Sunday, March 13, 2016

Rethinking Sanctuary Cities in an Age of "Targeted" Deportation

Many organizers are now realizing that official sanctuary city policies are not enough to keep ICE out of our communities. Community groups across the country have started building grassroots defense committees against ICE and cop watch-inspired programs (Migra Watch) that seek to actively monitor ICE.

By Eve Mitchell, Truthout
March 12, 2016

Since the historic immigrant-led general strike in 2006, US immigration policy has been thrown into a frenetic tug-of-war between an enforcement iron fist and a diplomatic velvet glove.

Immigration enforcement strategies under President George W. Bush's iron fist included full-on attacks against immigrants, such as attempts to control immigration through deportation, militarization and large-scale raids. These tactics are generally pushed by capitalists and politicians who believe they would benefit from eliminating immigration completely, playing into right-wing white supremacist populism.

More recently, the Obama administration, while detaining and deporting more people than Bush, has focused on "targeted enforcement," which relies heavily on agreements with local police.[...]

Read the full article:
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/35153-rethinking-sanctuary-cities-in-an-age-of-targeted-deportation

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