CHIRLA "Educating, Organizing, Advocating"

CHIRLA has released a series of fact sheets on immigration and its enforcement at the local level. These fact sheets addresses Special Order 40 which takes a look at an LAPD policy that helps prevent discrimination against immigrants. The second flier, The 287(g) Program in Southern California takes a critical look at agreements between local law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The third flier Beyond Myths and Stereotypes shares information from recent academic research which demonstrates that immigrants have low rates of crime in California, in Los Angeles, and across the nation.

Use of E-Verify, a federal online system that employers can use to verify employees’ immigration status, has expanded dramatically since 2004. The primary impulse behind the adoption of E-Verify has been both state and federal government mandates that government contractors, and, in some cases, all businesses, enroll in the program. Despite the current ‘popularity’ of E-Verify mandates, this program may have a number of negative effects on business owners, authorized and native workers, as well as undocumented workers. This report, E-Verify and Employer Sanctions Laws: Impacts on Employers and Workers, explores those potential negative effects, as well as developments that have occurred on the state level with regards to E-Verify.

On February 7, 2008 Immigration and Customs enforcement (ICE) conducted the largest worksite raid in Los Angeles history. As a result of the raid about 160 people were detained at a plant called Micro Solutions in Van Nuys, California. CHIRLA collaborated with other organizations to form a Raids Response Network. The Van Nuys Raid: A Case Study of Organizing and Advocacy is a detailed description of CHIRLA’s work in response to this raid. This case study is written from the perspective of an immigrant rights organization.