The Politics of Immigration

Increasing Reliance on Guest Worker Programs

2012-01-26T07:30:00.000-08:00

By David Bacon, Americas Program
January 14, 2012

Over the last 25 years, guest worker programs have increasingly become a vehicle for channeling the migration that has stemmed from free market reforms. Increasing numbers of guest workers are recruited each year for labor in the U.S. from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean under the H1-B, H2-A and H2-B programs. Recruiters promise high wages and charge thousands of dollars for visas, fees and transportation. By the time they leave home, the debts of guest workers are crushing.

In 2007 the Southern Poverty Law Center issued a report, Close to Slavery, documenting the treatment of guest workers. No one gets overtime, regardless of the law. Companies charge for tools, food and housing. Guest workers are routinely cheated. Recent protests have exposed the exploitation of guest workers recruited from India to work in the Mississippi shipyard of Signal International. They paid $15-20,000 for each visa, lived in barracks in the yard, and had to get up at 3.30 to use the bathroom because there weren’t enough for everyone. The company cut the wages, held six workers prisoner for deportation, and fired their leader, Joseph Jacobs. In 2006 Santiago Rafael Cruz, an organizer for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, was murdered when the union tried to set up an office in Mexico to end the corruption and abuse by guest worker contractors. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/6067

100 Years After Lawrence Strike, the Cry for ‘Bread & Roses’ Still Resonates

2012-01-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

Arrayed against American Woolen and its heavily armed defenders was a rainbow coalition of recently arrived immigrants—low-paid workers from 30 countries, who spoke 45 different languages.

By Steve Early, In These Times
January 10, 2012

LAWRENCE, MASS.--One hundred years ago this month, thousands of angry textile workers abandoned their looms and poured into the frigid streets of Lawrence, Mass. Like Occupy Wall Street in our own gilded age, this unexpected grassroots protest cast a dramatic spotlight on the problem of social and economic inequality. In all of American labor history, there are few better examples of the synergy between radical activism and indigenous militancy.

The work stoppage now celebrated as the “Bread and Roses Strike” was triggered, ironically, by a Progressive-era reform that backfired. Well-meaning state legislators had just reduced the maximum allowable working hours for women and children from 56 to 54 hours per week. When this reduction went into effect, workers quickly discovered that their pay had been cut proportionately, and their jobs speeded up by the American Woolen Company and other firms. [...]

Read the full article:
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12504/one_hundred_years_after_lawrence_strike_the_cry_for_bread_roses_still_reson/

Who’s afraid of “The Tempest”?

2012-01-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

Arizona's ban on ethnic studies proscribes Mexican-American history, local authors, even Shakespeare

By Jeff Biggers, Salon.com
January 12, 2012

As part of the state-mandated termination of its ethnic studies program, the Tucson Unified School District released an initial list of books to be banned from its schools today. According to district spokeperson Cara Rene, the books “will be cleared from all classrooms, boxed up and sent to the Textbook Depository for storage.”

Facing a multimillion-dollar penalty in state funds, the governing board of Tucson’s largest school district officially ended the 13-year-old program on Tuesday in an attempt to come into compliance with the controversial state ban on the teaching of ethnic studies. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/13/whos_afraid_of_the_tempest/singleton/

Struggle for Immigrants’ Rights Highlights Split Within Organized Labor

2012-01-23T07:19:00.000-08:00

By Michelle Chen, In These Times
January 11, 2012

ICE officers' union resists reform measures to controversial Secure Communities program, while AFl-CIO wants to end it

Trying to please all at once and disappointing everyone, the White House has long played a game of good-cop-bad-cop on immigration, promising reforms while clinging to some of the cruelest deportation policies.

Meanwhile, President Obama’s delicate waltz around immigration highlights complex frictions within the labor movement on immigration policy—revealing contrasts between immigration enforcement employees and the AFL-CIO leadership. [...]

Read the full article:
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12523/struggle_for_immigrants_rights_exposes_contrasts_in_union_politics/

Film: Harvest of Loneliness

2012-01-22T07:12:00.000-08:00

Award winning documentary by Gilbert Gonzalez, Adrian Salinas and Vivian Price on the guest worker program of 1942-1964.

Hidden within historical accounts of US workers and immigrants is the story of millions of Mexican men and women who experienced the bracero program, a ‘guest worker’ program designed to supply workers to agriculture and undermine farm worker unionization. The documentary features the men speaking of their experiences, and the wives and families left behind in Mexican villages emptied of men from l942-1964.

“Guest worker programs” for non-agricultural sectors are now part of the arsenal of proposed US immigration reforms. But what are these programs and how do they actually operate? “Harvest of Loneliness” explores how the bracero program originated, how it was implemented, and its effects on unions, workers and the economy.

Cinelatino Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary at the 2010 Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival. Voted Best Educational Documentary at the 2010 Amsterdam International Film Festival.

Watch the trailer:
http://harvestofloneliness.com/

New York Developers Take Advantage of Financing-for-Visas Program

2012-01-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

Rules Stretched as Green Cards Go to Investors

By Patrick McGeehan and Kirk Semple, New York Times
December 18, 2011

Affluent foreigners are rushing to take advantage of a federal immigration program that offers them the chance to obtain a green card in return for investing in construction projects in the United States. With credit tight, the program has unexpectedly turned into a mainstay for the financing of these projects in New York, California, Texas and other states.

The number of foreign applicants, each of whom must invest at least $500,000 in a project, has nearly quadrupled in the last two years, to more than 3,800 in the 2011 fiscal year, officials said. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/nyregion/new-york-developers-take-advantage-of-financing-for-visas-program.html?ref=us

A Border of Cruelty

2012-01-20T19:04:00.000-08:00

A new report ties migrants’ deaths to U.S. policies and abusive federal agents.
By Patrick Glennon, In These Times
October 19, 2011

Earlier this month, authorities recovered the bodies of two Mexican nationals off the coast of San Diego county. One was discovered adrift near Imperial Beach, just across the border from Tijuana. The man’s two companions, who successfully reached shore, remarked to Border Patrol agents that the deceased was a “weak swimmer.” The other drowning victim was found on a boat that had held a dozen other migrants Border Patrol agents chased and apprehended.

“Migrants are turning to the Pacific Ocean to cross the border illegally, as entering by land has turned more arduous and dangerous,” the AP reported.

Indeed, the danger of crossing by land has reached unprecedented levels. In 1990, fewer than 200 people died trying to enter the United States. The number rose to nearly 500 in 2005, although the annual number of deaths has been lower since then. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12153/a_border_of_cruelty#.Tp-cuiINuEw.gmail

Download the report from No More Deaths:
http://www.cultureofcruelty.org/?page_id=14

Dispatch From Detention: A Rare Look Inside Our ‘Humane’ Immigration Jails

2012-01-20T07:24:00.000-08:00

by Seth Freed Wessler, ColorLines
January 4, 2012

Sam Kitching, a soft-spoken, round old man dressed in civilian clothes who works for the Sheriff’s department at the Baker County Jail put his hand on my shoulder and, addressing me as “young man,” said, “It’s very important that you be careful in there. They might have AIDS and might try to grab your hand and push something into it.”

“AIDS?” I ask.

“They could,” he said. “These men can be dangerous.”

A younger man dressed in a tight, dark green Sheriff’s uniform unlatched the door into one of the pods that holds several dozen federal immigration detainees. [...]

Read the full article:
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/01/dispatch_from_detention_this_is_what_humane_deportation_looks_like.html

NYC, 1/14/11: Fundraiser for Victor Toro

2012-01-12T13:49:00.000-08:00

Cultural Event and Forum on the Case of Victor Toro

Saturday, January 14, 6:30 pm
The Solidarity Center
55 West 17th Street, 5th Floor
New York, NY
(Take F to 14th Street, 4/5/6, N, Q to Union Square)

Come hear Victor Toro speak on the Occupy Wall Street movement & current immigration policy. Victor’s lawyers will give an update on the case, which is at a critical stage. Victor is facing deportation to Chile after being racially profiled on an Amtrak train in 2007. Supporters say he has earned the right to stay in the U.S. with his family.

Performing: Huasipungo
Special raffle to help raise funds for Victor’s defense committee: delicious Chilean wine and a Victor Toro poster

More information:
http://www.may1.info/ , 718.292.6137

More on Victor’s case:
http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com/2010/12/nyc-12610-final-immigration-hearing-for.html

'Undocumented' play reveals immigrants' hidden lives

2012-01-11T20:47:00.000-08:00

CNN'a "In America" Blog
December 23, 2011

Kat Chua wrote the play "Undocumented," about the experiences of undocumented immigrants living in the United States. It was inspired by a project she worked on as a student at New York University - and her own story. Chua was born in the Philippines, and brought to New York at age 8.

Although the play's characters think the DREAM Act could change their futures, the play isn't really about the legislation, Chua said.

"It's not about one solution fixing everything," she said. "It's about the fact that there is a population of the country, of this world, that isn't represented, that is trying to obtain rights."

Watch the full video report:
http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/23/undocumented-play-reveals-immigrants-hidden-lives/

For more information:
http://thepoliticsofimmigration.blogspot.com/2011/10/nyc-106-10911-undocumented-by-katherine.html
http://www.facebook.com/undocumentedbykatchua

How US Policies Fueled Mexico's Great Migration

2012-01-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

[NAFTA, Smithfield, swine flu, worker exploitation and unauthorized immigration from Mexico--the sort of connections never made in the official US "immigration debate."--Ed]

By David Bacon, The Nation
January 4, 2012

Roberto Ortega tried to make a living slaughtering pigs in Veracruz, Mexico. “In my town, Las Choapas, after I killed a pig, I would cut it up to sell the meat,” he recalls. But in the late 1990s, after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) opened up Mexican markets to massive pork imports from US companies like Smithfield Foods, Ortega and other small-scale butchers in Mexico were devastated by the drop in prices. “Whatever I could do to make money, I did,” Ortega explains. “But I could never make enough for us to survive.” In 1999 he came to the United States, where he again slaughtered pigs for a living. This time, though, he did it as a worker in the world’s largest pork slaughterhouse, in Tar Heel, North Carolina. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.thenation.com/article/165438/how-us-policies-fueled-mexicos-great-migration

Deportation of U.S. Teen to Colombia Latest Failure of Immigration System

2012-01-08T07:47:00.000-08:00

Democracy Now!
January 6, 2012

The family of a Dallas teenager Jakadrien Turner is demanding answers after she was deported to Colombia, despite the fact that she is a U.S. citizen and speaks no Spanish. Turner, a 15-year-old African-American runaway, was living in Houston when she was arrested for shoplifting and gave police a fake name that belonged to a 22-year-old undocumented immigrant from Colombia with warrants for her arrest. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) reportedly discovered Turner’s fingerprints did not match those of the Colombian national, but deported her anyway.

"The country has no idea that we have got a rogue police force. That rogue police force is called ICE," says Ralph Isenberg, a Dallas businessman who has become an advocate for immigrants. [...]

Video and transcript at:
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/1/6/deportation_of_us_teen_to_colombia

Tweak in Rule to Ease a Path to Green Card

2012-01-07T07:45:00.000-08:00

By Julia Preston, New York Times
January 6, 2012

Obama administration officials announced on Friday they are proposing a fix to a Catch-22 in immigration law that could spare hundreds of thousands of American citizens from prolonged separations from illegal immigrant spouses and children.

Although the regulatory tweak appears small, lawyers said it would mean that many Americans will no longer be separated for months or years from family members pursuing legal residency. Even more citizens could be encouraged to come forward to bring illegal immigrant relatives into the system, they said.

The move was greeted with unusually broad praise from immigration lawyers and immigrant and Latino groups, which have been critical of the high rate of deportations under President Obama. Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, called it a “welcome rational solution to a simple problem” that will mean “thousands upon thousands of families will remain together.” [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/us/path-to-green-card-for-illegal-immigrant-family-members-of-americans.html

With Anti-Immigrant Law, Alabama is Again Ground Zero for Civil Rights

2011-12-29T08:04:00.000-08:00

There's one way to reorient the dialogue toward rights and away from profits: help workers and organized labor understand that the zero-sum game of “competition” for the most degrading jobs keeps the economically disenfranchised divided along false lines of “legal” versus “illegal.”

By Michelle Chen, In These Times
December 16, 2011

It’s not often that human rights and business profits line up on the same side of a political debate, but Alabama is a special place. The Cotton State was not only ground zero for some of the worst abuses under Jim Crow; it was also the flashpoint for early struggles that fused economic empowerment with civil rights, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Today, Alabama is once again a focal point for racial and class struggles, ignited by an anti-immigrant law that tests our definitions of economic citizenship in a world of fluid borders. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12438/with_anti-immigrant_law_alabama_is_again_ground_zero_for_civil_rights/

Read the AFL-CIO report, "Crisis in Alabama: Investigating the Devastating Effects of HB 56":
http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/enespanol/upload/alabama.pdf

The Public’s View of Immigration

2011-12-28T07:59:00.000-08:00

Americans Are Talking but Why Aren't Candidates Listening?

By Philip E. Wolgin, Angela Maria Kelley, Center for American Progress
December 15, 2011

Immigration became an increasingly polarized issue over the last few years. Now, loud voices on all sides shout each other down and crowd out any discussion of real solutions. Smears of “amnesty” have tarred numerous politicians, and the idea of dealing sensibly with the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States appears to be anathema for many on the right. The recent Republican presidential debates only confirm how much immigration is a hot-button issue.

But how do ordinary Americans feel about immigration? Five recent polls, run by organizations from across the political spectrum—from Fox News to Latino Decisions—unequivocally illustrate that the vast majority of Americans support smart solutions to immigration reform and reject mass deportation. They support a pathway to citizenship for people who are part of our communities, learn English, pay back taxes, and so forth, and they reject tearing these families apart. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/12/immigration_polling.html

Groups Protest Citizen Detentions

2011-12-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

By Kent Paterson, Frontera NorteSur (via Grassroots Press)
December 19, 2011

Pro-immigrant and civil liberties groups are stepping up the pressure against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Secure Communities program.

Designed to remove immigrant lawbreakers from the United States, Secure Communities enlists local law enforcement agencies in a cooperative relationship with ICE in order to identify, hold and deport foreign nationals. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.grass-roots-press.com/2011/12/19/groups-protest-citizen-detentions/

Border Patrol Says Giving a Ride to an Illegal Immigrant Is a Crime

2011-12-26T07:49:00.000-08:00

By Nina Shapiro, Seattle Times
December 15, 2011

Undeterred by questions about hyper-aggressive tactics and possible over-funding, the Border Patrol has turned up the heat on the Olympic Peninsula, according to the Forks Human Rights Group. Now, if you give an illegal immigrant a ride in your car, you're at risk for being detained--even if you yourself are legal.

Yesterday, the Forks Human Rights Group, a group of residents that has been documenting the Border Patrol's intense activity in the city made famous by Twilight, sent a letter to Patty Murray and other Congress members calling for an investigation of "increasing questionable and illegal behavior" by the BP's Port Angeles office. [...]

Read the full article:
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/12/border_patrol_says_having_an_i.php

"Anchor Babies" and "Illegals"

2011-12-24T07:48:00.000-08:00

Anchor Baby: A Term Redefined as a Slur
By Julia Preston, New York Times
December 8, 2011

What does the term “anchor baby” mean? If you were to look it up in the American Heritage Dictionary, you would find a new definition since last week. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/us/anchor-baby-a-term-redefined-as-a-slur.html?ref=us

"Illegals"
By Bill Keller, New York Times
December 13, 2011

A number of readers have written or tweeted their objection to my use of the word “illegals” as shorthand for “illegal immigrants.” [...]

Read the full article:
http://keller.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/llegals/?ref=opinion

Immigrants Pay Taxes, But 68 Fortune 500 Companies Dodge State Taxes

2011-12-19T15:47:00.000-08:00

NEW REPORT: 265 Major, Profitable U.S. Corporations’ Tax Avoidance Costs States $42 Billion Over Three Years

“Our report shows these 265 corporations raked in a combined $1.33 trillion in profits in the last three years, and far too many have managed to shelter half or more of their profits from state taxes,” said Matthew Gardner, Executive Director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the report’s co-author. “They’re so busy avoiding taxes, it’s no wonder they’re not creating any new jobs.”

68 of the 265 Fortune 500 companies profiled paid no state corporate income tax in at least one of the last three years and 20 of them averaged a tax rate of zero or less during the 2008-2010 period.

Among the 20 corporations paying zero or less in state corporate income taxes over the three year period are: Utility provider Pepco Holdings (DC); pharmaceutical giant Baxter International (IL); chemical maker DuPont (DE); fast food behemoth Yum Brands (KY); high tech manufacturer Intel (CA).

“Corporate Tax Dodging in the Fifty States, 2008-2010” follows up on “Corporate Taxpayers and Corporate Tax Dodgers, 2008-2010” which was published in November by Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The two groups released their first major study on the federal income taxes that large, profitable American corporations pay on their U.S. pretax profits in 1984.

Full Report Here:
http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers50states/CorporateTaxDodgers50StatesReport.pdf

Read Press Release With Key Findings:
http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers50states/CorporateTaxDodgers50StatesPR.pdf

DHS details contract for second try at Southwest virtual fence

2011-12-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

By Aliya Sternstein, Nextgov
12/09/2011

The Homeland Security Department has published an expected draft solicitation for bids on a successor to a failed $1 billion virtual border fence.

The proposed work order calls for "nondevelopmental" -- already available from defense or industrial production lines -- towers flanked with cameras designed to tolerate the extreme Arizona weather. The Southwest terrain undermined former contractor Boeing Co.'s previous try at what was then called the Secure Border Initiative network, leading DHS to switch to a more tailored surveillance strategy. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20111209_5650.php

NYC, 12/18: #ImmigrantsOccupy March/Los Inmigrantes Ocupan! Manifestacíon y Marcha

2011-12-18T14:41:00.000-08:00

Permitted March:
Sunday, December 18, 2011
1:30pm until 5:00pm
Foley Sq to Zuccotti Park
Train: Chambers J/Z Brooklyn Bridge 4/5/6
More info: 646 397 4373

Immigrants are part of the 99% and on December 18th we will march with the Occupy Wall Street movement to demand immigrant justice including putting an end to wage theft, and stopping detentions and deportations of our beloved community members. As the Occupy Wall Street movement highlights corporate profiteering we would like to shed light on those that profit off our labor, exploit workers and refuse to pay dignified wages. We also march against the corporations who support racist anti-immigrant legislation that allows them to make billions of dollars by detaining immigrants in private detention centers and deporting nearly 400,000 people per year.

As the occupy movement goes global we also recognize the destructive role that these corporations play in exploiting resources and labor in our home countries which forces millions to migrate. December 18th is the International Day of Migrants and we stand in solidarity with those world wide who are proclaiming Immigrant Rights as Human Rights.

Share and join FB event
(march) http://www.facebook.com/events/240820965995020/

ImmigrantsOccupyNYC on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ImmigrantsOccupyNYC/273614659355676
ImmigrantsOWS on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ImmigrantsOWS

Our NYCGA page: http://www.nycga.net/groups/immigrant-worker-justice

Download Flier: http://bit.ly/rwyv61

This march is being organized by the Immigrant Worker Justice Working Group of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. We bring the voices and struggles of New York City s immigrant workers members of the 99% to Occupy Wall Street. In solidarity with OWS and the immigration and labor movements, we lift up the particular organizing campaigns and concerns of immigrant workers. We believe that all labor should be honored and that all workers, regardless of immigration status, deserve equal rights and dignity. We recognize globalized capital in the form of financial institutions, multinational corporations, and neoliberal state economic policies as the impetus for economic migration to the United States, and deplore the fact that banks and corporations, supported by the government, continue to profit from immigrant detention and deportation. The leadership and participation of immigrant workers is necessary for any discussion of social, economic, and environmental justice.

Los Inmigrantes Ocupan! Manifestacíon y Marcha

Los inmigrantes son parte del 99% y el 18 de Diciembre marcharemos junto al movimiento Occupy Wall Street para exigir justicia para el inmigrante. Mientras el movimiento de Occupy Wall Street destaca las excesivas ganancias corporativas, nosotros quisiéramos enfatizar sobre aquellos que se enriquecen por medio del trabajo de los inmigrantes, explotan a los trabajadores y rehúsan pagar salarios dignos. También marcharemos en contra de las corporaciones que apoyan la legislación anti-inmigrante generando billones de dólares recluyendo a inmigrantes en centros de detención privados y deportando a aproximadamente 400,000 personas al año. Queremos eliminar el robo de salarios y, frenar las detenciones y deportaciones de los apreciados miembros de nuestra comunidad.

Mientras Occupy Wall Street se hace global, reconocemos el rol destructivo que éstas corporaciones juegan en la explotación de los recursos y la mano de obra en nuestros países de origen, lo cual obliga a millones a migrar.

El 18 de diciembre es el Día Internacional del Migrante y nos hacemos solidarios con aquellos que a nivel mundial proclaman los Derechos del inmigrante y los Derechos Humanos.

Marcha con Permiso:
Domingo, 18 de Deciembre, 2011
1:30pm - 5:00pm
Foley Sq hacia Zuccotti Park
Metro Chambers J/Z Brooklyn Bridge 4/5/6
Mas info: 646 397 4373

El evento en Facebook:
(marcha) http://www.facebook.com/events/240820965995020/

ImmigrantsOccupyNYC en facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ImmigrantsOccupyNYC/273614659355676

ImmigrantsOWS en twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ImmigrantsOWS

la pagina de nuestro grupo en el sitio de la asamblea general de Wall Street : http://www.nycga.net/groups/immigrant-worker-justice

Descarga el Volante: http://bit.ly/rwyv61

Esta marcha esta siendo organizada por el Immigrant Justice Working Group del movimiento Occupy Wall Street. Traemos las voces y las luchas de los trabajadores inmigrantes de la ciudad de Nueva York- miembros del 99%- a Occupy Wall Street. En solidaridad con OWS, los movimientos de inmigración y los movimientos obreros, elevamos esta campaña con las preocupaciones de los trabajadores inmigrantes. Creemos que toda mano de obra debe ser reconocida y que todos los trabajadores, independientemente de su estatus como inmigrantes, merecen igualdad de derechos y dignidad. Reconocemos el capital global-en la forma de instituciones financieras, corporaciones multinacionales, y el estado neoliberal de las políticas económicas- como el ímpetu de la migración económica a los Estados Unidos, y lamentamos el hecho de que los bancos y las corporaciones, apoyadas por el gobierno, sigan lucrándose por medio de detenciones y deportaciones. El liderazgo y la participación de los trabajadores inmigrantes es necesaria para cualquier discusión sobre la justica social, económica y ambiental.

Joe Arpaio's Latest Victim Rushed to Hospital

2011-12-17T15:39:00.000-08:00

By Stephen Lemons, Phoenix New Times
December 17, 2011

Following on the heels of a report by the U.S. Department of Justice condemning the MCSO [Maricopa County Sheriff's Office] for engaging in "discriminatory policing" and blasting its treatment of Latinos in and out of its jails, an incident involving a prisoner at [Sheriff Joe] Arpaio's Fourth Avenue Jail may end up offering more proof of the report's findings.

Rumors of the details of the incident have been bouncing around Facebook since yesterday, with claims by Scottsdale Police Lieutenant Mike Stauffer, Arpaio's only announced foe in the 2012 election, that "a Latino inmate at 4th Avenue Jail is brain dead due to excessive force by detention officers." [...]

Read the full article:
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2011/12/joe_arpaios_latest_victim_rush.php

For more, read:
Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Office Commits Worst Racial Profiling in U.S. History, Concludes DOJ Investigation
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/12/sheriff_arpaio_oversaw_worst_r.php

Who Killed Joaquin Luna?

2011-12-16T01:39:00.000-08:00

Joseph Nevins, Border Wars, NACLA
November 30, 2011

Last Friday Joaquin Luna put on a white shirt and black tie—the same ones he wore every Sunday at the church he attended. The eighteen-year-old high school senior then kissed family members, went into the bathroom of his mother’s house in south Texas, and shot and killed himself.

According to his family, Joaquin was suffering from emotional and psychological distress related to his unauthorized immigrant status. Since the age of six months, when his family crossed the U.S.-Mexico boundary and settled in Mission, Texas, just on the other side of the international divide from Reynosa, Joaquin had lived in the United States as an “illegal.” Given his unauthorized status, he had become increasingly anxious as his graduation approached, and his limited life prospects became apparent. [...]

Read the full article:
https://nacla.org/blog/2011/11/30/who-killed-joaquin-luna

Unions and Immigrants Join Occupy Movements

2011-12-15T01:37:00.000-08:00

By David Bacon, Truthout
December 6, 2011

Oakland, California - When Occupy Seattle called its tent camp "Planton Seattle," camp organizers were laying a local claim to a set of tactics used for decades by social movements in Mexico, Central America and the Philippines. And when immigrant janitors marched down to the detention center in San Diego and called their effort Occupy ICE (the initials of the Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency responsible for mass deportations),people from countries with that planton encampment tradition were connecting it to the Occupy movement here. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.truth-out.org/unions-and-immigrants-join-occupy-movements/1323183717

Perceptions of Migration Clash With Reality, Report Finds

2011-12-14T01:35:00.000-08:00

By Caroline Brothers, New York Times
December 5, 2011

PARIS — Perceptions of the impact of migration in some countries are so distorted that their citizens estimate that there are as many as three times the number of immigrants living there than is actually the case, a global migration body says in a report being released on Tuesday.

In “World Migration Report for 2011,” the International Organization for Migration, a 132-member intergovernmental body based in Geneva, warns that misinformation about migration fans “harmful stereotypes, discrimination and xenophobia.” [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/world/europe/perceptions-of-migration-clash-with-reality-report-finds.html?ref=world

Read the report:
http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37&products_id=752&zenid=86e083135fcd6aae6bd3d334d4cb4e5d

Arrests of illegal migrants on U.S.-Mexico border plummet

2011-12-13T01:33:00.000-08:00

By Nick Miroff and William Booth, Washington Post
December 3, 2011

MEXICALI, Mexico — Arrests of illegal migrants trying to cross the southern U.S. border have plummeted to levels not seen since the early 1970s, according to tallies released by the Department of Homeland Security last week, a historic shift that could reshape the debate over immigration reform.

The Border Patrol apprehended 327,577 illegal crossers along the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2011, which ended Sept. 30, numbers not seen since Richard Nixon was president, and a precipitous drop from the peak in 2000, when 1.6 million unauthorized migrants were caught. More than 90 percent of the migrants apprehended on the southwest border are Mexican. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/arrests-of-illegal-migrants-on-us-mexico-border-plummet/2011/12/02/gIQA6Op8PO_story.html?tid=pm_pop

Tell ICE's Southern Office: Respect the Civil Rights of Immigrant Workers!

2011-12-12T01:29:00.000-08:00

From Jobs with Justice National jwjnational@jwj.org
December 1, 2011

Ever since SB1070 passed in Arizona, Southern states like Alabama have been quick to pass legislation that take the racial profiling bill to the next levels of hate.

At the same time, the Obama administration has announced that Immigration Enforcement’s regional field
offices now are empowered to use their discretion with who is or is not deported.

That means that ICE’s Southern Field Director in New Orleans, Scott Sutterfield has a decision to make.

Last August, his office coordinated the violent ambush of thirty workers in New Orleans who had gathered to receive their paychecks. Now, the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice and community leaders across the South are demanding Mr. Sutterfield attend a town hall meeting on the state of civil rights in the era of Alabama-style hate.

Jobs with Justice has been working on this fight for a long time as a part of the Turning the Tides movement building, and we want to make sure that Sutterfield won’t stand in the way of their civil rights.

You can support their call with three quick steps
1. Watch the video about their case
2. Sign the petition calling for a town hall meeting
3. Ask five friends to do the same.

If Arizona is the laboratory for these Right-Wing policies, the South has become their testing ground. While the administration talks about making immigration enforcement more precise, its own programs and the recent wave of state laws have been doing the opposite. Within those contradictions, ICE’s regional directors like Sutterfield become the deciding factor.

Crisis Clobbers Mexican Immigrants

2011-12-11T01:25:00.000-08:00

Salem-News.com from Frontera NorteSur
November 28, 2011

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - The last four years have been a rough road for Mexican immigrants in the US. Anti-immigrant laws in Arizona, Alabama and other states have disrupted lives and sent people packing, while record deportations have uprooted longtime residents and divided families. If public policy shifts weren't enough, economic tremors have clobbered the Mexican immigrant community. That's according to a report by BBVA Research, an arm of the BBVA bank in Mexico.

In a new study, BBVA Research reveals that 900,000 Mexican immigrants residing in the US have fallen into poverty since the global economic crisis struck in 2008. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/november282011/immigrant-crisis.php

In Haiti, U.S. deportees face illegal detentions and grave health risks

2011-12-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

By Jacob Kushner, Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
November 13, 2011

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The United States has deported more than 250 Haitians since January knowing that one in two will be jailed without charges in facilities so filthy they pose life-threatening health risks.

An investigation by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting found that the Obama administration has not followed its own policy of seeking alternatives to deportation when there are serious medical and humanitarian concerns. One deportee who arrived in April suffered from asthma, hypertension, diabetes, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and head trauma, among other ailments. That same month, the U.S. government deported a mentally ill immigrant whose psychiatric medications were lost by Haitian authorities after his first day in jail. [...]

Read the full article:
http://fcir.org/2011/11/13/u-s-deportees-to-haiti-jailed-without-cause-face-severe-health-risks/

The Washington Narrative on Migration

2011-11-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

Todd Miller, Border Wars, NACLA
November 24, 2011

We should’ve figured that going to Capitol Hill to talk about the connections between free trade agreements (FTA) and migration in Latin America wouldn’t go over well with our congressional representatives.

I was with Nicaraguan Uriel Carazo who was travelling in the United States to speak about how the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) was exacerbating already dire conditions in Nicaragua and pushing people to look for economic alternatives - mainly, of course, via migration (see video of his talk at Occupy Wall Street in New York). With all the buzz around the subject, particularly in GOP debates, you’d figure folks would be keen on hearing what Carazo had to say about why people were migrating. On that rainy Washington morning, we were there to meet with the offices of Rep. Katherine Castor (D-FL), Rep. Albio Sires (D-NJ), and Dennis Cardoza (D-CA). Problem was, they didn’t seem too interested. In Sires office, we didn’t even get past the couch in the waiting room. [...]

https://nacla.org/blog/2011/11/24/washington-narrative-migration

Suprise: Jonathan and Isaac Released from Detention . . . Round 2 Coming Soon

2011-11-28T09:10:00.000-08:00

By Mohammad Abdollahi, DreamActivist.org
November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving, however you may celebrate it. So we have one piece of good news for the day, Jonathan and Isaac were released very early in the morning today. They spent a total of 10 days in the Basile immigration detention center, the first five days they were in a New Orleans prison.

The action they took part in was an intentional action to get involved with immigration authorities. We know many of you think it’s crazy but why not? Immigration thinks it has some power over our communities, they think they can hold us hostage with the threat of detention. So why not take the power away from them and let them know we can go to detention on our own terms. If we take the fear card away from them then what do they have to hold over us? What would it look like the next time a bill like HB56 were proposed and the community was actually willing to stand up to the racist legislators? That is a future we want to see. We eliminate the fear. We empower the community to stand up for themselves. We then demand change, our own change.

If you organize you are safe.

More information:
http://www.dreamactivist.org/blog/2011/11/24/isaac-jonathan-released-knockout-1-undocumented-youth-2/

Raw footage from inside the Mobile, Alabama Border Patrol office:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA54ErBfZ8E&feature=youtu.be

Ways to support Isaac and Jonathan:
http://action.dreamactivist.org/alabama15/

Thousands Rally for Repeal of Alabama’s Extreme Anti-Immigrant Law

2011-11-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

By Seth Hoy, Immigration Impact
November 22, 2011
.
Thousands gathered outside the historic 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama yesterday to demand the repeal of the state’s harsh anti-immigration law, HB 56. Religious, community and civil rights leaders, as well as a special Congressional delegation, urged state legislators to bring an end to Alabama’s immigration law—a law which continues to slow state businesses, separate families and drive immigrants from the state. The Congressional delegation also held an ad hoc hearing at Birmingham City Hall to hear how the controversial law is effecting state residents, especially the Latino and immigrant communities where, according to Rep. Luis Gutierrez, “the feeling of danger and despair is palpable.” One Congressional member, Rep. Al Green of Texas, commented that the law “deserves to be placed on the trash heap of history.”

During yesterday’s hearing, Birmingham Mayor William Bell told 11 Congressional members that Alabama’s law “smacks of apartheid and Jim Crow laws,” places financial burdens on cities and could force police officers to employ racial profiling. Echoing the mayor’s economic concerns, Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona forewarned that much like Arizona’s SB1070, Alabama’s immigration law “is going to hurt the economy and the social fabric of the state.”[...]

Read the full article:
http://immigrationimpact.com/2011/11/22/thousands-rally-for-repeal-of-alabama%E2%80%99s-extreme-anti-immigrant-law/

See also:

11/21 "One Family, One Alabama" Campaign Launch / Rally (photos)
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.285247261513357.65924.140828539288564&type=1

Black Leaders Get Closeup View of Alabama’s New Jim Crow
http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/11/black_leaders_get_closeup_view_of_alabamas_new_jim_crow.html

Achtung Baby: Alabama's Immigration Crackdown Causes Arrest of Mercedes-Benz Executive (video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDJQNUAh2eo&feature=player_embedded

Immigration from Mexico in fast retreat, data show

2011-11-21T09:04:00.000-08:00

By Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times
November 15, 2011

Reporting from Mexico City— North of the U.S.-Mexico border, Republican presidential candidates are talking tough on illegal immigration, with one proposing — perhaps in jest — an electrified fence to deter migrants.

But data from both sides of the border suggest that illegal immigration from Mexico is already in fast retreat, as U.S. job shortages, tighter border enforcement and the frightening presence of criminal gangs on the Mexican side dissuade many from making the trip. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-migration-20111115,0,6585941.story

Undocumented. Unafraid. Undercover.

2011-11-20T08:55:00.000-08:00

From Mohammad Abdollahi, DreamActivist.org

November 18, 2011

We are undocumented, unafraid and now undercover. For a while we organized the traditional way thinking things would change. Then we realized we had push a little harder, so we started escalating and demanding change. President Obama was onto us, he came out with a big announcement to get support from the Latino community. We knew it was a lie and many of you knew it was a lie but others fell for the trap. You know the NCLR, CHIRLA, Reform Immigration for America crowds . . .

This week we set out to show it was a lie by intentionally getting undocumented youth into a detention center. After all, if Obama was true to his word we wouldn't be successful, right?

Wrong.

Meet Isaac Barrera and Jonathan Perez, youth from California. You actually know both of them, they were participants in a San Bernardino civil disobedience action. This past Thursday both of them walked into a Mobile, Alabama Border Patrol office protesting against HB56. Both were detained and, within hours, transferred to the Basile immigration detention center in Southern Louisiana.

Isaac and Jonathan are now doing what they do best, organizing from within the detention center where they are gathering stories of others detained, those not connected to a larger network.

Take action and support the work of Isaac and Jonathan from within the detention center. Think we can have them home by Thanksgiving?
http://action.dreamactivist.org/alabama15/

Immigration thinks it can go after us, well we have news for them, we can go after them too. We can enter their detention centers on our own terms and, with your support, we can come out. Let's bring Jonathan and Isaac home for Thanksgiving!

Much love,

Mohammad Abdollahi
DreamActivist.org

ICE is trying to deport an Occupy Oakland protester

2011-11-19T07:37:00.000-08:00

By Presente.org
November 17, 2011

[Update 11/17/11: Pancho has been released -- INCREDIBLE NEWS. Unfortunately he's not out of the woods yet.]

Occupy Protester to be Deported
Sign the petition demanding ICE to release Pancho and cancel his deportation

In less than 48 hours, we may lose a modern day hero. Francisco “Pancho” Ramos-Stierle was arrested on Monday as he was sitting in silent, non-violent protest against the deep inequality that pervades our society and affects so many Latinos and immigrants.

But what makes Pancho different from so many of the "Occupy" protestors who have been arrested is that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is trying to deport him. Pancho's information was immediately passed from local police to immigration officials through the Secure Communities (S-COMM) program. So even though the charges against him were dropped, he is still under federal immigration hold. ICE has less than 48 hours to either take him into federal custody or release him and cancel his deportation.
He was bravely standing up for his community, and now we have to stand up for him. Can you take a moment and sign this petition demanding that ICE release Pancho and cancel his deportation immediately?

And can you forward this email to your friends and family then post to your Facebook and Twitter profiles?
http://act.presente.org/go/551?akid=480.366925.a3CCkI&t=3

Pancho was arrested during an early morning raid on the Occupy Oakland encampment on November 14th.1 He participated in Occupy Oakland because he was tired of banks and corporations dominating our country's politics. Our communities have suffered disproportionately as corporations and the wealthiest among us gain more and more power. Latinos across immigration statuses have lost a staggering two-thirds of our wealth in the recession.2 And for the first time in U.S. history, more Latino children are living in poverty than children of any other ethnic group, and more than two-thirds of them have immigrant parents.3 Meanwhile, coorporation such as CCA and GEO are making billions and profiteering by jailing immigrants like Pancho.

Before his arrest, Pancho was pursuing a Ph.D. in astrophysics at UC Berkeley but resigned from the program when he learned that his work would be used to promote “safer nuclear weapons.” His service to community took many forms – whether promoting community gardens or workingfor migrant rights in Arizona.

Although local courts dropped the charges against Pancho, his fingerprints were immediately forwarded to ICE as soon as he was in custody. This direct pipeline to ICE and deportation is the hallmark of the Obama administration's S-COMM program - a flawed program that fosters racial profiling against Latinos and authorizes local police to act as immigration officers. Now, we must fight to get Pancho's deportation cancelled. Click here to sign the petition.
http://act.presente.org/go/551?akid=480.366925.a3CCkI&t=5

Thanks and ¡adelante!
Favianna, Roberto, Laurie, Felipe, Carlos, Kyle and the rest of the Presente.org team
--
References
1."Peaceful Occupy Oakland Protester Faces Deportation," Colorlines.com, 11/16/11
http://bit.ly/t0DTxF
2. "The Toll of the Great Recession: Hispanic Household Wealth Fell by 66% from 2005 to 2009," Pre Hispanic Center, 7/26/11
http://bit.ly/ooU0u0
3. "The Toll of the Great Recession: Childhood Poverty Among Hispanics Sets Record, Leads Nation," Pew Hispanic Center,9/28/11
http://bit.ly/osigea

Democracy Now! interview:
Occupy Oakland Protester Pancho Ramos Stierle Faces Deportation After Arrest While Meditating
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/18/occupy_oakland_protester_pancho_ramos_stierle

Immigration advocates praise Pearce's defeat

2011-11-09T20:44:00.000-08:00

By Catalina Camia, USA Today
November 9, 2011

Some immigration advocates are celebrating the ouster last night of Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce, author of the state's controversial immigration law.

Pearce, president of the Arizona Senate, conceded defeat late Tuesday to fellow Republican Jerry Lewis. Early and provisional ballots must be counted, but Pearce trailed Lewis when all precincts had reported. [...]

Read the full article:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/11/russell-pearce-recall-immigration-arizona-/1

Some African-Americans in Alabama see HB 56 as "a giant step backwards"

2011-11-07T11:49:00.000-08:00

By Maribel Hastings, Huffington Post
October 27, 2011

Illinois Congressman Luis Gutiérrez (D) has always said that the fight for immigration reform is a civil-rights issue for the immigrant community in the United States.

That community finds itself in dire straits in Alabama under its new law HB 56, which, even after a court ruling temporarily blocking some provisions from being enforced, continues to wreak havoc among families made up of immigrants, legal residents and citizens, and continues to affect the economy and the image Alabama is projecting to the country and the world. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maribel-hastings/some-africanamericans-in-_b_1033406.html

Letter from Oaxaca

2011-11-06T11:47:00.000-08:00

David Bacon, The Investigative Fund (The Nation Institute)
October 24, 2011

If there's one experience that Mexicans have in common more than any other, more even than hatred and repudiation of the mutual violence of the narcos and the government, it's migration. In Oaxaca, 18 percent of its 3.7 million people have left for other parts of Mexico, and especially for the United States. Almost half its towns have shrunk, and migration has become part of the daily experience for almost every family.

I just spent three days listening to indigenous people here talk about it, in a unique organization that brings together people from both sides of the border, the Binational Front of Indigenous Organizations (FIOB). [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.theinvestigativefund.org/blog/1569/letter_from_oaxaca/

Hispanics fight Alabama's immigration law with work stoppage

2011-11-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

Montgomery (AL) Advertiser
October 12, 2011

ALBERTVILLE — At least a half-dozen poultry plants shut down or scaled back operations Wednesday and many other businesses closed as Hispanics in Alabama skipped work to protest the state's toughest-in-the-nation immigration law.

The work stoppage was aimed at demonstrating the economic contribution of Alabama's Hispanic immigrants. It was unclear exactly how widespread the protests were, but a poultry company spokesman said officials were reporting unusually high absences at plants in northeast Alabama, where much of the state's chicken industry is based. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20111012/NEWS02/110120340/Hispanics-fight-Alabama-s-immigration-law-work-stoppage

Immigrants Join Protest as Occupy Wall Street Movement Grows

2011-11-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

Tania Mattos, Legislative Coordinator at the New York State Youth Leadership Council, believes that the Occupy Wall Street protests are important in putting immigrant issues back on the table. She sees immigrants as making up a strong contingent of the “99%.”

By Rebecca Ellis, Americas Program
November 3, 2011

Sebastian Fernandez, 25, a graduate student born in Colombia, works the Spanish information desk of the Occupy Wall Street camp on the edge of Zucotti Park. At the corner of Liberty and Broadway, flanked by hot dog vendors and police barricades, he sits at a folding table laden with Spanish-language copies of the protest’s newspaper, the “Occupy Wall Street Journal.” [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/5666

The Economic Impact of Immigrant-Related Local Ordinances

2011-10-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

Americas Society
October 20, 2011

This Americas Society white paper provides the first comparative look at the average economic effects of how restrictive versus non-restrictive immigration-related city ordinances affect a city’s business environment. In a context of high unemployment and lackluster business growth, along with rising anxieties regarding immigration in the United States, we believe it essential to provide a better understanding of how policies that seek to restrict immigration and those that support more flexible approaches affect the economies of communities across the country.

The Economic Impact of Immigrant-Related Local Ordinances finds that restrictive ordinances have a negative impact on the number of employees in a city when compared to cities that instead chose to enact non-restrictive ordinances. In fact, an average city with a restrictive ordinance has 0.18 times fewer expected number of employees than its non-restrictive counterpart. […]

Read the full article at:
http://coa.counciloftheamericas.org/article.php?id=3709

Download the report at:
http://www.as-coa.org/files/ASImmigrationWhitePaper.pdf

Crime Data and Spillover Violence along the Southwest Border

2011-10-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

Christopher Wilson, AL DÍA: News and Analysis from Mexico Institute
October 14, 2011

As organized crime-related violence has increased in northern Mexico, so has the heated rhetoric regarding the U.S. side of the border. The title of National Geographic’s program, Border Wars, exemplifies the sentiment, echoed by several politicians, that the border region is lawless and dangerous. For residents of the U.S. border region, thankfully, the reality is anything but that.

In fact, as violent crime surged in parts of Mexico, the U.S. border region became safer. While in Mexico the murder rate climbed 29% between 2005 and 2010, it declined 24% in the U.S. border states. This suggests that despite a smattering of violent incidents perpetrated by members of Mexican criminal groups in the United States, widespread “spillover violence” has not occurred.[…]

Read the full article:
http://mexicoinstitute.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/border-violence-brief-10-14-2011.pdf

Hay Que “Ocupar” Alabama! Occupy Alabama!

2011-10-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Por Elvira Arellano
October 26, 2011

English translation follows

Quisiera dedicar esta columna a nuestra gente en el estado de Alabama. Deseo que sepan que estamos al pendiente de ustedes y respaldándolos en nuestros hogares y nuestras comunidades en todo Estados Unidos, México y Centro América. […]

I would like to dedicate this column to our people in the state of Alabama. I would like them to know that we are watching and supporting them in our homes and communities all over the United States, Mexico and Guatemala. […]

Read the full article (Spanish and English):
http://fluenglish.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/hay-que-%E2%80%9Cocupar%E2%80%9D-alabama/

Free books from the NY Nicaragua Solidarity Network

2011-10-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

========================================
Saturday, Oct. 15, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Wednesday, Oct. 19, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Saturday, Oct. 22, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
At 339 Lafayette Street, buzzer 11 (or buzzer 10 if there's no answer)
(at Bleecker Street in Manhattan; 6 train to Bleecker Street, or D or F trains to Broadway-Lafayette; also, B and M trains on weekday; a short ride from Occupy Wall Street)
Free books * Magazines * T-shirts and political buttons from historic campaigns, and more
========================================

REALLY and TRULY LAST CHANCE GIVEAWAY!! Everything must go!!

More information at:
http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com/2011/10/still-more-free-books-from-new-york.html

NYC, 10/6/-10/911: "Undocumented," by Katherine Chua

2011-10-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

What happens when everything you know is about to be taken away? What can you do when you have to leave the only place you call home? Where do you go when you get tired of hiding, but too scared to run? What do you do when you’re not sure if you’re a victim or a criminal?

These are just some of the barriers that young undocumented immigrants must confront. In the multimedia play Undocumented by Katherine Chua, she highlights the inner turmoil of a girl called Frida, who has been found out by the authorities as being in the country illegally. Although she has been living in the U.S. since the age of 8 and is now 25, she will be taken from all she's ever known and deported "home" to her native country. The only light is the possibility of having the DREAM Act bill get passed by legislation. But before Frida can find solace and trust in this bill being past she must find solace, trust and forgiveness in those around her and most importantly herself.

SIX PERFORMANCES!
Thursday, October 6th (8pm Show)
Friday, October 7th (8pm Show)
Saturday, October 8th (3pm Show followed by Q&A & an 8pm Show)
Sunday, October 9th (3pm Show followed by Q&A and a 7pm Show)
Tickets are $15 at the door. First come first served, so please come 20-25 minutes before showtime.
The Shell Theater located in the Times Square Art Building, 300 West 43rd Street (off 8th Avenue), 4th Floor (403), NY 10036
Contact: undocumentedThePlay@gmail.com

CAST: Sahar Muradi, Dorcas Evelene Davis, Madelene De Leon, Ryan Johnson, Roberto C. Chavez and Charlotte MacDougall

Directed by David Mitnowsky
Asst. Directed by Lexy Nistico

Designers: Nick van der Grinten, Jonathan Spencer, Melanie Patterson

"plant a seed of knowledge . . . incite the growth of a revolution."

http://www.katchua.com/

Please visit here for info on"Undocumented"

http://undocumentedtheplay.com/

http://www.facebook.com/undocumentedbykatchua
http://kck.st/kfKygA
twitter us @undocAplay

Sharin Chiorazzo, ¡Presente!

2011-10-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

Educator and Palestine activist Sharin Chiorazzo died on September 30 after a long struggle with cancer. She was 51; she is survived by her daughter Nadia, her sister Cathy and her parents, Joan and Joseph.

Sharin was an adjunct professor in Middle Eastern studies at several New Jersey colleges and also taught elementary Arabic. She had degrees from the New School for Social Research and New York University; her PhD dissertation, A theoretical discussion of the nation-state in Western discourse and its application to non Western peoples, is available from ProQuest. Sharin co-edited Palestine Rising, Dawud A. Assad’s memoir of surviving the 1948 massacre at the Palestinian village of Deir Yasin.

Starting in 2002 Sharin was a member of the committee that worked for the release of her friend Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a New York-based Palestinian activist then being held in immigration detention. After a federal judge ordered Farouk released in April 2004, he and Sharin made plans to marry. Sharin was with Farouk the night of July 21, just three months after his release, when he died suddenly of a heart attack while in Philadelphia to speak on the struggles for Palestinian and immigrant rights.

Several friends from the Farouk campaign visited Sharin on September 24 at her home in southern New Jersey, where she was surrounded by family and friends. Lucid and still committed to the Palestinian cause, she entrusted us with papers, letters, and photographs from Farouk and from her years of Middle Eastern activism.

Visiting hours will be Monday, October 3, 7-9 pm, and Tuesday, October 4, 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm, at Riewerts Memorial Home at 187 South Washington Avenue, Bergenfield, NJ, 07621-2987, phone 201-384-0700. There will be a funeral mass Wednesday, October 5, at 10 am at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church on Washington Ave near Main Street in Bergenfield (phone 201-384-0101).

Donations in Sharin’s memory can be made to Hospice or to Nadia's Trust Fund c/o Helen Richards, 521 Piermont Ave., Apt. 109, River Vale, NJ 07675.

Sharin at home last week with Konrad Aderer, the director of “Enemy Alien,” and his son, Kiyoshi. The photo at the top shows Sharin at the July 22, 2005 vigil in Farouk’s memory (from NY Indymedia).

Three Days in the Life of a Migrant Laborer

2011-09-13T06:50:00.000-07:00

Today, US companies demand access to flexible workforces, so to better compete in the global economy. Companies have discovered that agencies in immigrant communities supply inexpensive labor pools of workers who work hard. Factories are hungry for such work pools, and if they cannot access them here in the US, they might search for them in other countries.

By David Van Arsdale, Peace Newsletter
July-August 2011 and September 2011

A temporary worker should never oversleep. This was my thought as I hit the snooze button on my alarm clock two or three times. By the time I awoke, it was half past seven in the morning—far too late, I thought to myself, to find a construction or factory job through the staffing agency in Harlem through which I was working. I decided to try anyhow. I arrived to discover a mostly-vacant waiting room. There were only two other workers waiting and both of them informed me that most of the jobs were dispatched before seven, as I had suspected. Juan, a twenty-four-year-old Nicaraguan who lives in the housing projects across the street from the agency, asked me if I knew of any other agencies offering work. I asked if he wanted to come with me to try the agencies in Queens, in the Latino neighborhoods. Juan and I became quick friends, we jumped on the subway and headed for Queens. [...]

Read the two-part series:
http://www.peacecouncil.net/pnl/11/806/806migrant.html
http://www.peacecouncil.net/pnl/11/807/807migrant.html

Immigration Special Report: New Mexico Immigrant Fight Widens

2011-09-12T06:47:00.000-07:00

Immigrants aren’t taking matters sitting down... instead they're mobilizing in different New Mexico communities.

By Kent Paterson, Salem-News.com and Frontera NorteSur
September 3, 2011

(LAS CRUCES, N.M.) - Defying the stormy skies of a late summer monsoon season, immigrants and their supporters had a message for New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez: Stop targeting our families and start working on education, jobs and other matters of vital importance in an economically hard -pressed state.

Convened by El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, an immigrant rights organization based in Albuquerque, scores of demonstrators turned out September 1 in front of state Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) offices in Albuquerque. A lively crowd of young and old alike protested a Martinez administration-ordered review of 10,000 state driver’s licenses previously issued to foreign-born people without Social Security numbers. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/september032011/immigrant-fight-kp.php

Does the H-2A guest worker visa program make it easy to exploit farmworkers?

2011-09-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

In 2007 a report issued by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States, concluded that H-2A workers "are bound to the employers who 'import' them. If guestworkers complain about abuses, they face deportation, blacklisting, or other retaliation." Federal regulations to protect the workers "exist mainly on paper," it added. "Government enforcement ... is almost nonexistent."

By David Bacon, California Lawyer magazine
September 2011

In the fall of 2006 Irma Luna, a community worker for California Rural Legal Assistance in Fresno, got a phone call from the tiny town of Tulelake, on the Oregon border. Hundreds of farmworkers, the caller said, were living at the Siskiyou County fairgrounds, and many were being fired and sent back to Mexico.

Luna and CRLA attorneys Alegria G. De La Cruz and Michael Meuter drove 500 miles through the Central Valley to investigate. At Tulelake they found about a hundred angry laborers waiting at the local library. The workers said that Sierra Cascade Nursery, a leading grower of strawberry plants in the United States, had contracted in Mexico for 600 people to spend six weeks at its facilities trimming strawberry plant roots. The company, which develops rootstock and sells strawberry plants to growers around the world, owns more than a thousand acres of nurseries in northern California and southern Oregon. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.callawyer.com/story.cfm?eid=917686&evid=1

Nation's farm states push competing guest-worker bills

2011-09-10T06:41:00.000-07:00

"Because the bill slashes wages and worker protections, it actually creates the incentive for employers to replace their current American workers with much cheaper (foreign) workers," warned Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.

By Michael Doyle, McClatchy Newspapers
September 8, 2011

WASHINGTON -- Half a million foreign farmworkers could gain visas annually under a new plan that some U.S. growers believe doesn't go far enough.

Entering a political minefield, the conservative chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has written a bill that gives growers some of what they want in a farmworker visa program. Housing and transportation requirements are eased. Farmworker lawsuits are limited. Dairies, for the first time, become eligible.

"If we are really going to help American growers in the long term, we need to provide them a workable guest-worker program that will help them hire a legal workforce," declared Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas. [...]

Read more the full article:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/08/2397245/nations-farm-states-push-competing.html

"Enemy Alien" screenings in NYC, Berkeley, Toronto

2011-09-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

a Palestinian activist’s fight for freedom draws a Japanese American filmmaker into confrontation with detention regimes of past and present.

“Amazing...now that is what I call a ‘real’ documentary. An exposé of the first order.” -- Satsuki Ina, director, Children of the Camps & From a Silk Cocoon

"Enemy Alien is a must-see documentary! The filmmaker crosses boundaries and prison walls to tell the story of this peaceful Palestinian freedom fighter…a powerful and often scary real-life tale of the shared struggle between Japanese Americans and Muslim Americans." --Basim Elkarra, Executive Director, CAIR-Sacramento

Documentary, 2011, 82 minutes
A project of Life or Liberty
Directed by Konrad Aderer

Thursday, September 8, 7:00pm
Alwan for the Arts 16 Beaver Street Manhattan, NYC
http://www.alwanforthearts.org/event/778

Panel discussion with the filmmaker and discussants:
Amy Gottlieb, American Friends Service Committee
Mirene Ghossein, activist and promoter of Arab-American and Palestinian poetry and arts
Cristina "AiMara" Lee, organizer and legal observer involved in Asian American & Muslim American solidarity

Toronto Palestine Film Festival
Tuesday, October 4, 9:00pm
Art Gallery of Ontario, Jackman Hall Theater
317 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON
http://tpff.ca/festival-program/
Copresented by Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival

UC Berkeley
As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 arrives, the Nikkei Student Union and the Muslim Student Association, will hold a joint event of featuring a screening of Enemy Alien followed by discussion
UC Berkeley's Multicultural Community Center (MCC)
September 8th, 7:30pm

Enemy Alien, a first-person documentary, is the gripping story of the fight to free Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a gentle but indomitable Palestinian-born human rights activist detained in a post-9/11 sweep of Muslim immigrants. Told through the eyes of the filmmaker, the grandson of Japanese Americans interned during World War II, this documentary takes on unprecedented intimacy and historical resonance.

As the filmmaker confronts his own family legacy of incarceration, his involvement in the current struggle deepens. Resistance brings consequences: In retaliation for organizing a massive protest from inside detention, Farouk is beaten and locked in solitary confinement, and his American-born son Tarek is arrested in a counterterrorism investigation into the documentary itself.

Website: http://www.lifeorliberty.org/enemy-alien
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EnemyAlien
Twitter: @enemyalien

Distributor, educational distribution & screenings: Third World Newsreel

The New York Observer‘Exigent Times’: Konrad Aderer’s Enemy Alien
http://www.observer.com/2011/07/exigent-times-konrad-aderers-enemy-alien/

Radio interviews with director Konrad Aderer:
Asia Pacific Forum, WBAI 99.5 NYC (6/27/2011)
http://www.asiapacificforum.org/show-detail.php?show_id=234#655

Insight: Mike McGowan, Capital Public Radio KXJZ 90.9 Sacramento (2/18/2011)
http://www.capradio.org/news/insight/2011/02/18/insight-mike-mcgowan--enemy-alien--immortal-jellyfish--shayla-rivera

America’s Sweatshop Diplomacy

2011-08-27T04:39:00.000-07:00

By Jennifer Gordon, New York Times
August 24, 2011

ACCORDING to the State Department, the J-1 visa Summer Work Study program, which allows foreign students to work in the United States for a few months, is meant to promote “lasting and meaningful relationships” between the students and Americans.

Try telling that to the more than 300 J-1 holders who went on strike at a Hershey’s distribution plant in Pennsylvania last week, with the support of the National Guestworker Alliance. These engineering majors and future lawyers from places like Turkey, Moldova and China came hoping to travel and speak English, but spent the summer packing and lifting heavy pallets of Kit-Kats, often on overnight shifts and for meager pay. [...]

Read the full op-ed:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/opinion/americas-sweatshop-diplomacy.html

Fighting the Firings

2011-08-26T04:39:00.000-07:00

After years of ‘silent raids’ and federal workplace audits, unions and community allies are going on the offensive.

By David Bacon, In These Times
August 23, 2011

When the current wave of mass firings of immigrant workers started three years ago, they were called “silent raids” in the press. The phrase makes firings seem more humane than the workplace raids of the Bush administration. During Bush’s eight-year tenure, posses of black-uniformed immigration agents, waving submachine guns, invaded factories across the country and rounded up workers for deportations.

“Silent raids,” by contrast, have relied on cooperation between employers and immigration officials. The Department of Homeland Security identifies workers it says have no legal immigration status. Employers then fire them. The silence, then, is the absence of the armed men in black. To paraphrase Woody Guthrie, they used to rob workers of their jobs with a gun. Now they do it with a fountain pen. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/11857/fighting_the_firings

Workers Win Large Settlement at Supplier to Chinese Restaurants After Hard Fought Campaign

2011-08-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

For Immediate Release:
Focus on the Food Chain
August 18, 2011
Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org

Energetic Worker-Led Campaign Saw Key Customers Drop the Distribution Warehouse Until Workers' Rights Were Respected

Queens, NY – Immigrant workers at Pur Pac, a food distribution warehouse supplying many landmark Chinese restaurants, bakeries, and cafes in Chinatown and around the City, have won a major settlement with the company after prevailing in a bitterly contested workplace justice campaign. The comprehensive settlement will return $470,000 in illegally withheld minimum wage and overtime pay and subjects Pur Pac to a binding code of conduct which includes protection for collective activity and compels compliance with all workplace laws including anti-discrimination and health & safety protections. The workers organized with Focus on the Food Chain, a joint campaign from Brandworkers and the IWW which is challenging sweatshop conditions in a sprawling industrial corridor of food processing and distribution warehouses that service New York City markets and restaurants.

"No one who wakes up and goes to work every day should have their wages stolen," said Primo Aguilar, a former worker at Pur Pac and a leading member of the campaign. "I feel proud today that my co-workers and I stood up, got organized, and won. This settlement means a great deal for us and our families but also for our effort with the Focus campaign to win respect for all of New York City's food processing and distribution workers."

Through grassroots advocacy and protest, the workers persuaded key food retail customers of Pur Pac to stop doing business with the company until the dispute was resolved. Pursuant to the settlement, workers' representatives are notifying customers that the dispute has been favorably resolved. Pur Pac's product line includes bulk rice, sugar, cooking oil, chop sticks, and soy sauce. In a previous companion agreement, Pur Pac acknowledged that it was the successor to two predecessor companies, E-Z Supply Corp. and Sunrise Plus Corp., and has recognized the Industrial Workers of the World labor union as the exclusive collective bargaining agent of Pur Pac employees.

"Every New Yorker depends on workers like the ones at Pur Pac for the food we all need to survive and thrive," said Daniel Gross, the executive director of Brandworkers. "But for far too long, the City's food processing and distribution employees have constituted an invisible workforce, out-of-sight and out-of-mind. The conditions in the sector are deplorable and systemic but, as the Pur Pac workers have shown, positive workplace change can and will be won. Today, we're savoring the workers' hard-earned victory and could not be more proud to be associated with this march toward justice."

Pur Pac, through successor companies, engaged in massive wage theft against its Latino and Chinese employees and fired them illegally when they asserted their rights. By engaging in two sham sales and re-branding efforts, the company attempted to evade liability even after losing cases in federal court and the National Labor Relations Board. The victory is the largest yet for Focus on the Food Chain, which prevailed last year in a high-profile workplace justice campaign at a seafood processing facility in Queens.

Ridgewood-based Pur Pac lies along a corridor of food factories starting in East Williamsburg and Bushwick in Brooklyn and extending into Ridgewood and Maspeth in Queens. Wage theft, retaliation discrimination, and reckless disregard for worker health and safety are endemic in the sector. Earlier this year, the corridor claimed the life of Juan Baten, a Guatemalan immigrant crushed to death at the tortilla factory where he worked, a death that the Occupational Health & Safety Administration found would have been prevented if not for the employer's disregard for basic safety precautions.

Focus on the Food Chain promotes a sustainable food system that incorporates respect for workers' human rights. Through worker-led organizing, direct action, and litigation, the Focus campaign is challenging and overcoming sweatshop conditions in New York's food processing and distribution warehouses. The campaign is currently engaged in a high-octane initiative for workplace justice at Brooklyn-based Flaum Appetizing Corp., a kosher food company that produces Sonny & Joe's hummus and distributes Tnuva products, the leading global kosher cheese brand.

Brandworkers is a Queens-based non-profit organization protecting and advancing the rights of retail and food employees. Through legal, advocacy, and organizing support for low-wage employees, Brandworkers promotes employer compliance with the law and challenges corporate misconduct in the community.

Founded in 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World is a grassroots labor union dedicated to member-led organizing and workplace democracy.

More information at:
http://brandworkers.org/

U.S. Forced to Release New “Embarrassing” Documents On Controversial Secure Communities Program

2011-08-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

ShareDocuments Show Broad Deception and Disagreement Within Federal Agencies on Opt Out; Raise New Questions About ICE’s Mandatory Stance

Press release, Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
Contact: press@ccrjustice.org

New York, August 18, 2011- In the wake of protests and civil disobedience in Chicago yesterday and across the country criticizing the Obama administration’s Secure Communities program, immigrant advocates called on the government to turn over remaining documents about the program sought in a Freedom of Information lawsuit and to halt the controversial program.

A batch of unredacted documents released by court order this week, which federal district court Judge Shira A. Scheindlin called “embarrassing,” included acknowledgement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attorneys that they would have to “rewrite” memos on whether the program is mandatory for states and localities and revealed schisms between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the right of states and localities to opt out of the program. [...]

Read the full press release:
http://www.ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/u.s.-forced-release-new-%E2%80%9Cembarrassing%E2%80%9D-documents-controversial-secure-communities-program

Secure Communities and Next Generation Identification:
The FBI’s “Big Brother” Surveillance Agenda

July 6, 2011 Fact Sheet from CCR, Cardozo School of Law, NDLON

Documents disclosed as a result of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and the Cardozo Law School Immigration Justice Clinic reveal that Secure Communities goes far beyond immigration
enforcement. The program is part of a larger secretive information-collection project that profoundly undermines democracy and liberty. [...]

Read the full fact sheet:
http://uncoverthetruth.org/wp-content/uploads/7-6-11-Scomm-NGI-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Support the Sit-In at Hershey's Factory by Student Guestworkers!

2011-08-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

JUSTICE AT HERSHEY'S

Jobs With Justice Action Alert

August 17, 2011

On August 17th, hundreds of student guestworkers from around the world were joined by unemployed American workers and labor leaders in a factory sit-in at the Hershey's Chocolate Company packing plant in Pennsylvania.

The students paid $3,000-$6,000 each to come to the U.S. this summer for what they thought would be a cultural exchange program through the State Department's J-1 visa. Instead, they found themselves packing chocolates at the Hershey's plant in deeply exploitative conditions. After automatic weekly deductions for rent in company housing and other expenses, they net between $40 and $140 per week for 40 hours of work.They talked about their struggle and asked for our support at the JwJ national conference last week. [...]

Read the full action alert:
http://www.jwj.org/hersheys/index.html

Foreign Students in Work Visa Program Stage Walkout at Plant
By Julia Preston, New York Times
August 17, 2011

PALMYRA, Pa. — Hundreds of foreign students, waving their fists and shouting defiantly in many languages, walked off their jobs on Wednesday at a plant here that packs Hershey’s chocolates, saying a summer program that was supposed to be a cultural exchange had instead turned them into underpaid labor. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/us/18immig.html

White House Slows Deportations as Pressure on "Secure Communities" Mounts

2011-08-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

Dream Act students won't be deportation targets, officials say
Los Angeles Times
August 18, 2011

The Obama administration announced Thursday that undocumented students and other low-priority immigration offenders would not be targeted for deportation under enforcement programs.

The announcement marks further steps to stop the deportation of people it considers "low-priority" immigrants like so-called Dream Act-eligible students and those with long-standing family ties in the country. These eligible students are those who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children by their parents. [...]

Read the full article:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/08/dream-act-students-not-targeted-for-deportatiom.html

Obama Administration Curtails Deportations of Non-Criminal Immigrants
By Jake Tapper, ABC News
August 18, 2011

The Obama administration today announced it will no longer actively seek to deport illegal immigrants who don’t have criminal records and that it will review all existing deportation cases involving non-criminal immigrants on a case-by-case basis.

The news follows months of intense pressure from immigrant advocates who had urged the president to use his administrative authority to refocus the government's limited law enforcement resources while congressional gridlock over a comprehensive immigration system overhaul persists. [...]

Read the full article:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/08/obama-administration-halts-deportations-of-non-criminal-immigrants.html

KBR and the Tale of Two Walls

2011-08-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

Todd Miller, NACLA Report on the Americas
August 3, 2011

There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the Arizona state government’s latest anti-immigration ploy—to build its own border wall on private land, with money from private donors, using inmate labor. On the official website, unveiled on July 20, Arizona state senator Steven Smith explains that this initiative came about because “the consequences of this lack of security have yielded an unparalleled invasion of drug cartels, violent gangs, an estimated 20 million illegal aliens, and even terrorists.”

Meanwhile, during that same week, the office of Arizona Democrat Gabrielle Giffords announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had awarded former Halliburton subsidiary KBR (Kellogg, Brown & Root) a $24.4 million contract for “upkeep” of border infrastructure. The self-proclaimed “largest contractor for the U.S. army” will be providing maintenance for the fences and gates, roads and bridges, and lights and electrical systems, among other things. This isn't the first time that KBR has been involved with immigration enforcement. [...]

Read the full article:
https://nacla.org/blog/2011/8/3/kbr-and-tale-two-walls

Resistance Widens to Obama Initiative on Criminal Immigrants

2011-08-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

By Julia Preston, New York Times
August 13, 2011

BOSTON — Mayor Thomas Menino, who often invokes his heritage as the grandson of an Italian immigrant, was one of the first local leaders in the country to embrace a federal program intended to improve community safety by deporting dangerous immigrant criminals.

But five years after Boston became a testing ground for the fingerprinting program, known as Secure Communities, Mr. Menino is one of the latest local officials to sour on it and seek to withdraw. He found that many immigrants the program deported from Boston, though here illegally, had committed no crimes. The mayor believed it was eroding hard-earned ties between Boston’s police force and its melting-pot mix of ethnic neighborhoods.

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/us/politics/13secure.html

Gay man born in Australia is facing imminent deportation despite being legally married

2011-08-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

Makk has been living in the U.S. on legal visas ever since but was denied a green card July 26 because immigration officials are bound by the federal Defense of Marriage Act - which defines marriage as between a man and a woman only - not state laws.

By Nancy Dillon, Daily News (New York)
August 11, 2011

LOS ANGELES - A gay California man born in Australia but legally married to his American husband is facing imminent deportation after federal authorities denied his request for spousal residency.

The case is garnering international attention because the couple helped pioneer gay marriage in Massachusetts in 2004 - and the Australian husband has become the primary caregiver for his AIDS-afflicted spouse. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/08/11/2011-08-11_gay_man_born_in_australia_is_facing_imminent_deportation_despite_being_legally_m.html

NYC, 8/18/11-8/20/11: "Undocumented," by Katherine Chua

2011-08-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

What happens when everything you know is about to be taken away? What can you do when you have to leave the only place you call home? Where do you go when you get tired of hiding, but too scared to run? What do you do when you’re not sure if you’re a victim or a criminal?

These are just some of the barriers that young undocumented immigrants must confront. In the multimedia play Undocumented by Katherine Chua, she highlights the inner turmoil of a girl called Frida, who has been found out by the authorities as being in the country illegally. Although she has been living in the U.S. since the age of 8 and is now 25, she will be taken from all she's ever known and deported "home" to her native country. The only light is the possibility of having the DREAM Act bill get passed by legislation. But before Frida can find solace and trust in this bill being past she must find solace, trust and forgiveness in those around her and most importantly herself.

Performing AUGUST 18th, 19th, 20th, 2011 at Stage Left Studio, 214 30th Street (off 7th Avenue), NYC
For tickets go to: www.stageleftstudio.net

CAST: Sahar Muradi, Dorcas Evelene Davis, Madelene De Leon, Ryan Johnson, Roberto C. Chavez and Charlotte MacDougall

Directed by David Mitnowsky
Asst. Directed by Lexy Nistico

Designers: Nick van der Grinten, Jonathan Spencer, Melanie Patterson

"plant a seed of knowledge . . . incite the growth of a revolution."

http://www.katchua.com/

Please visit here for info on"Undocumented"
http://undocumented2011.wordpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com/undocumentedbykatchua
http://kck.st/kfKygA
twitter us @undocAplay

Arizona Border Fence Causes Flood and Self-Destructs—as Predicted

2011-08-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

By Bryan Gerhart, ColorLines
August 12, 2011

Mother Earth has spoken. Amidst recent reports that detail just how harmful the United States border barrier is to local wildlife and their habitats, rainwater knocked down 40 feet of the fence in Arizona last Sunday night.

The stretch of fence that washed away was part of a 5.2 mile mesh barrier that was built between 2007 and 2008. Though it is the first time this particular fencing has fallen, it came as no surprise to officials at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, where the fence is located. When Organ Pipe expressed their concern with the proposed design for the barricade before its completion, Border Patrol unsurprisingly issued a final environmental assessment that said they found that it would have no significant impact. They added that, despite the claims of Organ Pipe officials, it would not cause flooding. They were wrong. [...]

Read the full article:
http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/08/rain_knocks_down_40_feet_of_border_fence_in_arizona.html

Pitting Worker Against Worker

2011-08-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

Once we admit there is a problem, must we back draconian, Arizona-like measures against illegal immigrants? On the contrary. If illegal immigrants did not need to fear discovery, the small grocers would not be able to pay them illegally low wages.

By Moshe Adler,Truthdig
April 30, 2010

All that is wrong with our immigration and labor policies—for the two cannot be separated—is on full display in New York City, where it plays out every day in the city’s small grocery stores. Virtually all of the workers in these stores are undocumented Latin American immigrants. Yet in the adjacent supermarkets, the same jobs are held by American-born workers of all colors. The usual excuse that these are jobs that “Americans won’t do” obviously doesn’t apply. What is the explanation then?

In 2002, then-New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer discovered the answer: The small grocery stores pay their workers about half the minimum wage. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/pitting_worker_against_worker_20100430/

Mexican Migration Patterns Signal a New Immigration Reality

2011-08-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

Press release from Immigration Policy Center
August 1, 2011

For Immediate Release

Mexican Migration Patterns Signal a New Immigration Reality: Fewer Coming, Fewer Leaving, and 3/5 of Unauthorized Have Been Here for a Decade or Longer

August 1, 2011, Washington D.C. - Today, the Immigration Policy Center releases a summary of recent data on Mexican migration to and from the United States. This data provides an important reminder that as migration patterns change over time, so too must U.S. immigration policies. Fewer Mexicans are migrating to the United States, fewer Mexican immigrants in the United States are returning home, and immigrants from Mexico are parents to a new generation of Mexican Americans who are U.S. citizens.

New reports from the Pew Hispanic Center and the RAND Corporation provide useful information about the state of immigration today. Although this data deals with Mexican immigrants as a whole and not just the unauthorized, it is a useful indicator of what is taking place in the unauthorized population. More than half (55 percent) of Mexican immigrants in the United States are unauthorized, and roughly three-fifths (59 percent) of all unauthorized immigrants are from Mexico.The data reveals an emerging new reality: fewer immigrants are coming, fewer are leaving, and a majority of the unauthorized population has been here for a decade or longer. These trends suggest that our immigration policies must transition away from the current efforts to drive out unauthorized immigrants with deep roots in this country. We need a more nuanced set of policies that help immigrants who are already living here and contributing to the U.S. economy to more fully integrate into U.S. society.

To view the fact sheet in its entirety, see:
Mexican Migration Patterns Signal a New Immigration Reality (IPC Fact Check, August 1, 2011)

### For more information contact Wendy Sefsaf at wsefsaf@immcouncil.org or 202-507-7524

Protest Demands Obama Stop Immigrant Deportations

2011-08-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

The Real News Network
July 29, 2011

The "Secure Communities" program of ICE is leading to the deportations of thousands.

View a video report on the July 28 protest at the White House:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=7101

Political Links Seen Behind New Jersey Detention Center Bid

2011-07-30T18:52:00.000-07:00

By Sam Dolnick, New York Times
July 27, 2011

Three weeks ago, Essex County, N.J., announced that it was seeking a company to run a 450-bed immigrant detention center, hoping to take advantage of a federally financed initiative to set up such facilities with better supervision and medical care.

The county said the contracting process was open to any company. But behind the scenes, it appears that officials have a clear favorite: Community Education Centers, which has a checkered record in immigrant detention but counts one of Gov. Chris Christie’s closest confidants as a senior vice president. The company’s executives are also political backers of the county executive, Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr., a prominent ally of Mr. Christie. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/nyregion/political-links-seen-behind-essex-county-detention-center-bid.html

Europe's Homegrown Terrorists

2011-07-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

[In the U.S. the anti-immigrant fanatics rail against Latino immigrants for their supposed refusal to assimilate and claim that Mexicans are planning a "reconquest" of the Southwest. In Europe the rightwingers rail against Muslim immigrants for their supposed refusal to assimilate and claim that Muslims are planning to conquer "Christian Europe." In both cases the claims have no basis in the facts. In Europe these ideas inspired the Oslo terrorist.--Blog editor]

Gary Younge, The Nation
July 25, 2011

...The general framing goes like this. Europe is being overrun by Muslims and other non-white immigrants, who are outbreeding non-Muslims at a terrifying rate. Unwilling to integrate culturally and unable to compete intellectually, Muslim populations have become hotbeds of terrorist sympathy and activity. Their presence threatens not only security but the liberal consensus regarding women’s rights and gay rights that Western Europe has so painstakingly established; and overall, this state of affairs represents a fracturing of society that is losing its common values. This has been allowed to happen in the name of not offending specific ethnic groups, otherwise known as multiculturalism.

One could spend all day ripping these arguments to shreds, but for now let’s just deal with the facts. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.thenation.com/article/162270/europes-homegrown-terrorists

USCIS Says ICE Deported US Citizen, Andres Robles Still Stuck in Mexico

2011-07-27T00:48:00.000-07:00

By Jacqueline Stevens, States Without Nations
July 20, 2011

Andres Robles is celebrating his 22d birthday today in Mexico and not with his parents in Thibodaux, Louisiana because the U.S. government once again deported a U.S. citizen.

Instead of following the law that says U.S. citizens cannot be detained, much less deported, the government is channeling Kafka. [...]

Read the full post:
http://stateswithoutnations.blogspot.com/2011/07/uscis-says-ice-deported-us-citizen.html

Illegal immigration from Mexico continues decline

2011-07-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

By Elizabeth Aguilera, San Diego Union-Tribune
July 7, 2011

The Great Recession, border enforcement and social and economic changes in Mexico have resulted in a negative net flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico for the first time in at least the past decade, demographers said.

Fewer unauthorized Mexicans entered the U.S. last year than those who left, building on a trend that started four years ago, according to several University of California researchers, the Pew Hispanic Center and others. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jul/07/illegal-immigration-mexico-continues-decline/

Democrats accuse Rep. Lamar Smith of hypocrisy over deportation legislation

2011-07-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

By Gary Martin, Texas on the Potomac (Houston Chronicle blog)
July 15, 2011

House Democrats denounced Thursday an immigration bill to spur deportations as “petty partisan politics” and accused the author, Rep. Lamar Smith, of being a hypocrite for introducing the measure.

Smith, R-San Antonio, filed the “Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation” Act, or HALT, after the Obama administration announced it would prioritize deportations to remove violent criminals and terrorists instead of students and illegal immigrant parents with children born in the United States.
[...]

Read the full article:
http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2011/07/democrats-accuse-rep-lamar-smith-of-hypocrisy-over-deportation-legislation/

[The following press release contains more information on the use of executive discretion in immigration cases. --Blog editor]

Legal Experts Comment on Recent ICE Memo on Prosecutorial Discretion

July 19, 2011 Washington D.C. - In April, a distinguished group of immigration law experts released a memo explaining the executive branch’s authority related to the implementation of immigration laws and policies. This memo provided an explanation of how federal agencies possess the discretion to decide how they prosecute and enforce our nation’s laws. Today, the same legal experts are issuing a new memo discussing the purpose and impact of the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memoranda on prosecutorial discretion in the immigration context. These memoranda provide an important legal viewpoint in the ongoing debate around how much power the executive branch can exercise in the implementation of our nation’s immigration laws.

To view the memoranda in their entirety see:
Recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement Memoranda on Prosecutorial Discretion, July 19, 2011
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/Second%20PD%20Legal%20Memo%20071911.pdf

Executive Branch Authority Regarding Implementation of Immigration Laws and Policies, April 29, 2011
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/Memo_exec_branch_authority.pdf

For more information contact Wendy Sefsaf at wsefsaf@immcouncil.org or 202-507-7524.

Did an "Economic Boom" in Mexico Cause the Decline in Undocumented Immigration?

2011-07-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

[An otherwise informative article in the New York Times on July 6 claimed that "Better Lives for Mexicans Cut Allure of Going North." But in fact the Mexican economy took a big hit in 2009 because of the US recession, and the current "economic boom" is actually just a partial recovery. Poverty remains a serious problem in Mexico. -- Blog editor]

Is the Mexican Economy Booming?
By Fred Rosen, Mexico, Bewildered and Contested (NACLA blog)
July 19, 2011

Mexico’s Secretary of the Treasury, Ernesto Cordero, recently provoked some outrage when he announced that Mexico “was no longer a poor country.” Mexico, he tweeted to the press, echoing the line of the ruling National Action Party (PAN), “is now a middle income country.”

Well, maybe. Gross domestic product is growing but so—as opposition politicians were quick to point out—is the measured rate of poverty and the number of people eking out a living in the informal sector of the economy. Cordero’s claim has been received with little credibility in Mexico, but with a great deal of interest in the United States, which has a stake, for a number of reasons, in Mexican stability. [...]

Read the full article:
https://nacla.org/blog/mexican-economy-booming

Mexico lags in regional economic growth
By Tracy Wilkinson, La Plaza (Los Angeles Times blog)
July 15, 2011

Mexico is near the bottom of the barrel in economic growth projections for Latin America, a new report says.

The report, by the United Nations' Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC, which is also known by its Spanish acronym, CEPAL), is an annual assessment of the state of economies, what's driving, or slowing, growth, the impact of fiscal and trade policies, and the like. [...]

Read the full article:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2011/07/mexico-lags-in-regional-economic-growth.html

Mexico: The Economy Is Down and the Cartels Are Hiring
Weekly News Update on the Americas
July 17, 2011

The average income of Mexican households fell by 12.3% between 2008 and 2010, the government’s National Statistics and Geography Institute (INEGI) reported on July 15. The richest households generally lost the most in percentages, but poorer households suffered more because their income was already so low, according to the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure, which the INEGI conducts every two years. The decline in income reflects a 6.1% contraction of the Mexican economy in 2009 in the midst of a world economic crisis that started in the US; the Mexican economy recovered partially in 2010 with a 5.4% expansion. (La Jornada (Mexico) 7/16/11) [...]

Read the full article:
http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com/2011/07/wnu-1088-students-and-copper-workers.html

New Documents Reveal Behind-the-Scenes FBI Role in Controversial Secure Communities Deportation Program (Press Release)

2011-07-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

Contact: B. Loewe, NDLON, 773.791.4668; Jen Nessel, CCR 212.614.6449, jnessel@ccrjustice.org ; David Lerner, Riptide Communications 212.260.5000, dlerner@riptideonline.com

FBI Views Secure Communities as First Step in “Next Generation Identification” (NGI) Surveillance Project to Amass Expansive Database of Personal Biometric Information

Opt-Out Policy for Secure Communities Set by Obscure FBI Panel, Not by Law

July 6, 2011, New York and Washington – Documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), and the Cardozo Law School Immigration Justice Clinic show that the controversial Secure Communities deportation program (S-Comm), designed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to target people for deportation, is also a key component of a little-known FBI project to accumulate a massive store of personal biometric information on citizens and non-citizens alike.

According to the documents, S-Comm is “only the first of a number of biometric interoperability systems being brought online by the FBI ‘Next Generation Identification’ (NGI) project.” NGI will expand the FBI’s existing fingerprint database to add iris scans, palm prints, and facial recognition information for a wide range of people. [...]

Read the full press release:
http://uncoverthetruth.org/featured/new-documents-reveal-behind-the-scenes-fbi-role-in-controversial-secure-communities-deportation-program-pr/

To read FOIA documents and information about the case NDLON v. ICE brought by CCR, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Cardozo Law School Immigration Justice Clinic, visit CCR’s legal case page:
http://www.ccrjustice.org/secure-communities

Immigration News: Migrant Heartbreaks on the Border

2011-07-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

By Frontera NorteSur, via Grassroots Press
July 13, 2011

Crossings and detentions of undocumented migrants might be sharply down on the US-Mexico border, but many people stuck on the international line face stark conditions. Despite the well-known dangers and difficulties in crossing the border without papers, migrants continue attempting almost Herculean feats to reach the US. And more than a few die on the journey to the Promised Land.

In Sonora, state police announced this month the discovery of eight people who presumably died of exposure to the elements in the inhospitable desert near the US border. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.grass-roots-press.com/2011/07/13/immigration-news-migrant-heartbreaks-on-the-border/

Better Lives for Mexicans Cut Allure of Going North

2011-07-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

By Damien Cave, New York Times
July 6, 2011

AGUA NEGRA, Mexico — The extraordinary Mexican migration that delivered millions of illegal immigrants to the United States over the past 30 years has sputtered to a trickle, and research points to a surprising cause: unheralded changes in Mexico that have made staying home more attractive.

A growing body of evidence suggests that a mix of developments — expanding economic and educational opportunities, rising border crime and shrinking families — are suppressing illegal traffic as much as economic slowdowns or immigrant crackdowns in the United States. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/07/06/world/americas/immigration.html

Action Alert! Border Patrol Demands the Removal of a Memorial Cross for Teen Slain by Agent

2011-07-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

Another Insensitive Blow to Carlos Lamadrid's Family
From Coalición de Derechos Humanos
July 14, 2011

Tucson-Nearly four months after the shooting death of Carlos Lamadrid by a Border Patrol Agent in Douglas, Arizona, his family has been ordered to remove a cross placed at the site of the murder. Guadalupe Guerrero, mother of the 19 year-old, received the letter on July 14th, nearly four months after Carlos, a U.S. citizen, was shot in the back by a Border Patrol Agent.

The cross and other memorial items were placed at the site of the shooting within a week of the shooting. Although dated June 29th, the letter was not delivered to his mother until today. The letter states: "The Border Patrol does not allow anything to be placed on or adjacent to the border fence because such placement negatively impacts operations and creates and unnecessary risk to our agents."

The letter also states that the family has a period of five calendar days from the receipt of the letter to remove the cross and memorial items. "If all items are not removed from the current site after that date, they will be removed and returned to you" the letter goes on to state.

On April 5th, Derechos Humanos and other community organizations joined the family in denouncing the murder of Carlos and demanding that the shooting be impartially investigated and prosecuted.

The Department of Homeland Security's callous demand for the removal of his memorial demonstrates its intent to disappear this totally unnecessary death and the violence that reigns on the border. To date, Border Patrol has failed to provide answers to the family yet is attempting to erase history and remove any reminder of the human cost of their brutal policies.

Derechos Humanos calls on friends and allies to contact the office of Congressional Reps. Gabrielle Giffords and Raúl Grijalva and the U.S. Border Patrol to allow the family's memorial to remain, and to continue to demand answers that have been denied both the family and our community in regards to the murder of Carlos Lamadrid.

Congressional Representative Gabrielle Giffords:
520.881.3588, gabrielle.giffords@mail.house.gov

Congressional Representative Raúl Grijalva:
520.622.6788, raul.grijalva@mail.house.gov

Timothy Sullivan, Patrol Agent in Charge, Douglas Station:
520.805.6972, timothy.sullivan@dhs.gov

The family of Carlos Lamadrid and Derechos Humanos invite you to join us this Sunday, July 17th at 5:00pm at the memorial site in Douglas, Arizona for a vigil to honor the life of Carlos, continue our call for justice in his murder, and demand that his memorial be permitted to remain at the site where his life was so tragically taken from him.

Coalición de Derechos Humanos
P.O. Box 1286 Tucson, AZ 85702
Tel: 520.770.1373
Fax: 520.770.7455
www.derechoshumanosaz.net

A Note to Our Readers

2011-07-15T00:11:00.000-07:00

We’re now working on a new edition of our book, The Politics of Immigration: Questions & Answers, and you can help us.

We won’t be making dramatic changes--unfortunately, not that much has changed in the immigration debate since the book came out back in 2007. The media repeat the same myths about immigration, the laws remain harsh and restrictive, and anti-immigrant hysteria continues to rise; the main difference is that the media have created some new myths, the legislators have passed some new harsh and restrictive laws, and the anti-immigrant forces have gotten a little more hysterical.

But we feel that all this only shows the continuing need for a concise, easy-to-read presentation of the facts about immigration--and the importance of updating and improving it.

Here is where you can help, based on your experience reading the book, or using it in the classroom, or discussing the issues with other people. Do you see places where we could improve what we say or how we say it? Are there areas where we could be clearer, or where we missed important facts or arguments? If so, please write us a note at thepoliticsofimmigration@gmail.com .

The new edition won’t be significantly longer than the first, so we may not be able to incorporate all your suggestions, but we’ll consider them all carefully, and we’ll definitely appreciate your help.

Jane Guskin
David Wilson

‘Exigent Times’: Konrad Aderer’s Enemy Alien

2011-07-10T00:32:00.000-07:00

By Rebecca Panovka, New York Observer
July 6, 2011

In April 2002, police and immigration officers arrested Palestinian activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti’s at his Queens apartment, launching a two-year legal saga that—according to Enemy Alien, a documentary about his case–saw him placed in solitary confinement for eight months, beaten, denied crucial thyroid medications, and threatened with deportation. Ordering his release in 2004, a judge called his treatment “Kafkaesque.”

The film, screened last night at Anthology Film Archives before the tenth anniversary of 9/11, chronicles the struggle of activists, friends, and lawyers to free Abdel-Muhti. [...]

Read the full review:
http://www.observer.com/2011/07/exigent-times-konrad-aderers-enemy-alien/

A Chance to Stand with Jose Antonio Vargas

2011-07-09T00:22:00.000-07:00

From Jose Antonio Vargas at:
http://www.change.org/petitions/stand-with-me-jose-antonio-vargas-for-a-new-conversation-about-immigration?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=priUkRVDLL_NHdHIevgDp

Just one short week ago, I published a shocking expose in the New York Times. It was my life story. I am an undocumented immigrant, an outlaw in my own country.

Since publishing "My Life As an Undocumented Immigrant," I have been drowning in media requests, tearful letters, and powerful Facebook messages. I want to thank all of the individuals who have both challenged and supported me, as well as ask those who have not yet done so to join me.

I decided to quit my job as a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and come out about my immigration status in order to launch the project "Define American." I knew it would be a risk, but I also knew it was long past time to strike up a more civil, inclusive debate about immigration in America. After all, I had a unique story to tell, and I was tired of staying silent.

We may not all agree on how to fix it, but one thing we can all agree on is that our immigration debate is out of control and our immigration system is badly broken. I believe that not only can we do better, but that we must.

Will you sign the pledge to stand with me -- Jose Antonio Vargas -- in saying that it's time for a new national conversation on immigration? Define American. Pledge to ask questions, debate, listen, and learn.

Some would say my story is the tale of a hard-working immigrant who defines the American dream: achieving success against great odds, working hard, and even earning a Pulitzer Prize for my reporting. Still, despite everything I've achieved, the law still says I am not technically an American. I am undocumented.

I want to ask my fellow Americans: what would you do, if you found out at age 16 that you didn't have the right papers? As a journalist, my job is to ask questions that spark conversation. Now I am asking you to join in.

Sign the pledge to "Define American", share it with everyone you know, and then leave us a comment about what you would do if you found out you were undocumented. I will bring your comments with me as I head to the next round of media interviews.

We all have a story to tell, so let's talk. Let's debate. Most importantly, let's listen.

Read Pledge

RELATED STORIES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Undocumented Journalist Wants to Spark Conversations by Gabriela Garcia - 2 days ago
http://news.change.org/stories/pulitzer-prize-winning-undocumented-journalist-wants-to-spark-conversations

Hacked data reveals US Marines as contract killers, hunting migrants on the border

2011-07-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News
June 24, 2011

The hunting and murder of migrants by US Marines along the Arizona border was among the first facts revealed, after LulzSec hacked the Arizona Department of Public Safety on Thursday.

The data exposes the fact that Arizona law enforcement officers were aware that migrants were being hunted by off-duty Marines patrolling the border with assault weapons. The information was in a report for the month of October, 2008, by Arizona's HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) Investigative Support Center. [...]

Read the full article:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/06/hacked-data-reveals-us-marines-contract.html

"Enemy Alien" Sneak Preview in NYC, 7/5/11

2011-07-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

NewFilmmakers at Anthology Film Archives presents

a Palestinian activist’s fight for freedom draws a Japanese American filmmaker into confrontation with detention regimes of past and present.

“Amazing...now that is what I call a ‘real’ documentary. An exposé of the first order.” -- Satsuki Ina, director, Children of the Camps & From a Silk Cocoon

"Enemy Alien is a must-see documentary! The filmmaker crosses boundaries and prison walls to tell the story of this peaceful Palestinian freedom fighter…a powerful and often scary real-life tale of the shared struggle between Japanese Americans and Muslim Americans." --Basim Elkarra, Executive Director, CAIR-Sacramento

Documentary, 2011, 82 minutes
A project of Life or Liberty
Directed by Konrad Aderer

Sneak Preview! After showing as a work-in-progress at community screenings, the film is about to be released as a film festival offering and distributed by Third World Newsreel.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011
9:30 p.m.
NewFilmmakers
Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Ave & 2nd Street, Manhattan
Subway F to 2nd Ave.; B,D,Q to Broadway-Lafayette St.; 6 to Bleecker
$6 admission

Enemy Alien, a first-person documentary, is the gripping story of the fight to free Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a gentle but indomitable Palestinian-born human rights activist detained in a post-9/11 sweep of Muslim immigrants. Told through the eyes of the filmmaker, the grandson of Japanese Americans interned during World War II, this documentary takes on unprecedented intimacy and historical resonance.

As the filmmaker confronts his own family legacy of incarceration, his involvement in the current struggle deepens. Resistance brings consequences: In retaliation for organizing a massive protest from inside detention, Farouk is beaten and locked in solitary confinement, and his American-born son Tarek is arrested in a counterterrorism investigation into the documentary itself.

Website: http://www.lifeorliberty.org/enemy-alien

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EnemyAlien

Twitter: @enemyalien

Haiti 1994: The Forgotten Intervention

2011-07-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

Lessons for Libya?

One thing that was striking about the run-up to the invasion is how rarely we heard from the many Haitians who struggled for Aristide's return but opposed any US military action.

by David L. Wilson, World War 4 Report
July 1, 2011

On the night of September 29, 1991, Haitian army officers launched a coup d'état against the country's elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. By the next afternoon, soldiers had arrested Aristide and had started gunning down coup opponents in the street. The toll would reach more than 3,000 over the next three years.

US liberals didn't take long to see that the Haitian crisis could provide a good test case for the newly fashionable doctrine of "humanitarian intervention." [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.ww4report.com/node/10053

My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

2011-06-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

"Last year I read about four students who walked from Miami to Washington to lobby for the Dream Act," writes Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Vargas. "At the risk of deportation — the Obama administration has deported almost 800,000 people in the last two years — they are speaking out. Their courage has inspired me."

By Jose Antonio Vargas, New York Times Magazine
June 22, 2011

One August morning nearly two decades ago, my mother woke me and put me in a cab. She handed me a jacket. “Baka malamig doon” were among the few words she said. (“It might be cold there.”) When I arrived at the Philippines’ Ninoy Aquino International Airport with her, my aunt and a family friend, I was introduced to a man I’d never seen. They told me he was my uncle. He held my hand as I boarded an airplane for the first time. It was 1993, and I was 12.

My mother wanted to give me a better life, so she sent me thousands of miles away to live with her parents in America — my grandfather (Lolo in Tagalog) and grandmother (Lola). [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/magazine/my-life-as-an-undocumented-immigrant.html

Immigration and the Culture of Solidarity

2011-06-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

By David Bacon, Americas Program
June 20, 2011

ONE indispensable part of education and solidarity is greater contact between Mexican union organizers and their U.S. counterparts. The base for that contact already exists in the massive movement of people between the two countries.

Miners fired in Cananea, or electrical workers fired in Mexico City, become workers in Phoenix, Los Angeles and New York. Twelve million Mexican workers in the U.S. are a natural base of support for Mexican unions. They bring with them the experience of the battles waged by their unions. They can raise money and support. Their families are still living in Mexico, and many are active in political and labor campaigns. As workers and union members in the U.S., they can help win support from U.S. unions for the battles taking place in Mexico. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/4938

Politicians Blame Immigrants for Arizona Wildfires...Not Global Warming

2011-06-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

John McCain: Illegal Immigrants Caused Arizona Wildfires
Huffington Post
June 19, 2011

John McCain (R-AZ) says undocumented immigrants are to blame for the massive wildfires that have ravaged Arizona.

"There is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally," McCain, said at a press conference Saturday after touring the Wallow fire, which began on May 29 and has burned over 500,000 acres to date. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/19/john-mccain-illegal-immigration-arizona-wildfires_n_880145.html

Monster wildfire in Arizona: A glimpse of what climate change could bring
By Pete Spotts, Christian Science Monitor
June 9, 2011

A wildfire in Arizona that has blackened an area half the size of Rhode Island, prompted the evacuation of some 2,000 people in its path, and is threatening long-distance power lines that serve New Mexico and Texas, is the latest poster child for what some scientists see as a long-term trend toward larger, longer-lived wildfires in the American West.

And as researchers explore the causes, climate change appears to be an important contributor.

Nor is Arizona, which is battling three major blazes, alone in watching significant acreage go up in smoke this year. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57332.html

URGENT: Help Stop Julio's Deportation

2011-06-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

By New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC)
June 20, 2011

Julio came to the United States in 2007, fleeing threats on his life from gang members. Julio is a bright, hard-working college student who has aspirations to contribute and serve his community as a radiologist. He wants to be a role model to younger kids. His life is in your hands.

Sign the Petition to stop Julio's Deportation

Julio, a Bronx Community College student, faces an imminent deportation order after being detained in Greyhound bus. He is set to be deported back to El Salvador, where he faces gang violence due to his sexual orientation.

Please take action and do what Congress have failed to do: protect the rights and life of undocumented youth.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS PETITION AND ACTION ALERT TO 5 OF YOUR FRIENDS!

1. Call DHS – Janet Napolitano (202-282-8495) and ICE – John Morton (202.732.3000)

Sample Script: "Hi, I was calling to ask that Julio Enrique Hernandez Moreno's deportation be deferred. If Julio is returned to El Salvador, he will face gang violence because of his sexual orientation. Julio wants to contribute to this country as a radiologist. Don't deport Julio."

2. Sign the petition and ask all of your friends to sign it!
Together we can stop Julio's deportation, please take 5 minutes and complete these 2 easy steps!

If you or anyone you know is at risk to be deported contact us at info@nysylc.org
Thank you for taking action,

The NYSYLC* YLC Scholarship DEADLINE EXTENDED to Monday, JUNE 27th* do not miss out the opportunity to APPLY and check it out now. NYSYLC Awards program open to everyone regardless of immigration status.

* The NY Dream Act is coming to State Island. Join us at the YLC SI Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, June 25th from 11:30am to 2pm at 2205 Richmond Road (Corner of Todt Hill Rd and Richmond Rd.) Staten Island, NY 10306. For more information email info@nysylc.org

220 5th Ave 26th Street 5th Floor * New York, NY 10001 * 212.419.8765 * info@nysylc.org

For more information:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/06/21/2011-06-21_chance_to_save_student__by_signing_petition.html

Who Gets the Jobs When Immigrants Leave?

2011-06-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

As Georgia passes harsh laws against one group of easily exploited workers--undocumented immigrants--it makes plans to use another group of easily exploited workers as a substitute--the vast reserve of convicts on probration who have trouble getting work because of their convictions. People charged with crimes in the United States are, not coincidentally, disproportionately people of color.--Blog Editor]

Georgia sends criminals to replace undocumented immigrants
By Reid J. Epstein, Politico
June 14, 2011

With Georgia’s restrictive immigration law set to kick in, Gov. Nathan Deal Tuesday is sending convicted criminals to fill farm jobs vacated by undocumented immigrants fleeing the state.

Deal, a first-term Republican, issued a statement on Tuesday morning calling on the state’s commissioners of labor, corrections and agriculture to work together to connect unemployed probationers with a state agriculture industry now desperate for workers.

“I believe this would be a great partial solution to our current status as we continue to move towards sustainable results with the legal options available,” Deal said in his statement. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56938.html#ixzz1PdFfcrWd

Report: Newark airport screeners targeted Mexicans and Dominicans

2011-06-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

By the CNN Wire Staff
June 15, 2011

(CNN) -- Security screeners at Newark Liberty International Airport singled out Mexican and Dominican passengers for nearly two years, according to a federal report obtained by The Star-Ledger newspaper.

The racial profiling was so prevalent in 2008 and 2009 that some TSA employees at the airport referred to their colleagues as "Mexican hunters," a Star-Ledger story based on the 2010 internal report said. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/06/14/new.jersey.airport.profiling/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Tea Party: “The Problem Is These Hispanic Legislators”

2011-06-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

By Sara Inés Calderón, News Taco
June 13, 2011

The following pretty much speaks for itself, so here’s a brief introduction. The Texas Democratic Party sent out a press release today including the remarks of a Texas Tea Party leader, Rebecca Forest, who’s also the founder of the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas.

“If you want to know why we can’t pass legislation in Texas it’s because we have 37, no 36, Hispanics in the Legislature. All of the states that have passed legislation have a handful and I mean literally, some of them have no Hispanic legislators, well, maybe 3 or 5 or something. So that’s, umm, part of our problem and we need to change those numbers.

“Umm, we need to do something about that in fact, during the debate on ‘sanctuary cities,’ several Hispanic legislators testified that their grandparents and their parents were migrant workers who came over here to work and that they even worked in the fields. And some of them even admitted that they had been here illegally and that they came illegally. So the problem is these Hispanic legislators…is that it’s too close to them and they, umm… simply cannot vote their conscience correctly. So that’s about all I have to say to you, please come to the hearing, and help us spread this message. Thank you.”

So the problem is that Latinos have become elected officials? Wow, um, I guess that pretty much says it all, now doesn’t it? Here’s the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlSLjdGGpWQ&feature=player_embedded

The 'Enemy' Within

2011-06-19T06:34:00.000-07:00

... [W]hat last week’s arrests in Maricopa County should remind us is that the boundary between guard and policed, lawmaker and lawbreaker is often blurry at best, and that people’s allegiances are multifaceted, fluid, and often up for grabs.

By Joseph Nevins, Border Wars blog, NACLA
June 1, 2011

On May 24, authorities in Arizona arrested three Maricopa County sheriff's employees for alleged involvement in migrant and drug smuggling; reportedly, they were able to use intelligence from the Sheriff’s office to guide smugglers through the greater Phoenix area. The arrested included a deputy in the human-smuggling unit. [...]

Read the full article:
https://nacla.org/blog/enemy-within

New York Elected Officials and Advocates Lambast ICE’s Alleged Improvements to “Secure Communities” Deportation Program

2011-06-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

Response to Alleged Improvements to S-Comm
June 17, 2011
by New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 17, 2011

Contact:
Michelle Fei, mfei@immigrantdefenseproject.org, 484.466.6334
Mizue Aizeki, maizeki@nmcir.org, 914.471.2775

New York, NY (June 17, 2011) – A wide coalition of immigrant advocacy groups, joined by prominent elected officials, today reacted with discontent, anger, and frustration at Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s announcement about alleged improvements to the mass deportation program known as “Secure Communities.” Particularly as the Inspector General plans an investigation into the program, advocates protested against the surface-level modifications that ICE proposed and called for a national end to Secure Communities. [...]

Read the full press release:
http://newsanctuarynyc.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/new-york-elected-officials-and-advocates-lambast-ice%E2%80%99s-alleged-improvements-to-secure-communities-deportation-program/

Latino Voters Are Concerned About the Situation of the Undocumented

2011-06-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

[Immigration opponents frequently say they are actually supporting the rights of the documented immigrants, the ones who have "waited their turn in line" to get papers and must feel cheated somehow by immigrants who live here without papers. A recent poll shows that in fact US Latino voters--many of them immigrants who have gone through the process of obtaining citizenship--overwhelmingly support some form of legalization for the undocumented and oppose harsh enforcement measures.--Blog editor.]

Inmigración es tema crucial para los votantes de Estados Unidos

By Pilar Marrero, La Opinión (Los Angeles) via Univision
June 6, 2011

Preocupa a los electores hispanos la situación de los 11 millones de indocumentados

La apremiante situación de los indocumentados que viven en Estados Unidos no es ajena a las vidas de los votantes latinos, ya que una mayoría (53%) declara conocer a alguien que no tiene papeles y una cuarta parte (25%) afirma conocer a un individuo o familia que se está enfrentando a un proceso de deportación o que ha sido deportada. [...]

Read the full article:
http://noticias.univision.com/inmigracion/noticias/article/2011-06-09/inmigracion-es-tema-crucial-para

Immigration Program Is Rejected by Third State

2011-06-13T01:55:00.000-07:00

By Julia Preston, New York Times
June 6, 2011

Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts has decided the state will not participate in a fingerprint-sharing program that is central to the Obama administration’s immigration enforcement strategy, dealing a new political blow to a program that has met rising resistance nationwide.

Massachusetts is the third state to pull out of the program, called Secure Communities, after Gov. Pat Quinn canceled it in Illinois in May and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo suspended New York’s participation last week. All three are Democrats from states with large immigrant populations, and they are close allies of President Obama, including on immigration issues. [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/us/politics/07immig.html

Former Police Chief Is Sentenced for Cover-Up in Mexican’s Death

2011-06-12T01:02:00.000-07:00

By Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times
June 1, 2011

A former Pennsylvania police chief who was convicted of impeding a federal investigation into the beating death of a Mexican immigrant was sentenced to 13 months in prison on Wednesday, a lower-than-expected term in a case that had become a cause célèbre for Hispanics.

Judge A. Richard Caputo of Federal District Court in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., said the sentencing guidelines were too harsh for Matthew Nestor, the former police chief in Shenandoah, Pa., according to Mr. Nestor’s lawyer, Joseph Nahas. A presentencing report by probation officials had recommended 57 to 71 months. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/us/02sentence.html?ref=us

Arizona SB 1070's Lead Sponsor May Face Recall Vote

2011-06-11T00:58:00.000-07:00

Russell Pearce Recall Scores 18,315 Signatures and Counting, Let the Battle Begin

By Stephen Lemons, Phoenix New Times blogs
May 31, 2011

Russell Pearce, have a heapin' helping of freshly baked humble pie.

Citizens for a Better Arizona, the group spearheading the effort to recall the powerful state Senate President, made history today, turning in 18,315 signatures to the Arizona Secretary of State's Office, more than double the 7,756 signatures required by law for a recall election.

SOS spokesman Matt Roberts confirmed the receipt of the signatures, and recall organizer Randy Parraz promised that the group will be turning in more by days end. [...]

Read the full article:
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2011/05/russell_pearce_recall_scores_1.php

Arpaio deputy faces human smuggling charges

2011-06-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

Other members of 'toughest' sheriff's staff arrested in drug smuggling case

By Bob Christie, Associated Press via MSNBC
May 25, 2011

PHOENIX — Three employees of America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff have been arrested in a drug and human trafficking case, authorities said Tuesday.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said a deputy and two female detention officers at the sheriff's largest jail facility were among 12 people taken into custody and accused of being in a Phoenix-based international drug smuggling ring. [...]

Read the full article:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43164223/ns/today-today_news/t/arpaio-deputy-faces-human-smuggling-charges/43149324

Illegal Workers: Court Upholds Faulting Hirers

2011-06-07T01:18:00.000-07:00

By Adam Liptak, New York Times
May 26, 2011

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an Arizona law that imposes harsh penalties on businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

The 5-to-3 decision appeared to endorse vigorous state efforts to punish employers who intentionally hire illegal workers. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts on behalf of the court’s five more conservative members, said that Colorado, Mississippi, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia had recently enacted laws similar to the one at issue in the case. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/us/27scotus.html

Faith Leaders Applaud New York’s Suspension of Deportation Program

2011-06-06T01:07:00.000-07:00

by New Sanctuary Coalition of NYC
June 1, 2011

New York, NY (June 1, 2011) – Faith leaders today voiced enthusiastic support for Governor Cuomo’s suspension of the mass deportation program known as “Secure Communities.”

“Our spiritual mission is to welcome the stranger among us, and to clothe and feed them. Exiling immigrants is against our principles,” said Reverend Susan Switzer, Co-Chair of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City. “For too long, we have seen our congregations disappear before our eyes because of these deportation programs. We are grateful Governor Cuomo has taken a courageous stance to pull New York out of Secure Communities.” [...]

Read the full press release:
http://newsanctuarynyc.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/faith-leaders-applaud-new-york%e2%80%99s-suspension-of-deportation-program/

Gov. Cuomo pulls New York out of federal Secure Communities immigration fingerprinting program
BY Kenneth Lovett and Larry Mcshane, New York Daily News
June 1, 2011

New York State is suspending its participation in the controversial Secure Communities program that shared the fingerprints of anyone arrested with immigration officials.

Gov. Cuomo made the announcement Wednesday, saying there's mounting evidence the program, rolled out just five months ago, isn't working. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/06/01/2011-06-01_gov_cuomo_pulls_new_york_out_of_federal_secure_communities_immigration_fingerpri.html

Citizen children and life under the radar

2011-06-05T01:03:00.000-07:00

In the U.S. are 4.5 million citizens whose parents are illegal immigrants. Often these fearful parents keep their children from programs and opportunities that would improve their development.

By Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Op Ed, Los Angeles Times
May 12, 2011

President Obama spoke Tuesday about the economic reasons for providing a pathway to citizenship for the nation's undocumented. This is clearly a polarizing issue, and there is much room for honest disagreement. But there's one fact we can't ignore: Undocumented immigrants in the U.S. include the parents of 4.5 million children who are legal citizens. What that means is that, on average, one or two children in every elementary school classroom in the country is coping with huge uncertainty about future family stability. [...]

Read the full article:
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/12/opinion/la-oe-yoshikawa-immigration-20110512

Hirokazu Yoshikawa is the incoming academic dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the author of Immigrants Raising Citizens: Undocumented Parents and Their Young Children, Russell Sage Foundation 2011.

Stop S-Comm, protect immigrant victims

2011-06-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

Petition against the "Secure Communities" program from Jackie Mahendra and Change.org

When an L.A. woman named Isaura Garcia finally worked up the nerve to call 911 -- after two years of brutal beatings by her husband -- her fingerprints were sent to a federal database for immigration checks. Even though Isaura only called the police to protect herself, she was quickly targeted for deportation under a program known as “Secure Communities,” or S-Comm.

Isaura is just one of the tens of thousands of immigrants in the United States who reports crimes to the police. They are put at serious risk by S-Comm, the controversial deportation program that forces collaboration between local police and federal immigration agents.

This is one reason why Illinois has pulled out of the program -- and why communities in Maryland, New York, and California are challenging it. It's also a reason why Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California and Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey demanded a thorough investigation into the program. And why the federal government is finally preparing one.

Given all the controversy, it's unbelievable that this mass deportation program is still spreading across the country, with new programs taking root every month.

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network has already gathered 2,500 signatures on its Change.org petition demanding a moratorium on the so-called “Secure Communities” program, at least during this pending investigation. Will you add your name now?

Luckily for domestic violence survivor Isaura Garcia, a host of great organizations went public with her case, and she no longer faces deportation. Still, Isaura worries – and rightly so -- that many other women stuck in violent situations like hers will be forced simply to bear the abuse rather than run the risk of being banished from their families in the U.S.

Not only is this unjust, but it makes entire communities less safe when residents are afraid to turn in criminals and work with the police to solve violent crimes.

Stand with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and sign the petition on Change.org calling for an immediate moratorium on the dangerous S-Comm program:

http://www.change.org/petitions/put-s-comm-on-ice-call-for-a-moratorium-on-the-mass-deportation-program

Thanks for taking action,
Jackie and the Change.org Team

Latino Social Security Crisis

2011-06-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

[Note: Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Social Security, although the majority of them work on the books and contribute to the system. Even if they subsequently gain legal status, the time they worked as undocumented workers doesn't count for their Social Security benefits.--Blog editor]

Minority News
May 12, 2011

WASHINGTON -- Social Security is a critical income source for elderly and disabled Latinos because of their socioeconomic condition, higher rates of disability and longer life expectancy, according to a report published by the University of Southern California (USC) Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging.

“Social Security is currently the only robust, reliable source of retirement income for low-income workers, underscoring the importance of ensuring the program’s viability for current, future and retired Latino workers,” said USC Roybal Institute Executive Director William A. Vega, who co-authored the primer, commissioned by AARP, with Pre-Doctoral Fellow Zachary D. Gassoumis. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.blackradionetwork.com/latino_social_security_crisis

Read the report:
http://www.blackradionetwork.com/images/userfiles/SSlatino.pdf