Telling Their Stories, One-by-One

...until these deaths are no more than a gut-wrenching memory.

Juan Cruz-Torralva crossed the Arizona desert with his daughter last week because he wanted a better life for her.

His daughter, 12-year-old Lourdes Cruz-Morales, will return to Mexico in a casket.

Near the last leg of their three-day journey, a U.S. Border Patrol agent ran over Cruz-Torralva and his daughter with his truck near Dateland.

The agent had spotted a dozen illegal immigrants and was following them in the truck, according to a report by the Yuma County Attorney's Office.

When the agent got out of the truck, he heard moaning and discovered that he had run over Cruz-Torralva and his daughter. At no time did he see the two, according to the report.

Yuma County sheriff's detectives ruled the incident an accident.

Shortly after his daughter's death, sheriff's deputies arrested Cruz-Torralva on charges of endangerment.

Sheriff's authorities argued that by bringing his daughter with him through the desert, Cruz-Torralva placed her within "risk of imminent death" and eventually caused her death.

My heart breaks every time I read these tales of desperation and injustice. My eyes well up with the tears of my people who are no longer able to release the pain and anger they hold due to a broken society. They are the silent victims of an ongoing war that has been waged in the southwestern United States for the past 158 years.

In the halls of power across the globe and especially in Washington, D.C., the suits and pearls play chess with the lives of people instead of commiserating on a better way to create a balanced system of cooperation and peace.

continued below the fold...

No wonder we often feel defeated and depleted. Hatred and divisiveness have been given the platform and throne. It has lead us to widespread death, destruction and distrust.

We are diminished as a human race because of it.

As liberals, we must see the brokenness for what it is, not the illusions that are spread by the screens and speakers of the corrupt Age of Technology. The uphill battle against the forces of war and greed often appears hopeless, but it is a necessary fight and we are called to carry on.

How do we find the right direction to peace and change?

It's simple, really. It is a path that has fared well over history. To create Movements requires the telling of the Truth. Through our stories we are able to ignite an inner-fire that keeps us moving forward, motivated with resolve, to keep working towards a better world.

There is a recognition of honor in the simple act of recognizing the humanity of a person regardless of color, race or creed. To take that small step, allows Peace to make a giant leap. That is why these stories must be told.

Part of the Una Identidad Sin Fronteras series at my humble blog

Tag: immigration

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Summary only...

Internment of undocumented immigrants to begin.

On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced that DHS would be opening detention facilities in the next few weeks to house thousands of Chinese immigrants who have been denied immigration to the United States, yet were refused readmission by the Chinese government. Currently there are an estimated 39,000 undocumented immigrants caught in this diplomatic limbo, but if the more punitive immigration legislation passed in the House back in December, and now being debated in the Senate, was to become law perhaps millions more would join them.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Chertoff said that China last year readmitted 800 people. But that made only a small dent in what he described as a backlog of thousands illegally in the U.S.

"The math is pretty easy — at that rate, we wind up with increasing numbers of migrants who, if we're going to detain them, we're going to have to house at enormous expense," Chertoff said.

He added: "We can't be in the position any longer where we are paying the burden and bearing the burden for countries that won't cooperate with us and take their own citizens back."

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately return a call for comment.

Currently, 687 Chinese are being held in federal detention facilities, at a daily rate of $95 each, while some 38,000 have been released on bond or under a monitoring program, such as wearing an electronic surveillance bracelet, the Homeland Security Department said later Tuesday.

-snip-

Chertoff also said Homeland Security would open detention facilities in the next few weeks to house entire families of illegal immigrants who hope to bring their children along in order to avoid jail time. "It'll be humane, but we're not going to let people get away with this," he said.

Chertoff's remarks comes as the Homeland Security Department aims to end its "catch and release" immigration policy by Oct. 1. After that date, all illegal immigrants will be held in U.S. detention centers until they can be returned to their nation of citizenry.

AP

(more below the fold)
tags: immigration, HR4437, internment camps

Japanese-American internment camp during WWII

The Department of Homeland Security's decision to end the "catch and release" immigration policy by Oct.1 comes on the heels of last month's announcement by the Army Corps of Engineers that a $385 million contract had been awarded to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Root and Brown to build "temporary immigration detention facilities".

Halliburton Subsidiary Gets Contract to Add Temporary Immigration Detention Centers
New York Times

Feb. 3 - The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a contract worth up to $385 million for building temporary immigration detention centers to Kellogg Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary…

KBR would build the centers for the Homeland Security Department for an unexpected influx of immigrants, to house people in the event of a natural disaster or for new programs that require additional detention space…

A spokesman for the corps, Clayton Church, said that the centers could be at unused military sites or temporary structures and that each one would hold up to 5,000 people.

"When there's a large influx of people into the United States, how are we going to feed, house and protect them?" Mr. Church asked. "That's why these kinds of contracts are there."

-snip-

In recent months, the Homeland Security Department has promised to increase bed space in its detention centers to hold thousands of illegal immigrants awaiting deportation. In the first quarter of the 2006 fiscal year, nearly 60 percent of the illegal immigrants apprehended from countries other than Mexico were released on their own recognizance.

Domestic security officials have promised to end the releases by increasing the number of detention beds. Last week, domestic security officials announced that they would expand detaining and swiftly deporting illegal immigrants to include those seized near the Canadian border

As the Senate Judiciary Committee takes up immigration reform this week they will be debating provisions that may increase the number of incarcerated undocumented immigrants into the millions. Both the current Senate proposal, "The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006", sponsored by Sen. Arlen Spectrer, and it's House equivalent, the "Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005"(HR4437) would criminalize almost any immigration infraction and leave the entire undocumented population vulnerable to incarceration. Both bills, in theory, call for the arrest and possible detention of all undocumented immigrants.

Mandatory Detention
Under current law, individuals who arrive without documents, including asylum-seekers, are subject to mandatory detention. Again this applies mainy to those arriving at airports or by sea. 60% of detainees are held in local jails under contract to the federal government, where they are generally not segregated from the criminal population even if they are asylum-seekers and others with no criminal record.

Under this new bill, the mandatory detention policy would be extended to all non-citizens who are detained at any port of entry or anywhere “along” the border for any reason.

“Illegal Presence” and “Aggravated Felonies,”
Section 203 of HR 4437 calls for the creation of a new federal crime of “illegal presence”. As defined in the bill it includes any violation, even technical, of any immigration law or regulation. Even if the immigrant was to fall “out of status” unintentionally, or do to paperwork delays. In essence, the bill makes every immigration violation, however minor, into a federal crime. As drafted, the bill also makes the new crime of “illegal presence” an “aggravated felony” for immigration purposes. This classification would have the further effect of restricting ordinary undocumented immigrants (including those with pending applications) from many forms of administrative or judicial review. Those convicted of an "aggravated felony" would be subject to indefinite detention and/or expedited removal.

Indefinite Detention
Indefinite detention currently applies to non-citizens ordered removed from the United States whose countries refuse to accept them or who have no country because they are stateless. Most often they come from countries without good relations with the United States.

Section 602 of HR 4437 would permit indefinite detention of an increased broad class of non-citizens, including:

• those with a contagious disease
  
• any non-citizen convicted of an “aggravated felony,” (see above)
  
• non-citizens whose release would pose foreign policy problems
  
• non-citizens charged even with very minor immigration violations who, based on secret evidence, are deemed a national security risk.

MORE

With the internment of undocumented Chinese immigrants and their families becoming a very real possibility, we need to start to look at the real ramifications of some of this proposed legislation. Homeland Security has already announced its intent to greatly increase the incarceration of undocumented immigrants and Halliburton is ready to supply the facilities to hold them. With HR 4437's provisions for indefinite detention and the reclassification of even minor offenses as aggravated felonies it is quite possible that all 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country could shortly end up in internment camps no different from the refugee camps we see throughout the rest of the world. We just never thought it could happen here.

Tag: immigration

Read More...

Summary only...

Senate Judiciary Committee to finish work on immigration bill this week

As you might know, the Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a bill that contains many of the more draconian aspects of the House bill (HR4437) passed last December.

Including:

• Up to five years in jail for people who assist an illegal to remain in the US, or transport them within the US, which could conceivably include aid from charities, churches, free medical clinics, etc.



• Possible deportation, without any hearing, of anyone picked up within 100 miles of the border who an immigration agent thinks is illegal.



• Creates a new federal “aggravated felony” crime of any “illegal presence,” even if the cause is not the fault of the immigrant, such as their legal paperwork being processed too slowly. They can then be detained indefinitely.



• Limit the basic rights of immigrants to judicial review, even by the constitutionally guaranteed writ of habeas corpus.



• Criminalize all violations of immigration law, even if the violation was unintentional or the result of processing delays



• Give additional powers to detain non-citizens indefinitely without judicial review, potentially placing many non-citizens in a legal black hole that subjects them to a life sentence after having served a criminal sentence, or, in some cases, without ever having been convicted of a crime

(more below the fold)
tag: immigration


On Wednesday and Thursday, the committee will meet to consider the these provisions.

If you haven't called Senators on the Judiciary Committee yet, please do so today.

They are listed below.
Senate Judiciary Committee: Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) - 202-224-4254 Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) - 202-224-5251 Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) - 202-224-3744 Sen. Jon L. Kyl (R-AZ) - 202-224-4521 Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) - 202-224-2315 Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) - 202-224-4124 Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-SC) - 202-224-5972 Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) - 202-224-2934 Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) - 202-224-6521 Sen. Thomas A. Coburn (R-OK) - 202-224-5754 Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) - 202-224-4242 Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) - 202-224-4543 Sen. Joseph R. Biden (D-DE) - 202-224-5042 Sen. Herbert H. Kohl (D-WI) - 202-224-5653 Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) - 202-224-3841 Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) - 202-224-5323 Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) - 202-224-6542 Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) - 202-224-2152

Read More...

Summary only...

Misconceptions about undocumented migrants dispelled

Dr. Jeffrey Passel, Senior Research Associate with the Pew Hispanic Center was recently interviewed on CSPAN's Washington Journal about the centers newest report on undocumented migrants; " Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S."

During the course of the over forty minute interview, Dr. Passel dispels many of the popular misconceptions about undocumented migrants:

(more from Dr Passel below the fold)
tag: immigration

• That 5.7 mil of the 11.1 mil undocumented migrants are women and children, disproving the popular belief that most migrants are single young men coming here to earn money to send home.


• That young working families make up the bulk of that population, including 3mil American born children who are citizens.


• That 6.7 mil have been here more than five years, and out of those, 3.8 mil have been here more than ten.


• That some 94% of adult men are working, the majority of them paying Social Security and income taxes.
.

• That a large number of migrants have high school education and ten percent are college graduates. Their children tend to do better, and most go on to attend college.


• When US unemployment is high, immigration goes down…it only increases when unemployment is low.


• That immigrants represent only 5% of work force and have very little impact on wages.


• NAFTA has been a major contributor to increased migration from Mexico.


• Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for any government medical assistance such as medicare or medicaid. They generally don't receive any medical insurance through their jobs which does cause some strain on the system equal to that of other uninsured populations.


• Without family members already legally in the country it is nearly impossible to enter the country legally


• Undoucumented immigrants cannot qualify for social services such as food stamps or any other government assistance


• Immigrants learn English today at the same pace as other immigrants groups in the past

To view the entire interview: Here
To read report: Here (PDF)

Read More...

Summary only...

Where Republican Senators stand on Immigration Reform

From our right wing friends at Human Events comes this breakdown on the success thus of their efforts to lobby Republican Senators to support more restrictive immigration legislation. So far it appears the majority of Senators have failed to commit to them either way, but they will be updating as more information comes in.

Perhaps a little counter-campaign on our part urging these Senators to support Kennedy-McCain might be in order, particularly those uncommitted and leaning against HR4437.

(complete list of Rep.Senator's positions and contact information below the fold)
Tag: immigration

Support Provisions of HR4437 and will not support any path to legalization

Sen. Wayne Allard (R.-Colo.)
521 Dirksen Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5941
E-mail
Sen. Kit Bond (R.-Mo.)
274 Russell Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5721
E-mail
Sen. Conrad Burns (R.-Mont.)
187 Dirksen Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2644
E-mail
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R.-Ga.)
416 Russell Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3521
E-mail
Sen. John Cornyn (R.-Tex.)
517 Hart Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2934
E-mail
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R.-Okla.)
453 Russell Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4721
E-mail
Sen. Trent Lott (R.-Miss.)
487 Russell Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6253
E-mail

May support provisions of HR 4437 and rule out a path to legalization

Sen. Michael Enzi (R.-Wyo.)
379A Russell Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3424
E-mail
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R.-Maine)
154 Russell Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5344
E-mail

Will not commit to support provisions of HR4437 and might support a path to legalization

Sen. George Allen (R.-Va.)
204 Russell Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4024
E-mail
Sen. Richard Burr (R.-N.C.)
217 Russell Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3154
E-mail
Sen. Thad Cochran (R.-Miss.)
113 Dirksen Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5054
E-mail
Sen. Larry Craig (R.-Idaho)
520 Hart Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2752
E-mail
Sen. Craig Thomas (R.-Wyo.)
307 Dirksen Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6441
E-mail

Have Not Responded

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R.-Tenn.)
302 Hart Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4944
E-mail
Sen. Robert Bennett (R.-Utah)
431 Dirksen Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5444
E-mail
Sen. Sam Brownback (R.-Kan.)
303 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6521
E-mail
Sen. Jim Bunning (R.-Ky.)
316 Hart Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4343
E-mail
Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.-R.I.)
141-A Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2921
E-mail
Sen. Tom Coburn (R.-Okla.)
172 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5754
E-mail
Sen. Norm Coleman (R.-Minn.)
320 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5641
E-mail
Sen. Susan Collins (R.-Maine)
461 Dirksen Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2523
E-mail
Sen. Mike Crapo (R.-Idaho)
239 Dirksen Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6142
E-mail
Sen. Jim DeMint (R.-S.C.)
340 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6121
E-mail
Sen. Mike DeWine (R.-Ohio)
140 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2315
E-mail
Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R.-N.C.)
555 Dirksen Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6342
E-mail
Sen. Pete Domenici (R.-N.M.)
328 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6621
E-mail
Sen. John Ensign (R.-Nev.)
356 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6244
E-mail
Sen. Bill Frist (R.-Tenn.)
509 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3344
E-mail
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.-S.C.)
290 Russell Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5972
E-mail
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R.-Iowa)
135 Hart Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3744
E-mail
Sen. Judd Gregg (R.-N.H.)
393 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3324
E-mail
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R.-Neb.)
248 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4224
E-mail
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah)
104 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
202) 224-5251
E-mail
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.)
284 Russell Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5922
E-mail
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R.-Ga.)
120 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3643
E-mail
Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.)
730 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4521
E-mail
Sen. Richard Lugar (R.-Ind.)
306 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4814
E-mail
Sen. Mel Martinez (R.-Fla.)
317 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3041
E-mail
Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.)
241 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2235
E-mail
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.)
361A Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2541
E-mail
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R.-Alaska)
709 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6665
E-mail
Sen. Pat Roberts (R.-Kan.)
109 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4774
E-mail
Sen. Rick Santorum (R.-Pa.)
511 Dirksen Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6324
E-mail
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.)
335 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4124
E-mail
Sen. Richard Shelby (R.-Ala.)
110 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5744
E-mail
Sen. Gordon Smith (R.-Ore.)
404 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3753
E-mail
Sen. Arlen Specter (R.-Pa.)
711 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4254
E-mail
Sen. Ted Stevens (R.-Alaska)
522 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3004
E-mail
Sen. John Sununu (R.-N.H.)
111 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2841
E-mail
Sen. James Talent (R.-Mo.)
493 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6154
E-mail
Sen. John Thune (R.-S.D.)
383 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2321
E-mail
Sen. David Vitter (R.-La.)
516 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-4623
E-mail
Sen. George Voinovich (R.-Ohio)
524 Hart Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3353
E-mail
Sen. John Warner (R.-Va.)
225 Russell Office Building,Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2023
E-mail

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Summary only...

The story you’re not going to see about HR4437

“Crowds stretched back at least 20 blocks from Federal Plaza at one point. The procession was so long that some marchers still hadn't made it to the plaza when the two-hour rally ended.”



Unless you live in the Chicago area you probably are unaware that a rally of this size even took place yesterday. Hundreds of thousands immigrants, activists, clergy and politicians marched in protest of “The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 – HR 4437.

(more below the fold)
Tag: immigration

From the local CBS affiliate in Chicago comes this:

CHICAGO Crowds marched through the city on Friday to rally against HR 4437 – The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005.

Supporters of the bill before Congress say it beefs up border protection. But thousands of people in Chicago's Latino community call the pending bill a blatant violation of rights.

As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, the protesters -- of Polish, Irish, Latino, Chinese and many other nationalities -- gathered at Union Park, at Ashland Avenue and Lake Street, and marched to the Loop. From the air, it appeared to be an endless sea of demonstrators, flooding the streets to protest the recently-passed house bill, which would make it a crime to hire or even help undocumented immigrants.

At the end of the day, organizers say it was more than half a million protesters. Police estimated the crowd at 300,000.

-snip-

Many of the protesters were immigrants who took the day off work to attend the rally.

“This is a ridiculous bill,” said Polish immigrant Paulina Cdnok. “I don't understand how it got as far as it did, and they're trying to make this a law -- and then at this point it's a police state.”

Other immigrants said their most important goal was to be part of the United States.

“It’s important that they know that we make great contributions to this country,” Chicago resident Maricela Herrera said. “We’re not here to take any jobs or anything, we’re here to be able to give our contributions that make the United States what it is.”

But for those in the rest of the country, the news of this huge rally looked more like this two sentence report from the Washington Post:

NATION IN BRIEF

CHICAGO -- Tens of thousands of Mexican and other immigrants held a large rally in Chicago on Friday to protest proposed changes to immigration laws. Chicago police said 75,000 to 100,000 people were involved in the march and rally.

Many other papers ran the AP story entitled: “100,000 march in favor of immigrant rights” which went a little further in depth - but like the New York Times did not feature it prominently, choosing to bury the story in the back of the paper. The AP story also made sure to mention remarks made by a small contingent of the local Illinois Minutemen group in opposition to the march. Just for “balance” I guess.

But it’s hard to counter something like this with the usual anti-immigrant rhetoric:



Perhaps the media needs to start looking beyond the inflammatory, xenophobic and sensational, and start to deal with this issue in a responsible way. This won’t be the last time thousands take to the streets … and they can’t be ignored forever.

ACTION ITEMS:

Contact your Senator
Contact the Media
Contact the Senate Judiciary Committee

American Immigration Lawyers Association

Justice for Immigrants The Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform

National Immigration Forum

National Council of La Raza

MORE ON HR4437 FROM MIGRA MATTERS

The fly in Mr. Sensenbrenners ointment

King claims HR4437 not to punish humanitarians: I say prove it

HR 4437: King promised changes, but none made

Unions, Catholic Church and US Chamber of Commerce oppose HR4437

Congressmen with least immigrants in districts support HR4437… those with most oppose it

Cardinal calls for civil disobedience against HR4437


Sensenbrenner's State relies on undocumented workers to keep farm economy running

US Begins Internment of Undocumented Immigrants

INFORMATION ON HR 4437

Major Provisions of HR 4437

Library of Congress:H.R.4437

Voting record on HR 4437

White House letter of support for HR 4437

ACLU on HR4437

NCLR on HR4437

Human Rights First on HR4437

Read More...

Summary only...

Bush's "With Us or Against Us" Foriegn Policy and "The Great Border Wall"

[editors note, by Duke1676] An excellent example of how US foreign policy and US immigration policy converge. Proving once again that there's often more to an issue than meets the eye

Since coming into office in 2001, the Bush administration has consistently opposed to having the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, hold US military and political leaders to a uniform global standard of justice. The court was set up to prosecute individuals accused of the world's worst atrocities -- genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity -- in a belated effort to fulfill the promise of the Nuremberg trials, which tried Nazi leaders after World War II. The Bush argues that the court, could be used for frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions of U.S. troops.

BushCo has aggressively negotiated bilateral agreements with other countries to insure immunity of US nationals from prosecution by the Court. Sadly, BushCo is willingly to play the school yard bully to dozens of other poor countries by cutting off foreign aid, foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) for defying the US because of their support for the International Criminal Court.

Last fall, Mexico became a signatory to the ICC making them the 12th country from the Latin America-Caribbean area to be punished under the U.S. American Service-Members' Protection Act. This law prohibits US military assistance to countries that have not signed "Article 98" agreements. An “Article 98” agreement is the agreement between the US and those countries who pledge not to seek the prosecution of US citizens in the International Criminal Court.


(more below the fold)
Tag: immigration

Countries that refused to sign and ratify Article 98 agreements lost the military aid and those countries who were not willing to stand up to the US were not sanctioned. The following are the types of aid BushCo will cut off: International Military Education and Training (IMET), Foreign Military Financing (FMF), Excess Defense Articles (EDA) and non-drug Emergency Drawdown Authority funds (506(b)). Section 574 of the 2005 Foreign Operations Appropriations law (P.L. 108-447), a provision that adds an economic-aid program, Economic Support Funds (ESF).

U.S. military aid is a key component to Mexican security in combating drug trafficking. The U.S. did warn Mexico that joining the ICC would lead to the cut of an $11.5 million program to help its justice system deal with drug trafficking. According to the Seattle Times, Mexico could lose almost 40% in US economic aid if it decided to defy the US.

It is interesting that last December, Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) and his anti-reconquista rough rides of the House passed their fascist "getting tough" immigration policy, HR 4437 - the bill that would build a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border - rather quickly. It just proves that ignorance can only be accompanied by bliss. And it is also interesting, Congress voted to give themselves a $3,000-a-year pay raise, which became effective just in time for the holidays.

The obvious question is, how was that possible, if this (un)free nation is in debt? Another question that could be asked, what programs got cut. Since October, when Mexico decided to defy BushCo, the relationship between Mexico and the US have been strained. One possible explanation, the US did cut foreign aid to Mexico. According to the Houston Chronicle, today, "the sanctions have been imposed without an official announcement." Not only will BushCo take their marbles and go home, but they don't have to tell anybody when they are going home. Mexico is not the only country try in Latin America that Bush decided to punish.

ICC-related sanctions have cut the roster of trainees from the hemisphere by almost 800 over the past few years, eroding the traditionally deep ties between the U.S. and Latin American militaries.

Worldwide, about two dozen countries have been sanctioned by the U.S.

Despite being cut off and suffering the consequences, Mexico will not back down and sign the "Article 98" agreement. President Vicente Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, said

"Mexico will be irrefutable in supporting the protocols of the international court, whatever the cost. Nobody in the world should be immune from the action of justice."

One has to wonder, if the sanctions didn't force Mexico to sign the agreement, was HR 4437 the next move by BushCo? In July 2004, the House attached an anti-ICC amendment, the Nethercutt Amendment, to the FY05 Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act (H.R. 4818). The Nethercutt Amendment was named after the Congressman who introduced it, the amendment would cut ESFs to all countries that belong to the ICC but have not signed the "Article 98" agreement with the US. The Nethercutt language has again been included in the House version of the Fiscal Year 2006 (FY06) Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, H.R. 3057.

The Nethercutt provision in FY06 provides waivers for NATO Allies, key non-NATO allies, and other countries if the President determines that it is in the national interests of the US. Like the American Servicemembers Protection Act, the Nethercutt threatens to withhold military aid to countries that are party to the ICC. According to the Citizens for Global Solutions, Bush has not invoked any waivers yet.

And according the Chronicle, Bush will be meeting with Mexico's President Vicente Fox at the end of the month. Once again, the school yard bully is kicking sand, sign the agreement or the wall will be built.

[x-posted on ¡Para Justicia y Libertad!]

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Fighting for my family, haven't slept in weeks

[editors note, by Duke1676] This story, first appearing at the Dialy Kos, reveals a side of the immigration debate that we rarely hear from our elected officials or the media. How US immigration policies effect individuals and families.

Fighting for my family, haven't slept in weeks
by randallemery

My wife immigrated to this country when we got married, but has been unable to travel to visit her family because she doesn't yet have a green card. She doesn't yet have a green card because we've been waiting 3 and 1/2 years for a computerized background check.

But what's keeping me up at night is proposed legislation that passed in the House with no press in December and is being forced through the Senate by Bill Frist right now. The version of the house bill, broadly interpretted, could make my wife a criminal for marrying me and subject her to "not less than one year in prison". The same would be true of the parents of 3.2 million other American citizens.

Thousands have rallied across the country already -- the latest in Washington on Tuesday (5,000), but the press is not covering it.

I know that these days there's always some scandal taking up the news, but this legislation threatens millions of families -- we're talking about people coming in the middle of the night to drag off families.

The author goes on to tell one of the most horrific tales of the failure of the CIS and of US immigration policy on a whole, I have ever heard.

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Tag: immigration

Recently this happened to a restaurant owner, John, who I met here in Philadelphia. They dragged off his pregant wife after denying her case for asylum. Neither he nor their children knew what happened to her. She just disappeared off the street.

They'd both been here for 11 years and have a successful business. Had she been deported to China, she would have been forced to abort the twins she was carrying. She was under so much stress that she starting feeling really not well. She repeatedly asked for doctors and nobody listened, and through all of that, lost her twin babies. If you met this man, you would know right away that this is a good person. John's wife's case is still pending.

I know it's like the scandal of the week anymore, but this topic deserves attention. It's critically important that people call their Senators right now and oppose any legislation that would make my case and John's case an everyday occurrence. Legislation is being amended in the Senate Judiciary committee today, and they need to hear the calls of people who oppose this frightening legislation.

ACTION ITEMS

in the Senate Judiciary committee today, and they need to hear the calls of people who oppose this frightening legislation.

• Background on the House bill:
  Here


• Background on the Senate bill being debated right now:
  Here


• John's case is only national news in China


• Coverage of a recent rally on Indy Media

This bill is so much of a non-news maker that members of the Senate Judiciary committee didn't even show up yesterday. Today is a national call in day for those who know about it. The New American Opportunity Campaign has information about who to call: Here

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First day of Senate deliberations on immigration uneventful

Despite all the heated rhetoric about immigration reform coming out of Washington, it appears that the Senate Judiciary Committee is in no hurry to begin any serious work on the issue. Perhaps it's just committee chairman Arlen Specter's bill in particular that is of no particular interest to the Senators. Trying to be all things to all people, Specters hodgepodge proposal appears to be neither fish nor foul, leaving the Senators apparently unimpressed.

Containing some of the harsher aspects of the controversial House bill (HR4437), coupled with a call for a path to legalization for the 11mil unauthorized immigrants in America as set forth in Senators Kennedy and McCain's bill (S. 1033), and a guest worker plan that mirrors the one favored by President Bush, Specter's immigration bill provides no real compromise between the various camps in the immigration debate. He appears to want to give each faction a piece of the pie, yet the bill ends up to be nothing more than a mix of contradictory policies.

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Tag: immigration

WASHINGTON - During the first full day of deliberations Wednesday on an immigration bill, the Senate Judiciary Committee decided it wants to help local governments train officers and seems to prefer to study a border fence than build one now.

But it got little else done and committee chairman Arlen Specter is not happy. He is presiding over his panel's deliberations - called a markup - on a 305-page immigration bill that does everything from strengthening enforcement to creating a new guest worker program and allowing the more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the country now to work legally.

No more than eight of the 18 members on the Senate panel were ever in the meeting room at one time Wednesday. Under the committee rules, it takes eight members to vote on amendments and 10 to actually vote on the total bill. And at least two members from each party have to be there.

For much of the time, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was the lone Democrat although Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., came and went as did a few others.

Specter, R-Pa., repeatedly asked the staff of the absent senators to summon them and said if this continues he will start asking those not showing up if they "really" want to be a member of the usually coveted panel.

Feinstein urged Specter to go slow, even if it means the committee won't meet Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's deadline of March 27 to get immigration reform on the floor.

"I want to know the bill," Feinstein said. "I want to take some time with this bill."

"We will take whatever time we need," Specter assured her.

During the brief time that there were eight members present, the panel agreed on an amendment by Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the immigration subcommittee, that would pay the training and equipment costs for local and state police agencies that volunteer to help enforce immigration laws.

There was some give and take, however, over whether to build a fence all along the southern border or instead study whether and where such a barrier makes sense.

"I do not support a fence for practical and financial reasons as well as because of the signal it sends to our neighbors in the north and south," said Cornyn, R-Texas.

But Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who supports the construction of an extensive border fence, said it would save money in the long run because fewer people would be caught at the border. And that means fewer people needing to be detained and sent back to their home country, he said.

Sessions was the only lawmaker present arguing in favor of a border fence. The panel is expected to vote to proceed with the study in Specter's bill and to suggest some limited fencing in selected crossings in Arizona, an amendment proposed by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

Mercury News

Perhaps the committee may be able to hammer something out of Specter's cacophony of a bill … if they ever bother to show up.

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Ariz. Governor says "We are not at war with Mexico." Then sends troops to border

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

PHOENIX -- Gov. Janet Napolitano on Wednesday ordered more National Guardsmen posted at the Mexican border to help stop illegal immigrants and curb related crimes.

National Guard troops have worked at the border since 1988, but Napolitano signed an order authorizing commanders to station an unspecified number of additional soldiers there to help federal agents.

Once the funding is approved, the troops will monitor crossing points, assist with cargo inspection and operate surveillance cameras, according to the order.

"They are not there to militarize the border," the governor said. "We are not at war with Mexico."

About 170 National Guardsmen are already posted at the nation's busiest illegal entry point, where they assist with communications, fence construction and anti-drug efforts.

Napolitano did not say how many additional troops would be stationed at the border and referred questions to the National Guard. Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Aguirre said the number of troops would not be known until funding for the plan is approved.

-snip-

The governor declared an immigration emergency last summer in Arizona's four border counties, citing security shortcomings by the federal government.

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Tag: immigration

The continuing trend towards militarization of our southern border shows little likelihood of slowing down. It appears that rather than addressing the root causes of increased unauthorized migration or looking for solutions that remove the barriers to legal immigration, local and state officials choose to continue to follow the failed policies of the past. Believing that stricter enforcement and tightening of border security will somehow stem the tide of migration. They fail to recognize the fact that with each new barrier put in place they only force the patterns of migration to shift further out into the desert. No restrictive efforts thus far have lowered the number of migrants entering the nation, the numbers grow yearly. The walls, barriers, increased border patrols and military pressence have only increased the number of migrant deaths as they are forced further out into the desert.

Governor Napolitano would be better served, working with her fellow state and federal leaders to work on a comprehensive immigration policy that recognizes the need for immigration and provides a way to make it safe and legal. But that would require doing the tough work of real reform ... and that doesn't make the same kind of political splash as a photo-op on the border surrounded by guardsmen does.

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Pew releases new statistics on unauthorized immigrant population

The Pew Hispanic Center today released its newest report on the unauthorized migrant population . Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population in the U.S. contains the most current information on the estimated 11.5 to12 million unauthorized migrants living and working in the US.

Analysis of the March 2005 Current Population Survey shows that there were 11.1 million unauthorized in the United States a year ago. Based on analysis of other data sources that offer indications of the pace of growth in the foreign-born population, the Center developed an estimate of 11.5 to 12 million for the unauthorized population as of March 2006.

In the March 2005 estimate two-thirds (66%) of the unauthorized population had been in the country for ten years or less, and the largest share, 40% of the total or 4.4 million people had been in the country five years or less. There were 5.4 million adult males in the unauthorized population in 2005, accounting for 49% of the total. There were 3.9 million adult females accounting for 35% of the population. There were 1.8 million children who were unauthorized, 16% of the total. In addition, there were 3.1 million children who are U.S. citizens by birth living in families in which the head of the family or a spouse was unauthorized.
About 7.2 million unauthorized migrants were employed in March 2005, accounting for about 4.9% of the civilian labor force. They made up a large share of all workers in a few more detailed occupational categories, including 24% of all workers employed in farming occupations, 17% in cleaning, 14% in construction and 12% in food

(much more below the fold)
Tag: immigration

What follows is the information from the executive summary of the report. The entire report can be read here.

Analysis of the March 2005 Current Population Survey shows that there were 11.1 million unauthorized in the United States a year ago. Based on analysis of other data sources that offer indications of the pace of growth in the foreign-born population, the Center developed an estimate of 11.5 to 12 million for the unauthorized population as of March 2006.


Size and Characteristics of the Unauthorized Migrant Population
Estimates Based on the March 2005 Current Population Survey

• Since 2000, growth in the unauthorized population has averaged more than 500,000 per year. Based on evidence that this trend has persisted, the current unauthorized population can be estimated at between 11.5 and 12 million.


• In the March 2005 estimate two-thirds (66%) of the unauthorized population had been in the country for ten years or less, and the largest share, 40% of the total or 4.4 million people had been in the country five years or less.


• Unauthorized migrants accounted for 30% of the foreign-born population in 2005. Another 28% were legal permanent residents, and 31% were U.S. citizens by Naturalization


• Most of unauthorized migrants came from Mexico. There were an estimated 6.2 million unauthorized Mexican migrants in 2005, or 56% of the unauthorized population.


• About 2.5 million unauthorized migrants, or 22% of the total, have come from the rest of Latin America, primarily from Central America. Unauthorized migrants from Mexico and the rest of Latin America represented 78% of the unauthorized population in 2005.


• Between 2000 and 2005 the number of unauthorized migrants from Mexico increased by about 1.5 million. Other large increases occurred among unauthorized migrants from Central America (+465,000) and South and East Asia (+365,000).

Family Characteristics

• There were 5.4 million adult males in the unauthorized population in 2005, accounting for 49% of the total. There were 3.9 million adult females accounting for 35% of the population. In addition, there were 1.8 million children who were unauthorized, or 16% of the total.


• Among adults, males make up 58% of the unauthorized population while females make up 42%
.

• As of 2005, there were 6.6 million families in which either the head of the family or the spouse was unauthorized. These unauthorized families contained 14.6 million persons.


• Nearly two-thirds (64%) of the children living in unauthorized families are U.S. citizens by birth, an estimated 3.1 million children in 2005.

Labor Force Characteristics

• Unauthorized migrants accounted for about 4.9% of the civilian labor force in March 2005, or about 7.2 million workers out of a labor force of 148 million.


• Unauthorized workers are employed in a variety of occupations, although the distribution of the unauthorized workforce across occupations differs from that of native-born workers. For example, nearly a third (31%) of
  unauthorized workers were employed in service occupations compared to one-sixth (16%) of native workers in March 2005. Unauthorized migrants are underrepresented in white-collar occupations.


• About 19% of unauthorized workers were employed in construction and extractive occupations, 15% in production, installation and repair and 4% in farming.


• Unauthorized migrants make up a large share of all workers in a few more detailed occupational categories. They were 24% of all workers employed in farming occupations, 17% in cleaning, 14% in construction and 12% in food preparation industries. Within those categories, unauthorized workers were a very large share of all workers in certain specific occupations. For example,
  the unauthorized were 36% of all insulation workers and 29% of all roofers and drywall installers, 27% of all butchers and other food processing workers.


• The concentration of unauthorized workers in broad industries is not as marked as the concentration in broad occupation groups. Only in “leisure & hospitality” and in “construction” does the share of unauthorized workers greatly exceed the share of natives. About 1 in 5 unauthorized workers was in the construction industry (20%) and 1 in 6 was in the leisure & hospitality
  industry (17%). Only about 7%–8% of native workers was in each of these industries.


• There are fewer detailed industries with high concentrations and significant numbers of unauthorized workers than detailed occupations. Nonetheless, there are some industries with substantial concentration of unauthorized workers. The unauthorized were 21% of the workers in private household industries. They were between 12% and 14% of all the workers in food manufacturing, farming, furniture manufacturing, construction, textiles, and food services.

for more from the Pew Hispanic Center

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The Progressive Legislative Action Network puts out immigration guidelines

The Progressive Legislative Action Network (PLAN) a progressive think tank and advocacy group yesterday released its proposal for guidelines to deal with immigration reform.

The proposal contains some of the most well thought out and practical solutions yet put forth to deal with the issue. The announcement is reprinted here in its entirety, but I can not more strongly suggest visiting the PLAN site to read more from, and about, this progressive network. PLAN presents strategies and action ideas on all issues that concern the progressive community.

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Tag: immigration

Eye on Immigration: Real State Solutions

In the last few weeks, the debate on immigration has heated up.

Even as some state legislators across the country have filed bills to crack down on undocumented immigrants, the Cardinal of Los Angeles called for respecting the human rights of immigrants and the Western Governors united in support of establishing a national guest worker program, variations on which are promoted both by President Bush and by Senators Kennedy and McCain. And the AFL-CIO Executive Council this last week issued a statement arguing that even guest worker programs would just create an undemocratic, two-tiered society—and that the real solution to immigration was reform of labor laws to end the exploitation, both in the US and overseas, that encourages employer hiring of immigrants in the first place.

As the debate moves forward in the states, legislators and Governors across the country face a choice: embrace progressive policies that will boost wages for American workers and solve the root causes of immigration reform or choose failed conservative options that will drive the problem out-of-sight without solving it.

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Protecting Labor Rights for All Workers

There are real policy alternatives. A number of states have recognized that rather than further punish exploited immigrant workers in the underground economy, a better solution is to end the exploitive conditions that make hiring lower-paid immigrants so attractive for employers in the first place.

Just two weeks ago, New York’s highest court ruled that giving undocumented workers injured at work the right to sue employers for compensation was a crucial policy for enforcing labor rights and deterring immigration. The lack of labor rights by undocumented immigrants “would lessen the unscrupulous employer’s potential liability to its alien workers and make it more financially attractive to hire undocumented aliens,” said Judge Victoria A. Graffeo writing for the majority, and “would actually increase employment levels of undocumented aliens, not decrease it.”

This policy of strengthening undocumented workers’ legal rights is in line with states like California, which passed SB 1818 in 2002 to affirm that all labor protections are available to any employee “regardless of immigration status.” While many native workers fear immigrants are driving down wages in industries that they enter, the best way to prevent this wage depression from happening is not to punish the immigrants but to strengthen their rights. As the high court in New York emphasized, the stronger the rights of the immigrants, the less likely employers will undermine wage standards for all workers.

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Stopping Immigration at the Source: Anti-Sweatshop Legislation

Ultimately, as the AFL-CIO said in their statement last week, “any viable solution to this crisis must address the reasons why people are coming to the U.S,” including trade and development policies that don’t strengthen labor protections and wage levels in immigrants’ home countries. And as Jeff Faux of the Economic Policy Institute has detailed, “Since NAFTA’s inception in 1994—indeed, for the 20 years of neoliberal ‘reform’—the Mexican middle class has shrunk and the number of poor has expanded… So the northward migration continues.”

While states cannot change trade policy, they do have the power through their own purchasing decisions to help end the global sweatshops that drive undocumented immigration. California, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, along with sixty cities, counties and school districts, have changed their procurement policies to ban government purchases from contractors violating internationally-recognized labor rights.

This last week, the Governor of Maine, John Baldacci, launched a challenge to his fellow Governors to join a multi-state Governor’s Coalition for Sweatfree Procurement and Workers Rights to strengthen monitoring of labor conditions of contractors used by states. With states and local governments purchasing $400 billion in goods and services, a nationwide coalition of states could play a pivitol role in changing sweatshops both at home and abroad and creating real long-term solutions to the conditions driving immigration.
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Failed Rightwing Solutions

Typical of the anti-immigrants attacks is a new proposal in Georgia supposedly to deter undocumented immigration that has all the earmarks of failed conservative policy—it punishes individual immigrants while doing nothing to end the exploitation that makes employing undocumented immigrants so attractive to businesses.

The Georgia bill, like similiar bills in other states, sounds tough: businesses can be fined for hiring undocumented immigrants or denied public contracts if they do so, but as long as an immigrant has a fake document, the employer cannot be penalized. And contractors who use subcontractors using undocumented immigrants would be off the hook as well, despite the fact that huge corporations like Wal-Mart use precisely these tactics to avoid liability.

So the bill is toothless in punishing those who exploit immigrants. Nothing in the bill combats the business conditions that lead to exploiting low-paid undocumented workers. The bill has no toughened enforcement of the minimum wage, of safety conditions at work, or any other provision to end the underground economy of exploitation that feeds the demand for more low-paid immigrant labor. The only real penalties in the bill are for the immigrants themselves, including denying most adults medical care. And while the bill sponsors says it will save public funds, a lot of physicians think otherwise since it just means they’ll be showing up in emergency rooms instead of getting cheaper preventive care.

Almost 500 people died in 2005 trying to cross the border to find work in the US. If new immigrants are willing to risk death to come to the US, there is little evidence that denying a few health benefits will make much change in immigration numbers. In fact, creating more fear among immigrants will just make them more attractive to hire for employers who know that immigrants will be that much less likely to report workplace violations to authorities.

But we shouldn’t be surprised that Georgia’s leaders would coddle low-wage employers while scapegoating immigrants. This is the same rightwing leadership that last year prohibited the city of Atlanta from encouraging government contractors to pay a living wage. As one of the sponsors of the bill striking down the Atlanta living wage law said, “The marketplace is what will determine what wages will be paid…We can’t artificially legislate wages, and keep propping them up.”

If conservative political leaders think third world workplace conditions are required for their states to compete economically, they shouldn’t be surprised when low-wage employers enthusiastically provide those conditions by exploiting immigrant labor. But instead of importing sweatshops to the United States, maybe we should be eliminating them overseas.

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Progressive Talking Points

It is time to stop protecting corporations that benefit from hiring undocumented immigrants. If immigrant workers can’t defend their rights, it only encourages unethical corporations to hire them as part of big business’s underground economy.
We have to address the problems that are driving immigration, including bad trade deals and third world sweatshops that drive immigration to the US. States can take action by changing their own purchasing practices to fight sweatshops, both at home and abroad.

Conservative solutions don’t save public funds. They shift costs. When we deny routine health care to workers, we only end up treating them in emergency rooms for the same cost. We’re better off solving the issue of immigration.

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More from PLAN

About PLAN

In today’s American democracy, corporate conservatism is running amok. The Presidency and Congress are solidly in conservative control and the Administration is making its mark on the Supreme Court. At the state level, right-wing lawmakers, fueled with the artillery of research and fill-in-the-blank bills from conservative advocacy organizations, successfully have championed legislation that revokes collective bargaining rights for workers, prevents communities from improving wages and legalizes much, much worse.

Progressives need a plan to fight back. The mission of the Progressive Legislative Action Network (PLAN) is to pass progressive legislation in all fifty states by providing coordinated research and strategic advocacy tools to forward-thinking state legislators.

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