CHIRLA Questions Special Order 1 Promulgation

CHIRLA joined several prominent organizations in Southern California this week to urge the LAPD suspend the "Suspicious Activity Reporting" (SAR) program because it endangers the protection of civil liberties.
 
The letter was signed by CHIRLA, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU/SC), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), and the South Asian Network (SAN).  (Copy of letter in attachments below).
 
A portion of the letter reads:
 
"We, the undersigned organizations, write regarding the Los Angeles Police Department’s Suspicious Activity Reporting (“SAR”) program, and in particular regarding the recent revision of LAPD’s policies governing the SAR program through the promulgation of Special Order 1 effective January 2, 2012,1 which superseded the Department’s earlier SAR policies.
 
While recognizing the importance of training local officers where to direct information they believe may be relevant to counterterrorism investigations, we are concerned that the LAPD’s SAR program threatens the privacy and civil liberties of Los Angeles residents. By ordering officers to gather information on common, non-criminal and constitutionally protected activities such as photography or expression of certain viewpoints, without requiring clear standards that the reported activities provide reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, the LAPD’s SAR program could potentially lead to compilations of investigative files on the legal activities of everyday Angelenos."

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Civil and Immigrant Rights Organizations Request the FBI to End its Facilitation of S-Comm

CHIRLA and over 80 other civil and immigrant rights organizations sent a letter  to the FBI today, requesting that the Bureau ends its facilitation of the deportation dragnet known as “Secure Communities (S-Comm). (To download the letter, please scroll down to the bottom of the page). 

Letter: 

March 8, 2012

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Press Statement: A Fair and Much Needed Car Impound Update

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:February 29, 2012                                     

A Fair and Much Needed Car Impound Update
LAPD Chief Beck’s proposal is fair, practical, and much needed

Los Angeles – This week, the Los Angeles Police Commission, on a 4-to-1 vote, approved LAPD Chief Charlie Beck’s proposal to update the city’s car impound procedures for unlicensed drivers that meet certain requirements.  The measure is highly welcomed by the large immigrant community of Los Angeles.  Undocumented immigrants make up nearly ten percent of the state’s labor force.

The following is a statement from Angelica Salas, executive director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA).

“In approving LAPD Chief Charlie Beck's proposal for modified car impound procedures, the Los Angeles Police Commission took a stand on the side of fairness and justice for the immigrant community.

We are hopeful that this change will mean that fewer cars of community members and their families will be subjected to a mandatory 30-day impound, which also resulted in a financially crippling fee of up to $2,000 in some cases. Some impounded vehicles can now be retrieved within 24 hours by a licensed and insured driver.  In cases where a licensed driver is immediately available, a car’s impound could be avoided altogether.

Victory: No Double Fees for Vendors!

 

CHIRLA thanks Supervisor Gloria Molina and her colleagues on the LA County Board of Supervisors for voting to revise the Department of Public Health's fees for individual vendor pushcarts. In effect, by not doubling this fee (from $301 to $602, setting it at $342) the Board sided on the side of vendors whose jobs will now be saved.  In these times, preserving jobs for the community should be our main priority. CHIRLA's Pedro Trujillo and Joseph Villela joined the Board meeting this morning to support the measure. This is a small yet significant victory for immigrant families whose bread is put on the table by the palerteros and paleteras, ice cream vendors, of Los Angeles.

CHIRLA agradece el voto de la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Los Angeles, en especial el de Supervisora Gloria Molina, para no doblar el costo de las tarifas (de $301 a $602) para vendedores de carritos.  Los Supervisores se unieron para que los vendedores ambulantes no perdieron sus trabajos.  El salvaguardar trabajos en nuestra comunidad debe de ser nuestra prioridad colectiva.  Los compañeros de CHIRLA Pedro Trujillo y Joseph Villela estuvieron presentes en la reunión de hoy apoyando la medida.  Una pequeña batalla lograda con impacto significativo para las familias inmigrantes cuyo esfuerzo es para poner el pan de cada dia en sus mesas.

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NBC: ICE Calls New Deportation Report Flawed

ICE Calls New Deportation Report Flawed
Report shows a large drop off in the number of illegal immigrants being prosecuted in court
By Jonathan Gonzalez, February 26, 2012
NBC
A new report that indicates federal officials are prosecuting and deporting fewer illegal immigrants may be flawed, according to a federal immigration authority.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement opened 39,331 deportee cases in immigration courts from October 2011 to December 2012, a large drop from the 58,639 filings that were recorded the prior quarter, according to a report released by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

But ICE, on Thursday, said the report was inaccurate because it has the right to deport some illegal immigrants without actually giving them time in court when they commit violent crimes, such as rape or murder.

"The TRAC report is alleging that overall we are putting fewer people in deportation proceedings," said ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen. "This report is looking at the wrong data."

"When removing individuals who have been convicted of a crime and who have no lawful immigration status … ICE is not required to file charging documents in immigration court asserting criminal grounds of removal," Christensen said in statement.

But TRAC, which used numbers provided by the Executive Office for Immigration Review, disagrees with the claims of inaccuracy.ICE has yet to look at the statistics used in the report, she added.

"It was the fact that it didn't cover all the deportations. That doesn't make it inaccurate," said Sue Long, co-director of TRAC. "[ICE] won't even release their immigration court data."

Reforma: Giving it all "For a Better Life"

Todo por 'una vida mejor'
Crónica Historias de migrantes. La película por la que Demian Bichir está nominado al Óscar reabre el debate sobre el trato a los migrantes en Estados Unidos. Hollywood comienza a entender mejor que Washington el problema de la migración, aseguran líderes de las comunidades de indocumentados
 
Eileen Truax
26 febrero 2012 - Reforma (México)
LOS ÁNGELES, CALIFORNIA.- Son las siete de la mañana y en la entrada del Home Depot ubicado en Sunset Boulevard, en el barrio de Hollywood, una docena de hombres, todos latinos, esperan a que llegue el primer cliente. Un tipo rubio se acerca y, tras una breve negociación, tres hombres se van con él en una camioneta que lleva materiales de construcción: el "jale", al menos por hoy, está asegurado.
 
Para quienes no están familiarizados con la realidad de los trabajadores indocumentados en Estados Unidos, la escena parece salida de una película: A Better Life, la cinta dirigida por Chris Weitz que aborda la vida de un trabajador indocumentado de Los Ángeles. Carlos Galindo es el personaje interpretado por el mexicano Demian Bichir, quien lo hizo tan exitosamente, que hoy se encuentra nominado a un Óscar como mejor actor.
 
Sin embargo, la vida de Galindo, el jardinero cuya fortuna pende de un hilo debido a que carece de papeles que le permitan trabajar legalmente, no es un asunto de ficción. Cada día a lo largo del país -afuera de un Home Depot, en las zonas de venta de materiales o en estacionamientos, en las paradas de autobús- 117 mil jornaleros viven su propia historia de película en busca de, en efecto, una vida mejor.
 
Pablo Alvarado conoce esta vida como pocos. Nacido en un hogar de campesinos en El Salvador, trabajó en la cosecha durante su infancia para ayudar a su manutención hasta los 12 años de edad, cuando en plena guerra civil se convirtió en profesor asistente de literatura. Con el paso de los años obtuvo sus credenciales de maestro, pero la necesidad de migrar a Estados Unidos sin documentos lo obligó a empezar de cero. En este país trabajó como jardinero, chofer, pintor y ensamblador, hasta que un día decidió organizar a otros trabajadores. Hoy es el coordinador de la Red Nacional de Jornaleros (NDLON), que promueve el liderazgo y la defensa de los derechos de los trabajadores inmigrantes.
 
Hace unas semanas Pablo viajaba de Los Ángeles a Nueva York, cuando en el avión proyectaron para los pasajeros A Better Life. La vio y le gustó.

Press Statement: "S-Comm" Pushes Los Angeles to the Brink

For Immediate Release:  February 22, 2012

“Secure Communities” Pushes L.A. to the Brink
Immigration/local police collaboration program fosters distrust, lets criminals off the hook, and makes life a living hell for immigrants in the City Of Angels

 

CHIRLA issued this statement today:  "The writing's on the wall for Sheriff Baca and those who support his enthusiastic position to deport thousands upon thousands of honest, hard-working immigrants with no criminal background.  S-Comm is a dark spot for a tolerant, multicultural city like Los Angeles and the persecution of immigrant families by a public servant must not be tolerated".

Read more after the break:

Univision: Immigration Reform, the Achilles's Heel for Both Parties

Reforma Migratoria:  talón de Aquiles para demócratas y republicanos en Estados Unidos
Jorge Cancino, febrero 2012
Univision.com

 

Activistas hispanos dudan de promesas y exigen a ambos partidos que legalicen a los indocumentados


Para nadie es un secreto que el tema de la reforma migratoria  decidirá el comportamiento del voto latino en los comicios presidenciales de noviembre en Estados Unidos. Y que si un candidato, de cualquier partido, se compromete a invertir una buena cuota de capital político si llega a la Casa Blanca, lo más probable que consiga el 40 o más por ciento de los 12 millones de hispanos que, se espera, acudan a las urnas. Pero nada está dicho, tampoco nada está escrito.

Nadie puede cantar victoria y nadie puede asegurar que tiene los votos asegurados. Ni el propio presidente Barack Obama, que en la elección de 2008 consiguió 6.7 millones de votos hispanos de los 10.3 millones que participaron en la contienda.

A finales de 2007 Obama prometió que en los primeros 100 días como presidente iba a empujar una reforma migratoria comprensiva. En 2008 movió el plazo y dijo que lo haría durante el primer año de su mandato. Tres años después de haber asumido, la oferta se halla perdida en los pasillos de un Congreso que no quiere hablar del tema, amenazada por estados donde se prefiere aprobar iniciativas antiinmigrantes y campañas que optaron por mencionar logros tales como cifras de deportados y advertencias de veto a beneficios para indocumentados que apruebe el Congreso.

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