Photo by Alan Levin, published under Creative Commons license.
Across the country, immigration agents arrest people at home, at work, in jails, in court, and on the street. Now a single drunk driving arrest seems to be enough to revoke DACA status and move to deportation.
Sheriff: ICE arrests immigrants reporting for work detail (AP, 3/27/17)
“Federal immigration agents arrested 26 immigrants suspected of living in the country illegally as they reported for labor-detail sentences for unrelated crimes in Fort Worth, according to local authorities….
“Twenty three of those arrested have criminal convictions for driving while intoxicated.”
Life after deportation: What it’s like to start over in a country you barely know (CNN, 3/27/17) 23 years old, living in Phoenix since the age of 4, he was deported to Mexico after a drunk driving conviction – his first arrest.
‘Dreamer’ immigrant in Oregon detained by US authorities (AP, 3/27/17) He’s lived in the United States since he was five years old.
“Rodriguez Dominguez has a misdemeanor for DUI, the ACLU said. In December, Rodriguez Dominguez entered a DUI diversion program and completed nearly all of the requirement, including going to court hearings and attending required meetings.
“Despite Francisco’s best efforts to make good on his mistake, ICE has taken the position that even a misdemeanor DUI eligible for diversion is enough to end DACA status. This policy is tearing apart his family, our communities, and does nothing to keep us safer.” said Andrea Williams, executive director of Causa Oregon, an Oregon immigrant rights organization.”
‘I Wish I’d Never Called the Police’ (Slate, 3/19/17)
“In interviews this February and March, over three dozen lawyers, advocates, and immigrant survivors of abuse from every region of the U.S. told me that, now more than ever, victims are choosing the violence in their own homes over the unknown consequences of exposure….
“When the national mandate to detain and deport is entangled with the local mission to protect and serve, advocates say, they don’t know how to advise immigrants who face violence at home. “This is the question advocates are asking around the country,” said Grace Huang, policy director at the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. “How do we do safety planning with victims when we don’t know if just having interaction with law enforcement will put them in danger before they can even get a U visa?”
Paying for the wall
Trump wants to add wall spending to stopgap budget bill, potentially forcing shutdown showdown (Washington Post, 3/28/17)
“President Trump wants Congress to add defense funding and money for a new wall along the Mexican border in a near-term spending bill intended to keep the government open past April 28, but Capitol Hill Republicans signaled they will reject the idea to avoid a shutdown as well as the deep cuts that the new spending would require.”
Trump’s Wall: ‘A Texas Tragedy’ (Moyers & Co., 3/27/17) Bill Moyers writes:
“In my home state of Texas one of the most beautiful parks in America has long offered visitors respite from the coils and tangles of the modern world and inspiration from the sheer spectacle of nature. That will change radically if Donald Trump builds his wall…”
The Trump administration versus “sanctuary cities”
White House calls for domestic cuts to finance border wall (AP via MPR, 3/28/17)
“President Donald Trump is proposing immediate budget cuts of $18 billion from programs like medical research, infrastructure and community grants so U.S. taxpayers, not Mexico, can cover the down payment on the border wall.
“The White House documents were submitted to Congress amid negotiations over a catchall spending bill that would avert a partial government shutdown at the end of next month.”
‘Sanctuary cities’ promise legal fight after Sessions threatens funds (NPR, 3/28/17) They’re not backing down. New York, California, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago — these jurisdictions and more plan to fight Trump’s threats in court.
Some Cities Undaunted By Attorney General Crackdown On ‘Sanctuary Cities’ (NPR, 3/28/17)
Local Lawmakers Fight Back Against AG Sessions’s Threats to Cut Funding to Sanctuary Cities (Democracy Now, 3/28/17)
Do 80 percent of Americans oppose sanctuary cities? (Washington Post, 3/28/17) Fact check: Probably not – the poll used methodology that isn’t reliable, and a question that doesn’t really address the issue directly.
“It’s clear that public opinion on sanctuary policies varies based on how you ask the question, and what exactly you ask about such policies. Criminality is a major factor, so questions that involve “crime” and “arrests” may elicit stronger responses against sanctuary policies.
“Americans’ attitudes are far more varied and complex on this issue than Spicer’s definitive claim that “80 percent” of Americans “don’t support sanctuary cities, they don’t want their tax dollars used to finance people who are in this country illegally.”
Good-news immigration stories
Hamtramck, Michigan: An Evolving City Of Immigrants (NPR, 3/28/17) A good-news story about immigration.
“A Catholic church across the street from a mosque. Polish pastry shops, sausage factories, and grocery stores promising “the best Polish food, shipping to Eastern Europe,” side by side with Bengali clothing shops that sell richly embroidered dresses and headscarves. And you’d be remiss if you didn’t stop in the many Yemeni restaurants serving fragrant lamb and discs of flatbread the size of hubcaps.”
Global students in St. Paul (Minnesota Women’s Press, 3/28/17)
“… 272 students from 20 different countries [are]enrolled at LEAP High School, a St. Paul public school that welcomes new immigrants who are 15-20 years old. They study a regular high school curriculum, in all-English-language classes, trying hard to cram 12 years of education into four or five or six.”
Love wins in Louisiana immigrant marriage case (National Immigrant Law Center, 3/24/17) Louisiana law required anyone wanting to marry to produce a birth certificate from the country of their birth. Not possible for Viet “Victor” Anh Vo, who was born in a refugee camp in Indonesia to Vietnamese parents – neither country had a record of his birth. A judge overturned the law, saying it violated the fundamental right to marry and probably also unconstitutionally discriminated based on national origin.
Immigration news 