We need America to hear our voices in support of immigrant rights. We've opened this space as another opportunity for you to share your struggle with others around the country-- SEND YOUR stories, resource tips, ideas, photos and FEEDBACK to Nicola Wells, nwells@communitychange.org
According to an article published this week, inhumane tactics were used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during last weeks raids in in Annapolis, Maryland. ICE agents raided worksites and private homes in an attempt to crack down on undocumented migrants in the area. And crack down they did.
According to many of the witnesses, doors and windows were kicked in, guns were brandished and residents were terrorized.
Take Eduardo Delgado. His front door was smashed down by police before he was taken into custody.
Ingrid Munoz, an American citizen married to a legal resident who worked for Annapolis Painting Services, said she woke up when agents pounded on her door. They wouldn’t let her or her husband get dressed, so she answered their questions wearing a tank top, her underwear and a towel.
The white wooden door frame on Jaclyn Munoz’s house off Forest Drive was splintered when agents broke into her home. She’s not even an illegal immigrant, she said.
Shannon Brown, an American citizen, said when her boyfriend opened their door, the house was surrounded by at least 20 agents. One pointed a gun at him, yelling in Spanish.
“He doesn’t even speak Spanish,” she said.
They searched the apartment while she got her two daughters, ages 4 and 7, out. She didn’t want them to see the raid.
All of this in order to apprehend hard-working people, not criminals. These are people with families they are working to support and care for. “Handcuffs are not meant for working hands.”
In the opinion of one immigrant rights advocate, these tactics will hurt both ICE and local law enforcement in the end.
“Immigration is a civil offense, not a criminal offense,” he said. “So when they act like this, what they’re doing is scaring people and breaking the trust that people have in law enforcement.”
We have all heard reports of the Immigration Raids that apprehend “illegals”, but very few people in the American public know the real stories behind the impact of the raids - the families torn apart, the communities terrorized. Like Dr. Camayd-Frexais said: “One could feel the moral fabric of society coming apart beneath it all”.
I am having trouble posting the video directly - so follow this link to watch it.
The collection challenges the current U.S. Immigration policy and draws attention to the need for immigration reform.
The approximately 100 pieces — paintings, photographs, sculptures, quilts and artifacts — run the gambit of the immigrant experience.
Quilts tell the story of Hmong immigrants. Photographs show a Korean family’s appreciation of Elvis and soccer. A retablo of carved figurines depicts the harrowing journeys some immigrants make to arrive in the U.S.
A window washer dressed as Spiderman scales a building. A nanny clad as Cat Woman attends to children. A pizza delivery man wearing Superman garb rides a bike with pies in the basket.
The humorous photographs by Mexican artist Dulce Pinzon depict real immigrant workers in their everyday jobs. But the images also proclaim them as super heroes who work grueling hours to make a better life for their families.
The museum’s president, Carlos Tortolero, noted:
“Immigration affects the whole world,” he said. “Immigrants are human beings who live in this country and contribute to this country. To be pro-America, you have to be pro-immigrant.”
The Exhibition will run through September 7th.
Click here to read the full article from the Chicago Tribune.
On Tuesday night, tune into PBS for a documentary detailing the tragic death of Esequiel Hernandez at the hands of US Marines on the Texas-Mexico border.
In 1997, U.S. Marines patrolling the Texas-Mexico border as part of the War on Drugs shot and killed Esequiel Hernández Jr. Mistaken for a drug runner, the 18-year-old was, in fact, a U.S. citizen tending his family’s goats with a .22 rifle. He became the first American killed by U.S. military forces on native soil since the 1970 Kent State shootings. “The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández,” narrated by Tommy Lee Jones, explores Hernández’s tragic death and its torturous aftermath. His parents and friends, the Marines on patrol and investigators discuss the dangers of militarizing the border and the death of one young man. A co-presentation of Latino Public Broadcasting. An official selection of the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.
Broadcast Date:
Tuesday, Jul 8, 2008 at 10PM (90 minutes)
Since its foundation, our nation has witnessed the special contributions and success of immigrants and their children. Indeed, some of the most innovative contributions to American society have come from the children of immigrants, both the second generation (those born in the United States) and the generation known as 1.5 – those born abroad and brought to the U.S. as children. It was a Belarusian 1.5 immigrant, Irving Berlin, who wrote “God Bless America.”
Children of immigrants are unique in that they are raised in multiple cultures and become effective at building bridges between them. The 1.5 generation, however, exhibits even a greater level of uniqueness and talent. They are immersed in their native culture long enough to learn their native language and cultural values, but come to this country early enough to easily learn English and become part of mainstream America. 1.5 immigrants tend to be fluently bilingual and bicultural, communicate easily between two worlds, and can easily connect to different cultures, approaching the ideal global citizen.
Their cultural and language fluidity has even proven to be an advantage in school performance. Although, as Albuquerque’s Mayor Martin Chavez says in a MayorTV interview, we live in the “only nation on Earth that seems to celebrate monolingualism;” studies have shown that 1.5 generation students tend to do better in school than their monolingual peers. It is immigrants’ richness in multiculturalism and multilingualism that has transformed and strengthened our nation.
But like their talents, the challenges faced by some members of the 1.5 generation, are also unique. Today, there are an estimated 1.8 million undocumented children living in the United States. The immigration status of these children derives from their parents. If the parents are undocumented, there is no way for immigrant children to gain legal immigration status on their own. Although raised and educated here, undocumented children face tremendous barriers when they try to go on to college or work legally and live in fear of deportation.
We are looking for a Senior Organizer to assist the Immigration Team to advance the principles, base-building and legislative objectives of FIRM, a project of the Center for Community Change.
Check out this radio program discussing what it means to be American and touching on the identity of immigrants in our nation…
St. Paul, Minn. — In his book “The Thirteen American Arguments,” Howard Fineman writes that only a nation of immigrants can argue so earnestly and endlessly about who can become one of its own.
In the first of a series inspired by Fineman’s book, “The Thirteen American Arguments,” Midmorning examines the nature of citizenship, national identity, and what it means to be an American with two scholars well-versed in the immigration debate.
Guests
Stanley Renshon: Professor of political science at the City University of New York and a certified psychoanalyst. He’s the author of 13 books, including “The 50% American: Immigration and National Identity in an Age of Terrorism.”
Bill Hing: Professor of law at the University of California-Davis School of Law. He is the author of “Deporting Our Souls: Values, Morality, and Immigration Policy” and “Defining America Through Immigration Policy.”
The conversation is a bit sprawling but worth a listen!
Yesterday, Angelica Salas, executive director of CHIRLA, spoke at the National Commission on ICE misconduct and violations of 4th amendment rights hearing, which took place at the Cathedral Plaza Conference Center, in Los Angeles, CA.
Salas denounced the numerous ICE raids in California and across the nation. She spoke of the fear ICE created for Los Angeles families and told stories of immigrants unfairly affected by ICE’s unchecked need for more deportations and more detention.
Good morning my name is Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).CHIRLA’s mission is to advance the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees, promote harmonious human relations and empower immigrants and their allies to build a more just society.CHIRLA is also part of the Los Angeles Raids Rapid Response Network made up of legal, community and labor organizations that work together to ensure that immigrants detained during raids have access to counsel and that their human and constitutional rights are protected. Our organization also works to organize workers impacted by raids so that they become actively engaged in the struggle for just and humane immigration reform and that they engage with other workers to inform them of their rights during these raids.
Los Angeles has seen the largest number of immigrants impacted by home and worksite raids.In October 3, 2007, a two week raid detained over 1,300 people.In February 7, 2008, close to 150 people were detained at Micro Solutions Enterprises. In second week of April 2008, we had a call everyday on our hotline letting us know that individuals were being detained at inbound warehouses in the Los AngelesSouthBay. A total of 66 workers were detained by ICE authorities in this particular raid.Just two weeks ago, ICE informed the public that over 700 immigrants had been detained and deported in another one of its immigration enforcement operations.In Los Angeles everyday there are immigration enforcement operations.Everyday there are ICE agents going to people’s homes, worksites and communities.Every night in Los Angeles there are over 1,400 people detained in immigration jail.As Executive Director of CHIRLA and as a community member I have clearly seen immense human suffering and witnessed violations of human and constitutional rights as a result of ICE’s increased immigration enforcement.
