Southern States -- Immigration's New Battlefield
Advocates Cite Rising Fear as Police Become Immigration Law Enforcers
New America Media, Commentary, NAM Editors, Posted: Jul 18, 2007
Editor's note: New America Media editors interviewed over a dozen immigrant rights advocates in grassroots organizations across the South to learn what's been happening since the defeat of federal immigration reform. This is an excerpt from the NAM report presented at a July 12 summit for ethnic media and immigrant rights groups held in Atlanta and co-hosted by the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
-More reports on the summit
-Opening speech
-Photos.
Marisol Jimenez McGee
El Pueblo, Inc.
Raleigh, N.C.
What is unique about North Carolina is that it is emerging as a model state for the 247-G program, in which local officials are in collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thus we have seen a huge rise in local enforcement in the last year for busted taillights, speeding violations, not having a driver’s license.
There are over 20 bills on immigration waiting to be voted on in the North Carolina General Assembly that are all anti-immigrant. They include employer sanctions, English-only laws, making it illegal to get in-state tuition, and increasing the authority of local officials.
Because of the 247-G program, the Wade County courthouse is deporting people out of the courthouse: people report for their probation meeting and are handed over to ICE. In one county, more than 1,100 people were deported. Police officers are personally going door-to-door to catch people with outstanding orders of detention by asking them questions about their status and arresting them if they find out they are illegal.
David Stewart, Executive Director
International House of Metrolina
Charlotte, N.C.
Charlotte is fairly conservative when it comes to immigration issues, and the debate has given a platform for angry rhetoric. As a result, pro-immigrant voices are intimidated and people are keeping a low profile.
The sheriff’s office signed an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in which local officers get trained to check immigration identity documents to determine if someone is undocumented. Then they can hand them over to ICE to undergo deportation proceedings.
Our sheriff was the first office east of the Mississippi that did this, about a year and a half ago. It was low profile at first, but it ended up being hugely popular. He’s a Democrat, but he used it to get re-elected. He now displays the number of people he’s deported on his website.
You hear about tension sometimes between black and Latino communities, but in terms of who is framing this debate, the black community has not been very involved. Sometimes black leaders come out in a show of solidarity with Latino leaders. For the most part, anti-immigrant sentiment is coming from the mostly white powers that be.
Charlotte is a faith-based community made up of many people with a strong sense of right and wrong. I think there is a moral issue on the table here, because there is a whole community of people engaged in normal life that has been shut out of civic society, and I think that’s morally problematic.
Churches are involved from a service point of view, especially Catholic churches, but by and large, I haven’t seen the religious community assume any kind of leadership position on this issue.
Steven David Forester, Esq., Senior Policy Advocate
Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami / Haitian Women of Miami, Inc.
Miami, Fla.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted early morning, 5 AM and 6 AM raids on Haitians at their apartments in Orlando, for example, in which parents have been arrested and detained for deportation without warning and in the space of five minutes removed from their U.S.-born children and spouses. After about one month of detention, they have been deported, devastating the lives of their children and spouses, and drying up crucial remittances they send to relatives in Haiti.
We and other advocacy groups called for a moratorium on deportations for immigrants with no criminal record. The Miami Dade County Commission in February passed a resolution calling for a moratorium that we drafted.
Our greatest source of support is the community itself, which recognizes the value of our work. We have a one-hour Creole radio show each Sunday and regularly appear on other Creole radio shows to inform the community of ongoing developments.
Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director
Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO)
Atlanta, Ga.
The current immigration debate has created an openly hostile environment against immigrants in Georgia. There is confusion about the implementation of a state law, SB529, also known as the most comprehensive anti-immigrant state legislation that was passed in 2006. Most of its provisions went into effect on July 1, 2007.
A state trooper arrested and detained a Canadian tourist, where she spent 11 hours in jail awaiting her immigration status verification. She was finger printed, her mug shots were taken, she was deloused simply for being a foreign national with minor traffic violations. Governor Perdue refused to investigate or issue guidelines surrounding the controversy. All foreign nationals in Georgia are urged to be cautious with contact with law enforcement, even for minor traffic violations, because according to the state trooper, it is standard procedure to arrest and detain all foreign nationals for minor traffic violations.
Very few allies exist among political leaders. But the community of faith has begun an active engagement, including holding an inter-faith day of prayer for wisdom and compassion in immigration reform, an interfaith community-wide prayer vigil in Mableton, and a grassroots outreach campaign to win the hearts of ordinary Georgians for our immigrant neighbors.
Monica Modi Khant, Project Director
Georgia Asylum & Immigration Network (GAIN)
Atlanta, Ga.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Georgia is extremely busy and has a huge caseload. ICE is based in Atlanta and is responsible for four states, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina.
Additionally, a new 1000-plus detention facility, Stewart Detention Center, opened up in Lumpkin, Ga. last year. Immigrants who are detained from raids in other states, especially the Midwest, are transported to Stewart Detention Center, even though their friends and families do not reside anywhere close to the detention facility. This creates more difficulty and confusion for all parties involved in these cases.
Judy Yi, Program Director
The Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Inc.
Atlanta, Ga.
When the immigration debate stopped, Georgia lawmakers took it into their own hands.
Atlanta’s neighboring Gwinnett County passed an anti-immigrant ordinance. [The ordinance requires contractors bidding on county jobs to vouch for all employees as documented, legal immigrants.] We’re afraid that it may cause extreme discrimination, and it may be unconstitutional.
Reginale Durandisse
Founder/Vice President
Haitian Citizen United Task Force
Lakeworth, Fla.
People are very fearful. Any time they are stopped by a policeman, they are afraid they will be deported. It's creating a lot of stress on our kids. One mother went to reissue her work permit and she was deported. She left three children at home.
One group of kids is staying in a church. Their mom is in Haiti, and we cannot find their dad. Another mother got a deportation order and fled to Georgia. Now we hear the situation is worse in Georgia.
Khanh T. Tran, Community Development Department Director
Boat People S.O.S., Inc.
Falls Church, Va.
Language is the number one barrier to getting Vietnamese immigrants involved. They may know the issue and want to do something about it, but the language barrier means that only a few young professionals or people who grew up here get involved.
Our biggest supporters are Vietnamese media. A Vietnamese public radio station talks about our programs on a regular basis. We have a free air spot to talk about immigration that was donated to us by the station.
Monica Hernandez
Immigration Program Coordinator
Highlander Research and Education Center
New Market, Tenn.
In Knoxville, we haven't seen large scale attacks on immigrants over the last year. I think it's because the community doesn't have as much of a visible presence yet as in other parts of the state, such as Nashville.
There are individual incidents, but on a policy level, the city hasn't taken any action. The environment on the state level, however, is quite hostile. The state legislature considered 44 anti-immigrant bills this year, three of which passed.
So far, we haven't faced anti-immigrant city ordinances locally. There have been some detentions and deportations, but not on a mass scale. There have been some white supremacist organizing in the last two months, but they are currently focusing on "black on white" crime, and not immigration.
Fernando Martinez, Outreach and Educational Coordinator
Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (HICA)
Birmingham, Ala.
There were about 12 different anti-immigrant bills in the House of Representatives in Birmingham. There was one not allowing undocumented persons to vote, which makes no sense because none have voted. Another bill makes an amendment to an existing law. When police stop drivers, the bill wanted to allow them to ask either for driver's licenses, proof of insurance or proof of entry into the United States, and let them impound their cars.
There are also local ordinances allowing databases on tenants, tracking how many people live in an apartment complex, their social security numbers, etc.
At the same time, we’ve seen Alabama militia members arrested because they were hoarding weapons and were planning to attack Latinos. A radio host on 1070 AM was telling people in his shows before the May 1 vigils that what we can do to undocumented persons is to go and shoot all of them.
Aaron Hutson, Program Coordinator
Kentucky Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Lexington, Ky.
On a statewide level, the Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo released a statement last week in which he said that it is okay for police officers to check for citizenship status in the course of an arrest. While some police departments were already doing that, for those police departments that were on the fence, it gave them the green light.
There are a lot of questions on what "in the course of arrest" means. We need to sit down and talk with him and ask him to tell us what this means. People are concerned at this point.
We also need to find a way to stay in a dialogue with the community that isn't in support of immigration. We can't just talk to the choir. Things can get polarized and we need to keep talking.
Diana Salazar, President
Latino Association of Charleston
Charleston, S.C.
We have an ordinance that went into effect July 1 that’s modeled after the examples of Hazleton, Penn. and Beaufort County, S.C. The ordinance was passed by one vote.
There is support for the marches but not from the town of Dorchester because I think they’re afraid, quite honestly, of immigration authorities being there.
Gepsie Metlellus, Executive Director
Sant La-Haitian Neighborhood Center
Miami, Fla.
Since the Senate vote, people are so disappointed. There were so many people looking forward to something happening, to relieve their fear of being deported and being harassed based on their appearance. There are so many people receiving deportation orders and they were hoping that this would have bought them some time. The fear is palpable.
There has been an increasing effort for different immigrant groups to work together. For example, Temporary Protective Status has been an issue faced by the Haitian community, but other immigrant groups who don't need TPS or already have TPS are saying the Haitians need and deserve it. There are two Latin American countries – Colombia and Costa Rica – with immigrants who have TPS, and these immigrant groups are helping Haitian immigrants with the issue.
Jessica Kimiko Baba, Public Awareness Coordinator
Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC)
Nashville, Tenn.
Tennessee was one of the first states to offer driver’s licenses for people without social security numbers in 2001. The climate has shifted since then. 2006 was marked by an unprecedented number of anti-immigrant bills (roughly 21). This year, 2007, 44 anti-immigrant bills have been introduced.
Nashville became the largest city in the United States (and the only capital) to pass an English-only ordinance. The actual effect wasn’t very significant, but it was very negative in terms of the reputation that Nashville now has for its treatment of immigrants.
In the Nashville metro area, Davidson County, the sheriff has an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Whenever Metro arrests someone in Davidson County, their immigration status is checked by the sheriff, since in Nashville, the sheriffs run the jails. This is the only county in Tennessee right now that has this contract, but there are six more that are actively pursuing it.
The anti-immigrant sentiment is not just directed at Latinos; it’s affecting the Asian and Muslim communities, anyone who doesn’t look like they are from here. A month ago in Clarksville, Tenn., someone wiped bacon on a Qur’an and left it on the steps of the Islamic center. In late 2006, someone burned a Qur’an and left feces on it outside a building where a lot of Somalis live.
Adelina Nicholls, Executive Director
Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR)
Atlanta, Ga.
We are concerned that it is going to be devastating to the community as the immigrant community is increasingly targeted. In one county, two white people wearing swastikas attacked a Latino man at his house. There are also several concerning ordinances that have been passed, for example, prohibiting people without a valid driver’s license from getting a job. Another problem is the rumors we have to fight about deportations, which have caused panic in our community.
In Cherokee country, an ordinance was passed forbidding people without documents from buying a house. With the help of MALDEF and other private law firms, we were able to stop that ordinance from passing, but there are others. We also only have one Latino representative in the State House of Representatives, Pedro Marin.
Our biggest supporters are progressive groups, African American civil rights leaders, and unions. There are many groups – Brazilian, Guatemalan, Honduran, Caribbean, Eastern European – who are in the same situation.
Read more reports on the summit and the opening speech.
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User Comments
Norma J F Harrison on Jul 24, 2007 at 17:12:13 said:
Please advocate for some workable regulations that argue for protection of workers wherever we all are. Argue for prosecution of people who hire people without papers here in the U.S., a law, here. Employers, especially LARGE employers get away with all the crimes of use of undocumented people, and make huge profits thereby.
At this time they are altogether safe from prosecution; their employer records are inaccessible by our governmental - paid for by us - entities including the IRS. This is in line with the U.S.'s policy of crushing other countries and utilizing the workers who escape into the U.S. as a recourse for survival.
Arrest and prosecution of these scofflaws would go some distance toward announcing to Mexico, India, et al that those many
countries' policies of submitting to U.S. controls - treaties, IMF SAPs - so called structural adjustment programs, 'investment' policies, meaning undermining of their currencies - is no longer the way to put the debt burden onto the backs of the hugely increasing number of people impoverished by their nations' policies.
Instead of persecuting the immigrants get the U.S. to follow its law that forbids hiring of undocumented people. Demand the U.S. let it be known that nations are responsible for the people who live in their borders; that those are not throw-away people who can come and slave here in the U.S. to the enormous profit of the employers here in the U.S.
Demand workers' rights for all workers. This could reduce the fury and confusion that exists for the working class here in the U.S., in particular on the part of Black people who, while trying to do the nice thing, nevertheless find they are working against their own interests. As the lowest paid, most unemployed group in the U.S., furthering import of even lower paid more abused workers does nothing to uphold protection of workers who've lived here historically for 200 years, or for all workers who've lived here and are constantly more abused by U.S.'s anti-worker laws.
David Bennett on Jul 18, 2007 at 11:53:33 said:
I hear people say, "So they forged a check, or stole a social security number, it doesn't make them criminals." I know, being a citizen, if I were to do either crime I would be facing prison so why should illegals be given privilege over citizens, did I miss a memo that they are exempt? The pro-immigration groups bring up the racist argument for publicity. They don't want to accept that it isn't a race issue, it is an immigration issue. I see mass illegal immigration as people unwillingly to make changes in their own country and instead come here for free health care - welfare, which if you can recall Bushs' Social Security reform, it was because the illegals are overburdening the Social Security system. Schools - Have had to receive additional funding for remedial English classes, and have shorted funding to other subjects to keep up with the demand. I feel my tax money should be spent on the standard United States curriculum, anything outside of that should be paid for by the individual, as most specialized services are. Sure the U.S. was founded on immigration, contrary to the popular illegal immigrant argument, it was LEGAL immigration. I'm going to fight any amnesty for illegal immigration. Including actively seeking signatures for the creation of State level Immigration Customs Enforcement. If the Federal level doesn't get off its ass, I'll start collecting signatures to reallocate tax funds for immigration to the state level. Though the federal level is in charge of immigration it has been shown they are not up to the job. States deal with the burden illegals place on healthcare, schools and other aspects of the economy so it only seems fair they should have a greater say in the matter.
George Johnson on Jul 18, 2007 at 07:44:17 said:
I just wanted to comment in all of your discriptions of these downtodden people, you use the phrase anti-immigrant which I don't believe to be true,I believe that it's illegal immigrant that bothers people,and what country that anyone knows of that caters to foriegn nationalists,Iam in the middle of road on this I know some good hard working people,but they broke the law which should not be rewarded, If I lie on an application, even if I do the job better than anyone else I'll be fired because I broke the rules of engagement,This is a country of laws and that should not be subverted.
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