Catholics Arrested on Capitol Hill in Protest of Trump Immigration Policies

Catholics Arrested Protesting Trump Policies 

In Washington, D.C., Capitol Police arrested 70 Catholic nuns and clergy Thursday as they held a nonviolent sit-in protest inside the Russell Senate Office Building against the Trump administration’s inhumane treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers. More than a dozen protesters stood in a circle, holding the photographs of migrant children who have died in U.S. custody, and reciting their names. The latest protests came as immigrant communities across the U.S. have prepared for reported ICE raids that were scheduled to begin last weekend but have largely not materialized.

When ICE Comes Knocking- Resist !

 

NEW ICE Program Would Allow Local Police to Arrest even in Sanctuary Cities and States

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was quick to condemn the move, calling it the “latest scheme by ICE to enlist local police in its abusive deportation agenda.”

, Getty

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday announced a new program that would allow local law enforcement officers to start arresting and temporarily detaining immigrants on behalf of the agency, even if established local policies prevent them from doing so. Local jurisdictions that join the new program will be temporarily exempted from any local or state rules preventing them from cooperating in immigration arrests or detention, and allow them to execute arrest warrants issued by ICE, according to an agency release. ICE will have 48 hours to transfer any immigrant arrested and detained under the program into its custody, or the immigrant will be released. Read the entire document here.  > What to do if ICE comes KNOCKING - Do you know your rights? (English & Spanish) https://issuu.com/news_review/docs/ice_110918?e=2059002/65749844 “Policies that limit cooperation with ICE undermine public safety, prevent the agency from executing its federally mandated mission and increase the risks for officers forced to make at-large arrests in unsecure locations,” Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence said in a statement.

ICE Increases Arrests

HUNDREDS OF ICE ARRESTS: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced hundreds of arrests in recent days. Here's a snapshot:

—Tuesday: 83 arrested over a four-day period in Wisconsin

—Wednesday: 150 arrested over a three-day period in the Los Angeles area

—Wednesday: 98 arrested over a 10-day period in Texas and Oklahoma

—Thursday: 105 arrested in Michigan and Ohio over a 10-day period

The arrests could be an effort to increase removal numbers before the close of the fiscal year, John Sandweg, an acting ICE director during the Obama administration, told Morning Shift. Despite Trump's intense focus on immigration, removal numbers in fiscal year 2017 remained far below the levels under Obama. For example, ICE removed roughly 226,000 people in fiscal 2017. Compare that to nearly 410,000 at peak levels of the Obama administration.

ICE is on pace for roughly 255,000 arrests this year based on figures through the first three quarters of fiscal 2018. That would be higher than the last few years, but still far below most annual Obama totals. Sandweg argues that much of that is out of the administration's control: the immigration courts continue to be a chokepoint that slow removals and many families and children arriving at the border each month seek asylum.

ICE Agents Seize Man in Sacramento Court

ICE Agents Surprise Lawyers in Sacramento Court when They Grab Man inside Courtroom

Vanguard AdministratorAugust 23, 2018

By Crescenzo Vellucci
Vanguard Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – In an exclusive tip to the Davis Vanguard, lawyers report that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents boldly grabbed a man inside a Sacramento Superior Courtroom Wednesday, where he was for other matters.

Lawyers said they were surprised by the action in Dept. 8 and that it was the first time they had seen ICE active in Superior Court here in Sacramento.

The ICE agents, who were sitting in the audience portion of the courtroom, waited until the defendant had been arraigned on another matter before jumping up, announcing who they were and seizing the defendant.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that there was a delay of some sort in the courtroom before ICE was allowed to take the defendant away.

While local immigration rights activists said late Wednesday they also were not aware of something like this happening in a Sacramento courtroom, they aren’t surprised.

“Although this is the first time we have heard of ICE being in the local court, it doesn’t come as a surprise. Our allies in Fresno have been alerting us to the daily presence of ICE in their courts. It’s troubling that ICE simply does not respect the legal process and is willing to jeopardize ongoing legal proceedings in their quest to steal away our neighbors and relatives,” said Ruth Ibarra, NorCal Resist organizer.

In fact, California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye a year ago told the federal government to stay out of state courts.

ICE Increases Arrests Under Trump-Denham-McClintock

ICE NON-CRIMINAL ARRESTS TRIPLE: "Federal arrests of undocumented immigrants with no criminal record have more than tripled under President Donald Trump and may still be accelerating, according to an NBC News analysis of Immigration and Customs Enforcement data from his first 14 months in office," Ben Leonard reports. 

"The surge has been caused by a new ICE tactic of arresting — without warrants — people who are driving or walking down the street and using large-scale 'sweeps' of likely immigrants," NBC News reports, citing a class-action lawsuit filed in June over warrantless arrests in the Chicago area. 

ICE spokesman Matthew Burke noted to Morning Shift that nearly 90 percent of the agency's administrative arrests in fiscal year 2017 were of people convicted of a crime or charged with a crime (the tally counts traffic offenses and other low-level crimes). He added that "the agency will no longer exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement." Read more from NBC News here and the complaint here.

When ICE Arrests Parents

ICE GUIDANCE FOR PARENT ARRESTS: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement posted online Friday an updated policy on what to do when the parents of minor children are arrested and detained. ICE made public the August 2017 directive, which supersedes Obama administration guidance from four years earlier, after Morning Shift obtained a copy and queried ICE about it.

The 2013 Obama guidance said ICE should ensure its enforcement activities "do not unnecessarily disrupt" parental custody of minor children. The new guidance tells officers merely to "remain cognizant" of the effect their enforcement actions might have on children; in keeping with the Trump administration's less forgiving view of deportations, the guidance does not demand prosecutorial discretion. Michelle Brané, director of the migrant rights and justice program at the Women's Refugee Commission, said the change "will no doubt result in broad separation of families." The new directive does maintain a few features of the Obama-era policy: ICE officials must make arrangements for detained immigrants to participate in child custody hearings, and children must be permitted to visit parents in detention. In addition, absent signs of abuse or neglect, officers must allow parents to make arrangements for their children at the time of arrest. "We hope these are implemented and help at least keep children safe when a parent is detained," Brané said.

During a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing Thursday, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) questioned Matthew Albence, an ICE associate director, about the changes . The directive, Albence said, required an overhaul to align with President Donald Trump's January 2017 executive orders on border security and interior immigration enforcement. Read the new 2017 policy here and the 2013 directive it replaced here.

ICE Launches Mass Arrests in Los Angeles Area

Mass Arrests Of Immigrants In Los Angeles

ICE launches new immigration sweep in L.A. area; at least 100 detained so far. LA Times:"Federal officials are in the midst of an immigration enforcement operation in the Los Angeles area and have so far detained more than 100 people suspected of being in violation of immigration laws. The sweep, which began Sunday, is focusing on 'individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security,' Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Sarah Rodriguez said... 'uncooperative jurisdictions' such as Los Angeles, she said, have forced ICE agents to 'conduct at-large arrests in the community, putting officers, the general public and the aliens at greater risk, and increasing the incidence of collateral arrests. That is what ICE is now doing in Los Angeles, and what ICE will continue to do in uncooperative jurisdictions,' Rodriguez said. The Los Angeles Police Department and many other California law enforcement agencies have said they will not cooperate with ICE on sweeps. The LAPD has long had a policy that prevents officers from asking people about their immigration status, a rule designed to encourage those here illegally to cooperate with law enforcement in criminal investigations."

Dreamers Arrested This AM in Washington : Things You Can Do

DSA Stands With DACA

Dreamers Arrested This AM in Washington

The deadline that Trump has given to congress to act on a fix to DACA is March, 5th of 2018, however for many DACA recipients that will be far too late as DACAs will begin expiring on that date. We must take action to defend DACA.

The Democratic Socialists of America and the national DSA Immigrant Rights’ Committee is proud to join the Our Dream Coalition in partnership with Our Revolution and the Seed Project of Movimiento Cosecha. The Our Dream Coalition has launched "Fight for Our Dream," a nation-wide campaign led by Dreamers which seeks to pass the DREAM Act and fight for permanent protection and respect for undocumented youth, without creating harmful conditions for the rest of the undocumented community.

Members of the Our Dream Coalition are taking action this week to ensure protected status for Dreamers across the country by defending DACA. There were 32 occupations of Senators and Congresspersons offices in 20 states.

Undocumented youth were just arrested at the U.S. Capitol for speaking out at the Visitor’s Center to bring attention to the DREAM Act. They took nonviolent direct action in Washington DC, calling on our representatives to provide permanent protection for all undocumented youth before the end of the year.

Here are three things you can do to support this vital effort of  undocumented youth who are risking detention and deportation by taking nonviolent direct action in support of a Clean DREAM Act:

Step 1: Amplify the actions on social media RIGHT NOW. Follow and share posts with the hashtags #OurDream and #NoDreamNoDeal. Find content at fightforourdream.org.

Step 2: Call your members of congress. Call your representative and senators RIGHT NOW and tell them to vote NO on any year-end spending bill that does not include a clean DREAM Act.  Dial the United States Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121

Step 3: Organize a local solidarity protest. Call some friends, wrangle some folks, make some "No Dream, No Deal" signs, and show up at the office of your member of congress to let them know they should pass the DREAM Act now. 

Participate in the #OurDream Campaign Direct Actions

Join DSA national Immigrants' Rights Committee contingent of the #OurDream Campaign

Trump Immigration Arrests

In the first three months of the Trump Administration, ICE agents arrested some 41,000 people.  This is an increase of almost 40 % over the same period last year. 

Protesters fill the Texas House gallery Against Senate Bill 4

Free Hugo Mejia and Rodrigo Nunez

Solidarity Rally for Hugo Mejia and Rodrigo Nunez On May 03, 2017, Hugo Mejia and Rodrigo Nuñez were arrested by military officers on their way to work at a construction site at the Travis Air force Base. They are currently being detained at Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Elk Grove, CA where they are scheduled for expedited removal. Hugo and Rodrigo have been in the country for over 15 years and each have three young children. Uprooting these men from their families, their home, and their communities is deeply violent and inhumane. We say no more deportations. ICE OUT! Cops out! We will be rallying TOMORROW, May 24, at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center, where they are being held, at 6 PM-9 PM, in solidarity with these men and their families. We will not tolerate the terror that ICE, Sheriff Jones, and our local police inflict upon our communities. Join us at this emergency protest to show support for these men, and all undocumented persons who live in fear despite their contributing to a greater CA. Bring signs, banners and your voice tomorrow, Wednesday May 24th from 6PM-9PM at Rio Cosumnes Correctional Facility (12500 Bruceville Road Elk Grove, CA 95757). Please share widely. The Facebook event can be found here. We are also asking people to call ICE field director David Jennings, who may use prosecutorial discretion to free Mejia and Nuñez. How to Call:  Dial the ICE Field Office Phone: 415-844-5512 You will be directed to a menu of options. Press 1 for detention. Press 4 for A#s ending in 2 and 3.  Leave a voicemail for their deportation officer. Or, call and leave a message for David Jennings, SF Field Office Director, at 415-855-5503. Suggested script: Hello, I'm calling on behalf of Rodrigo Nuñez, A#079-220-673 and his coworker Hugo Mejia, A#079-163-283. I am calling to request that Rodrigo and Hugo be released immediately from the jail where they are being held, and also that they be placed in regular removal proceedings so they have an opportunity to be heard. Hugo and Rodrigo have each lived in the United States for almost 20 years. They each provide for three young children who have grown up in the United States. They should not be in jail, and they should not be deported, but released to their families.

Immigration Hot Line

Immigration Hot Line

The Sacramento Immigration committee has established a hot line to report ICE activity in the neighborhoods, at schools, parks, and other areas.

916-245-6773

If you see ICE activity, please report it.  When you report the activity, volunteers and legal observers will go to the location.

They will document the arrests to be certain that the rights of the accused are respected.  They will also assist with contacting family members and being certain that children are cared for.

Todos tienen derechos constitucionales.

See the post below. 

Migrant Justice Organizers Arrested by ICE; Response Needed

Our family needs your help now more than ever.

On Friday, March 17th, Enrique “Kike” Balcaza and Zully Palacios were heading home after an organizational meeting when ICE agents arrested them and took them into custody. Kike and Zully are both leaders at Migrant Justice and Cosecher@s organizing towards “A Day Without Immigrants” in Vermont, and it’s clear that they were targeted because of their advocacy work.

Sign Migrant Justice's petition to #FreeKike and #FreeZully.

Earlier today Zully was finally allowed to see a lawyer after 24 hours and sent a message to all her supporters:

“To fight for our rights is nothing bad. It’s a right we all have. Thank you for your support and please don't be worried about me. That here inside I’m sending my energy to you to win our rights and keep fighting. Together we are more.”

This is the time for our movement to come out and support our family!

After you sign the petition, please share it along with a photo or video of yourself asking for Kike and Zully to be released.

We will not be silenced or cave into fear, we will continue to organize for the permanent protection, dignity, and respect of all undocumented immigrants in this country.

In Solidarity,

Brenda and the whole Cosecha family

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Eliseo Medina of SEIU, and  Giev Kashkooli  among those arrested.