border and has been in detention ever since.

The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) is collecting names for letters to the United Nations High Committee on Refugees in DC and the local DC congresswoman.

Clicking below will show you the text of the letters.

LettertoHolmesNorton
LettertoUNHCR

If you would like to sign the letters in order to help keep Wilder alive and with his familia, please send your name and organizational affiliation (if any) to GSanchez@wola.org

Gracias

Puerto Rican almost deported to Mexico

11:52 am By la Macha · Immigration · 1 Comment

28 May 2010

Whew. This story takes the “I can’t tell you people apart” logic to a new level. A man born in Puerto Rico (for the uninformed–that means he’s a US citizen) was recently detained for three days and threatened with deportation–to Mexico.

From Huffington Post:

Eduardo Caraballo, a U.S. citizen born in the United States, was detained for over three days on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant.

Despite presenting identifying documents and even his birth certificate, Caraballo was held by federal immigration authorities over the weekend and threatened with deportation, according to an NBC Chicago report. He was only released when his congressman, Luis Gutierrez — a vocal supporter of immigration reform — intervened on his behalf.

Now, we here at VL have been told repeatedly that the SB 1070 legislation is not racist. And that if on the off chance that a legal person *is* pulled over, that person has nothing to worry about. Because all you need to do is show your documents and everything will be ok. Right?

But what happens when the word of person producing the documents is brown? What happens when the person producing the documents is considering inherently illegal? Inherently devious and untrustworthy?

There are no papers official and legal enough to prove to people who don’t want to hear it that indeed, you are legal. We only have to look at President Obama for proof of that.

So what are those of us who are illegal no matter what papers we have to do? Are we supposed to trust the system? Just trust that people who will never and have never had their legality center on a piece of paper will “do the right thing” when *their own paper work* proves them wrong?

Mother of Gay Undocumented Latino Hate Crime Victim Speaks Out in His Defense

1:55 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · GLBT|Immigration|New York City · 7 Comments

8 Apr 2010

The other day I wrote about a gay Latino was assaulted here in NYC and after going to the police found himself facing criminal charges and deportation. Ricardo Muñiz’s mother spoke at a press conference in front of the Brooklyn Supreme Court.
The video, from Univision is in Spanish pero I will translate after.

Mala’s translation:
Anchorwoman: A Latina mother says that her son was savagely beaten for being gay and that when he went to press charges, he was the one that ended up behind bars and now could be deported. From New York, Natalia Cruz gives us more details on this case.

Natalia Cruz: With tears, this Mexican mother begs for her son not to be deported.

Jorgelina Aguirre: My son is unjustly in jail, just because he is homosexual. They took all these things to use against him.

Natalia Cruz : The mother says that her son, 23 year old Ricardo Muñiz, went to press charges saying that he had been savagely beaten for being homosexual. The police, allegedly according to Muñiz’s mother, painted Ricardo as the villain.

Jorgeline Aguirre: We came from my country because they would attack him. They discriminated against him. They would beat him. It was never like this though.

Natalia Cruz : Muñiz told the police that last July 18th, he was dancing with a friend in an area bar and there two men starting screaming anti-gay insults at them. When Muñiz walked out on the street with two friends, the alleged aggressors intercepted them with their car.

Karina Claudio from Make the Road NY [full disclosure, I know Karina]: The men got out of the car and started to insult Muñiz and his friends again.

Natalia Cruz: According to Muñiz, he was attacked with fists, a bat, and a belt buckle. However, the alleged attacker, who appears in reports as Jose Cruz, is listed in papers from the District Attorney’s office as the victim. Cruz says that Muñiz and other men attacked him. Cruz was taken to a hospital and put in an induced coma. Jorgelina asks the the case be cleared and the charges dropped against her son.

The police confirmed that Muñiz was arrested August 6th of last year with 4 assault charges, one in the first degree. Muñiz returns to court May 5th. In the meantime, his friend, Danny Valdez, who was also arrested for the incident, was already deported to his country, El Salvador, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office

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