Is Long-Term Immigration Detention Illegal?

June 21, 2016, 10:20 am

≫ Next: POLITICO: Immigration reformers eye Gang of 8 revival

Karnes County Civil Detention Center.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether detained immigrants facing deportation must be allowed a bail hearing if they are held for at least six months, a decision that could have significant implications for immigrant-rights groups.

The case the court will hear dates back to 2010, when the American Civil Liberties Union brought a class-action suit against Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, a department of the federal government. The case includes about 1,000 immigrants in California who have been detained longer than six months, either for crossing the border illegally or because they were legal residents who committed deportable crimes. The ACLU argued that immigrants in detention centers who demonstrate that they will show up for court hearings and who pose no public threat deserve a right to a bail hearing. A California court ruled in favor of the ACLU, and on appeal, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the lower court’s ruling in 2015. The Obama administration appealed the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, which set it up for review on the Supreme Court docket.

Read more at the The Atlantic here: http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/06/supreme-court-immigration-detention/487877/

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POLITICO: Immigration reformers eye Gang of 8 revival

July 5, 2016, 10:15 am

≫ Next: ACLU Report Documents Struggle Of Deported Veterans

≪ Previous: Is Long-Term Immigration Detention Illegal?

CHARLES DHARAPAK / AP

By SEUNG MIN KIM and BURGESS EVERETT

Lindsey Graham doesn’t sugarcoat his prediction: Republicans are going to get thrashed in the November election, especially among Latinos. And it’s going to trigger another run at immigration reform in Congress next year, the South Carolina senator says.

“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do in 2017,” the plainspoken GOP deal maker said in a recent interview. “I’m going to take the Gang of Eight bill out, dust it off and ask anybody and everybody who wants to work with me to make it better to do so.”

Graham isn’t the only one eyeing a revival of the Gang of Eight, the bipartisan group of senators that shepherded a sweeping immigration bill through the Senate three years ago only to watch it stall in the House a year later. Propelled by a Republican establishment eager to make inroads with minority voters after losing them by steep margins in the 2012 election, it was the closest Congress came in a generation to overhauling the nation’s immigration laws.

Article source: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/immigration-reform-gang-eight-225028

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ACLU Report Documents Struggle Of Deported Veterans

July 7, 2016, 10:09 am

≫ Next: U.S. must release child migrants held in family detention, court says

≪ Previous: POLITICO: Immigration reformers eye Gang of 8 revival

CR: ACLU

Enrique Salas, who served four years in the Marines and was eligible for citizenship, was deported to Mexico about a decade ago.

His mistake? After his brother was killed in a military training accident, Salas began to use drugs. He served a six-month sentence for possession of a controlled substance. In 2006, his criminal record led to his deportation.

Salas is one of 84 foreign-born veterans featured in a report by the American Civil Liberties Union of California, “Discharged, then Discarded.” They were either deported or are facing deportation. In Mexico, they face threats from drug cartels seeking to recruit them because of their military expertise.

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U.S. must release child migrants held in family detention, court says

July 8, 2016, 9:40 am

≫ Next: Op-Ed: Mr. Obama’s Dubious Detention Centers

≪ Previous: ACLU Report Documents Struggle Of Deported Veterans

President Obama’s immigration policy was dealt another blow Wednesday when the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s opinion that child migrants who are accompanied by a parent and currently in family detention should be quickly released.

It left the fate of the parents up in the air, however.

The case centers on a 1997 legal settlement — known as the Flores agreement — that set legal requirements for the housing of children seeking asylum or in the country illegally. ee In July 2015, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles found the government had violated key provisions of the court settlement that put restrictions on the detention of migrant children.

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Op-Ed: Mr. Obama’s Dubious Detention Centers

July 18, 2016, 10:10 am

≫ Next: Asian Journal: AAPI communities urged to apply to DACA

≪ Previous: U.S. must release child migrants held in family detention, court says

New York Times Editorial Board

The family detention centers the Obama administration has been operating in Texas and Pennsylvania have been an expedient way to handle the soaring numbers of Central Americans, many of them young children, who have arrived at the Southern border since 2014. They give a sense that Homeland Security has the border situation under control, and they supposedly send a message to other would-be refugees not to come.

But these privately run, unlicensed lockups are no place for children. Or mothers. Their existence belies President Obama’s oft-professed concern for the humane treatment of people fleeing crime and violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Read more at the New York Times here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/18/opinion/mr-obamas-dubious-detention-centers.html?_r=0

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Asian Journal: AAPI communities urged to apply to DACA

August 1, 2016, 9:54 am

≫ Next: Black Lives Matter joins the fight against the unjust immigration system

≪ Previous: Op-Ed: Mr. Obama’s Dubious Detention Centers

There are more than 152,000 Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) who qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

However, less than 15 percent of eligible AAPIs actually apply for the program. Moreover, nine out of every 10 AAPI who are currently eligible to request DACA have not done so.

The statistics — which come from the Migration Policy Institute and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) — were the topics of interest at a roundtable discussion about DACA on Thursday, July 28 at the Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles (Advancing Justice – LA) headquarters.

Read more on why AAPI communities should apply to DACA here: http://asianjournal.com/news/aapi-communities-urged-to-apply-to-daca/

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Black Lives Matter joins the fight against the unjust immigration system

August 4, 2016, 9:29 am

≫ Next: An anxious election season for DACA cardholders

≪ Previous: Asian Journal: AAPI communities urged to apply to DACA

The Black Lives Matter movement this week announced it has adopted a 10-point platform that includes a call to end all deportations. It could be a game changer.

Black Lives Matter, which started as a hashtag in 2013, has quickly evolved into a leading civil rights movement that until this week has mainly focused on policing issues that affect the black community. But on Monday the movement adopted a more comprehensive platform developed by the Movement for Black Lives, which has a list of demands, including a call for an “end to the war on Black immigrants.”

Specifically, the group is calling for an end to immigration raids, a halt to deportations and assurances that all immigrants have access to an attorney before going before an immigration judge.

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An anxious election season for DACA cardholders

August 8, 2016, 11:38 am

≫ Next: Federal judge orders more photos unsealed in suit alleging overcrowding in migrant detention centers

≪ Previous: Black Lives Matter joins the fight against the unjust immigration system

Francisco Salcido, 22, is a typical student who holds down a job and attends college. But his life — along with thousands of others —could change dramatically after the November presidential election. He is an undocumented immigrant with a renewable two-year work visa and deportation deferral called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

“I just can’t think of what would happen if my DACA got taken away,” he said.

The future of DACA is uncertain. President Obama created the program by executive action, which means the next president could end it.

Read more on this story at: http://tucson.com/news/local/an-anxious-election-season-for-daca-cardholders/article_36301e3e-3bae-5919-8dec-0b7829fd7490.html

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Federal judge orders more photos unsealed in suit alleging overcrowding in migrant detention centers

August 8, 2016, 11:43 am

≫ Next: Obama’s Last Attempt at Immigration Reform

≪ Previous: An anxious election season for DACA cardholders

A U.S. District Court judge in Tucson has released photographs and documents that immigration activists allege will show crowding and unsanitary conditions at detention centers maintained by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency in its Tucson Sector along the Arizona-Mexico border.

Judge David Bury issued the order late Wednesday, defining and clarifying an earlier order about which documents and photographs can and can’t be released.

Bury had unsealed many of the documents in late June, but they have not yet been made available to the public because CBP claimed they jeopardized security at the facilities and would invade the privacy of immigrants detained there.

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Obama’s Last Attempt at Immigration Reform

August 9, 2016, 10:56 am

≫ Next: Protected: NGO briefing on the Haitian Earthquake Survivors Crisis at the Southern Border

≪ Previous: Federal judge orders more photos unsealed in suit alleging overcrowding in migrant detention centers

Immigration reform was supposed to be part of Obama’s legacy. His executive actions on immigration aimed to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation, but were eventually blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court. With a Republican-controlled Congress, legislation appears out of reach. So the administration is taking a new approach by expanding its assistance to Central American migrants, seeming to acknowledge years of frustration and failed attempts at reforming America’s immigration policy.

In January, Secretary of State John Kerry announced a plan, in conjunction with the United Nations, to identify people from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala who are eligible for refugee status. “We can both maintain the highest security standards and live up to our best traditions as Americans by welcoming those in need of help to our great country,” Kerry said in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

In late July, the administration announced additional steps to address Central American migrants. For one, the United States will screen individuals in their native countries. Costa Rica, in partnership with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, also agreed to assist in the effort by temporarily taking in small numbers of applicants and processing them before they get transferred to the United States or another country. And an expansion of the Central American Minors program will allow siblings, parents, and caregivers accompanying minors to apply for refugee status. Under this program, the United States has already received 9,500 applications. The goal is to provide “orderly and safe resettlement here in the United States,” as Eric Schultz, the principal deputy White House press secretary, put it in a press briefing.

More on this story at The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/immigration-reform-central-american-refugees/494948/

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Protected: NGO briefing on the Haitian Earthquake Survivors Crisis at the Southern Border

September 19, 2016, 1:09 pm

≫ Next: Timeline: How Survivors of 2010 Haitian Earthquake Arrived at the San Diego/Tijuana Border

≪ Previous: Obama’s Last Attempt at Immigration Reform

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Timeline: How Survivors of 2010 Haitian Earthquake Arrived at the San Diego/Tijuana Border

September 20, 2016, 5:18 pm

≫ Next: PRESS CONFERENCE: Shelters Open in San Diego to Aid 2010 Haitian Earthquake Survivors

≪ Previous: Protected: NGO briefing on the Haitian Earthquake Survivors Crisis at the Southern Border

In 2010, a massive earthquake decimated Haiti. It was a natural disaster of catastrophic proportions. The American people responded to this disaster with compassion and aid, sending resources and volunteers to help the Haitian people. In the last several months, Haitians who have been living outside of their country have come to our borders seeking legal entry.

Having committed to not forsake and not forget the Haitian people in the wake of the earthquake, the United States allows them legal entry for humanitarian reasons and provides work permits so they can contribute to our country while Haiti is being rebuilt and until they can return.

See below for the full timeline:

sdirc-haitian6

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PRESS CONFERENCE: Shelters Open in San Diego to Aid 2010 Haitian Earthquake Survivors

September 21, 2016, 9:18 am

≫ Next: The U.S. Just Broke a Promise it Made to the Survivors of the Haitian Earthquake of 2010

≪ Previous: Timeline: How Survivors of 2010 Haitian Earthquake Arrived at the San Diego/Tijuana Border

WHAT: Press conference to discuss the relocation of the survivors of the 2010 Haitian Earthquake to temporary shelters in San Diego

WHEN: Wednesday, September 21st at 2 p.m. PST

WHERE: Christ United Methodist Church, 3295 Meade Ave, San Diego, CA 92116 (Press conference will be live streamed via SDIRC’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/immigrantsandiego)

WHO: Andrea Guerrero, Executive Director of Alliance San Diego

Assembly Speaker Emeritus Toni Atkins, D-San Diego

Rev. Bill Jenkins, Director of the Christ Ministry Center, and Pastor Jean Elise. Church has provided shelter to hundreds of Haitian earthquake survivors in San Diego

Father Pat Murphy, Casa del Migrante (Tijuana)

Representatives from La Maestra Community Health Centers, which has provided health screenings and checkups to Haitian earthquake survivors

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES:

Interview with Haitian family who survived 2010 earthquake
Elise Claudette, volunteer who is working with Haitian earthquake survivors
Ginger Jacobs, Chair of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium
Pedro Rios, board member of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium

BACKGROUND: In 2010, a massive earthquake decimated Haiti. It was a natural disaster of catastrophic proportions. The American people responded to this disaster with compassion and aid, sending resources and volunteers to help the Haitian people.

In the last several months, Haitians who have been living outside of their country have come to our borders seeking entry. Unable to return to Haiti, which is still destitute, they come to join family and friends already here. Having committed to not forsake and not forget the Haitian people in the wake of the earthquake, the United States allows them legal entry for humanitarian reasons and provides work permits so they can contribute to our country while Haiti is being rebuilt and until they can return.

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The U.S. Just Broke a Promise it Made to the Survivors of the Haitian Earthquake of 2010

September 22, 2016, 3:54 pm

≫ Next: KUSI: U.S. closes door to Haitian earthquake survivors

≪ Previous: PRESS CONFERENCE: Shelters Open in San Diego to Aid 2010 Haitian Earthquake Survivors

San Diego, CA – The Administration’s decision to detain and deport Haitian earthquake survivors arriving at the border is breaking a promise the United States made to not forsake or forget the Haitian people after the devastating earthquake of 2010.

This move means that earthquake survivors who arrive at the border may face indefinite detention, because Haiti still lacks the capacity and infrastructure to absorb returning migrants. Haiti remains the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

While the Administration is backtracking on its commitments to help the Haitian earthquake survivors, San Diegans in particular have stepped up to assist Haitians displaced by the earthquake. Only about 10 percent of the Haiti earthquake survivors are resettling in San Diego, the rest are heading to cities on the East Coast. We thank California Governor Jerry Brown’s office for helping to set up temporary shelters in San Diego.

Ginger Jacobs, Chair of the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium released the following statement:

“As San Diegans, we have honored the Administration’s commitment to not forsake the Haitian community during their time of need. Our community stands in solidarity with our Haitian brothers and sisters. We urge the Administration to keep its word and continue to offer humanitarian aid to victims of the 2010 Haitian Earthquake, including humanitarian parole. It is inhumane to deport them to a destitute land with little-to-no employment opportunities, insufficient housing, political instability, and virtually no police presence. They have gone through enough! During their journey to our border, the Haitian earthquake survivors have suffered tremendous trauma, many having been beaten, robbed, and violated. We urge the Administration to keep its word and continue to offer humanitarian aid to victims of the 2010 Haitian earthquake.”

Pastor Jean Elise, with the Christ Ministry Center, which has offered shelter to earthquake survivors, released the following statement:

“We must be good neighbors and act with compassion by assisting those in need. That is who we are as a country; that is what we do. We should not be breaking promises to people who are desperate for someone to extend a helping hand. Haiti is still in shambles and there is little to nothing for them to go back to. We must not close the door on our neighbors during their time of need.”

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KUSI: U.S. closes door to Haitian earthquake survivors

September 23, 2016, 4:10 pm

≫ Next: Haitian Men Cut Off From Families as U.S. Tightens Entry Rules

≪ Previous: The U.S. Just Broke a Promise it Made to the Survivors of the Haitian Earthquake of 2010

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — The United States is closing the doors on thousands of Haitian immigrants who want to come to the U.S.

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security announced a policy change that prevents more survivors of the Haiti earthquake from entering the U.S. through the San Ysidro Border.

It’s important to know what these people are not. They are not illegal. They are not refugees. They are not asylum seekers.

They are seeking humanitarian help.

The Haiti earthquake of 2010 is still producing aftershocks in the wave of displaced Haitians looking for a place to put down roots.

In recent months, thousands of Haitians have been arriving at the border in San Ysidro.

Article source: http://www.kusi.com/story/33164151/us-closes-door-to-haitian-earthquake-survivors

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Haitian Men Cut Off From Families as U.S. Tightens Entry Rules

September 29, 2016, 10:27 am

≫ Next: California’s university leaders are urging Trump to embrace students who are in the U.S. illegally

≪ Previous: KUSI: U.S. closes door to Haitian earthquake survivors

By KIRK SEMPLE

MEXICO CITY — A sudden shift in American immigration policy has divided scores of Haitian families trying to enter the United States from Mexico, immigrants and advocates say.

The policy change, announced last week, has separated wives from husbands and children from their fathers, stranding the men in Mexico after their families were allowed to cross into the United States.

“I’m hoping God makes miracles,” said Sandra Alexandre, who was allowed into the United States last week ahead of her boyfriend and gave birth three days later. The new policy went into effect right before the child’s father could cross.

The family separations appear to be an unintended consequence of the Obama administration’s effort to tighten the border against the arrival of thousands of Haitians streaming north from Brazil, mostly to seek employment in the United States.

Read the full story here.

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California’s university leaders are urging Trump to embrace students who are in the U.S. illegally

November 30, 2016, 10:46 am

≫ Next: SDIRC Applauds California Bills That Supports Immigrants and Refugees

≪ Previous: Haitian Men Cut Off From Families as U.S. Tightens Entry Rules

Leaders of California’s three systems of public higher education sent a joint letter to President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday urging him to allow students who are in the country illegally to continue their educations without fear of deportation.

“These sons and daughters of undocumented immigrants are as American as any other child across the nation” in all but the letter of the law, do not pose a safety threat and have contributed to their communities, wrote University of California President Janet Napolitano, Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White and Eloy Ortiz Oakley, chancellor-designate of California Community Colleges.

Read the full story here.

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SDIRC Applauds California Bills That Supports Immigrants and Refugees

December 5, 2016, 3:36 pm

≫ Next: Dick Durbin, Lindsey Graham Unveil Bill To Stop Donald Trump From Ending Protections For Dreamers

≪ Previous: California’s university leaders are urging Trump to embrace students who are in the U.S. illegally

The San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium (SDIRC) has issued the following statement regarding legislation in California that would protect immigrants and refugees against potentially harsh immigration policies from the Federal Government:

“When it comes to standing up for immigrants and refugees, the time for rhetoric is over, and the time to take action is now. That’s why we applaud state elected officials in California for taking proactive measures to protect immigrants and refugees against potentially harsh immigration and enforcement policies from the incoming Trump Administration.

Trust between the community and local law enforcement is essential for everyone’s security. Policies that require local law enforcement to help enforce federal immigration law erode this trust and put everyone’s safety at risk. Schools, clinics, hospitals, places of worship and other sensitive locations should be deemed off-limits to immigration enforcement agents. It’s important that immigrants and refugees have access to proper legal representation when needed.

The best way to protect the wellbeing of our entire community is ensuring that people feel they can move freely in their communities without fear.”

About San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium

The San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium is a project of Alliance San Diego. Beginning in 2007, community, faith, labor, and legal organizations have come together as the Immigrant Rights Consortium. Through the Consortium, these organizations are pursuing four common goals: Support comprehensive immigration reform; top the spread of local policies and practices that target and violate the civil and human rights of immigrants; educate immigrants about their rights and the legal and other resources available to them and educate the public about the important contributions of immigrants and counter the myths and misstatements made about immigrants. For more information about the San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium, please visit www.immigrantsandiego.org.

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Dick Durbin, Lindsey Graham Unveil Bill To Stop Donald Trump From Ending Protections For Dreamers

December 9, 2016, 10:28 am

≫ Next: California legislators challenge Trump anti-immigrant agenda

≪ Previous: SDIRC Applauds California Bills That Supports Immigrants and Refugees

WASHINGTON ― Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) unveiled legislation on Friday to protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation under President-elect Donald Trump ― now the question is whether it will work.

The bill, called the Bridge Act, would effectively maintain the protections of President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. More than 740,000 young people were granted deportation reprieve and work permits under the program, but could now lose those protections, should Trump follow through on a promise to end DACA immediately upon taking office.

Read the full story here.

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California legislators challenge Trump anti-immigrant agenda

December 12, 2016, 4:48 pm

≫ Next: San Diego Unified to Trump: Spare Our Undocumented Students

≪ Previous: Dick Durbin, Lindsey Graham Unveil Bill To Stop Donald Trump From Ending Protections For Dreamers

OAKLAND, Calif. – As their new two-year legislative session opened Dec. 5, members of California’s state Senate and Assembly moved quickly to build on post-election initiatives to protect and uphold the rights of the state’s undocumented immigrants.

A 2015 study by the Public Policy Institute of California estimated California’s undocumented population at 2.67 million, or nearly a quarter of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., and said they make up just over 6 percent of the state’s population. Other estimates put the figure at around 2.3 million.

Both legislative houses passed identical resolutions urging President-elect Donald Trump to form humane immigration policies, avoid mass deportations, and keep President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy intact.

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