Spring 2015 National Immigrant Solidarity Network Monthly News Digest and News Alert!

Ariane de Vogue-CNN Supreme Court Reporter
March 13, 2015

Washington (CNN) A federal appeals court has rejected the Justice Department's attempt to speed up review of a judge's recent decision to hit pause on President Obama's executive actions on immigration and put one of his top second-term priorities in temporary limbo.

On Friday morning, a deputy clerk of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals advised Texas and 25 other states challenging the administration that they have until March 23, to respond to the government's request. The government had hoped the Court would make a ruling by then.

The Obama administration is already appealing a three-week-old Texas district court ruling blocking the immigration actions. But Justice officials don't want to wait for the appeal to be resolved before being able to put the new policy into effect.

As things stand now, the Appeals Court will consider both the emergency motion to unblock the programs, and a request for an expedited appeal more than a month after U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen blocked the programs. Since the ruling, millions of undocumented immigrants have been left in legal limbo, unable to apply for two programs that were aimed at easing deportation threats.

Hanen's ruling was narrow, holding that the administration had likely failed to comply with procedures governing how federal agencies can establish regulations.

Hanen's order concerned the implementation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), which was set to begin later in the spring. It also affected the expansion of the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that permits teenagers and young adults who were born outside the United States but raised in the country to apply for protection from deportation and for employment authorizations.

The administration has argued that Hanen's preliminary injunction "irreparably harms the government and the public interest by preventing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from marshaling its resources to protect border security, public safety and national security, while also addressing humanitarian interests."

Last week, the administration had filed an emergency motion with Hanen asking the lower court to stay the order blocking the immigration actions pending appeal. But Hanen responded that he would not rule on the motion until at least March 19, after he's held a hearing to resolve a dispute between the parties on a related issue.

"Evidently, the administration has decided not to wait," said Ronald Levin, who teaches civil procedure at Washington University School of Law.

"Normally, the appeals court would defer to a district court's management of the case, but in some circumstances they might override that judgment," Levin said.

In the meantime, Washington State and 13 others have filed a brief in support of the government, arguing that their residents "should not have to live under an improper injunction based on harms other states incorrectly claim they will suffer."

In an official news release this week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revealed that it had raided homes and workplaces over a five day period and rounded up 2,059 immigrants who had already served their time for previous criminal convictions.

ICE conducted "Operation Cross Check" between March 1 and 5, the sixth large-scale operation since 2011 to identify and deport immigrants with criminal records living in their communities. The agency called the individuals rounded up in this operation "the worst of the worst," emphasizing the several dozen immigrants targeted who had the most serious criminal histories.

However, the agency also reported that only about half of immigrants apprehended had felony convictions on their records, meaning that the other half of those targeted had only misdemeanor convictions. Nearly all had already served their sentences, and were living and working in the community. Pastor Max Villatoro was picked up because of an immigration identification charge from 1999, and would leave behind four U.S. citizen children and the entire congregation of Iglesia Menonita Torre Fuerte (First Mennonite Church) in Iowa City where he serves as pastor.

An unknown number of those targeted were also Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) who had been living in the U.S. for many years. Eduardo "Eddy" Padilla, a grandfather and an LPR who came to the U.S. from Mexico as an infant in 1966, was picked up in a 2013 Cross Check operation for decade-old substance abuse-related convictions. In a class action lawsuit against mandatory detention, Eddy was found by a judge to pose no public safety or flight risk, and was released on bond.

SEARAC has seen the terrible impact of aggressive ICE enforcement on Southeast Asian American families, who are three to four times more likely than the general immigrant population to be deported on the basis of a criminal record. The vast majority of Southeast Asian American immigrants deported came to the U.S. as refugee children and grew up in the American school system.

In a highly criminalized society, a high percentage of all Americans could be targeted using ICE's enforcement priorities. The National Employment Law Project found that an estimated 65 million people, or one in four Americans, has a serious criminal record. People of color, including many immigrants, are disproportionately impacted by profiling, aggressive policing, and harsh sentencing practices. Non-citizens with criminal records are not automatically "the worst of the worst," but they are easily targeted because of our aggressive immigration enforcement system.

SEARAC calls on ICE and the Obama administration to end home and workplace raids, and to recognize that many immigrants who have served their time for old convictions pose no risk to society, and are valued parents, children, colleagues, and members of our communities.

Realted: See ICE Press Release
"2,059 Criminals Arrested In ICE Nationwide Operation"
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2015/03/09/2059-criminals-arrested-ice-nationwide-operation

New ICE Policy Caves to Radical Anti-Immigrant Lawmakers, Needlessly Restricts Release from Detention

Detention Watch Network Calls on President Obama to Stop ICE’s Escalation of War on Immigrants
Statement from Silky Shah, co-director of Detention Watch Network, in reaction to ICE’s announcement that it would dramatically ramp up oversight and release procedures for immigrants with criminal convictions:

“This announcement is not the result of reasoned policy analysis. Rather it was released the night before new ICE Director Sarah Saldaña was to testify before Congress and represents a preemptive surrender to its most zealously anti-immigrant members. Decisions on immigration policy and the detention of immigrants should never be based on crude political calculations.

During the hearing, lawmakers repeatedly mischaracterized all people in detention with criminal convictions as undocumented and as violent offenders. This ignores the reality that many long-term legal permanent residents are also detained and further that the proportion of people deported whose most serious crime is a non-violent immigration offense or traffic violation has risen significantly over the last six years.

For the minority of people in detention who have past violent convictions, the prevalent anti-immigrant discourse constantly obscures the fact that they’ve already paid their debt to society by serving out their prison terms. We believe that even immigrants who have committed violent offenses shouldn’t be subject to double jeopardy by being incarcerated again for the same offense.

The list of people with no hope of release in US detention centers is growing at an alarming rate: immigrant families, asylum-seekers, and now individuals with prior criminal convictions. Detention, with no alternatives or way out, for such a huge number of people who pose no safety risk to their communities is an outrageous violation of human rights and an enormous waste of taxpayer dollars.

It is increasingly disheartening that the White House, and President Obama continue to pursue and double-down on a failed, inhumane and increasingly punitive response to immigrants and their families living and working in the US.”

3/12: DWN Slams Inhofe Amendment to Senate Trafficking Bill As Massive and Unconstitutional Escalation of US Detention Program

3/4: BLACK IMMIGRANT AND AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERS MOURN THE LOSS OF “BROTHER AFRICA”

3/3: Stand With Nan-Hui and Stop the Deportation! Reunite a Domestic Violence Survivor with Her Daughter!

3/1: Canada: Harper is scheduling mass deportation of migrant workers starting April 1st.

Please download our latest newsletter: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Newsletter/Spring15.pdf

Thanks for GREAT works from Detention Watch Network (DWN) to compiled the following information, please visit DWN website: http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org

Useful Handouts and Know Your Immigrant Rights When Marches

Immigrant Marches / Marchas de los Inmigrantes

(By ACLU)

EN ESPAÑOL
Acerca de la Union Americana de Libertades Civiles

Immigrants and their supporters are participating in marches all over the country to protest proposed national legislation and to seek justice for immigrants. The materials available here provide important information about the rights and risks involved for anyone who is planning to participate in the ongoing marches.

If government agents question you, it is important to understand your rights. You should be careful in the way you speak when approached by the police, FBI, or INS. If you give answers, they can be used against you in a criminal, immigration, or civil case.

The ACLU's publications below provide effective and useful guidance in several languages for many situations. The brochures apprise you of your legal rights, recommend how to preserve those rights, and provide guidance on how to interact with officials.

IMMIGRATION
Know Your Rights When Encountering Law Enforcement
| Conozca Sus Derechos Frente A Los Agentes Del Orden Público

ACLU of Massachusetts - Your Rights And Responsibilities If You Are Contacted By The Authorities English | Spanish | Chinese

ACLU of Massachusetts - What to do if stopped and questioned about your immigration status on the street, the subway, or the bus
| Que hacer si Usted es interrogado en el tren o autobus acerca de su estatus inmigratorio

ACLU of South Carolina - How To Deal With A 287(g)
| Como Lidiar Con Una 287(g)

ACLU of Southern California - What to Do If Immigration Agents or Police Stop You While on Foot, in Your Car, or Come to Your Home
| Qué Hacer Si Agentes de Inmigración o la Policía lo Paran Mientras Va Caminando, lo Detienen en su Auto o Vienen a su Hogar

ACLU of Washington - Brochure for Iraqis: What to Do If the FBI or Police Contact You for Questioning English | Arabic

ACLU of Washington - Your Rights at Checkpoints at Ferry Terminals
| Sus Derechos en Puestos de Control en las Terminales de Transbordadores

LABOR / FREE SPEECH
Immigrant Protests - What Every Worker Should Know:
| Manifestaciones de los Inmigrantes - Lo Que Todo Trabajador Debe Saber

PROTESTERS
ACLU of Florida Brochure - The Rights of Protesters
| Los Derechos de los Manifestantes

STUDENTS
Washington State - Student Walkouts and Political Speech at School
| Huelgas Estudiantiles y Expresión Política en las Escuelas

California Students: Public School Walk-outs and Free Speech
| Estudiantes de California: Marchas o Huelgas y La Libertad de Expresión en las Escuelas Públicas

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Please download our latest newsletter: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Newsletter/Spring15.pdf