Sinister Security

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ICE Raids Reportedly Blocked in Bay Area

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/28/ice-immigration-raid-northern-california-oakland-mayor-warning

ICE claims that some 800 immigrants were spared detention this week because Oakland’s mayor publicly announced that she’d been tipped off about imminent raids. If this is true, the anonymous source and the mayor have set an example for public officials around the country. Meanwhile, the ACLU charges that ICE is pushing ahead with John Kelly’s plan to separate children from their parents in order to discourage asylum seekers. Does anyone remember when the GOP was the “family values” party?—TPOI editor

Protesters block entrance San Francisco ICE office. Photo: Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group

US immigration attacks Oakland mayor for warning of raid that arrested 150

Agency chief likens mayor to ‘gang lookout’ over early public alert that helped 800 avoid arrest

The Guardian

February 28, 2013

A day after agents confirmed that more than 150 people in California were arrested in immigration raids, a federal immigration official lashed out at the Oakland mayor who gave a public warning ahead of the raids, saying it was “no better than a gang lookout yelling ‘police’”.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) chief, Thomas Homan, speaking to Fox and Friends on Wednesday, said that the warning from the mayor, Libby Schaaf, helped about 800 people avoid arrest. He also said the justice department was looking into whether Schaaf obstructed justice.[…]

Read the full article:

Update: ICE protests start, Schaaf calls out ‘racist myth’ of Trump administration

“We’re here to stand for justice and due process for all people,” said Anand Singh, president of Unite Here! Local 2 union.

By Julia Prodis Sulek, David Debolt Tatiana Sanchez, Bay Area News Group

February 28, 2018

The Bay Area became ground zero Wednesday for clashes over immigration, with people gathering in San Francisco to protest widespread immigration raids this week while Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf became the target of federal officials considering whether she should be jailed for warning the community that a sweep was coming.[…]

Read the full article:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/02/28/civil-rights-groups-plan-protest-outside-ice-building-in-san-francisco/

A mother and child fled Congo fearing death. ICE has held them separately for months, lawsuit says.

By Derek Hawkins, Washington Post

February 27, 2018

For nearly four months, immigration officials have unlawfully held a Congolese asylum seeker and her 7-year-old daughter in detention centers thousands of miles apart, the American Civil Liberties Union alleged in a lawsuit Monday.

The mother arrived with her child in San Diego in November and told border agents she left the Congo in fear for her life, according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.[…]

Read the full article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/02/27/mother-child-fled-congo-fearing-death-ice-has-held-them-separately-for-months-lawsuit-says/?utm_term=.89eeaeca2007

Protest Roundup: Is Resistance to ICE on the Rise?

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http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ice-protest-20180215-story.html

While media attention was focused on the DACA debacle in Congress, a lot seemed to be going on at the local level. Given the paucity of media coverage, it’s hard to tell whether this represents an increase in resistance, but the struggle may be moving from Capitol Hill to Main Street.—TPOI editor

Immigrant rights activists block Homeland Security van from accessing Metropolitan Detention Center

Photo: Marcus Yam/ Los Angeles Times

By Alene Tchekmedyian, Los Angeles Times

February 15, 2018

A crowd of immigrant rights advocates blocked a Homeland Security van late Thursday from accessing the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Video footage showed dozens of people standing in the street, in front of a marked van, chanting, "Drive out ICE!" and "Stop the deportations!" Some held signs.[…]

Read the full article:

View a video:

https://www.facebook.com/conmijente/posts/850156468500417

Austin High School students walk out of school during lunch to support detained classmate

Photo: Rose-Ann Aragon KPRC

By Megan Kennedy, KPRC-TV

February 14, 2018

HOUSTON - During their lunch break Wednesday, Students from Stephen F. Austin High School walked out school around noon for a march and rally outside to show support for a student detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

By the hundreds, classmates of the 19-year-old-detained student, identified as Dennis Rivera-Sarmiento, displayed signs to show solidarity.[…]

Read the full article:

https://www.click2houston.com/news/austin-high-school-students-walk-out-of-school-during-lunch-to-support-detained-classmate

More than 100 New York City attorneys protest after Ice arrests Bronx man

Lawyers protesting outside a Bronx courthouse say immigrations officers are arresting their clients with no distinct pattern

By Associated Press, via The Guardian

February 9, 2018

More than 100 New York City public defenders have walked out in protest of their clients getting detained at the courthouse by federal immigration officials.

The Thursday protest took place outside a Bronx courthouse, where attorneys say Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers are arresting their clients with no distinct pattern. WABC-TV reports the protest was sparked after Ice arrested Aboubacar Dembele Lanier, who was leaving the courthouse.[…]

Read the full article:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/09/100-new-york-city-attorneys-protest-ice-arrest-bronx-man

Demonstrators protest ICE deal to keep undocumented immigrants in local jails

Photo: Alessandra da Pra/Tampa Bay Times

By Tony Marrero, Tampa Bay Times

February 9, 2018

TAMPA — Two little girls stood under a blazing sun holding a mock check made out to Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister.

The payor: U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The amount: $50.

That’s the sum that ICE will pay the Sheriff’s Office under a recently-announced contract to hold undocumented immigrants for up to 48 hours in the county jail until federal agents can pick them up.[...]

Read the full article:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/Demonstrators-protest-ICE-deal-to-keep-undocumented-immigrants-in-local-jails_165329624

Advocates protest immigration policy year after Arizona woman's deportation

By Chris McCrory, Arizona Republic

February 5, 2018

Dozens protested Monday in front of the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services office in Phoenix, calling for change nearly a year after Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos of Mesa was deportedafter she went for a routine check-in with the federal agency.

The arrest and deportation of Garcia de Rayos was a catalyst that stirred protests across the state, said Maria Castro, a community organizer with Puente, a human-rights advocacy group.[…]

Read the full article:

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2018/02/05/advocates-protest-u-s-immigration-policy-year-after-deportation-guadalupe-garcia-de-rayos/309797002/

Elvira Arellano: Learn from our own history!

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Senate Set to Debate Immigration--as Resistance Picks Up

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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/12/mitch-mcconnell-dreamers-immigration-401209

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has scheduled as much as two weeks’ worth of open

Mitch McConnell. Photo: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

debate on immigration policy starting tonight. No one seems to know what he’s up to, but it’s hard to imagine that anything good will come out of this. Most Republicans seem to be pushing some version of the hardline position taken by the White House (presumably written by far-right policy adviser Stephen Miller), while we can expect the Democrats to offer a centrist compromise.

Meanwhile, a lot of things are happening on the ground, with politicians and judges apparently responding to pressure from the grassroots. Several federal judges have temporarily blocked the deportation of specific immigrants or groups of immigrants, and a lawsuit charging that ICE unconstitutionally targets activists has forced ICE to stay the deportation of New York-based activist Ravi Ragbir at least until March 15. In Los Angeles a federal judge ruled that local authorities violated the Constitution when they honored detainers from ICE. If the ruling is upheld by higher courts, it would justify the policies of so-called “sanctuary cities.” Meanwhile, ICE is now officially claiming that its agents have the right to detain immigrants inside courthouses.—TPOI editor

[We can expect the Senate debate to produce a whole catalog of absurd misrepresentations of immigration policies. We’ll be trying to point up some of the most ridiculous through occasional tweets. Follow us at @Immigration_QA.]

McConnell’s immigration gamble

The Senate majority leader is unleashing a free-for-all debate over Dreamers — and his endgame is a mystery.

By Seung Min Kim and Burgess Everett, Politico

February 12, 2018

Mitch McConnell is taking the reins of an immigration debate that may prompt a fix for “Dreamers” — or quickly spiral out of control.[…]

Read the full article:

Not So Fast on Deportations, Judges Tell Immigration Agency

By Liz Robbins, New York Times

February 9, 2018

For a year, immigration agents have been enforcing the Trump administration’s orders to deport noncitizens at full speed with but one roadblock: the federal courts.[…]

Read the full article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/nyregion/federal-courts-deportation-ragbir-indonesians-stays-ice.html

Ravi Ragbir: Immigrant Leaders Are Surveilled & Targeted for Speaking Out About Trump’s Deportations

Democracy Now!

February 12, 2018

On Friday, a federal judge stayed the deportation of New York City immigrant rights leader Ravi Ragbir, after he filed a free speech lawsuit arguing immigration officials unconstitutionally used their power to suppress political dissent by targeting outspoken activists for surveillance and deportation. The judge stayed the deportation only one day before Ravi Ragbir was scheduled to be deported. He has now been ordered to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 15. For more, we speak with Ravi Ragbir, executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition.[…]

Watch the segment or read the transcript

https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/12/ravi_ragbir_immigrant_leaders_are_surveilled

L.A. federal judge rules that a key tool in Trump's immigration crackdown effort is illegal

By Joel Rubin, Los Angeles Times

February 9, 2018

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that police departments violate the Constitution if they detain inmates at the request of immigration agents, marking the latest legal setback for the Trump administration's plans to identify and deport immigrants in the country illegally.[…]

Read the full article:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ice-detainer-lawsuit-20180209-story.html

ICE Issues Guidance on Enforcement at Courthouses

By Immigration Prof

February 11, 2018

Despite the many objections, including the Chief Justice of California, state courthouses remain targets for immigration enforcement.[...]

Read the full post:

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2018/02/ice-issues-guidance-on-enforcement-at-courthouses.html

Ravi's Deportation Has Been Delayed!

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The Latest Nonsense About Immigration—a Quick Guide

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https://mronline.org/2018/02/07/the-latest-nonsense-about-immigration-a-quick-guide/

By David L. Wilson, MR Online

February 7, 2018

We’ve seen and heard a lot about immigration in the past few weeks, and a good deal of it has been out-and-out nonsense. Many journalists and politicians simply don’t understand U.S. immigration policy, some consciously lie about it, and a few, like Donald Trump, manage not to understand and at the same time consciously lie.

Here’s a list of some of the immigration absurdities now circulating in the media and in the political class.

1. We have a big problem called “chain immigration.” People who say this are actually talking about the family-based visa system established by the 1965 immigration reform. The term “chain migration” refers to an age-old process of people settling in a new country and then sending for friends and relatives. Many or most European Americans got here through this kind of migration. So why do conservatives call family-based immigration “chain migration”? Simple: they claim to support family values, so they don’t want us to notice that they’re opposing a program that favors family reunification.

2. Family-based immigration means “a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives.” Most people don’t live long enough to create anything like the migration “chain” we find in President Trump’s rants and rightwing TV ads. It’s true that a naturalized U.S. citizen can sponsor green cards for a spouse, for parents, and for minor children, but the process involves many bureaucratic hurdles and delays. To sponsor other close relatives, such as siblings and adult children, the citizen confronts a labyrinth of quotas and restrictions, with delays stretching into decades for people of certain nationalities. Green card holders face even stricter limitations and greater hurdles.

In January Trump claimed that terrorism suspect Sayfullo Saipov brought in “22 people through the chain.” PolitiFact calculates that the 29-year-old Saipov, a green card holder since 2010, could only have done this by somehow “fathering more than 20 kids before he left Uzbekistan.”

3. We also have a good visa program called “merit-based immigration.” Currently the U.S. government makes immigration visas available for some people with special skills or employment opportunities; these visas are capped at 140,000 a year, including the applicants’ spouses and minor children. Conservatives generally like this program, but after years of charging that immigrants are “taking our jobs,” they’re naturally uncomfortable with the program’s usual name, “employment-based immigration.” So in the past decade they’ve been trying to rebrand it as “merit-based immigration.”

4. This program brings us people who “will contribute to our society and who will love and respect our country.” Republicans are trying to reorientthe employment-based visa program towards admitting immigrants with advanced degrees in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. This probably does contribute to our society, but the Republicans’ real interest is the new workers’ ability to benefit U.S. corporations. Recruiting these immigrants gives U.S. companies a technological edge; creates a “brain drain” for the immigrants’ home countries, often U.S. economic rivals like China and South Korea; and compensates for the shortage of qualified U.S.-born workers caused by the failures of our own underfunded education system.

5. Current immigration laws have “deadly loopholes” which allow “criminals to break into our country.” This is a reference to the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which George W. Bush signed into law in 2008. The act was intended to protect unaccompanied minors arriving at the U.S. border; instead of turning the children back, Border Patrol agents are required to hand them over to Health and Human Services while their asylum claims are considered. Most of these minors are Central Americans fleeing violence in their own countries—violence largely created by the U.S. demand for drugs and U.S. support for rightwing regimes.

There really is a loophole, though—for the Border Patrol. The law excludes “contiguous countries,” giving the agents freedom to ship Mexican kids back across the border to face whatever the drug cartels may have in store for them.

6. The only important immigration issue now is the legal status of immigrants known as “Dreamers.” The main media and political focus has been on the nearly 700,000 younger immigrants currently losing work authorizations and the protection from deportation they had under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), but more than 300,000 other immigrants, including Salvadorans and Haitians, are losing protections they had under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. And of course there are another 10 million out-of-status immigrants who never had any protections to lose; at least two-thirds of them have lived here for a decade or more.

7. But of course we can’t give all these people legal status. For much of the twentieth century—through 1986—Congress periodically provided an avenue to legalization for unauthorized immigrants with long-term residence. A 1938 report for the Roosevelt administration explained the reasoning: “It is not in the best interests of the United States that there should be a considerable number of aliens here who have resided in this country for many years and who are otherwise eligible for naturalization and anxious to become citizens, but who are prevented from doing so” because of a lack of status.

Why can’t we apply that logic now? Or was amnesty all right in 1938 because back then the undocumented immigrants were mostly white?

8. Still, we need to be realistic and compromiseon immigration. The White House talking points from January 25 laid out a hardline restrictionist agenda as the government’s bargaining position. Why shouldn’t immigrants and their supporters negotiate from an equally firm position? For example, polls show as much as 86 percent of the U.S. population supporting legal status for the Dreamers. Why in the world should we have to compromise on that? (The rest of Trump’s immigration agenda is also generally unpopular.)

9. At least we could compromise on Trump’s wall. There’s a widespread sense that it will do no harm to humor Trump by giving him $25 billion for increased border security. But even the existing border security is far from harmless. It disrupts border communities and causes environmental damage, and its main result has been driving migrants into inhospitable and dangerous terrain. More than 7,209 people have died trying to cross the Mexico-U.S. border in the last twenty years; for comparison, official estimates for deaths at the Berlin Wall from 1961 to 1989 are in the low hundreds.

What we actually need is a rollback of the border security regime, along with an investigation of corruption in the awarding of border security contracts. For example, how did we end up paying Boeing $1 billionfor a barely functional 53-mile “virtual fence”?

10. We can count on Democrats to do the right thing for the Dreamers. The first version of the DREAM Actwas introduced in 2001, before some of the current Dreamers were born. In 2009 and 2010 the Democrats controlled Congress and the White House. For two years the party leadership refused to put the bill up for a vote; when they finally allowed a roll call, in December 2010, the votes of five Democratic senators killed the legislation. Some Democratic politicians sincerely support immigrant rights; others are just trying to get reelected. We can only count on them when we’ve instilled a fear in their hearts that they may be looking for a new job after November.

11. Still, it’s up to the people in Washington; all we can do is make phone calls. Any progress that’s ever been made in this country has been driven by popular movements. Advances in immigrant rights will only come about when millions of people are backing immigrant activists in their struggles. We need to accompany them to immigration hearings; turn out for protests to defend their rights; reportand—if we can do it without endangering others—recordabuses by immigration agents; and consider risking arrest to prevent these abuses. We also need to do something seemingly less radical but no less difficult: educate ourselves on the realities of immigration policy and get this knowledge out to others, in personal conversations, through social media, at community meetings, at forums, screenings, and teach-ins—in any milieu where we can be heard.

“Knowledge is power,” according to an old adage. Rightwingers understand this; sometimes they even use the phrase as a motto. That’s why they’re working so hard to keep us in ignorance.

Important Op-Ed: “Trump is going after immigration activists like me. Will you be next?”

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“Ravi Ragbir Is Coming Home—for Now.”

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Inside ICE’s Police State

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http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/i-stood-up-to-ice-and-now-theyre-trying-to-deport-me-20180117

More and more evidence is accumulating: ICE is using its policing powers in an effort to shut down resistance to the immigration system. So far, the effort seems to be backfiring. As the repression intensifies, the resistance seems to keep on growing. One example: nearly 600 people turned out in the cold at Washington Square on MLK Day for a Jericho walk sponsored by the New Sanctuary Coalition; this came four days after ICE detained the organization’s executive director, Ravi Ragbir. We can expect still more grassroots activism as political class inaction continues in DC.—TPOI editor

I Stood Up to ICE, and Now They’re Trying to Deport Me

With the letter delivered to my house, ICE has officially made the leap from a law enforcement agency to a political repression agency.

Photo courtesy of Maru Mora Villalpando

By Maru Mora Villalpando, Yes! Magazine

January 17, 2018

When I imagined U.S. immigration authorities coming for me, I never thought it would be by certified mail. And yet this is how it happened—a few days before Christmas, a knock on my door led to the delivery of a letter, informing me that I was being placed in deportation proceedings.

My daughter, who opened the letter, started to cry. I immediately saw this for what it was: their way of trying to intimidate me. I felt a mix of emotions, but mostly I felt angry.[…]

Read the full article:

No Sanctuary: As ICE Targets Immigrant Rights Activists for Deportation, Suspicious Vehicles Outside Churches Stoke Surveillance Fears

By Nick Pinto, The Intercept

January 19, 2018

When word came down from the upper floors of Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was taking custody of Ravidath Ragbir and intended to deport him, hundreds of his supporters, standing outside on the cold sidewalk, raised up their hands to the monolithic building and screamed.

Ragbir had entered the building willingly, on his own steam, accompanied by his wife and family, his legal team, and a handful of elected officials. Now, his friends outside learned, Ravi — as everyone knows him — wouldn’t be coming back to them. They had planned for this possibility even as they hoped it wouldn’t come, but the plans soon gave way to a spontaneous gesture of resistance. As the ambulance carrying a handcuffed Ragbir — he had briefly fainted when he was taken into custody — pulled out of the Federal Plaza garage, supporters attempted to stop its progress. Friends, colleagues, clergy, and city council members put their bodies in front of the vehicle, blocking it with their lives.[…]

Read the full article:

https://theintercept.com/2018/01/19/ice-new-sanctuary-movement-ravi-ragbir-deportation/

ICE Targets Activists—Take Action!

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https://www.democracynow.org/2018/1/17/nyc_immigration_activist_jean_montrevil_speaks

New Yorkers arrested as ICE detains Ravi Ragbir. Joana Toro /VIEWpress/Corbis via Getty Images

There can now be little doubt that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is targeting immigration activists and their families for detention and deportation. Today's Democracy Now! program, linked to below, devoted much of its time to coverage of these cases. We are also providing links to other coverage.

It’s important to stay informed, but it’s just as important to act. New Yorkers can support Jean Montrevil and Ravi Ragbir on Thursday, January 18, by coming out for one or both of two actions, and everyone can support Washington state activist Maru Mora-Villalpando by signing a petition:

Jericho Walk at the Federal Building, January 18, 11 am - 1 pm, Foley Square, 111 Worth St, New York, NY. Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/2032153957021658/
Vigil at ICE processing center, January 18, 5 pm, 201 Varick Street, New York, NY. Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/330604470790715/
Sign the Petition for Maru Mora-Villalpando at https://action.mijente.net/petitions/ice-serves-deportation-notice-on-undocumented-leader-for-organizing-detained-immigrants

We’ll try to update you as we learn about other support actions.—TPOI editor

NYC Immigration Activist Jean Montrevil Speaks Out After Deportation to Haiti: “My Heart Is Broken”

By Democracy Now!

January 17, 2018

On Tuesday, immigrant rights leader Jean Montrevil was deported to Haiti after residing in the United States for over three decades. He came to the U.S. from Haiti with a green card in 1986 at the age of 17. During the height of the crack epidemic, he was convicted of possession of cocaine and sentenced to 11 years in prison. He served that time. Upon his release, he married a U.S. citizen, had four children, became a successful small businessman, as well as an immigrant rights activist. He has had no further interaction with the criminal justice system. Joining us from Haiti is Jean Montrevil, who was deported to Haiti on Tuesday. We are also joined by Jani Cauthen, Jean’s former wife and the mother of three of his children.[…]

View this and subsequent segments, or read the transcripts, starting here:

ICE tracks down immigrant who spoke to media in SW Washington: ‘You are the one from the newspaper’

After talking to The Seattle Times about his girlfriend’s arrest by immigration officials, a Pacific County man was detained himself. He said an agent told him it was because of what had been written.

By Nina Shapiro, Seattle Times

December 3, 2017

A man who recounted his longtime girlfriend’s arrest in a Seattle Times story about ramped-up immigration enforcement in Pacific County last month has now been detained, and says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents told him the arrest was because he was in the newspaper.[…]

Read the full article:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/ice-tracks-down-immigrant-who-spoke-to-media-in-sw-washington-you-are-the-one-from-the-newspaper/

Husband of Peruvian woman taking sanctuary at Boulder church detained by ICE

By John Bear and Jenn Fields, Denver Post

January 11, 2018

When Ingrid Encalada Latorre’s husband, Eliseo Jurado, stopped by a Westminster Safeway on Thursday to pick up some items for his 9-year-old stepson, Bryant, and 2-year-old son, Anibal, she didn’t anticipate that six agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement would snatch him.

“This is an attack on me,” Encalada Latorre said through an interpreter inside the Boulder Unitarian Universalist Church, where she has taken sanctuary for less than a month to avoid deportation to her native Peru.[…]

Read the full article:

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/01/11/ingrid-encalada-latorre-husband-detained-immigration-boulder-sanctuary/

Why Workers Support Trump, and What to Do About It

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/14/us/union-jobs-mexico-rexnord.html

A powerful feature article in the Times this week gets across the real suffering of many native-born U.S. workers as their industrial jobs are relocated to Mexico and they are forced into lower-paying service jobs, often in competition with immigrants from Mexico. Deprived of any real analysis of the situation—about the way U.S. trade policy has driven immigration from Mexico, and the way U.S. immigration restrictions force many Mexicans to accept rock-bottom wages in their own country—many displaced U.S. workers have turned to Trump’s nonsensical promises.

A Huffington Post article about today's nationwide UNITE HERE rallies shows part of what we need to do to counter this. Whatever problems the union may have, its president, D. Taylor, at least understands that the answer to Trumpism for U.S. workers must include solidarity with immigrants and organizing to improve service jobs: “As much as we’d all love for manufacturing jobs to come back,” he says, “we think we need to turn these [hospitality] jobs into good jobs.”—TPOI editor

Is “Make it here” the answer? Photo: Alyssa Schukar/NY Times

Becoming a Steelworker Liberated Her. Then Her Job Moved to Mexico.

By Farah Stockman, New York Times

October 14, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS — The man from Mexico followed a manager through the factory floor, past whirring exhaust fans, beeping forklifts, and drilling machines that whined against steel. Workers in safety glasses looked up and stared. Others looked away. Shannon Mulcahy felt her stomach lurch.

It was December 2016. The Rexnord Corporation’s factory still churned out bearings as it always had. Trucks still dropped off steel pipes at the loading dock. Bill Stinnett, a die-hard Indiana Pacers fan, still cut them into pieces. The pieces still went to the “turning” department, where they were honed into rings as small as a bracelet or as big as a basketball. Then to “heat treat,” where Shannon — who loves heavy metal music and abandoned dogs — hardened them with fire.[…]

Read the full article:

Service Workers to Rally Against Trump Immigration Policies

The hospitality union Unite Here plans demonstrations in 40 cities: “We need protections for the workers who drive this industry.”

By Dave Jamieson, Huffington Post

October 14, 2017

The hospitality workers union Unite Here was tangling with Donald Trump long before he ever became president. While the business mogul made his run for the Republican nomination last year, the group waged ― and eventually won ― a scrappy battle to unionize the housekeepers and restaurant workers at his hotel on the Las Vegas strip.

Now that Trump occupies the White House, the union’s president, D. Taylor, says the best place to fight his presidency and his policies is still in the workplace.

“Most of these jobs are not good jobs,” Taylor said of the sort of hotel and food service jobs that Trump, as a businessman, was best known for. “The only way those jobs change is if people have good union contracts, decent wages, good healthcare and retirement benefits. As much as we’d all love for manufacturing jobs to come back, we think we need to turn these [hospitality] jobs into good jobs.” […]

Read the full article:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/service-workers-to-rally-against-trump-over-immigration-policies_us_59e21c56e4b03a7be580f6f6

The Movement and the Money

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Milk with Dignity Agreement Signed!

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By Migrant Justice

October 3, 2017

Click here now to donate online!

Buy a Migrant Justice "Can't Trump Human Rights" t-shirt today!

Just moments ago, farmworker leaders from Migrant Justice and the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s jointly signed the Milk with Dignity agreement. The legally-binding contract establishes Ben & Jerry’s as the first company in the dairy industry to implement the worker-driven human rights program. This momentous occasion marks the beginning of a new day for dairy, one that provides economic relief and support to struggling farm owners, in the form of a premium paid by Ben & Jerry’s, while ensuring dignity and respect for farmworkers.

Do you use social media? Help us spread the word about this incredible victory by sharing and retweeting!

Before putting his signature on the document, Migrant Justice spokesperson Enrique “Kike” Balcazar spoke to those assembled: “This is an historic moment for dairy workers. We have worked tirelessly to get here, and now we move forward towards a new day for the industry. We appreciate Ben & Jerry’s leadership role and look forward to working together to implement a program that ensures dignified housing and fair working conditions on dairy farms across the region. And though this is the first, it won’t be the last agreement of its kind.”

The agreement has already made it onto the pages of the New York Times!

Ben & Jerry’s CEO and farmworker leaders sign the Milk with Dignity agreement in front of the company’s flagship scoop shop

Today’s signing ceremony brings to a close more than two years of public campaigning by dairy workers and their allies, as well as intensive negotiations between Migrant Justice and Ben & Jerry’s. The agreement follows the “Human Rights Can’t Wait” speaking tour -- which brought dairy workers to a dozen cities along the east coast -- and comes just two days before the October 5thNational Day of Action. Migrant Justice is calling off the actions that were to take place at Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops around the country in order to focus on the coming work of implementing this ground-breaking agreement in Ben & Jerry’s supply chain.

Ben & Jerry’s implementation of the Milk with Dignity program will result in transformational changes to a troubled industry.

Farmworkers will see concrete improvements in wages, scheduling, housing, and health and safety protections
Farm owners will receive a premium on their milk and support in improving working conditions
Ben & Jerry’s can sell a product made with cream produced free from human rights abuses
Consumers -- thousands of whom have called for this change -- will be able to see their solidarity with farmworkers bear fruit in the form of a major company’s concrete commitment to promoting human rights through worker-driven social responsibility.

For more information on how the Milk with Dignity program will work in Ben & Jerry’s supply chain, head over to our website!

This watershed moment is only the beginning. As the program rolls out on the farms in Ben & Jerry’s supply chain, dairy workers will be preparing to expand Milk with Dignity to other companies. Your support over the past years was crucial in getting to where we are today -- join us for this next phase in the Milk with Dignity campaign!

In solidarity,

Migrant Justice

Thu Oct 5: Tell Ben & Jerry's: Human Rights Can't Wait!

Read

https://migrantjustice.net/

UPDATE, October 3, 2017: Ben and Jerry's has signed the agreement and Migrant Justice has called off the National Day of Action. Thanks and congratulations to everyone who supported this effort!

Please spread the word!

Go here for actions in cities other than New York.

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Thursday, October 5, 2017

6pm

Ben & Jerry's Store at Times Square

200 West 44th Street, New York, New York 10036

Join us in calling on Ben & Jerry’s to respect the human rights of workers in its dairy supply chain by signing the Milk with Dignity agreement now!

This is part of a national day of action on Oct. 5, called by Vermont dairy workers of Migrant Justice / Justicia Migrante (https://migrantjustice.net/) who have been calling on Ben & Jerry’s to ensure protections for workers in its dairy supply chain for nearly three years.

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/745078995701460/

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Ben & Jerry’s has deferred and deflected on its responsibility to ensure protections for workers in its dairy supply chain.

Since 2010, Vermont dairy workers have been educating Ben & Jerry's about serious human rights violations in the industry.

In 2014, VT farmworkers called on Ben & Jerry's to join their Milk with Dignity program to ensure respect for farmworker rights its supply chain.

In June 2015, after over a dozen actions were planned at its scoop shops across the country, Ben & Jerry's publicly committed to join the Milk with Dignity program. But after two years of talk and no action, hundreds of farmworkers and their allies re-launched the public campaign in spring 2017-- including a historic 13-mile march to Ben & Jerry's Vermont factory in June.

Ben & Jerry's CEO welcomed the marchers, assuring the passionate crowd of supporters that Ben & Jerry's is "ready to go.” Nearly two months have passed since then, and Ben & Jerry's has still not made a legally binding commitment to the Program.

For more information about the Milk with Dignity campaign:

Digamosle a Ben & Jerry's: Los Derechos Humanos No Se Pueden Esperar

Jueves 5 de octubre, 2017

6pm

Tienda de helados Ben & Jerry's, en Times Square

200 West 44th Street, New York, New York 10036

Únanse con nosotros en hacer el llamado a Ben & Jerry's a respetar los derechos humanos de los trabajadores en su cadena de surtidores de leche en firmar el acuerdo de Leche con Dignidad ahora!

Esta acción es parte de un día nacional de acción el 5 de octubre, llamado por los trabajadores de las lecheras de Vermont de Justicia Migrante, que han estado haciendo el llamado a Ben & Jerry's para asegurar protecciones para los trabajadores en su cadena de surtidores por casi tres años.

Ben & Jerry's ha retrasado y ha negado su responsabilidad para asegurar protecciones para los trabajadores en su cadena de surtidores de leche.

Desde 2010, los trabajadores en las lecheras de Vermont han estado educando a Ben & Jerry's acerca de las violaciones graves de derechos humanos en la industria.

En 2014, los trabajadores empezaron a llamar a Ben & Jerry's a unirse con el programa de Leche con Dignidad para asegurar el respeto para los trabajadores en su cadena de surtidores.

En junio de 2015, después de que se había planeado más de una docena de acciones fuera de sus tiendas por todo el país, Ben & Jerry's se comprometió publicamente a unirse con el programa de Leche con Dignidad. Pero después de dos años de platicas pero sin acción, cientos de trabajadores y sus aliados lanzaron la campaña pública de nuevo en la primavera de 2017 -- incluyendo una marcha histórica de 13 millas a la fábrica de Ben & Jerry's en Vermont en junio.

El CEO de Ben & Jerry's dio la bienvenida a los participantes, asegurando a todos que Ben & Jerry's estaba "listo." Pero casi dos meses han pasado desde entonces, y Ben & Jerry's todavía no ha hecho un compromiso al Programa.

Para más información sobre este evento:

https://www.facebook.com/events/745078995701460/

Para más información sobre la campaña de Leche con Dignidad:

https://migrantjustice.net/

Join WFP, SOA Watch, COPINH & More at the Border Encuentro Nov. 10-12!

Read

Arellano: Pelosi Sorprendida/ Pelosi Surprised

Read

https://groups.google.com/forum/ - !topic/sanctuarymovement/VQvaKHdpE2s

Pelosi Sorprendida

Photo: Lea Suzuki, Associated Press

Por Elvira Arellano, Sanctuary Movement

21 de Septiembre, 2017

(English version follows below)

La congresista y lideresa de la bancada del Partido Demócrata en la Cámara de Representantes, Nancy Pelosi, se manifestó realmente sorprendida cuando un grupo de soñadores se apoderaron de su conferencia de prensa. Los manifestantes exigieron que Pelosi y los Demócratas dejen de utilizar a los soñadores como una ficha en el juego de pactar un acuerdo con Trump que daría amparo a los soñadores a cambio de sacrificar sus propios padres y madres y los demás 11 millones de inmigrantes indocumentados en este país.

Esta reacción no debe haber sorprendida la congresista. La propuesta ley DREAM durante años ha sido usado por muchos demócratas y algunos republicanos para esquivar la demanda popular de poner alto a la deportación de las familias. Durante años hemos escuchado a los demócratas decir que los soñadores no violaron las leyes migratorias a propósito, pues eran demasiado jóvenes cuando sus padres cruzaron la frontera, pero sus madres y padres sí.[...]

Lea el artículo completo:

Pelosi Surprised

By Elvira Arellano, Sanctuary Movement

September 21, 2017

Congresswoman and Leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, looked genuinely surprised when a group of dreamers took over her press conference. They demanded that Pelosi and the Democrats stop using the dreamers as a bargaining chip in a deal with Trump that would win security for the dreamers but seal the fate of their parents and the eleven million undocumented.

The Congresswoman should not have been surprised. The Dream Act has long been used by many Democrats – and some Republicans – to sidestep the popular demand to stop the deportations of the families. For years we heard Democrats say that “the dreamers, unlike their parents, did not “knowingly” cross the border because they were too young when their parents brought them.”[...]

Read the full article:

https://groups.google.com/forum/ - !topic/sanctuarymovement/BsyIWRL6pOk