On Dec. 7 about 80 people took part in a vigil at the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise to support the arrested workers and protest the raid. The vigil was organized by Idaho Community Action Network and Catholic Charities of Idaho.
Immigration News Briefs
Vol. 11, No. 30 - December 28, 2008
1. Texas: Detainees Protest Death, Seize Hostages
2. Idaho Raid Protested
3. Georgia Poultry Plant Raided
4. Indiana Oil Refinery Raided
Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate [at] gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs [at] gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.
*1. TEXAS: DETAINEES PROTEST DEATH, SEIZE HOSTAGES
On Dec. 12, some 1,300 federal prisoners staged an uprising at the privately run Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos, Texas, to demand better medical treatment after a detainee died at the facility, allegedly of natural causes. The Reeves County Detention Center has been run since 2003 by the GEO Group, based in Boca Raton, Florida, under contract with the federal government. The medium security prison holds more than 2,400 people, mainly inmates detained for immigration law violations. The uprising took place after the detainee's body was removed from the prison, Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper John Barton told the Pecos Enterprise. The prisoners set a fire in an exercise room at the facility and were evacuated to an outdoor yard, where they took two prison recreation workers hostage. The newspaper reported that firefighters had to extinguish bonfires inmates had set to keep warm overnight. [...]
Read the full INB at:
http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/12/inb-122808-texas-detainees-protest.html
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Will the Border Wall Stand?
by Kent Paterson, Frontera NorteSur (FNS)
December 26, 2008
As the Bush Administration enters its final weeks, pressure is building to halt construction of the Department of Homeland Security’s unfinished US-Mexico border wall. The controversial project, which was originally slated to be completed by December 31 of this year, is the target of reinvigorated opposition from border residents, elected officials, indigenous communities, human rights activists, and environmentalists.
Buoyed by changes coming to Washington, border wall opponents are stepping up their lobbying of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team to ensure the fencing is halted and even reversed. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.newspapertree.com/features/3245-will-the-border-wall-stand
December 26, 2008
As the Bush Administration enters its final weeks, pressure is building to halt construction of the Department of Homeland Security’s unfinished US-Mexico border wall. The controversial project, which was originally slated to be completed by December 31 of this year, is the target of reinvigorated opposition from border residents, elected officials, indigenous communities, human rights activists, and environmentalists.
Buoyed by changes coming to Washington, border wall opponents are stepping up their lobbying of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team to ensure the fencing is halted and even reversed. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.newspapertree.com/features/3245-will-the-border-wall-stand
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Immigration Activists Battle Harsh Laws Across U.S.
by Marcelo Ballvé, New America Media
December 22, 2008
Editor's Note: Realizing that the immigration wars have trickled down into state legislatures and even county boards, those who advocate for immigrants have begun weaving together coalitions to have their voices heard. These groups may include business, civil rights, labor or faith-based organizations. New America Media contributing editor Marcelo Ballvé is based in New York.
JACKSON, Miss. -- Ever since the harshest immigration law in the country went into effect in this state July 1st, activists on the ground have mobilized a diverse coalition-- including civil rights, church and labor leaders-- to build opposition to it. [...]
Read the full article:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=1e2b1d68506bb0697893f32744779675
December 22, 2008
Editor's Note: Realizing that the immigration wars have trickled down into state legislatures and even county boards, those who advocate for immigrants have begun weaving together coalitions to have their voices heard. These groups may include business, civil rights, labor or faith-based organizations. New America Media contributing editor Marcelo Ballvé is based in New York.
JACKSON, Miss. -- Ever since the harshest immigration law in the country went into effect in this state July 1st, activists on the ground have mobilized a diverse coalition-- including civil rights, church and labor leaders-- to build opposition to it. [...]
Read the full article:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=1e2b1d68506bb0697893f32744779675
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Leaning on Jail, City of Immigrants Fills Cells With Its Own
Mr. Canté, whose time in detention cost federal taxpayers about $10,000, was part of what many call an “immigrant gold rush” that turned the private prison industry from bust to boom.
by Nina Bernstein, New York Times
December 26, 2009
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. — Few in this threadbare little mill town gave much thought to the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility, the maximum-security jail beside the public ball fields at the edge of town. Even when it expanded and added barbed wire, Wyatt was just the backdrop for Little League games, its name stitched on the caps of the team it sponsored.
Then people began to disappear: the leader of a prayer group at St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church; the father of a second grader at the public charter school; a woman who mopped floors in a Providence courthouse. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/us/27detain.html?hp
by Nina Bernstein, New York Times
December 26, 2009
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. — Few in this threadbare little mill town gave much thought to the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility, the maximum-security jail beside the public ball fields at the edge of town. Even when it expanded and added barbed wire, Wyatt was just the backdrop for Little League games, its name stitched on the caps of the team it sponsored.
Then people began to disappear: the leader of a prayer group at St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church; the father of a second grader at the public charter school; a woman who mopped floors in a Providence courthouse. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/us/27detain.html?hp
Friday, December 26, 2008
Caution: NAFTA at Work
"In the U.S., in contrast, authorities chose not to pursue full economic integration, instead negotiating terms that were exploitive of Mexico and protective of the U.S. And since the signing of NAFTA, migration from Mexico to its northern neighbor has continued unabated as efforts to increase border enforcement have backfired, encouraging Mexican migrants in the U.S. to remain and actually increasing net undocumented migration."
How Europe's trade model could solve America's immigration problem
by Douglas Massey, Miller McCune
March 04, 2008
Consider this scenario: A group of wealthy nations with well-established democracies is linked in a successful economic union that has dramatically increased trade, commerce and living standards. To the south, a much poorer nation is undergoing a transition to democracy after decades of authoritarian rule, at the same time moving to open its formerly closed economy to international investment and exchange. As part of its broader transformation, the southern nation asks to join the economic union to its north. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.miller-mccune.com/article/190#
How Europe's trade model could solve America's immigration problem
by Douglas Massey, Miller McCune
March 04, 2008
Consider this scenario: A group of wealthy nations with well-established democracies is linked in a successful economic union that has dramatically increased trade, commerce and living standards. To the south, a much poorer nation is undergoing a transition to democracy after decades of authoritarian rule, at the same time moving to open its formerly closed economy to international investment and exchange. As part of its broader transformation, the southern nation asks to join the economic union to its north. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.miller-mccune.com/article/190#
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Immigrant and African American Workers Unite and Win
"Lou Dobbs keeps turning up every night, you know, 'Immigrant workers are taking jobs away from white workers and black workers.' But the labor movement brings them together. Because when they organize, they find their common issues -- arbitrary supervisor power, the idea that the employer is not giving you notice, taking the money in their own pocket. That’s where workers come together."
Before Sit-In, Workers Beat Racial Tensions
by Chip Mitchell, Chicago Public Radio
December 17, 2008
A sit-in by laid-off employees of a Chicago window company this month sparked international attention. Republic Windows and Doors had closed with only a few days’ notice and blamed a bank that had received billions of federal bailout dollars. The employees were members of a union, the United Electrical Workers. They fought for a severance payment and became symbols for hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers facing layoffs. Their efforts required overcoming long-standing racial tensions in their ranks. We sat down with two of those workers to hear how they did it. [...]
Read the full report:
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=30940
Unions Come to Smithfield
By David Bacon, The American Prospect
December 17, 2008
When immigration agents raided Smithfield Food's huge North Carolina slaughterhouse two years ago, union organizer Eduardo Peña compared the impact to a "nuclear bomb." The day after, people were so scared that most of the plant's 5,000 employees didn't show up for work. The lines where they kill and cut apart 32,000 hogs every day were motionless. "Workers think it's happening because people were getting organized," said Vargas at the time.
Yet on Dec. 11, 2008, when the votes were counted in the same packing plant, 2,041 workers had voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), while just 1,879 had voted against it. That stunning reversal set off celebrations in house trailers and ramshackle homes in Tarheel, Red Springs, St. Pauls, and all the tiny working-class towns spread from Fayetteville down to the South Carolina border.[...]
Read the full article:
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=unions_come_to_smithfield
Before Sit-In, Workers Beat Racial Tensions
by Chip Mitchell, Chicago Public Radio
December 17, 2008
A sit-in by laid-off employees of a Chicago window company this month sparked international attention. Republic Windows and Doors had closed with only a few days’ notice and blamed a bank that had received billions of federal bailout dollars. The employees were members of a union, the United Electrical Workers. They fought for a severance payment and became symbols for hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers facing layoffs. Their efforts required overcoming long-standing racial tensions in their ranks. We sat down with two of those workers to hear how they did it. [...]
Read the full report:
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=30940
Unions Come to Smithfield
By David Bacon, The American Prospect
December 17, 2008
When immigration agents raided Smithfield Food's huge North Carolina slaughterhouse two years ago, union organizer Eduardo Peña compared the impact to a "nuclear bomb." The day after, people were so scared that most of the plant's 5,000 employees didn't show up for work. The lines where they kill and cut apart 32,000 hogs every day were motionless. "Workers think it's happening because people were getting organized," said Vargas at the time.
Yet on Dec. 11, 2008, when the votes were counted in the same packing plant, 2,041 workers had voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), while just 1,879 had voted against it. That stunning reversal set off celebrations in house trailers and ramshackle homes in Tarheel, Red Springs, St. Pauls, and all the tiny working-class towns spread from Fayetteville down to the South Carolina border.[...]
Read the full article:
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=unions_come_to_smithfield
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Immigration Reform Trapped in Political Dualism
Roberto Lovato, New America Media
December 02, 2008
Editor’s Note: Obama’s appointments to positions that would affect immigration policy have drawn praise from advocates. But NAM contributor Roberto Lovato sees contradictory messages in the team being assembled.
Recent talk about "immigration reform" coming from Washington inspires some hope, some fear and lots of reminders about what I call "political-dualism": the ability of a President or political party to simultaneously communicate opposing policies while delivering either no new policies or exceptionally bad ones.
As the Obama Administration prepares to take the reins of the massive and massively inefficient and broken immigration system, it is important to have clarity about the incontrovertible need to overcome the political dualism that created our immigration mess in the first place.
Read the full article:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=bbec79095461b6baf2260d72a79d31fd&from=rss
December 02, 2008
Editor’s Note: Obama’s appointments to positions that would affect immigration policy have drawn praise from advocates. But NAM contributor Roberto Lovato sees contradictory messages in the team being assembled.
Recent talk about "immigration reform" coming from Washington inspires some hope, some fear and lots of reminders about what I call "political-dualism": the ability of a President or political party to simultaneously communicate opposing policies while delivering either no new policies or exceptionally bad ones.
As the Obama Administration prepares to take the reins of the massive and massively inefficient and broken immigration system, it is important to have clarity about the incontrovertible need to overcome the political dualism that created our immigration mess in the first place.
Read the full article:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=bbec79095461b6baf2260d72a79d31fd&from=rss
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Bad Apples? The "Illegal People" Controversy
A Few Bad Apples...Or a Rotten System?
Laura Carlsen, Foreign Policy in Focus
December 12, 2008
Since President-elect Barack Obama promised to deal with immigration reform in the early part of his presidency, the nation began gearing up for another round in what has been one of the most contentious issues of our time. Faced with a vociferous anti-immigrant right wing, failed reform attempts in Congress, and the human tragedy of criminal raids against immigrants, it's crucial that we get it right this time. The immediate challenge is to build a broad-based movement to pass a fair and humane reform that grants all workers and their families equal rights and protections under the law.
David Bacon's book, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Immigration and Criminalizes Immigrants provides essential tools to envision and fight for this reform. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5734
Review: Illegal People
Mary Bauer, Foreign Policy in Focus
December 10, 2008
Michele Wucker's review of David Bacon's excellent book, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Immigration and Criminalizes Immigrants, misses the mark. Wucker is put off by Bacon's supposed emphasis on "bad apple" employers. In fact, Bacon's book argues compellingly that the problem with the American immigration system isn't bad-apple employers (although there are certainly many of them); the problem is structural. And Bacon's book shows that it's a structure the United States has created that leads directly to the abuses Bacon highlights. Reading this book as merely a condemnation of bad corporations misses the real insights the book has to offer. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5727
Review: Broken Immigration System
Michele Wucker, Foreign Policy in Focus
September 25, 2008
Immigration reform advocates still disagree over the Senate's failed 2007 attempt to push through legislation that would have provided a path to legalization for the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Unions and big business had briefly allied in supporting a legalization program combined with an increase in visas. But the partnership collapsed after an ill-begotten attempt to secure the bill's passage, which added so many noxious provisions that it lost many of its supporters while failing to win over implacable opponents.
David Bacon's new book, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Immigration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press), suggests that no reform was better than the half-hearted measure that crashed and burned. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5557
Laura Carlsen, Foreign Policy in Focus
December 12, 2008
Since President-elect Barack Obama promised to deal with immigration reform in the early part of his presidency, the nation began gearing up for another round in what has been one of the most contentious issues of our time. Faced with a vociferous anti-immigrant right wing, failed reform attempts in Congress, and the human tragedy of criminal raids against immigrants, it's crucial that we get it right this time. The immediate challenge is to build a broad-based movement to pass a fair and humane reform that grants all workers and their families equal rights and protections under the law.
David Bacon's book, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Immigration and Criminalizes Immigrants provides essential tools to envision and fight for this reform. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5734
Review: Illegal People
Mary Bauer, Foreign Policy in Focus
December 10, 2008
Michele Wucker's review of David Bacon's excellent book, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Immigration and Criminalizes Immigrants, misses the mark. Wucker is put off by Bacon's supposed emphasis on "bad apple" employers. In fact, Bacon's book argues compellingly that the problem with the American immigration system isn't bad-apple employers (although there are certainly many of them); the problem is structural. And Bacon's book shows that it's a structure the United States has created that leads directly to the abuses Bacon highlights. Reading this book as merely a condemnation of bad corporations misses the real insights the book has to offer. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5727
Review: Broken Immigration System
Michele Wucker, Foreign Policy in Focus
September 25, 2008
Immigration reform advocates still disagree over the Senate's failed 2007 attempt to push through legislation that would have provided a path to legalization for the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Unions and big business had briefly allied in supporting a legalization program combined with an increase in visas. But the partnership collapsed after an ill-begotten attempt to secure the bill's passage, which added so many noxious provisions that it lost many of its supporters while failing to win over implacable opponents.
David Bacon's new book, Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Immigration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press), suggests that no reform was better than the half-hearted measure that crashed and burned. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5557
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Anti-Immigrant Fervor Translates to Terror for Women
by Melissa Nalani Ross, On The Issues Magazine
Fall 2008
In my work on civil and human rights, especially with immigrant populations, I was contacted recently about a woman without documentation who worked at a fruit stand in the northeast. A male customer approached her and asked if she had any waitressing experience, as he needed servers at his restaurant. Seeing this as an opportunity to make a little more money to support herself and her family, the woman agreed to stop by the establishment for an interview. When she arrived, instead of sitting down and discussing a job opportunity, the woman was met by a group of men who took turns raping her. They then told her that if she went to the authorities, they would have her deported.
Too afraid to go to the police out of fear of being separated from her family and livelihood, she will be left in isolation, with no recourse, no justice and no security. Her tale will not be covered by the mainstream media. The men who raped her will never be brought to justice. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/2008fall/2008fall_11.php
Fall 2008
In my work on civil and human rights, especially with immigrant populations, I was contacted recently about a woman without documentation who worked at a fruit stand in the northeast. A male customer approached her and asked if she had any waitressing experience, as he needed servers at his restaurant. Seeing this as an opportunity to make a little more money to support herself and her family, the woman agreed to stop by the establishment for an interview. When she arrived, instead of sitting down and discussing a job opportunity, the woman was met by a group of men who took turns raping her. They then told her that if she went to the authorities, they would have her deported.
Too afraid to go to the police out of fear of being separated from her family and livelihood, she will be left in isolation, with no recourse, no justice and no security. Her tale will not be covered by the mainstream media. The men who raped her will never be brought to justice. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/2008fall/2008fall_11.php
Saturday, December 13, 2008
U.S. Refugee in Mexico/Refugiada Estadounidense en México
U.S. Refugee in Mexico
Elvira Arellano, El Diario-La Prensa (NY)
December 3, 2008
Last week we welcomed Crystal Dillman, the widow of Luis Martinez, to Mexico. Martinez was murdered by a group of white youths in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, earlier this year – just because he was a Latino. His wife Crystal, an anglo, courageously stood up and demanded justice, her stand has made her a target of threats, intimidation by local police and hostility from neighbors. She has brought their children to make her home with Martinez’s family in Mexico.
Evidently, racism in the United States did not die with the election of Barack Obama! Racism attaches itself to a people based not only on their skin color but based on their country of origin. When the United States and Europe viewed Africa as a place they had the right to dominate and exploit, then Africans were treated as less than human in the United States. The long and much to be admired struggle of African Americans has begun to overcome these attitudes – especially as their numbers, unity and political strength grew. And we must remember the contribution of African Americans in ending U.S. support for apartheid.
When Crystal Dillman spoke out after the murder of her husband she correctly identified the source of the hatred against him as the anti-immigrant, anti-Latino hysteria in nearby Hazleton Pennsylvania, in the national campaign against legalization and in the media campaign of men like CNN’s Lou Dobbs. In fact, hate crimes against Latinos have risen by 40% since 2005.
Crystal Dillman was welcomed in Mexico at an international conference dealing with migrant issues which drew representatives from the United States, Mexico and Central America. Conference participants reflected that long standing U.S. domination of Latin America, going back to the Monroe Doctrine, is at the root of racism against Latinos. The military conquest and acquisition of northern Mexico – now the states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California and Colorado – the colonization of Puerto Rico, the constant interventions in Central America and the Caribbean testify to this history of arrogance. Historically, racism in the U.S. has two legs: the institution of slavery and the domination of Latin America.
The conference, which welcomed and gave shelter to Crystal Dillman, pledged a coordinated program to support the demand for legalization in the United States and especially a moratorium on the separation of families. There will be coordinated actions in the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean on December 18th, the international day for the migrants, January 21st, the day after Barack Obama’s inauguration, March 8th, international women’s day, and May 1st, the day of the workers.
We are from many nations, but we are one people joined by our struggle for respect and the right to keep our families together. As Latinos are joining to support the struggle for legalization of the undocumented the increasingly powerful Latino community will also become a voice for justice and respect throughout Latin America.
Refugiada Estadounidense en México
La semana pasada dimos la bienvenida en México a Crystal Dillman, la viuda de Luis Eduardo Ramírez. Ramírez quien fue asesinado brutalmente por un grupo de jóvenes de raza blanca en Shenandoah, Pennsylvania por odio racial. Su esposa Cristal, una anglosajona, se expresó con valentía para exigir justicia. La posición que ella ha tomado la ha convertido en un blanco de amenazas, intimidación por la policía local, y la hostilidad de sus vecinos. Ha llevado a sus tres hijos con ella para vivir con los parientes de su finado esposo en México.
¡Tal como parece, el racismo en los Estados Unidos no murió cuando se eligió a Barack Obama! Cuando los Estados Unidos y Europa veían a África como un lugar al cual ellos tenían el derecho de dominar y explotar, el resultado fue un trato a los africanos como algo debajo de ser seres humanos. La lucha larga y admirable de los afro-norteamericanos ha empezado a modificar esas actitudes, sobretodo como iban creciendo sus números, unidad y fuerza política. Y no debemos olvidar como los afro-norteamericanos contribuyeron al fin de ‘apartheid’ en África del Sur.
Cuando Cristal Dillman se expresó después del asesinato de su esposo, ella identificó bien la fuente del odio en su contra, como la histeria anti-latina que se había fomentado en el vecino pueblo de Hazleton, Pennsylvania, en la campaña nacional en contra de la legalización de los indocumentados, y en las campañas mediáticas de personajes como Lou Dobbs de CNN-TV. De hecho, los crímenes de odio en contra de los latinos ha subido por 40% desde 2005.
A Cristal Dillman se le dio la bienvenida en México en una conferencia internacional sobre asuntos de migración que atrajo representantes de los Estados Unidos, México y Centroamérica. Los participantes en la conferencia reflejaron que el largo dominio de América Latina, comenzado con la ‘Doctrina Monroe’, queda a la raíz del racismo en contra de los latinos. La conquista militar del norte de México, abarcando los actuales estados estadounidenses de California, Texas, Arizona, Nuevo México y Colorado, la colonización de Puerto Rico, las repetidas intromisiones norteamericanas en Centroamérica y las Antillas – todas estas cosas son evidencia de esta historia de arrogancia. Históricamente, el racismo en los Estados Unidos tiene dos soportes: La institución de la esclavitud y la dominación de América Latina.
La conferencia en la cual le dimos la bienvenida y albergue a Cristal Dillman, se comprometió con un programa coordinado para apoyar la demanda para una legalización en los Estados Unidos y sobretodo una moratoria sobre la deportación y separación de familias. Habrá acciones coordinadas en los Estados Unidos, México, Centroamérica y el Caribe el 18 de diciembre (Día Internacional de los migrantes), el 21 de enero (día después de la inauguración del presidente Obama), el 8 de marzo (Día Internacional de la Mujer migrante) y 1 de mayo, día de los trabajadores migrantes.
Somos de muchas naciones pero un sólo pueblo unido por nuestra lucha Pro-respeto y el derecho de mantener intactas a nuestras familias. Como los latinos se juntan para apoyar la lucha a favor de la legalización, la comunidad latina también se convierte en una poderosa voz a favor de la justicia y respeto a nuestros migrantes en toda América.
Elvira Arellano, El Diario-La Prensa (NY)
December 3, 2008
Last week we welcomed Crystal Dillman, the widow of Luis Martinez, to Mexico. Martinez was murdered by a group of white youths in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, earlier this year – just because he was a Latino. His wife Crystal, an anglo, courageously stood up and demanded justice, her stand has made her a target of threats, intimidation by local police and hostility from neighbors. She has brought their children to make her home with Martinez’s family in Mexico.
Evidently, racism in the United States did not die with the election of Barack Obama! Racism attaches itself to a people based not only on their skin color but based on their country of origin. When the United States and Europe viewed Africa as a place they had the right to dominate and exploit, then Africans were treated as less than human in the United States. The long and much to be admired struggle of African Americans has begun to overcome these attitudes – especially as their numbers, unity and political strength grew. And we must remember the contribution of African Americans in ending U.S. support for apartheid.
When Crystal Dillman spoke out after the murder of her husband she correctly identified the source of the hatred against him as the anti-immigrant, anti-Latino hysteria in nearby Hazleton Pennsylvania, in the national campaign against legalization and in the media campaign of men like CNN’s Lou Dobbs. In fact, hate crimes against Latinos have risen by 40% since 2005.
Crystal Dillman was welcomed in Mexico at an international conference dealing with migrant issues which drew representatives from the United States, Mexico and Central America. Conference participants reflected that long standing U.S. domination of Latin America, going back to the Monroe Doctrine, is at the root of racism against Latinos. The military conquest and acquisition of northern Mexico – now the states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California and Colorado – the colonization of Puerto Rico, the constant interventions in Central America and the Caribbean testify to this history of arrogance. Historically, racism in the U.S. has two legs: the institution of slavery and the domination of Latin America.
The conference, which welcomed and gave shelter to Crystal Dillman, pledged a coordinated program to support the demand for legalization in the United States and especially a moratorium on the separation of families. There will be coordinated actions in the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean on December 18th, the international day for the migrants, January 21st, the day after Barack Obama’s inauguration, March 8th, international women’s day, and May 1st, the day of the workers.
We are from many nations, but we are one people joined by our struggle for respect and the right to keep our families together. As Latinos are joining to support the struggle for legalization of the undocumented the increasingly powerful Latino community will also become a voice for justice and respect throughout Latin America.
Refugiada Estadounidense en México
La semana pasada dimos la bienvenida en México a Crystal Dillman, la viuda de Luis Eduardo Ramírez. Ramírez quien fue asesinado brutalmente por un grupo de jóvenes de raza blanca en Shenandoah, Pennsylvania por odio racial. Su esposa Cristal, una anglosajona, se expresó con valentía para exigir justicia. La posición que ella ha tomado la ha convertido en un blanco de amenazas, intimidación por la policía local, y la hostilidad de sus vecinos. Ha llevado a sus tres hijos con ella para vivir con los parientes de su finado esposo en México.
¡Tal como parece, el racismo en los Estados Unidos no murió cuando se eligió a Barack Obama! Cuando los Estados Unidos y Europa veían a África como un lugar al cual ellos tenían el derecho de dominar y explotar, el resultado fue un trato a los africanos como algo debajo de ser seres humanos. La lucha larga y admirable de los afro-norteamericanos ha empezado a modificar esas actitudes, sobretodo como iban creciendo sus números, unidad y fuerza política. Y no debemos olvidar como los afro-norteamericanos contribuyeron al fin de ‘apartheid’ en África del Sur.
Cuando Cristal Dillman se expresó después del asesinato de su esposo, ella identificó bien la fuente del odio en su contra, como la histeria anti-latina que se había fomentado en el vecino pueblo de Hazleton, Pennsylvania, en la campaña nacional en contra de la legalización de los indocumentados, y en las campañas mediáticas de personajes como Lou Dobbs de CNN-TV. De hecho, los crímenes de odio en contra de los latinos ha subido por 40% desde 2005.
A Cristal Dillman se le dio la bienvenida en México en una conferencia internacional sobre asuntos de migración que atrajo representantes de los Estados Unidos, México y Centroamérica. Los participantes en la conferencia reflejaron que el largo dominio de América Latina, comenzado con la ‘Doctrina Monroe’, queda a la raíz del racismo en contra de los latinos. La conquista militar del norte de México, abarcando los actuales estados estadounidenses de California, Texas, Arizona, Nuevo México y Colorado, la colonización de Puerto Rico, las repetidas intromisiones norteamericanas en Centroamérica y las Antillas – todas estas cosas son evidencia de esta historia de arrogancia. Históricamente, el racismo en los Estados Unidos tiene dos soportes: La institución de la esclavitud y la dominación de América Latina.
La conferencia en la cual le dimos la bienvenida y albergue a Cristal Dillman, se comprometió con un programa coordinado para apoyar la demanda para una legalización en los Estados Unidos y sobretodo una moratoria sobre la deportación y separación de familias. Habrá acciones coordinadas en los Estados Unidos, México, Centroamérica y el Caribe el 18 de diciembre (Día Internacional de los migrantes), el 21 de enero (día después de la inauguración del presidente Obama), el 8 de marzo (Día Internacional de la Mujer migrante) y 1 de mayo, día de los trabajadores migrantes.
Somos de muchas naciones pero un sólo pueblo unido por nuestra lucha Pro-respeto y el derecho de mantener intactas a nuestras familias. Como los latinos se juntan para apoyar la lucha a favor de la legalización, la comunidad latina también se convierte en una poderosa voz a favor de la justicia y respeto a nuestros migrantes en toda América.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Mexico's Immigration Problem Also a "Red Flag" at Home
Unless Mexico, the United States, and Central American countries form an effective regional wmployment strategy that includes a review of trade polices that lead to displacement, the human rights crisis for immigrants will continue to go from bad to worse.
by Laura Carlsen, Americas Updater
December 3, 2008
In the first two years of the Felipe Calderon administration, Mexico has become a focal point in the violation of the human rights of immigrants even as it criticizes the treatment of Mexican migrants in the United States. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants Jorge Bustamante states the problem in no uncertain terms: "We are responsible for violations of the rights of Central Americans passing through Mexico, the same or worse as those of Mexicans in the United States."
The analogy between the treatment of Central Americans by the Mexican government and Mexicans by the U.S. government is particularly relevant. [...]
Read the full article:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/5713
by Laura Carlsen, Americas Updater
December 3, 2008
In the first two years of the Felipe Calderon administration, Mexico has become a focal point in the violation of the human rights of immigrants even as it criticizes the treatment of Mexican migrants in the United States. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants Jorge Bustamante states the problem in no uncertain terms: "We are responsible for violations of the rights of Central Americans passing through Mexico, the same or worse as those of Mexicans in the United States."
The analogy between the treatment of Central Americans by the Mexican government and Mexicans by the U.S. government is particularly relevant. [...]
Read the full article:
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/5713
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Chicago: Immigrant Workers Set an Example
Victory at Republic!
Lee Sustar, Socialist Worker
December 11, 2008
WITH A unanimous vote, workers at the Republic Windows & Doors plant in Chicago ended their six-day factory occupation late on December 10 after Bank of America and other lenders agreed to fund about $2 million in severance and vacation pay as well as health insurance.
"Everybody feels great," said a tired but beaming Armando Robles, president of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE) Local 1110. [...]
Read the full article:
http://socialistworker.org/2008/12/11/victory-at-republic
Raising the stakes at Republic
Lee Sustar and Nicole Colson, Socialist Worker
December 9, 2008
[...] According to labor organizer and journalist Jorge Mújica, immigrants rights activists supported the Republic workers not only because they are mostly Latino immigrants, but because they are literally fighting the same institutions. [...]
Read the full article:
http://socialistworker.org/2008/12/09/raising-the-stakes-at-republic
Chicago Workers to Rest of Country: 'Don’t Let It Die'
David Bacon, New America Media
December 11, 2008
Chicago worker Raul Flores’s job is gone, but he’s still there. "I've got a family to support, so I've got to do whatever it takes," he says. "The economic situation is not good, but I can't just wait for something to happen to me."
That puts Flores in the same boat as millions of other U.S. workers. Last month alone 533,000 workers lost their jobs, the highest figure in 34 years.[...]
Read the full article:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=a3d3cc49a93f6bfac1b3f22114371524
The Immigrant Story That Wasn't: Laid Off Republic Windows Employees Just Regular Working Stiffs
Esther J. Cepeda, Huffington Post
December 9, 2008
I am absolutely stunned that the peaceful sit in at the Republic Windows and Doors factory and warehouse has not been stuck in the ghetto of "immigrant story" by our local and national media.
Indeed, most outlets here and nationally have so far ignored the fact that the workers are mostly brown-eyed and brown-skinned. Just months ago the three hundred laid-off workers who were let go without notice -- and without their owed pay -- would have all been ignored, and reviled, because they were, as I so often heard, "just more protesting immigrants." [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/esther-j-cepeda/the-immigrant-story-that_b_149490.html
Lee Sustar, Socialist Worker
December 11, 2008
WITH A unanimous vote, workers at the Republic Windows & Doors plant in Chicago ended their six-day factory occupation late on December 10 after Bank of America and other lenders agreed to fund about $2 million in severance and vacation pay as well as health insurance.
"Everybody feels great," said a tired but beaming Armando Robles, president of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE) Local 1110. [...]
Read the full article:
http://socialistworker.org/2008/12/11/victory-at-republic
Raising the stakes at Republic
Lee Sustar and Nicole Colson, Socialist Worker
December 9, 2008
[...] According to labor organizer and journalist Jorge Mújica, immigrants rights activists supported the Republic workers not only because they are mostly Latino immigrants, but because they are literally fighting the same institutions. [...]
Read the full article:
http://socialistworker.org/2008/12/09/raising-the-stakes-at-republic
Chicago Workers to Rest of Country: 'Don’t Let It Die'
David Bacon, New America Media
December 11, 2008
Chicago worker Raul Flores’s job is gone, but he’s still there. "I've got a family to support, so I've got to do whatever it takes," he says. "The economic situation is not good, but I can't just wait for something to happen to me."
That puts Flores in the same boat as millions of other U.S. workers. Last month alone 533,000 workers lost their jobs, the highest figure in 34 years.[...]
Read the full article:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=a3d3cc49a93f6bfac1b3f22114371524
The Immigrant Story That Wasn't: Laid Off Republic Windows Employees Just Regular Working Stiffs
Esther J. Cepeda, Huffington Post
December 9, 2008
I am absolutely stunned that the peaceful sit in at the Republic Windows and Doors factory and warehouse has not been stuck in the ghetto of "immigrant story" by our local and national media.
Indeed, most outlets here and nationally have so far ignored the fact that the workers are mostly brown-eyed and brown-skinned. Just months ago the three hundred laid-off workers who were let go without notice -- and without their owed pay -- would have all been ignored, and reviled, because they were, as I so often heard, "just more protesting immigrants." [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/esther-j-cepeda/the-immigrant-story-that_b_149490.html
South Florida Community Demands Investigation Into ICE Misconduct
Community Demands Investigation Into ICE Misconduct
For Immediate release 12/10/08
Contact:
Jonathan Fried, WeCount!: 305-281-9377
Cheryl Little, Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center: (305) 573-1106, ext. 1001
A November 19 ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Operation in Homestead was supposed to be a simple operation to crack down on a human smuggling and sex trafficking ring. But to the residents of Homestead, it was much more than that.
"They knocked the door to our room down. There were three agents who barged in to the room. They threw my husband to the floor and one of them stuck a gun to my head. He told me not to move. He said if I moved, the situation would be worse. They kicked my husband in the head. His head was swollen when they took him out of the room," said a woman after ICE agents stormed her home and took all its residents, although none of them had anything to do with the trafficking investigation. The woman said her four-year-old daughter, who witnessed the attack, is traumatized.
According to official ICE news release, 4 human trafficking suspects were arrested in the raid, while 9 victims of trafficking were rescued in the operation that took place in Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties.
But in a press conference yesterday, several community groups called for an investigation of ICE abuses in the raids in Homestead, stating that at least half a dozen immigrants were beaten, and the large majority of persons detained had nothing to do with the trafficking investigation.
"We're here to discuss the human impact of the raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Homestead on November 19," said Jonathan Fried, executive director of WeCount!, a community based organization in Homestead.
"We applaud law enforcement actions against human trafficking. But we are disturbed that the large majority of persons detained in Homestead that day had nothing to do with any human trafficking investigation. We're even more disturbed at the abuse that occurred during the raids, especially the beatings of innocent immigrant victims."
In a complaint sent to R. Alexander Acosta, the US Attorney that helped ICE secure warrants for the raid from a Federal Judge, community members highlighted what they considered some of the most egregious examples of ICE misconduct including:
* Detaining over 70 people mostly unrelated to the trafficking investigation and misleading the public in their official release (ICE claimed it only detained 4 people).
* At least half a dozen persons detained were beaten by ICE agents; officials at the Broward Transitional Center, where some of them are being held, where so concerned that they called for an official inquiry into their injuries.
* Several accounts of ICE agents pointing guns to residents heads, even in front of children, using excessive force in executing search warrants, and using racial profiling to detain bystanders.
The community leaders at the press conference asked elected officials, community leaders, and concerned citizens to join them in pressing for a meaningful investigation into the allegations of misconduct. "The sum actions of these raids, meant to protect victims of trafficking, have victimized many in the Homestead community and created a climate of fear and mistrust," stated the complaint sent to the US Attorney's office, echoing the general feeling of the residents in attendance at the press conference.
***
News coverage:
Miami Herald, "Federal agents accused of roughing up immigrants during Homestead raid"
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/806518.html
Sun-Sentinel, "Agents Accused of Abuse During Sex Slave Sting"
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/12/10/1210sexslave.html
New York Times, "Tactics Used in US Raids Draw Claims of Brutality"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/10florida.html
For Immediate release 12/10/08
Contact:
Jonathan Fried, WeCount!: 305-281-9377
Cheryl Little, Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center: (305) 573-1106, ext. 1001
A November 19 ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Operation in Homestead was supposed to be a simple operation to crack down on a human smuggling and sex trafficking ring. But to the residents of Homestead, it was much more than that.
"They knocked the door to our room down. There were three agents who barged in to the room. They threw my husband to the floor and one of them stuck a gun to my head. He told me not to move. He said if I moved, the situation would be worse. They kicked my husband in the head. His head was swollen when they took him out of the room," said a woman after ICE agents stormed her home and took all its residents, although none of them had anything to do with the trafficking investigation. The woman said her four-year-old daughter, who witnessed the attack, is traumatized.
According to official ICE news release, 4 human trafficking suspects were arrested in the raid, while 9 victims of trafficking were rescued in the operation that took place in Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties.
But in a press conference yesterday, several community groups called for an investigation of ICE abuses in the raids in Homestead, stating that at least half a dozen immigrants were beaten, and the large majority of persons detained had nothing to do with the trafficking investigation.
"We're here to discuss the human impact of the raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Homestead on November 19," said Jonathan Fried, executive director of WeCount!, a community based organization in Homestead.
"We applaud law enforcement actions against human trafficking. But we are disturbed that the large majority of persons detained in Homestead that day had nothing to do with any human trafficking investigation. We're even more disturbed at the abuse that occurred during the raids, especially the beatings of innocent immigrant victims."
In a complaint sent to R. Alexander Acosta, the US Attorney that helped ICE secure warrants for the raid from a Federal Judge, community members highlighted what they considered some of the most egregious examples of ICE misconduct including:
* Detaining over 70 people mostly unrelated to the trafficking investigation and misleading the public in their official release (ICE claimed it only detained 4 people).
* At least half a dozen persons detained were beaten by ICE agents; officials at the Broward Transitional Center, where some of them are being held, where so concerned that they called for an official inquiry into their injuries.
* Several accounts of ICE agents pointing guns to residents heads, even in front of children, using excessive force in executing search warrants, and using racial profiling to detain bystanders.
The community leaders at the press conference asked elected officials, community leaders, and concerned citizens to join them in pressing for a meaningful investigation into the allegations of misconduct. "The sum actions of these raids, meant to protect victims of trafficking, have victimized many in the Homestead community and created a climate of fear and mistrust," stated the complaint sent to the US Attorney's office, echoing the general feeling of the residents in attendance at the press conference.
***
News coverage:
Miami Herald, "Federal agents accused of roughing up immigrants during Homestead raid"
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/806518.html
Sun-Sentinel, "Agents Accused of Abuse During Sex Slave Sting"
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/12/10/1210sexslave.html
New York Times, "Tactics Used in US Raids Draw Claims of Brutality"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/10florida.html
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Dec. 11 Radio Interview on Asylum
Thursday, December 11, 2008
5:30 pm
A discusion on US asylum policies with:
Jane Guskin, Co-author, The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers
and Fred Boehrer, Capital District New Sanctuary Movement
"Capitol Report"
WRPI, 91.5 FM
Troy, NY
Live streaming: http://www.wrpi.org/listen.php
(This is the second of several live interviews on the second Thursday of the month.)
5:30 pm
A discusion on US asylum policies with:
Jane Guskin, Co-author, The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers
and Fred Boehrer, Capital District New Sanctuary Movement
"Capitol Report"
WRPI, 91.5 FM
Troy, NY
Live streaming: http://www.wrpi.org/listen.php
(This is the second of several live interviews on the second Thursday of the month.)
Friday, December 5, 2008
Change Immigrants and Labor Can Believe In
A new administration that has raised such high expectations should look for new ideas in the areas of immigration reform and trade policy, not recycle the bad ones of the last few years.
By David Bacon, The Nation
November 26, 2008
Since 2001 the Bush administration has deported more than a million people--including 349,041 individuals in the fiscal year ending just prior to the election. It has resurrected the discredited community sweeps and factory raids of earlier eras, and started sending waves of migrants to privately run jails for crimes like inventing a Social Security number to get a job. Every day in Tucson seventy young people, including many teenagers, are brought before a federal judge in heavy chains and sentenced to prison because they walked across the border.
It's no wonder that Latinos, Asians and other communities with large immigrant populations voted for Barack Obama by huge margins. People want and expect a change. Ending the administration's failed program of raids, jail time and deportations is at the top of the list. National demonstrations have called for a moratorium on raids since the summer, and one big reason why Los Angeles turned out so heavily for Obama was the anti-raid encampment and hunger strike in the Placita Olvera, which electrified the city. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081215/bacon?rel=hp_picks
By David Bacon, The Nation
November 26, 2008
Since 2001 the Bush administration has deported more than a million people--including 349,041 individuals in the fiscal year ending just prior to the election. It has resurrected the discredited community sweeps and factory raids of earlier eras, and started sending waves of migrants to privately run jails for crimes like inventing a Social Security number to get a job. Every day in Tucson seventy young people, including many teenagers, are brought before a federal judge in heavy chains and sentenced to prison because they walked across the border.
It's no wonder that Latinos, Asians and other communities with large immigrant populations voted for Barack Obama by huge margins. People want and expect a change. Ending the administration's failed program of raids, jail time and deportations is at the top of the list. National demonstrations have called for a moratorium on raids since the summer, and one big reason why Los Angeles turned out so heavily for Obama was the anti-raid encampment and hunger strike in the Placita Olvera, which electrified the city. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081215/bacon?rel=hp_picks
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Philanthropists Fuel Anti-Immigrant Bigotry
By Eric Ward, www.imagine2050.net
November 24, 2008
When well-known philanthropists give money to national anti-immigrant groups it gives a new twist to the axiom “throwing good money after bad.” The result is increased discrimination and violence against immigrants and their families.
Controversial anti-immigrant leader John Tanton used to brag that from 1983 until 1986 famed financial leader and philanthropist Warren Buffet made yearly gifts of $90,000 to his organization, U.S. Inc. While Buffet is thought of as a man who donates selflessly to the public good he is also remembered as supporting bigotry.
Buffet, having attended several of John Tanton’s events, raises the question of if he was in the room when Tanton mused that “As Whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion? … Perhaps this is the first instance in which those with their pants up are going to get caught by those with their pants down?” Tanton used Buffet’s support to grow the modern day anti-immigrant movement which has torn communities and working families apart. [...]
Read the full article:
http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/11/24/philanthropists-fuel-anti-immigrant-bigotry/
November 24, 2008
When well-known philanthropists give money to national anti-immigrant groups it gives a new twist to the axiom “throwing good money after bad.” The result is increased discrimination and violence against immigrants and their families.
Controversial anti-immigrant leader John Tanton used to brag that from 1983 until 1986 famed financial leader and philanthropist Warren Buffet made yearly gifts of $90,000 to his organization, U.S. Inc. While Buffet is thought of as a man who donates selflessly to the public good he is also remembered as supporting bigotry.
Buffet, having attended several of John Tanton’s events, raises the question of if he was in the room when Tanton mused that “As Whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion? … Perhaps this is the first instance in which those with their pants up are going to get caught by those with their pants down?” Tanton used Buffet’s support to grow the modern day anti-immigrant movement which has torn communities and working families apart. [...]
Read the full article:
http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/11/24/philanthropists-fuel-anti-immigrant-bigotry/
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Financial Crisis Hits the Immigration Debate
by David L. Wilson, MRzine
November 30, 2008
Part of the right wing routinely blames undocumented immigrants for just about everything. On September 24, nine days after the financial meltdown started in earnest, the National Review Web site carried an article by columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin blaming "illegals" for the crisis and the subsequent bailout of the banks. "The Mother of All Bailouts has many fathers," she wrote. "But there's one giant paternal elephant in the room that has slipped notice: how illegal immigration, crime-enabling banks, and open-borders Bush policies fueled the mortgage crisis."
Malkin's pieces often read like parodies of conservative punditry, and there's something distinctly comical about the idea that a few undocumented homeowners caused a multi-trillion dollar financial crisis. Less than a month after Malkin's article was posted, the Wall Street Journal showed that in fact mortgages bought by out-of-status immigrants have performed rather well. But the Malkin diatribe is a useful indication of how the immigration debate is likely to change over the next months. [...]
Read the full article:
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2008/wilson301108.html
November 30, 2008
Part of the right wing routinely blames undocumented immigrants for just about everything. On September 24, nine days after the financial meltdown started in earnest, the National Review Web site carried an article by columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin blaming "illegals" for the crisis and the subsequent bailout of the banks. "The Mother of All Bailouts has many fathers," she wrote. "But there's one giant paternal elephant in the room that has slipped notice: how illegal immigration, crime-enabling banks, and open-borders Bush policies fueled the mortgage crisis."
Malkin's pieces often read like parodies of conservative punditry, and there's something distinctly comical about the idea that a few undocumented homeowners caused a multi-trillion dollar financial crisis. Less than a month after Malkin's article was posted, the Wall Street Journal showed that in fact mortgages bought by out-of-status immigrants have performed rather well. But the Malkin diatribe is a useful indication of how the immigration debate is likely to change over the next months. [...]
Read the full article:
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2008/wilson301108.html
Monday, December 1, 2008
INB 11/30/08: Raids Protested in Minnesota, Michigan
Immigration News Briefs
Vol. 11, No. 29 - November 30, 2008
1. Another South Dakota Dairy Raided
2. Raids Protested in Minnesota, Michigan
3. More "Fugitive" Raids: Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, PA, DE, NJ, NY
4. New Indictment in Agriprocessors Case
5. South Carolina Poultry Workers Plead Guilty
Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.
*1. ANOTHER SOUTH DAKOTA DAIRY RAIDED
On Nov. 21, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested five Latin American immigrant workers at a dairy farm near Hamlin County, South Dakota. According to officials from ICE and the Hamlin County Sheriff's office, four of the five workers face criminal identity theft charges for using social security numbers that were not their own to get jobs at the farm. The fifth worker, a woman, was taken into ICE custody on administrative immigration violations. Sheriff Dan Mack said the investigation began when the people tried to register vehicles with false Social Security numbers. [KELOLAND TV (Sioux Falls, SD) 11/24/08; AP 11/27/08 with info from the Watertown Public Opinion] The latest raid came less than a month after an Oct. 29 operation in which ICE agents arrested 27 people at several dairy farms in northeastern South Dakota [see INB 11/2/08].
Read the full INB:
http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/11/inb-113008-raids-protested-in-minnesota.html
Vol. 11, No. 29 - November 30, 2008
1. Another South Dakota Dairy Raided
2. Raids Protested in Minnesota, Michigan
3. More "Fugitive" Raids: Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, PA, DE, NJ, NY
4. New Indictment in Agriprocessors Case
5. South Carolina Poultry Workers Plead Guilty
Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.
*1. ANOTHER SOUTH DAKOTA DAIRY RAIDED
On Nov. 21, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested five Latin American immigrant workers at a dairy farm near Hamlin County, South Dakota. According to officials from ICE and the Hamlin County Sheriff's office, four of the five workers face criminal identity theft charges for using social security numbers that were not their own to get jobs at the farm. The fifth worker, a woman, was taken into ICE custody on administrative immigration violations. Sheriff Dan Mack said the investigation began when the people tried to register vehicles with false Social Security numbers. [KELOLAND TV (Sioux Falls, SD) 11/24/08; AP 11/27/08 with info from the Watertown Public Opinion] The latest raid came less than a month after an Oct. 29 operation in which ICE agents arrested 27 people at several dairy farms in northeastern South Dakota [see INB 11/2/08].
Read the full INB:
http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/11/inb-113008-raids-protested-in-minnesota.html
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