NDLON

    TRUST Act heads to state Senate in wake of findings that police involvement in deportation has made crime victims less likely to seek help Sacramento - Today, following several impassioned floor speeches, the California Assembly approved the TRUST Act (AB 4 - Ammiano) by a vote of 44 to 20. The nationally-watched bill would limit harmful deportations often stemming from trivial or discriminatory arrests and rebuild community confidence in local law enforcement. The vote comes days after an unprecedented survey of Latinos in four cities, including Los Angeles, confirmed that police involvement with immigration enforcement has significantly undermined community confidence, with 44% of responds less likely to contact police officers if they have been a victim of a crime. Among undocumented immigrants, 70% were less likely to contact law enforcement.

Rights Groups Call on President to Suspend Deportations as Congress Seeks Immigration Reform 05.13.2013 - Washington, DC Following the first round of mark-up in the Senate Judiciary Committee of the "Gang of 8" immigration reform proposal, rights groups held a telebriefing to call on the President to immediately suspend deportations of those who could be included in the reform.   The AFL-CIO, MALDEF, United We Dream, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network announced an organizational sign-on letter of immigrant rights groups, begun today, asking the President to take immediate action to alleviate the suffering caused by on-going record deportations and help build the bi-partisan consensus in the Senate through a suspension of removals of those who would qualify for the bill once it passes.  Lorella Praeli, Director of Advocacy and Policy at United We Dream said, "As DREAMers, who won relief from deportations from the administration, we know firsthand the difference this can make.  We're pushing for an end to deportations for our parents and the rest of the 11 million, who are working, paying taxes, and raising their families in this country.  They should not be threatened with deportation every day when they would be on the path to citizenship Congress is debating now.  The President has deported more people than any other president and we will not stand by while these out-of-control deportation continue, tearing apart our families and communities." Ana Avendaño, Assistant to the President and Director of Immigration and Community Action at the AFL-CIO said, “America’s low wage workplace will not stabilize until every participant in it has equal rights to stand up for themselves when their wages are stolen or their workplace is unsafe. We owe it to all workers to cease the deportation crisis while Congress finishes the process of creating a roadmap to citizenship for the aspiring Americans already living and working in our communities.” Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of MALDEF, stated, "It is a simple matter of fairness and justice that we cease removing those immigrants who would be eligible for relief under the proposed bipartisan immigration reform legislation.  The American people and bipartisan leaders nationwide support providing legal protections to those who have labored in our industry and raised families in our community; it would be cruel and nonsensical to deny widely supported and contemplated relief to some, simply because of a delayed effective date.  So long as relief is…

Progress to Deliver On Mandate for Equality Will Be Measured by Actions, Not Words 05.09.2013 - Washington, DC Responding to the Senate Judiciary Committee first hearing to mark-up amendments for the "Gang of 8" immigration reform proposal, Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network issued the following statement: "There is an undeniable distance between the politics of immigration reform within the beltway and the reality confronting millions of Americans-in-Waiting outside of the nation's capitol. The momentum for reform is a mandate for equality. The debate between Senators, with few exceptions, fails to recognize that. Instead they are busying themselves appeasing the imagined fears of the Right and paying too little attention to the real fears of law enforcement and deportations that actually do imperil our safety and require action." ###

  Day laborers, immigrant community start rolling fast as deportations continue at 1,100+ each day 05.01.2013 – Mountain View, CA Maria Marroquin, director of the Mountain View Day Worker Center, and several others plan to abstainfrom eating for the next eleven days, one day for each millions of undocumented people in the USseeking political equality through immigration reform.

Judiciary Hearing was lost opportunity to ask DHS Sec about top priority for Immigrants   04.23.2013 - Washington, DC.   With Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning,  Senators had an opportunity to ask questions about the broken, unjust status quo.   Instead, the hearing today was characterized by  Sen. Chuck Schumer saying, "we certainly need more drones," while Sen. Feinstein asked questions about student visa fraud and Jeff Flake mocked border crossing migrants to a room full of laughter.    At 2:30pm this afternoon, the Senate Appropriations Committee will have the opportunity for more substantive questioning of the Secretary responsible for unprecedented criminalization and deportation of immigrants and the $18 billion spent annually on enforcement.  

We Don't Want to Be Deported Before the Path to Citizenship Opens 04.22.2013 - New Orleans, LAThis morning, five families who are facing deportation entered the Southern regional field office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to demand that the office's public advocate, Bryan Acuna, fulfill his duties by taking on their cases to stop their removals and cease the violent raids and targeting of low-priority cases that are rampant across the region.  

Introduction Poses Test for President   Los Angeles, CA - 04.17.2013In response to the introduction of the Senate 'Gang of 8' immigration reform bill, Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network issued the following statement:   "President Obama should seize the opportunity presented today by immediately suspending deportations, at a bare minimum for all those who would be included in the bill's legalization provisions.  While it is necessary to study the bill before passing judgment on its contents, one thing remains clear:  the President's own deportation quota policy is the biggest roadblock on the path to citizenship.  He must take steps immediately to end the removal and criminalization of would-be citizens.  Millions of immigrants have walked a long road to get to this point, and the power we have all built as a movement has forced immigration reform onto the national agenda and created a mandate for equality.  As the bill moves forward, we will continue to fight to make sure our labor and civil rights are fully respected."     ###

 Freedom of Information Act Suit to Shed Light on Tactics to Halt California TRUST Act SAN FRANCISCO, April 9, 2013—The Asian Law Cacus, a legal and civil rights organization serving low-income Asian Pacific American communities, has sued federal immigration authorities for information about whether they helped defeat a bill meant to limit entanglement between California law enforcement and U.S. immigration agencies. The lawsuit seeks information from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and the Department of Homeland Security under the Freedom of Information Act about possible efforts to encourage the Governor’s office and state sheriff’s association to oppose the TRUST Act, AB-4. Had the TRUST Act passed last year, it would have restricted California's involvement in the Secure Communities program, which relies on local police to hold individuals suspected of being deportable upon arrest until ICE can pick them up for possible deportation. Last summer, the bill reached Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk with robust support from both legislative houses, but he vetoed it. 

  Immigrant Communities Rallied Today in Support of the TRUST Act authored by Sen. Eldridge & Rep. Sciortino   03.20.2013 Boston, MA -    As momentum for federal immigration reform grows, Massachusetts is set to lead the nation by advancing the TRUST act, a state bill to provide immediate relief from deportations, strengthen public safety, and propel the national conversation on immigration reform towards inclusion.  Specifically the bill sets a clear standard for local law enforcement agencies not to submit to burdensome requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) most often prompted by the Secure Communities (S-Comm) program to detain people for deportation who have otherwise been ordered released by the courts. The bill is authored by Sen. Eldridge in the Senate and Rep. Sciortino in the House and was introduced with 34 cosponsors.

  DOJ Official who Investigated Sheriff Arpaio Poised to Carry on Solis Legacy of Promoting Civil Rights, Supporting Low-wage, Immigrant Workers   03.18.2013 - Los Angeles, CA In response to news that President Obama will nominate Thomas Perez as the next Labor Secretary, Pablo Alvarado, Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, issued the following statement:   "The appointment of Thomas Perez as head of the Department of Labor brings immigrants one step closer to equal rights at the workplace. It is a signal of the need for full labor protections within immigration reform.   Perez would be a strong choice to lead the Department. He brings with him his local experience in labor and a deep understanding from his time on the board of Casa de Maryland. His experience with the civil rights division of the Department of Justice is good grounding to carry on the legacy of former Secretary Hilda Solis.  Solis truly made the Department of Labor serve to advance the lives of workers and improve the status of low-wage and immigrant workers.   She set the standard for the position and raised the bar for anyone to follow. One of her last formal acts was to visit the day laborer worker centers in New York after Hurricane Sandy. She pledged to see that the health and safety of reconstruction workers be made a top priority.   Perez will leave a big hole to fill at the Department of Justice. Whoever takes up where he left off will have to complete the unfinished business in Arizona and elsewhere in the country where immigration and racial profiling have created civil rights crises.   We look forward to confirmation of Perez' new position and pledge to work closely with the Department of Labor to protect and advance the rights of this country's day laborers, immigrant, and low-wage workers to improve workplace conditions for everyone."   ###

FBI, DHS and ICE Agree to Release Crucial Documents Relating to Controversial Deportation Dragnet Program, Secure Communities   March 15, 2013, New York – Last night, a federal judge approved a settlement between the government and several rights groups in a long-running lawsuit demanding transparency in the controversial Secure Communities (SCOMM) program. Since its rollout in 2008, SCOMM has spread nationwide, over the protests of local and state leaders, contributing to the Obama administration’s widely criticized, record-setting deportation numbers.  The program targets all people booked into local jails, regardless of how minor the charges or even if no charges are pressed at all. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has recently come under fire for revelations that it has trolled state agencies and local jails looking for low-level offenders so as to meet its arbitrary criminal deportation quotas.     

Statistics reveal failure of ICE's latest guidelines, add urgency to passage of TRUST Act  March 11, 2013 - An analysis of new data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has found that 1,941 Californians were deported in the first month of 2013 alone, an alarming figure that would have been significantly lower were the TRUST Act already signed into law. The revelations spurred renewed calls for the Governor to quickly fulfill his pledge to advance a new version of the bill, which would limit wasteful, extended detentions of aspiring citizens in local jails for deportation purposes. Despite new guidelines which ICE claimed would focus deportations on the most serious cases, well over a thousand people deported this January fell outside of ICE's (flawed) priorities: 238 people had no convictions 557 people had minor or "level 3" convictions 351 people had minor or "level 2" convictions The numbers come as recent cases illustrating ICE's excesses have sparked anger in immigrant communities. Just this morning, ICE took Los Angeles day laborer Hector Nolasco from Sheriff Baca's jail after he was arrested for standing up for his rights at the workplace and retaliated against by his employer with a false police report. Also wrongfully arrested and placed into deportation proceedings because of S-Comm is Bakersfield farm worker Ruth Montaño who faces deportation after a bizarre, unjustified arrest over a complaint her small dogs were barking too loudly.  Each day that the Governor delays on the TRUST Act more people like Hector and Ruth are swept into S-Comm's dragnet at an alarming rate of nearly 2,000 each month. The deportation crisis has led other states like Massachusetts and Connecticut to sponsor their own versions of the TRUST Act in what is becoming a trend of local policies setting model legislation that protects public safety and propels the national immigration debate forward. "If the TRUST Act was signed into law, Hector Nolasco would not be behind bars right now. And if President Obama suspended deportations, Hector could help advocate for new immigration laws that protect labor rights, so this type of thing never happens again," said Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. "Instead, Hector is separated by his family today, because political leaders have a gap between rhetoric and reality.   It is immoral to play politics with immigration when the lives of people like Hector and his wife and daughter hang in the balance.  Leading on immigration requires actions and requires action now.  The most…