What are grassroots groups saying about the vote yesterday?

Thank you to all the organizations who sent us their responses to the vote- if you have a response you’d like to submit, just email me at nwells@communitychange.org.

Queens Immigrant Rights Organizations

With Senate’s Inaction, Immigrants Say to House Reps: 
“We count on YOU to do a better job &
Lead Real Immigration Reform!”
 
WHAT: 
A press conference with community groups, immigrant leaders, and advocates denouncing the Senate’s inaction and urging the House of Representatives to do a better job and lead a moral and pragmatic immigration reform.  

Community groups will release an open letter to the House of Representatives, demanding that the following principles be addressed in the House’s comprehensive immigration reform legislation:

* A broad and workable path to citizenship that would legalize the 12 million undocumented immigrants
* A pragmatic and humane worker program that regulates future migration and includes a path to citizenship for these workers
* A clear commitment to the reunification of families
* A restoration of fundamental due process and civil rights to our immigration system

A closer look at yesterday’s vote.

Thanks to Fred Tsao at ICIRR and Adam Luna at CCC for this overview.

As you all know, this morning the Senate voted against a motion to end debate, falling 14 votes short of the 60 votes needed.  The final vote was 46 in favor and 53 opposed.  To see how your Senators voted, go to: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00235

Here is a list of Senators that voted for the motion to proceed to debate on Tuesday but then voted against the motion to end debate this morning:

• Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico
• Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Missouri
• Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio
• Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas
• Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina
• Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minnesota
• Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine
• Sen. Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico
• Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada
• Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa
• Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky
• Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska
• Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska
• Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Arkansas
• Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska
• Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio
• Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia
• Sen. James Webb, D-Virginia

Going a step further into the analysis (thanks to Fred Tsao and Adam Luna):

Of the 46 Senators that voted for the motion, 34 of them were Democrats and 12 were Republicans.  Of the 53 Senators that voted against the motion, 16 of them were Democrats and 37 of them were Republicans.  The Democrats that voted against the motion were mostly from conservative states (MT, MO, LA, WV, etc.), but included three labor liberals who flipped their vote to no (Brown, Harkin, Stabenow).

Compared to the June 7 cloture vote that was defeated 45-50, there were 6 Senators that flipped from a yes to a no (1 R, 5 D:  Bayh, Brown, Harkin, Ben Nelson, Stabenow, Voinovich), 7 Senators that flipped from no to yes (6 R, 1 D:  Boxer, Craig, Gregg, Kyl, Lott, Snowe), and 4 Senators who did not vote on June 7 that voted no (all R: Barrasso, Brownback, Coburn, Enzi) though we know that Brownback voted for, then shifted his vote to a “no” when it became clear that the motion would fail.  Even he admitted to us in person that he did it for political reasons.

Among 34 Senators whose seats are up in 2008 (names in red below): 9 voted for cloture: 6 D, 3 R (including Graham and Hagel), 24 voted against cloture: 4 D, 20 R (including Alexander, Allard, Chambliss, Coleman, Dole, Inhofe, McConnell, Sessions) and 1 did not vote.  On this last point, I’ve attached a memo drafted by CCC staff on which 2008 elections could be considered competitive.  Please take a look at those races that are considered competitive or where there are large Hispanic populations.

FIRM statement on yesterday’s vote

Senate Votes for Broken Status Quo on Immigration

Statement of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement:

“This morning a majority of Senators shamefully voted for the broken status quo on immigration. While a small and vocal minority succeeded in stoking racial fears and xenophobic paranoia to end prospects for S. 1639, the push for humane immigration reform will continue as never before in communities across our nation.

As a result of this failure, the status quo — our enforcement-only immigration system — will continue to wreak havoc around the nation. Families will remain separated, workers will continue to be exploited and raids will continue to violently rip parents away from their children. America will become a police state for anyone who looks or sounds like an immigrant. This outcome is a disgrace and a slap in the face to the very values on which this country was built.

America needs to reform its immigration system, and no amount of anti-immigrant rhetoric or right wing pandering will change this.  FIRM stands for a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented living in the United States, a future worker program with strong worker protections and a pathway to citizenship, an end to family immigration backlogs, and the protection of the basic due process guarantees and civil liberties enjoyed by all Americans.

“This country’s future is at stake. The anger and disappointment we feel today is the fuel and energy to continue our fight tomorrow.  No elected official is off the hook.  The Senate still has the moral obligation to address the nation’s broken immigration system, and now attention will shift to the House to bring up a genuinely humane and comprehensive bill that addresses the real needs of America’s immigrants, workers and communities.”

# # #

 

Keep moving, keep fighting

As we continue to push for the rights of immigrants and the rights of us all, and in light of congress’ continued failure to find real leadership for immigrant rights- I wanted to share this SUCCESS from DRUM, Desis Rising Up and Moving- even when things are bleak, there is power and strength in our unity.

The Siraj Family, members of DRUM-Desis Rising Up and Moving celebrate….
VICTORY FOR A MUSLIM FAMILY TARGETED BY HOMELAND SECURITY as father is RELEASED from Detention!! THE FIGHT FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE CONTINUES…

Another chapter in a nightmare that has torn up a loving Muslim family caught up in the U.S. “War on Terror” brings a VICTORY.  With their entire family detained by the US government in various facilities, the father of the Siraj family was released last week.   The entire Siraj family was arrested in January—just hours after their 24 year old son, Matin, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for false terrorism charges (based on an NYPD-paid informant), Matin’s mother, father and sister were violently arrested in their homes by more than a dozen ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers of the Dept. of Homeland Security. The arrest and detention of the entire family was a clear intimidation tactic to silence a family speaking out against the US War on Terror’s criminalization of South Asian, Muslim and Arab communities.

USSF and the end of the Senate Bill

Well folks 102 and 17 are two numbers sticking in my head right now.

102- because that’s how hot it feels here in Atlanta at the US Social Forum, FIRM is here learning and connecting with other grassroots organizations from around the country (That’s why we haven’t written much in the last 36 hours… and will be fairly non comunicado through Monday, bear with us!) After a two hour march through the heart of atlanta yesterday, we’ve begun three days of over 9,000 workshops where energies are high and creative juices are flowing. If you’re here- shoot me an email with title USSF and we can meet up! nwells@communitychange.org.

More thoughts to come from the USSF later - tomorrow night will be the main plenary on immigrant rights and we are all looking forward to that discussion.

17 - the number of votes that we didn’t get for the senate immigration bill. As most of you know by now, the immigration bill in the senate failed to receive the necessary number of votes for cloture.

We’ve got more  information coming on that soon- but for now I’d like to thank our allies at Casa de Maryland for joining us in the Senate building this morning as we worked to hit senators on their way to vote. We were able to reach several representatives, and no matter that outcome, our voices were heard.

I’ll write more soon, but for now take care and stay cool!

How many people have been deported, un”voluntarily”, in the last ten years?

Come on, take a guess- how many people, in the last 10 years, have been deported WITHOUT being tricked, cajoled or threatened into signing a “voluntary” deportation order by ICE.

50,000?

200,00?

1 million?

Try almost 2 million- Indeed 1.8 million people have been deported without signing a voluntary deportation agreement. That number is HUGE.  200 in April of last year alone. If you think that number is big- try multiplying it by 2, 3 or 5 - then you might get the actual number of all people who have been deported- including those who have been coerced into signing a “voluntary” deportation agreement.

The detention and deportation industry in the US is lucrative fo rthe private companies that support it- just like the war. ICE is the 2nd largest enforcement agency in the country- and it has more guns than the FBI. And who is paying for it? You are- 95 dollars per day that a 1 person alone is detained.

This system has little oversight- and even less dignity. Children and families suffer in detention centers in Texas. Mothers and Fathers can spend up to 3 or even 7 years in jail fighting to prove their right to stay in the US- often with no criminal record, and posing no harm or threat to the community.

The mainstream media has done a good job of highlighting the bigger name raids across the country, including Swift- but America has turned a blind eye to the greencard holders, visa demanders, refugee seekers, and other immigrants that are currently emprisoned in its jails.

Are you working on these issues in your area- let us know about it.

Are you interested in learning more? Let us know.

It’s time that we stop the abuses of our criminal justice system- Over the next few weeks We’ll be providing you with more resources, contacts and information on this issue, more to come soon.

And they’re off

With the vote for cloture (to open the debate on the immigration bill) passing by just 4 votes, the Senate will begin to debate the new compromise bill this afternoon (they’re getting lunch now…)

get your popcorn and c-span ready folks!

62 Die in Custody

62 individuals have died in ICE detention centers. What has happened to these people and where are their stories?

I spent the morning in a great training called Detention 101- a training from the National Lawyers Guild, Families for Freedom and the Detention Watch Network on all the ins and outs of our immigration detention system as well as successful ideas for protecting our communities from the jail detention complex. I’ll be writing more on that soon, but for now I’m leaving you with the front page story of the NY times on deaths in detention:

New Scrutiny as Immigrants Die in Custody

Sandra M. Kenley was returning home from her native Barbados in 2005 when she was swept into the United States’ fastest-growing form of incarceration, immigration detention.

Seven weeks later, Ms. Kenley died in a rural Virginia jail, where she had complained of not receiving medicine for high blood pressure. She was one of 62 immigrants to die in administrative custody since 2004, according to a new tally by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that counted many more deaths than the 20 previously known.

No government body is charged with accounting for deaths in immigration detention, a patchwork of county jails, privately run prisons and federal facilities where more than 27,500 people who are not American citizens are held on any given day while the government decides whether to deport them.

Getting details about those who die in custody is a difficult undertaking left to family members, advocacy groups and lawyers.

But as the immigration detention system balloons to meet demands for stricter enforcement of immigration laws, deaths in custody — and the secrecy and confusion around them — are drawing increased scrutiny from lawmakers and from government investigators.

Spurred by bipartisan reports of abuses in detention, the Senate unanimously passed an amendment to the proposed immigration bill that would establish an office of detention oversight within the Department of Homeland Security. Detention capacity would grow by 20,000 beds, or 73 percent, under the bill, which is expected to be debated again today in the Senate.

11:30 am- we hit the ground running

Reid will be reintroducing the Senate compromise immigration bill this morning. In light of this restart, I wanted to share an editorial from Paul Starr that I found useful:

Why Immigration Reform Matters
 
There will never be an easy time to tackle this issue, but if there is a deal to be had on immigration in this Congress, liberals and progressives should be part of it.

Paul Starr | June 18, 2007
When immigration legislation stalled and possibly died on the Senate floor on June 7, some progressives were just as pleased as Lou Dobbs. But passing even an imperfect compromise of the kind the Senate had been debating would be far better than doing nothing.

Among all the conflicting concerns about the issue, there is one that ought to drive change: The presence of 12 million people without legal or political rights in our society is fundamentally inconsistent with the principles on which a liberal democracy rests.

While a small number of illegal residents or temporary workers may raise ethical questions, a large population with no rights or security undermines the rule of law, the rights of citizens, and the working of democracy. The law cannot offer equal protection to all when there are millions of people for whom it offers no protection whatsoever.

Communities and police caught in the line of fire

After a recent trip to Nashville, TN to research local law enforcement of federal immigration law in Davidson County, a recent Washington Post editorial on this very issue caught my attention (see below).

Davidson County is the first county in Tennesee, and one of only a handful of counties in the country, to sign an MOU, or memorandum of Understanding with ICE allowing officers in the county jail to enforce federal immigration law. While over 40 localities have applied for an MOU and are awaiting ICE confirmation of their applications, very little is known about the successful impementation of these types of programs.

As the entire country waits for Congress to pass a fair and workable immigration reform bill, state and local governments are left trying to deal with a terribly broken immigration system. A few localities are looking to MOUs in what as known as the “287g” program as a supposed “safeguard” around immigration. Others, including the major cities chiefs, view this program as a major hinderance on public safety and a detriment to the effective function of local and state law enforcement departments.

I will be writing much more on this subject in the next few weeks because so little is known about this program or its consequences. Though the 287g law was passed in 1996 no county or state chose to pursue this program before 9-11. Up until that point, most localities, beginning with Salt Lake City, decided that this program was not right for them and their communities. After 9-11 and the continuing militarization of our borders, that view has changed.

But what do we know about 287g? What do we understand about the consequences of these programs? My research is continuing around this, and I am interested in hearing the thoughts of others in the field.

As anti-immigrant forces attempt to block a workable and just immigration reform bill, our local law enforcement and our communities are being caught in the politic wagers between local, state, and federal governments.

I’m interested to hear your responses to the lead editorial in the Washington Post:

Police on the Spot
In the absence of a workable immigration system, state and local officers are forced into a quandary.