Congress has passed its short-term spending bill in time to
go on Christmas vacation. The politicians managed to forget their promises to
protect DACA recipients, despite a week of militant
protests by Dreamers at the Capitol. Meanwhile, journalist Todd Miller
reminds us via tweet
that “separating children from their parents has been part of the
policy/strategy for quite a while”; he adds a link to a November 2011 report
by the Applied Research Center. Still, we’ve been seeing an intensification of
the practice under the Trump administration, and we can expect things to get
worse if we don’t respond forcefully.—TPOI editor
DACA Recipients’ Message to Democrats: Stop Playing with Our
Lives, and Pass a Clean DREAM Act Now
 |
| Dreamers protest in Schumer's office. Photo: The Intercept |
Democracy Now!
December 21, 2017
As Congress passes a massive rewrite of the U.S. tax code
that could mean the largest transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top in history,
it is also negotiating a stopgap spending measure that will not include the
DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to recipients of the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. This comes as seven young DACA
recipients and one ally were released from jail Wednesday after six days in
jail on hunger strike. The eight were arrested Friday during nonviolent sit-in
protests inside the offices of Democratic lawmakers, demanding they commit to
voting “no” on the spending bill this month unless it includes a version of the
DREAM Act without concessions for funding for the border wall or enhanced
border security. We are joined by Erika Andiola, one of the eight activists
just released and a nationally known immigrant activist who served as a
spokesperson for Bernie Sanders and helped him craft immigration policy. She is
the political director for Our Revolution. She is a DACA recipient who grew up
in Arizona, where her house was raided in 2013 and immigration agents picked up
her mother and brother.[...]
View the segment or read the transcript:
“Pathetic”: Democratic Leaders Called Out for Betraying Vow
to Fight for Dreamers
By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams
December 22, 2017
In September, Democratic leaders assured 800,000 young
immigrants that they would make use of their leverage in year-end spending
battles to pass a clean Dream Act. On Thursday, Democrats folded on this
promise without much of a fight, allowing a continuing resolution to pass both
houses of Congress and heading home for the holidays while leaving thousands of
immigrants in "legal limbo."
“Quite frankly, it's a pathetic way for the Democratic
Party’s leadership to close out a year in which millions of Americans fought
back and resisted the Trump regime’s racist, xenophobic, and dangerous agenda
with an inspiring wave of grassroots activism from coast to coast,” CREDO
political director Murshed Zaheed said in a statement following Thursday's
vote. “This is a monumental failure.”[…]
Read the full article:
The Trump Administration Is Separating Children From
Asylum-Seeking Parents at the Border
By Katie Shepherd, Immigration Impact
December 11, 2017
 |
| José Demar Fuentes and his son. Photo: PBS News Hour |
An alarming trend along the U.S.-Mexico border has escalated
within the last year: the inhumane practice of separating immigrant children
from their parents at the hands of U.S. immigration officials. Not only is this
practice deeply traumatic for the families involved, it flies in the face of
established U.S. and international law.
In response to this grave violation, the American
Immigration Council, in collaboration with the Women’s Refugee Commission and
several other immigration rights organizations, filed a complaint with the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil
Liberties (CRCL) and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), demanding an
investigation into this uptick in family separation.[...]
Read the full article:
Migrant seeking asylum says his toddler was taken away at
the U.S. border
PBS News Hour
Dec 22, 2017
At least four Central American men in this California
detention facility say U.S. immigration officials took their children after
they arrived at the border, asking for asylum. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement says the agency separated the children for their safety, because
the men didn't have enough proof they were the fathers. Special correspondent
Jean Guerrero of KPBS in San Diego reports.[...]
View the segment or read the transcript:
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