Much-Needed Wisdom

under a soprano sky

By Sonia Sanchez

1.

once i lived on pillars in a green house
boarded by lilacs that rocked voices into weeds.
i bled an owl's blood
shredding the grass until i
rocked in a choir of worms.
obscene with hands, i wooed the world
with thumbs
while yo-yos hummed.
was it an unborn lacquer i peeled?
the woods, tall as waves, sang in mixed
tongues that loosened the scalp
and my bones wrapped in white dust
returned to echo in my thighs.

i hear a pulse wandering somewhere
on vague embankments.
O are my hands breathing? I cannot smell the nerves.
i saw the sun
ripening green stones for fields.
O have my eyes run down? i cannot taste my birth.

2.

now as i move, mouth quivering with silks
my skin runs soft with eyes.
descending into my legs, i follow obscure birds
purchasing orthopedic wings.
the air is late this summer.

i peel the spine and flood
the earth with adolescence.
O who will pump these breasts? I cannot waltz my tongue.

under a soprano sky, a woman sings,
lovely as chandeliers.

Nobama Nobama No

I'm feeling down today. Can't provide any more commentary than that.

The first workplace raid under Obama:

28 employees were arrested when over 70 ICE agents forcibly raided Yamato Engine Specialists in Bellingham, Washington.

Racewire's Hatty Lee quotes the President:
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time for a president who won’t walk away from comprehensive immigration reform when it becomes politically unpopular.” President Obama's words from Sept. 2008. Maybe he needs to be reminded of these words.

What we can do:
• The Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) asks the president to stop raids
• The Campaign for Community Change asks us to call President Obama

Also, from Racewire, Tammy Johnson critiques Obama's racial coding:


In other not particularly uplifting news:

The NYT reports that:
Across the country, children are providing care for sick parents or grandparents — lifting frail bodies off beds or toilets, managing medication, washing, feeding, dressing, talking with doctors. Schools, social service agencies and health providers are often unaware of those responsibilities because families members may be too embarrassed, or stoic.
Reuters also wrote yesterday:
Prison inmates infected with the AIDS virus often stop taking life-saving drugs after being released, raising health risks for them and their communities, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
The researchers said the U.S. prison system has become an important front in efforts to curb the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.

WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?! The implications are too overwhelming for me to think about right now

Continuing struggles..

There's new technology for policing the border apparently - people can be minutemen now from the comfort of their living rooms. For the full article on NPR click here

Texas sheriffs have erected a series of surveillance cameras along the Rio Grande and connected them to the Internet.

Thousands of people are now virtual Border Patrol agents — and they're on the lookout for drug smugglers and illegal immigrants.

On Blueservo's Web site, each camera focuses on an area that's known for illegal crossing. Next to a real-time view of a grassy meadow is the message: "Look for individuals on foot carrying backpacks." A shot of a border highway says, "If you see movement from the right to the left, please report this activity."

When a citizen spots suspicious activity, they click a button on the Web site and write a report. That message goes to the corresponding sheriff's office. The sheriff may handle the problem or call the U.S. Border Patrol.

To date, more than 43,000 people have logged on and become, as the Web site calls them, "virtual Texas deputies."

But resistance to the military/prison industrial complex lives on.

PhillyIMC reports that:

On Monday, February 16th, a diverse group of 30 anti-war and peace activists occupied the Army Experience Center at the Franklin Mills Mall in Northeast Philadelphia for about ten minutes. Activists had taped signs to their chests that read WAR IS NOT A GAME. Upon the arrival of two officers from the Philadelphia police civil affairs unit, the activists who had been holding freeze positions left the Center. A press release was read to the retired Army civilian director of the Center and two Army officer connected with it. For the full story read here

It's the Stupid Economy

The Center for American Progress released a report that has some telling data about unemployment and wage disparities between whites, Blacks, and Latinos. The unemployment rate for Black folks was at 12.6 percent in January. That’s the highest level since 1994. Latinos had a 9.7 percent unemployment rate in January—the highest level since 1995.

Here is some of the report:

The unemployment rate has steadily risen for all groups.

9.7 percent: The unemployment rate for Hispanics in January 2009, an increase of 3.5 percentage points from December 2007 and the highest level since 1995.

12.6 percent: The unemployment rate for African Americans in January 2009, an increase of 3.7 percentage points since December 2007 and the highest level since 1994.

6.9 percent: The unemployment rate for whites, an increase of 2.5 percentage points since December 2007 and the highest level since 1983.

The number of unemployed people in the United States has skyrocketed since the recession began, and the rate of increase has accelerated in recent months.

57.1 percent: The increase in the number of unemployed Hispanic workers between December 2007 and January 2009. In January 2009, 2.1 million Hispanics were unemployed in the United States.

43.8 percent: The increase in the number of unemployed African Americans from December 2007 to January 2009. In January 2009, 2.2 million African Americans were unemployed.

58.0 percent: The increase in the number of unemployed whites between December 2007 and January 2009. In January 2009, there were 8.6 million unemployed whites in America.

The share of the population that has a job has fallen to levels not seen in more than a decade.

61.1 percent: The share of the Hispanic population that was employed in January 2009, 3.2 percentage points lower than in December 2007 and the lowest level since 1996.

55.4 percent: The share of the African-American population that had a job in January 2009, 2.4 percentage points lower than in December 2007 and the lowest level since 1994.

61.3 percent: The share of the white population that had a job in January 2009, 2.1 percentage points lower than in December 2007 and the lowest level since 1986.

Large earnings gaps persist between whites and minorities.

$535: The usual median weekly earnings of Hispanic workers in the fourth quarter of 2008 (in 2008 dollars)—$207.20 less than white workers’ usual median weekly earnings during the same period.

$593: The usual median weekly earnings of African American workers in the fourth quarter of 2008 (in 2008 dollars)—$148.57 less than white workers’ usual median weekly earnings during the same period.

$748: The usual median weekly earnings of white workers in the fourth quarter of 2008 (in 2008 dollars).

The new stimulus package (which includes tax cuts, investments, and public aid) is unlikely to remedy these inequities. Shocking, I know. Basically the stimulus package does not provide for the already disenfranchised masses, especially not un- or under-educated folks, non-English speakers, and formerly incarcerated individuals.

For folks sending remittances back home, the crunch is felt even harder. Apparently remittances are down 35% from last year and so this American economic disaster is affecting poor people worldwide. Read here for more.

The only encouraging news I've read so far is that the government may demand a stake in bank Boards --> forgive me if I don't leap out of my seat with joy and trust in our federal government but it's a start.

Urgent Action Alert: Help Preserve Raise the Age Connecticut

FROM THE CAMPAIGN FOR YOUTH JUSTICE, A NJJDP COALITION MEMBER:

UPDATE 2/19/2009

The Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance will be holding a rally in Hartford on March 2^nd to support the "Raise the Age" law in Connecticut, passed in 2007 to end the automatic prosecution of 16- and 17-year-olds in the adult criminal justice system. Governor Jodi Rell's proposed state budget delays the implementation of the law from 2010 until 2012, which could ultimately derail this essential juvenile justice reform.

• If your organization has not done so already, please sign on to the attached position statement in support of the "Raise the Age" law by returning it to iaugarten@cfyj.org or (202) 386-9807 (fax).
• For more information on "Raise the Age," please visit http://www.sayyesct.org/raisetheage.html.

Rally to Save Raise the Age!

Make sure YOUR voice is heard

Monday, March 2, 2009

Rally at 10:30 am

Press conference at 11:00 am

Public hearing at 12:00 pm

Legislative Office Building

Hartford, CT

In 2007, Connecticut's legislature promised to end our state's practice of sending non-violent 16- and 17-year-olds to the adult criminal system effective January 1, 2010. Connecticut is currently one of only three states to try all 16- and 17-year-olds as adults -- no matter how minor their crime. The governor has proposed to delay implementation of Raise the Age until 2012, which is both breaking Connecticut's promise to our kids and against what is best for public safety. Connecticut cannot afford to delay justice any longer.

Anyone who has been affected by Connecticut's current system (youth, families, providers) and anyone else who believes in this cause is asked to join us on March 2^nd. Legislators need to know that Connecticut's voters care about this issue. We need participants who are willing to do any of the following:

§ Be present in the lobby of the Legislative Office building wearing a T-shirt (provided) to show support

§ Meet with their legislator about this issue to educate him or her in person

§ Attend Judiciary Committee public hearing to show support and testify (optional)

Lunch and transportation are available.

British detainee repatriated

The NYT reports that British citizen Binyam Mohamed will finally be returned to the UK after detention and interrogation in Pakistan and at Guantanamo Bay:

"At the time of his arrest, in April 2002, American officials said that Mr. Mohamed, who has a brother and two sisters living in the United States, was part of a conspiracy to detonate a dirty bomb on American soil. But he will leave Guantánamo without having been charged with any terrorist activity, or other crimes."

The full article describes Mohamed's past a bit as well as his experiences being detained - I have nothing to say except why and how does this continue? We know that people are being tortured and detained for no real reason, so why hasn't it stopped yet? Will it ever stop? Will we ever hold our government(s) accountable? Will they listen?

Immigration, Detention, Deportation

Haiti said NO to U.S. deportations this week, saying that the country needs to rebuild after being ravaged by several storms. It's an interesting strategy, but doesn't really benefit the Haitians stuck in limbo in U.S. detention centers. Haiti wants the U.S. to let undocumented Haitian immigrants stay and work temporarily, and the U.S. is pressuring undocumented Haitians to go get passports so that they can be repatriated without the official designation of "deportation."

The AP also recently reported that over 100,000 of deportees last year had children who were left behind. Think about those kids and what legacy that leaves for them -- not only is ICE splitting up families and being just horrible and cruel (that is something I've come to expect) they are also creating a generation of disillusioned, underrepresented children who will grow up without their parents in constant fear of the U.S. government. WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?!?! This is not in their best interest! If we can't count on people doing what is selfish then what can we count on anymore? Or are they just banking on new tactics for repression, terror, and hegemony by the time those youths are of age to take action?

Also, I saw on Racewire that the Pew Hispanic Center released a report on rising rates of Latinos being charged for federal crimes. The New York Times says:

"Latinos made up only 13 percent of the United States adult population in 2007, but they accounted for one third of federal prison inmates that year, a result the study attributed to the sharp rise in illegal immigration and tougher enforcement of immigration laws.

Nearly half of Latino offenders, or about 48 percent, were convicted of immigration crimes, while drug offenses were the second-most-prevalent charge, according to the report.

As the annual number of federal offenders more than doubled from 1991 to 2007, the number of Latino offenders sentenced in a given year nearly quadrupled, to 29,281 from 7,924.

Of Latino federal offenders, 72 percent are not United States citizens and most were sentenced in courts from one of the four states that border Mexico. Federal prisoners who are illegal immigrants are usually deported to their home countries after serving their sentences."

So we're imprisoning people for trying to provide for their families, essentially, either by crossing the border to work or selling drugs. Not that drugs don't destroy communities but if the government and businesses provided livable wages and acceptable working conditions then maybe folks wouldn't be so inclined to deal drugs to buy food for their kids.

Also of note:

Last month, The New York Times reported that federal immigration prosecutions had increased over the last five years, doubling in the last fiscal year to more than 70,000 cases. Meanwhile, other categories of federal prosecutions, including gun trafficking, public corruption, organized crime and white-collar crime, declined over the same period.

The number of illegal immigrants in the country increased to 11.9 million last year, from 3.9 million in 1992.

Hold the New York Post accountable

Go to the Colorofchange action site to email the editor and view the cartoon

The New York Post recently published the political cartoon shown here, depicting two white police officers standing over the carcass of a bullet-riddled chimpanzee, with the animal representing the author of the stimulus package.

The decision to run this cartoon was irresponsible at best, and hurtful and malicious at worst. It seems unthinkable that an editor of a newspaper would not understand the history of Black folks being depicted as monkeys and apes or the recent spate of death threats against President Obama. Worse, when confronted, Post editor Col Allan dismissed people's concerns as baseless.

Join us in demanding that The Post issue an apology for the decision and their callousness, and fire the editor who allowed this cartoon to go to print.

Obama's War on Terror

Obama's War on Terror may not be so different from Bush's it turns out. The NYT reported that in recent confirmation testimonies, Obama nominees supported:

*continuing the CIA program that transfers prisoners to other countries without legal rights and also detains terrorist suspects indefinitely without trials even if they were arrested far away from a war zone
*possibly resumming military commision trials
*pressuring allies to release information about alleged US torture practices

For the full article click here

Of course this shouldn't really be that surprising - Obama (and his administration) is (ful)filling a symbolic role and therefore needs to (re)present the hegemonic order as natural and worthy of protection. But it still hurts.

TAKE ACTION NOW!!!

On January 20, 2009 guards in the Special Management Unit (SMU) at the State Correctional [sic] Institution (SCI) in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania assaulted six prisoners, reportedly citing as reasons that these men file grievances against guard misconduct and are engaged in civil litigation against DOC officials.

We are asking that you read the alert, become angry, and act accordingly to help protect the men in the SMU and by extension all others subjected to the normalized white supremacist torture occurring on a daily basis inside prisons in the state of Pennsylvania and throughout the U.S.

FOR THE MEMO AND INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO TAKE ACTION click here

Undocumented Immigration 101

So here's the basic situation as I understand it
The U.S. government has historically:
- manipulated governments and trade in the region,
- exploited opportunities to use land and bodies from south of the border
- criminalized the bodies that cross the border because of the incentives that big business (supported by the same government) provides for crossing
- accepted taxes from these individuals (for more click here) and
- allowed the U.S. economy to benefit from these workers while simultaneously
- incarcerating, detaining, and deporting any undocumented workers they find

The NYT reported today that undocumented immigrants are actually rebuilding New Orleans for us.. and then being mugged and attacked in the streets. For the full article click here

As Tom Barry writes in Dollars and Sense,

"The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 drastically altered the traditional political economy of immigration. The millions of undocumented immigrants—those who crossed the border illegally or overstayed their visas—who were living and working in the United States were no longer simply regarded as a shadow population or as surplus cheap labor. In the public and policy debate, immigrants were increasingly defined as threats to the nation’s security. Categorizing immigrants as national security threats gave the government’s flailing immigration law-enforcement and border- control operations a new unifying logic that has propelled the immigrant crackdown forward.

Responsibility for immigration law-enforcement and border control passed from the Justice Department to the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In Congress Democrats and Republicans alike readily supported a vast expansion of the country’s immigration control apparatus—doubling the number of Border Patrol agents and authorizing a tripling of immigrant prison beds.

Today, after the shift in the immigration debate, the $15 billion-plus DHS budget for immigration affairs has fueled an immigrant-crackdown economy that has greatly boosted the already-bloated prison industry. Even now, with the economy imploding, immigrants are currently behind one of the country’s most profitable industries: they are the nation’s fastest growing sector of the U.S. prison population.

Across the country new prisons are hurriedly being constructed to house the hundreds of thousands of immigrants caught each year. State and local governments are vying with each other to attract new immigrant prisons as the foundation of their rural “economic development” plans.

While DHS is driving immigrants from their jobs and homes, U.S. firms in the business of providing prison beds are raking in record profits from the immigrant crackdown. Although only one piece of the broader story of immigration, it’s all a part of the new political economy of immigration."

Click here for the full article The New Political Economy of Immigration

HOW INCARCERATION AFFECTS THE JOB MARKET

From Racewire:

Millions of people leave jails and prisons every year and that number is about to grow. Citing unconstitutional health conditions, a panel of federal judges on Monday told the state of California to reduce prison overcrowding by 55,000 people, about a third of the total state prison population, over the next three years.

If the ruling holds up to appeal, tens of thousands of people, overwhelmingly Black and Latino, could return to their communities. {…}

The White House has appropriately put creating and saving jobs at the center of the stimulus plan. But for people with criminal records, the prospects of inclusion in the national recovery are dismal. It’s not enough to create a job when a quick criminal background check will result in so many people losing it or not getting it at all. Those with prior convictions will be excluded from the game before the starting whistle sounds.

Communities of color experience higher rates of joblessness. This is due in part to the damning mix of the stigma of having a criminal record, the assumption that ex-prisoners can never redeem themselves, the ensuing ban on public employment for people with felony convictions and the practice of employers doing background checks.

According to Princeton sociologist Devah Pager, joblessness among former prisoners after a year is somewhere around 75 percent -- three times the level among the same population before incarceration. The trend toward never-ending punishment, even after people have served their time, infects communities of color, especially Black people, with particular venom.

Consider, for example, the subprime mortgage crisis. It could not have occurred without a whole population of people of color whose economic and political vulnerability made them easy targets for exploitative loan products, which eventually spread out to other homeowners and took down the entire mortgage industry. And that kind of inequity is growing. In January Black and Latino unemployment was 12.6 and 9.7 percent respectively, compared to 6.9 percent for whites. Black and Latino poverty is close to 3 times that of whites. To get this economy moving again, we need people working, spending and paying taxes.

Fixing inequity is a prerequisite for constructing a healthy and just economy. As historians tell us, massive inequity preceded and contributed to the Great Depression. Removing concrete barriers to employment is one step in that direction. As we are implementing this stimulus plan, we should at the very least expunge the records of people with non-violent convictions, as the state of Illinois did in 2005. We should also severely limit employers’ rights to conduct criminal background checks, especially in situations like Vincent’s, whose employer routinely used them to keep the workforce temporary and insecure.

Vincent’s story:


For more about just jobs and private- versus public-sector impacts on poverty wages, read here

Where are your Valentine's Day flowers grown?

V-Day is also a very important day for Israeli exports because many of the flowers sold in (British) supermarkets and corner shops come from Israel and the Occupied Territories. Maybe it's the same where you live?

If you care about Israeli war crimes in Gaza, if you disagree with Israeli policies in the Occupied Territories, if you wish to live in a world without Apartheid... refuse to buy Israeli flowers on St. Valentine's Day.

When it comes to flowers, it isn't enough just to check for a Produce of Israel label or a barcode starting '7 29'. Israel sends many of its flowers to Holland for repackaging and relabelling. Support your local producers... buy locally-grown flowers.

The demonstration shown in this video took place last Saturday outside the premises of Carmel Agrexco. Carmel Agrexco is a 50%-state owned Israeli company at the heart of Israel's colonisation and exploitation of Palestinian land. It exports fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs from Israel and the Occupied Territories and accounts for 70% of exports of fresh produce from occupied Palestine. Britain takes 60% of its exports to Europe and Agrexco is the largest importer of illegal settlement goods into the UK, where it trades under the Carmel, Coral and Jaffa brand names.

Flowers exported by Agrexco are grown in illegal settlements on Palestinian land and so constitute illegally traded goods. Many Palestinians refuse to work with Agrexco. Thousands of others, though, are compelled by the complete strangulation of Palestinian agriculture resulting from the Israeli occupation to work packing goods for export in packing houses on land forcibly taken from their communities by Israeli settlers. They are paid as little as 30 shekels (£4) a day and have no sickpay, holiday pay, rights to unionise or contracts. Children are often employed on these settlements. Many of these Palestinian workers have called on the international community to boycott and campaign against Carmel Agrexco.

A regular picket is to be found outside Agrexco's premises in the UK. The aim of the picket is to expose its complicity in murder, theft and damage of occupied land, collective punishment, Apartheid, ethnic cleansing and other breaches of International Law to public scrutiny. A group of 15 women locked themselves to the gates of Carmel Agrexco to stop a delivery of Valentine's roses.

For the video:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ectomorfo/3274316685/

Judges Plead Guilty to Jailing Youths for Profit

You can't make this shit up. And just when I was feeling optimistic...

“I felt like I had been thrown into some surreal sort of nightmare,” said Hillary, 17, who was sentenced in 2007. “All I wanted to know was how this could be fair and why the judge would do such a thing.”

My thoughts exactly on the entire scandal that is the PIC. The entire system needs to be abolished. Prison abolition, please. Now.

The Funeral for Democracy

AZ Maricopa Supervisors/Worst Sheriff Arpaio Arrests Nine Pro-immigrant Activists

Dear NAIR activists, [Please distribute widely.]

See below video entitled THE FUNERAL FOR DEMOCRACY. It calls attention to the arrests of 9 pro-immigrant activists--mostly Anglo-American justice advocates--in Phoenix in protest of racist Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his practice of racial profiling. Video below:



The struggle in Phoenix has sharpened after the defeat of the Democrats in the recent Arizona presidential elections. Aided by Joe Arpaio, Andrew Thomas,20Randy Pullen, and Russell Pearce, the Republicans will now control the Governorship, the state Senate, and the state House of Representatives. (Janet Napolitano is leaving to join the Obama administration.)

Perhaps a similar repression of migrants that ocurred nationally in the 1930s and the 1950s (Operation Wetback) is in the horizon here in Arizona. Migrants families are being torn apart: mothers from children; children from fathers; brother from sister; aunt from nephews.

In struggle,


Manuel de J. Hernandez G.

It's time for change - I'm feeling optimistic

In these most desperate of times change may be coming.

Attempts to control youth are failing!! Twelve young people in Mass juvenile prisons may be liberated after the Supreme Judicial Court "struck down a law that allowed the state to keep juvenile offenders in custody for three years after they turned 18, if officials believed they would be "physically dangerous to the public.'"(read more here)
Also, even though youth curfews exist in neighboring cities and towns, a youth curfew has been overturned in Oakland after massive resistance to the mass criminalization of young people. (News report here)

AND KIDS WILL GET HEALTHCARE!! And President Obama signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, expanding the SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program ) health insurance program for children of low-income families and enabling states to provide an additional 4 million children with health insurance.

Senate: Yea-66, Nay-32

House: Yea-290, Nay-135

The bill awaits the president's signature.

In Philadelphia, public schools are considering a new "turnaround” strategy for "chronically underperforming schools, one based on Chicago’s controversial Renaissance 2010 project that closes existing schools and opens new ones under a different management structure." A big part of this proposal involves charter schools which are controversial, but it COULD provide immediate relief to some of the least-resourced schools in the country.
From "The Notebook:

At the proposed “contract schools,” outside managers would have more independence than the private managers currently operating schools under the District’s existing “diverse provider” model – they would be able to employ their own staff, for example.

In addition, some schools – to be called “innovation schools” – would be reconstituted from the ground up with new teachers and leadership, but managed by the District with union teachers.

“Performance schools” would not be reconstituted with new personnel, but like the others would be given more “autonomy” over school management in exchange for “greater accountability."
Complete article here

Women in Iran are protesting for rights and what makes me excited is that this is not imposed from a foreign organization but rather from "the people" themselves:
"Women’s rights advocates say Iranian women are displaying a growing determination to achieve equal status in this conservative Muslim theocracy, where male supremacy is still enscribed in the legal code. One in five marriages now end in divorce, according to government data, a fourfold increase in the past 15 years." (Full NYT article here)

The Obama administration named three people to posts in its intergovernmental affairs office on Friday, including Jodi Archambault Gillette, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The Lakota woman will serve as a deputy associate director in an office that functions as a mediator between the administration and state, tribal and local governments. This is a huge step and the highest position a Native person has held in the U.S. Details here

The Migration Policy Institute’s published a list of 36 recommendations for the Obama administration on immigration. These changes include reassessing the border fence, and ending the criminal prosecution of undocumented immigrants. The hope is that this would give the federal government a chance to look at the actual effectiveness of its enforcement mechanisms. .

From Racewire:
That pragmatism would be a great improvement over the ideologically-driven measures that immigration restrictionists have successfully pushed for the last eight years. The country could stop wasting both resources and human rights credentials in silly projects that distract us from focusing on more serious problems, like human trafficking and terrorism.

The report also recommends a number of changes that would bring due process to the immigration system, including steps that prevent indefinite, unlawful and unsafe detention of migrants. These are mostly administrative, bureaucratic changes, but they will provide relief to real human beings who are now having their border communities torn up by fence construction, being separated from their families, rounded up in raids, and held in detention centers where people are dying. One of the things we should assess is how much these practices generate racial profiling.

[...]

It’s unlikely that the Obama Administration, with enforcement-oriented Janet Napolitano at the helm of Homeland Security, will adopt most of them unless they hear from the call from US residents who aren’t ideologically tied to pushing out immigrants. Conservatives say that they only oppose undocumented immigration, but people on both sides of the debate know that the line between those with papers and without is very thin, that families and communities hold both, and that policies directed at undocumented immigrants inevitably affect the documented too.

LINK to the full RaceWire article

Boston cops may have escorted two gay porn stars to a nightclub - I'm skeptical but if so this might have beeen the most radical police action ... ever? Read about it here

AND MEXICO CITY'S MAYOR IS GIVING OUT VIAGRA TO 'POOR MEN' AGE 60 AND ABOVE. NYT Article here

Palestinian Microfinance

All I can say is - people make peace. Not armies.

Monday, February 9, 2009

MICROCAPITAL STORY: A Kiva-like Internet Microfinance Brokerage "Lend-for-Peace" is Founded for Palestine

» Posted by Ryan Hogarth in Category: Middle East at 12:30 am

Two Jews and two Palestinians joined together at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania to launch a non-profit internet microfinance brokerage called "Lendfor Peace.org" (LFP). Like Kiva.org, LFP facilitates microloans from individuals around the world to partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) who on-loan the funds to women living in poverty that want to start small businesses. LFP, however, focuses exclusively on the Palestinian territories. During the most recent escalation of violence in Gaza, LFP cofounders released a blog explaining their common motivation in launching the microfinance support platform: "The current crisis will increase the number of people who are financially and emotionally strained and has the potential to result in echoes of desperation and violence in the future. We believe that support systems in these regions are more crucial than ever and that an infrastructure for rebuilding the economies of the affected areas will be important for the success of any accord."

At LendforPeace.org users can scroll through a list of profiles of Palestinian women seeking microloans, and choose which women they would like to support through the extension of a minimum USD 25 loan. The loans are distributed in full by LFP to partner MFIs in Palestine, which in turn, distribute the loans to the borrowers. The partner MFIs also screen and monitor borrowers, and collect payment installments with interest. The interest covers the costs of the partner MFIs, and the loans are repaid to the LFP user. LFP, as a non-profit, operates on donations from philanthropic organizations such as the Clinton Global Initiative, Ashoka Youth Venture, Davis Projects for Peace (USD 10 thousand), and the Shurush Initiative, and from individuals who donate through the website.

LFP's website says that it hopes to "humanize" both sides of the conflict. It will allow users to "gain a more personal view of the Palestinian experience," and will contribute towards the "healing process of Palestinians when they learn that LendforPeace.org was founded by and is funded by Jews as well as Palestinians working together." MicroCapital has recently released a number of articles on the impact of microfinance in promoting peace including "MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Beyond Economic Benefits: The Contribution of Microfinance to Post-Conflict Recovery in Asia and the Pacific" and "MICROCAPITAL STORY: International Symposium on Microfinance as a Tool for Peacebuilding Discusses Rebuilding the Social and Economic Fabric in Post-Conflict Areas of Colombia through Microcredit"

LFP currently has two partner MFIs, the Palestinian Business Women´s Association (ASALA) and FATEN. ASALA was established as a non-profit in 1997, and it operates in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 2007, ASALA reported to the MixMarket, the microfinance information clearing house, that it had 2018 women borrowers, a gross loan portfolio of USD 1.8 million. It had a debt-equity ration of 31.9 percent, and was only 36.7 percent operationally self-sufficient. FATEN was founded by Save the Children Foundation USA in 1995. In 1998 it became an independent non-profit with a Palestinian Board of Directors. The MixMarket reported that in 2007 FATEN had 3771 borrowers, and a gross loan portfolio of USD 5.9 million. It had a debt-equity ration of 8.09 percent, and was 92.15 percent operationally self-sufficient.

To reduce risk to the LFP user, partner MFIs either put up an equal amount of capital or join in a risk-sharing agreement. This mechanism provides incentive for partner MFIs to screen for borrowers that only they themselves would lend to. The website stresses the transparency of its partner MFIs, and that they comply with the US State Department's anti-terrorism clause. Loan officers reportedly visit borrowers regularly before and during the loan term to determine the client's local reputation, sources of income and previous criminal records, and to ensure proper use of the loan. The partner MFIs are regularly audited by international accounting firms, and LFP also conducts its own periodic audits of its partner MFIs.

LFPs four co-founders are Sam Adelsberg, Andrew Dudum, David Fraga and Allam Taj. David Adelsberg has spent five months of the last three years living in Israel, and three months in Egypt studying Arabic. He is a former Senior Program Director for PlaNet Finance, a nominee to be a Goldman Sachs Global Leader and Ashoka Entrepreneur, and a candidate for a degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Andrew Dudum, an Arab Christian, is a student at the Wharton School in Finance and Real Estate and founder of myGreek.org, a professional social network designed for current and former fraternity and sorority members worldwide. David Fraga, a Cuban Jew, is an Analyst at Insight Venture Partners, a firm that invests in software and Internet businesses. He has a double major in Economics and Political Science and a minor in Hispanic Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Allam Taj is a Dubai-born Palestinian Muslim, raised in Philadelphia, who has worked as a Financial Analyst at Johnson and Johnson and Legg Mason. Mr. Taj is set to complete his studies at the Wharton School of Business and University Pennsylvania Law School this May, at which point he will being working for Citigroup and New-York based corporate law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom.

Nearly 50 percent of the population in the Palestinian territories is below the poverty line, and over 30 percent is unemployed. According to PlaNet Finance more than 95 percent of all businesses in the Palestinian Territories are micro-enterprises, 90 percent of which are without access to microfinance. LFP cofounder, Andrew Dudum said, "We realize that the economic stability in the West Bank is key to the final end-goal for peace in the region. By giving these people a chance to feed their children, to keep their job and a chance to have hope, we're trying to lay the basic foundation of a stable economy and a stable region."

By Ryan Hogarth, Research Assistant

Additional Resources:

LendforPeace.org: Blog

LendforPeace.org: Home

The Daily Pennsylvanian: "Non-profit Aims to Bring Peace to the Middle East", by Emily Fox

The MixMarket: ASALA Profile

The MixMarket: FATAN Profile

Palestinian Opinions Post Gaza

The results of the public opinion poll conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC) during the period 29-31 January 2009 show that the majority of respondents (46.7%) believed that Hamas came out of the war victorious compared with only 9.8% who said that Israel won the war. Over one-third, 37.4%, said that neither side achieved victory in this war.

A striking finding in this field poll is the disparity between opinions in the West Bank and those in the Gaza Strip on most of the issues tackled in the poll. For example, 53.3% of respondents in the West Bank believed that Hamas won the recent war, while 35.2% of respondents in Gaza felt the same.

The poll, with a random sample of 1,198 respondents, found a rise in the popularity -- especially in the West Bank -- of the Hamas movement, its leaders, and its government alongside a decline in the popularity of the Fatah movement, its leaders, and its government.

The percentage of those who would vote for Hamas if PLC elections were held today rose to 28.6% in this poll compared with 19.3% last April. On the other hand, the popularity of the Fatah movement declined from 34% last April to 27.9% in this poll.

This change was also reflected in the level of public trust in the two movements. Trust in Hamas rose from 16.6% last November to 27.7% in this poll. With regard to Fatah, popular trust in the movement declined from 31.3% to 26% in the same period. It is clear from the poll that the rise in Hamas's popularity is due to an increase in its popularity in the West Bank -- it rose from 12.8% last November to 26.5% in this poll.

For the complete article and a link to download the full report click here

This brings up a lot of questions for me- is Hamas interested in building a Palestinian state? What does the rising support for Hamas in the larger Palestinian population mean? In some ways its obvious where it is coming from.. but what does it mean for the future? I keep hearing that Fatah is the partner to work with, not Hamas - but if the people support Hamas (and increasingly so) then what does that even mean?

And today, in light of the Israeli election results, what does the future hold?

Kadima won the most seats in the new Knesset, but the Likud-led right-wing would constitute the larger bloc.

Is it a positive sign that Kadima (the centrist party made up of former leaders in both Likud - conservative - and Labor - more liberal) will be in charge? Will Livni (head of Kadima and therefore in line to be PM) be able to make a successful coalition? Will Likud successfully block her formation of a coalition? And when Livni says she wants to change the government, what changes does she mean?

From The Jerusalem Post:

With 99.7 percent of the votes counted, Kadima was narrowly leading Likud with a predicted 28 mandates, while the latter had garnered a predicted 27 seats. Israel Beiteinu was expected to earn 15 mandates, Labor 13, Shas 11, United Arab List four, United Torah Judaism five, National Union four, Hadash four, Meretz three, Bayit Hayehudi three, and Balad three.

The final results, including votes from soldiers and emissaries abroad, will only be published on February 18.

NEW HAVEN ICE RAIDS

Feds Return For Immigration Raid

by Melissa Bailey | February 3, 2009 3:14 PM

IMG_1352.JPG

Melissa Bailey Photo

Two local pastors were on their way out the door to pray with a family when they heard a knock.

Minutes later, they found themselves caught in an immigration raid, their family torn apart.

The raid a couple of weeks ago at the home of Juan Sil and Julia Morales appears to be the first in the city since June 2007, when federal agents swept up 32 alleged illegal immigrants, sending waves of terror through the Fair Haven neighborhood.

In the latest raid, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents targeted Julia Morales, a 44-year-old pentecostal pastor who has been living in the New York-New Haven area for a quarter century. The raid netted four people: Julia, her husband Juan, and two other men living in their home.

The feds described the arrests as “routine.”

“ICE is mandated by Congress to enforce a wide range of immigration and customs laws we will continue to enforce those laws in Connecticut and throughout the U.S.,” stated ICE spokeswoman Paula Grenier.

Agents went to the home to serve a warrant for deportation on Julia Morales, she said. During the process, they came across the three other men and charged them with immigration violations, she confirmed.

Now Julia Morales sits behind bars in a detention in a facility in Maine, pending deportation.

Kica Matos, City Hall’s point person on immigration matters, fumed over why ICE would target a woman who by the agency’s own protocol, ranks as the lowest priority for deportation. ICE’s stated goals are to collect illegal immigrants in this order: those who pose a threat to national security, those who are a threat to the community, those who have a criminal record, and lastly, non-criminal fugitives.

“This woman has not received so much as a traffic ticket,” said Matos. “She was a contributing member of the community. She was spreading the word of God in New Haven.”

“When is it an act of terror to preach about God?” asked Matos. “She clearly wasn’t a
priority.” In arresting a pastor, she said the raid has had an impact not just on one family, but on a whole church community.

Phony Lawyer

What is particularly tragic, Matos said, is the way the woman ended up on the feds’ wanted list.

Julia’s deportation order appears to have stemmed from when she sought help from a phony New York lawyer who later pleaded guilty to defrauding immigrants.

“She was trying to do the right thing,” said Matos. “She was trying to get proper status. She got duped by a lawyer—and now she’s paying the price.”

Juan, who’s 54, has better prospects at remaining in the country: He’s eligible to have his two adult U.S. citizen children (Priscilla and Jimmy, pictured with him above) petition for a change in his immigration status. He remains home with his family pending his next date in court. Julia’s brother, Gustavo Morales, remains in ICE custody pending a hearing; the fourth arrestee, Hernán Rivera, was released on a bond, Grenier said.

The Raid

Sitting on a few couches at a cozy apartment Saturday, heaped with climbing children and two pet dogs, the Sil-Moraleses recounted the day that the feds took their “motor,” their matriarch, away.

It was about 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 14. Juan and Julia were at home at 525 East St., where they live with one of their three grown kids in a highway-bordered neighborhood between East Rock and Fair Haven.

Jimmy Sil-Morales, who’s 23, was watching a movie with his uncle on the couch. His 4 year-old daughter was playing on the floor. Julia and Juan, pastors at a Pentecostal church on Howe Street, had an appointment at a parishioner’s house. As was their nightly routine, they were going to pray with a family in need of support. Julia put her coat on.

Then she heard a knock. Jimmy got up and answered the door with his mom. On the other side, there were several men in vests. The visitors didn’t identify themselves, according to Jimmy. (Grenier declined to give details on the raid, but said that ICE agents do identify themselves as law enforcement officers, police or ICE when making arrests. Local police were notified beforehand, she contended.)

“Are you Julia Morales?” the visitors asked, according to Jimmy. She replied yes, he said. They came in and announced that they had a warrant for her arrest.

Upon learning who she was, eight men “burst” into the house, said Jimmy. They asked everyone for identification. They checked upstairs, under the bed and in the closets, he said.

When the agents came across Juan Sil, he produced a driver’s license as identification. The license was valid, Sil said. ICE agents checked his record in a database.

Before they could pull up the record, Juan volunteered what they might find. He admitted to having a bad record long ago, including a drunken driving offense. But he told them, in the past 15 years, “my record has been clean.”

“God changed me,” he told them.

Until 15 years ago, Juan lived at the bottom of society. He was homeless, unemployed, drunk. Then he found God, and has been clean ever since, he said, working as an upholsterer and devoting his life to his church.

The story didn’t sway ICE officials from slapping him with an arrest warrant.

Juan got the warrant when he appeared the following morning in immigration court, as officials ordered him to do.

“You are not a citizen” of the U.S., the warrant claimed. “You are a native of Guatemala.” The warrant charged Juan with immigrating into the country illegally.

A U.S. citizen born in New York City, Jimmy escaped the wrath of ICE. His uncle, Gustavo Morales, wasn’t so lucky. Neither was the uncle’s roommate, Hernán Rivera. The two men, along with Julia Morales, were arrested for allegedly entering the U.S. without permission.

Agents took their fingerprints in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Jimmy’s 4 year-old daughter sat on the living room floor.

When the feds moved to take the suspects away, Jimmy pleaded with them to protect his daughter from seeing her grandma hauled away like a criminal. Jimmy’s daughter is “attached at the hip” to her grandmother, he explained.

“You’re not going to handcuff my mother in front of my daughter!” he cried. The agents agreed to let Julia hug his daughter goodbye. The agents waited until Julia was outside to put on the handcuffs.

The next day, Jimmy and his sister Priscilla trekked up to Hartford for their father’s court date. They saw their mom one last time before she was taken to a detention camp in Maine. Juan was told to return on a regular basis as his case was heard.

“The Motor of the Family”

Meanwhile, the family has struggled to get by without its babysitter, cook and spiritual leader. When they went to work, Julia’s three children relied on her to take care of their four little ones. When she wasn’t babysitting or helping out at church, Julia would cook Guatemalan specialties like tamales and cheesecake, and sell them to pay the bills.

In her absence, Juan has been trying to take over some of the child-minding duties.

The other day, Juan said he tried to change a diaper on one of his grandkids. “I couldn’t do it,” he said.

“My wife is the motor of my house,” said Juan, who’s 54 years old.

“She makes everything move,” chimed in Jimmy.

A Church Rises

The family said Julia’s detention has been a blow to the church community, too.

After he turned his life around 15 years ago, Juan was possessed by a fever to help others.

When the family moved to the New Haven area about 15 years ago, he and his wife started thinking about preaching.

They found an abandoned auto mechanic’s garage on Davenport Avenue and turned it into a church. The parish grew to about 200 — until the ICE raids hit in 2007, and churchgoers were afraid to leave the house. Juan left the parish and started a new church in West Haven, this one in and old antique shop.

When he wasn’t working at his job, upholstering boats and homes, he devoted all his time to his parish, he said. When a parishioner fell on hard times, he and his wife would reach out to the church community and try to find help. That meant serving as a marriage counselor, helping women in abusive relationships, feeding people with bare cupboards, and visiting the sick at the hospital. People seek his help, he said, because he understand where they’re coming from.

“I’ve been through everything,” he said.

After the West Haven building was condemned, the Sil-Moraleses didn’t give up on the church. They found someone to rent out a church on Howe Street and kept on preaching. Today, the Iglesia de Diós, Puerta a Canaan has a parish of about 60-80 people, they said.

“She’s not a criminal,” said Julia’s daughter Julie, as the family finished rattling off a list of benevolent acts. “She’s just trying to give us a future.”

Three times, Juan has driven the five hours to the Maine detention camp to visit his wife. He finds her in an orange jumpsuit on the other side of a glass wall. They talk for one to two hours, and then he drives back home.

Priscilla, who’s 21, accompanied him on one of the trips. She said her mom tells her how much she worries about them.

“I tell her everything is going to be fine,” said Priscilla. To honor her mother’s longtime wishes, she just enrolled herself in college.

The family has not decided whether they will fight the deportation order. They do know one thing for sure, said Priscilla: “We don’t want her in there [the detention center], lonely, cooped up like an animal.”

Juan said he would like to stay around to raise his grandkids.

If the couple does get deported, however, their kids have vowed to support them.

“We’re going to have to work for them,” said Jimmy, “like they did for us.”

Original article found here in the New Haven Independent

British cooperative to promote Palestinian goods over Israeli

Original article found on ynet here

British cooperative to promote Palestinian goods over Israeli

Retailers' cooperative sends letter to local manufacturers saying will not market products with any part produced in 'illegally occupied territories', but announces plans to promote Palestinian goods
Gali Berger, Calcalist

Israel's Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip has had its effect on local exporters, with Britain being one of the leading nations in this aspect.


The British retailers' cooperative sent a letter to the Carmel Winery distributor last week saying: Up to this day we have not taken any products containing significant parts manufactured in the occupied territories. From now on, we will also avoid marketing products with any part of their components purchased in the occupied territories.


Britain also plans to promote Palestinian goods. "We are opening commerce channels with Palestinian farmers in hopes of launching the first fair-trade Palestinian product later during the year," the letter said.


At the end of the letter the signatories, who stressed they had no problem marketing goods produced in Israel, requested an affidavit from distributors stating that none of the goods or any of there components were manufactured in the "illegally occupied" territories.


This is not the first time British unions wage war against Israeli goods. About a year-and-a-half ago the Transport and General Workers’ Union called for a boycott of Israeli goods as opposition to "Israel's conduct in the occupied territories".


The cooperative signing the documents contains over 1.5 million members.


Carmel Winery CEO Israel Ivzan said this was a sign of deterioration in ties. "The fact that they are promoting Palestinian products and campaigning for them is new."


Ivzan said, however, the letter would have no effect on his products. "The wines that we market all originate in completely Israeli territory. Our export to Britain stands at some 50,000-60,000 bottles a year, that amounts to NIS 1 million to NIS1.5 million, ($248,000 - $372,000)" he said.

Rockefeller Reform

From Racewire

Dropping the rock

This week, New York took a decisive step toward reforming the Rockefeller Drug Laws—the notorious mandatory-minimum sentencing rules that have driven the mass incarceration of people of color over the past generation.

Despite some marginal reforms in recent years, the state’s prisons remain packed with thousands of nonviolent drug offenders, many of them imprisoned for extremely low-level offenses. About nine in ten drug offenders in New York State prisons are Black or Latino, according to the advocacy campaign Drop the Rock. Reformers and civil rights activists have long criticized the laws as racist and inhumane, not to mention wasteful and generally ineffective for dealing with the social impacts of substance abuse.

The state Commission on Sentencing Reform has now officially laid out prospects for reform in a report that concludes:

“Community-based drug treatment, especially when required in a criminal justice setting where the offender faces clearly defined sanctions for program failure, works and should be an available option in every region of the state.

“The state’s network of existing diversion programs and drug courts has been effective for thousands of drug-addicted offenders, and any new diversion model must be structured so as not to undermine these programs.

“New York should adopt a comprehensive plan to provide statewide access to substance abuse treatment programs.

“New York must continue to reserve costly prison resources for high-risk offenders and make greater use of alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders while not jeopardizing the state’s significant gains in public safety.”

Yet the New York Civil Liberties Union criticized the report for not going far enough in opening legal avenues to community-based alternatives to incarceration. The group argues that more positive interventions would remain out of reach for many drug offenders because the proposed guidelines would:

"Preclude youthful offenders with certain prior convictions from diversion to rehabilitation.

"Require a 'certification of addiction' procedure that will result in a complex and costly factual dispute that prosecutors will always be better armed to win.

"Exclude from eligibility for diversion those who are not addicted but could nevertheless be better served by community based rehabilitation programs. Successful diversion models employed across the country and in New York State demonstrate that providing mental health, vocational and educational services offer the best outcomes."

But even if the movement toward an overhaul is not radical enough for many activists, recent shifts on drug policy in Albany's political climate have been unmistakable.

Reform measures have a better chance of passing this year, as Governor David Paterson has long criticized the drug laws, and in the State Senate, the new Democratic majority means less political resistance. The fiscal crisis now besetting New York and many other state governments may also convince policymakers that the government cannot afford wasteful incarceration policies under a budget crunch.

After decades of some of the most regressive drug laws in the country, New York may soon find itself at the helm of a nationwide wave of reform, as states—and even the federal government--realign drug policy in light of social realities, racial inequity, and economic priorities.

By Michelle Chen

Also - here is a link to a really interesting conference on race and the economy and how economic obstacles are affected communities of color disproportionately

http://racewire.org/mp3/raceandeconomyconference1_3.mp3

The effects of immigration raids on communities

I saw this clip on RaceWire and I think it is so important - not just to publicize the voices of the communities and individuals most affected by immigration raids and border patrol, but also to contextualize and humanize undocumented workers who are so often, as this kid says, criminalized.

This clip is in response to the May 12 Postville (Iowa) raid - the largest single workplace raid in US history at that point. ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detained 389 workers - 20% of the town's population. This action was followed by a huge raid in Laurel, MI where 595 workers were arrested in and another in Greenville, SC where 300 were arrested.



In this summer's issue of Colorlines, Daisy Hernández reports about the mothers arrested in this raid who are now raising their families under house arrest.

Moms Under House Arrest By Daisy Hernández

Most of the women, like Irma, have lost their husbands. Arrested, the men have been already deported or are being detained by immigration officials in prisons in Iowa and increasingly out of state. Irma is a mother. She used to do the things any mom would do—that is a mom who worked with her husband at a meatpacking plant in a small Iowa town: she would make their paychecks stretch so she could send money to Guatemala and also take her two boys, ages 9 and 11, to Chuck E. Cheese on weekends. But those days have ended. Irma is now one of 40 mothers in Postville, Iowa, raising their families under house arrest. The women were arrested in May, during the largest workplace raid at a single site in United States history. Most of them, like Irma, have lost their husbands. Arrested, the men have been already deported or are being detained by immigration officials in prisons in Iowa and increasingly out of state. Three fathers, who were arrested during the raid, were also released under the same condition as the mothers—that they stay in Iowa wearing an electronic ankle bracelet that allows immigration officials to monitor their movements. At first, it was hard to get used to the electronic bracelets, says Irma, whose full name is Irma Yolanda Hernandez Perez. She couldn’t wear it on her right ankle because of problems with her veins and she had to put a handkerchief between the device and her skin to avoid getting abrasions on her ankle. “You feel bad,” she said. “It’s heavy. You’re not used it.” The sigh is audible in her voice as she adds, “You get used to it.” Nearly 400 people were arrested during the May raid at AgriProcessors, the country's largest kosher meatpacking plant. The people were mostly Guatemalan and Mexican and many were parents. Luz María Rámirez, a spokeswoman at St. Bridget's Catholic Church, which is helping parents like Irma, says that the 43 parents under house have a total of 90 children among them and about 30 of these kids are U.S.-born. “They’re getting more rebellious,” says Irma about the children. “They ask about their fathers. They feel it.” She has tried to be as honest as she can with them, while not revealing her deeper worries about the family’s future. Her own husband is being detained in Louisiana and calls her collect. The women are now single moms. Like Irma, many do not have families in the U.S. and so they are now gathering at St. Bridget's Catholic Church every day. They live on the contributions that people are making and on the food pantry that’s nearby. They also have a support group with counselors from Des Moines. “Many of them are not eating or sleeping,” says Rámirez about the moms. Irma heard about raids in other small towns and cities. “I never imagined that the same would happen here,” she said. Irma migrated from Guatemala four years ago, making the journey with her husband and her two boys. She had worked in agriculture but it was impossible to feed her family and also pay the debts the family had accrued. She and her husband got jobs at AgriProcessors packing sausages, ham and cooked meats. The plant itself is notorious for its poor working conditions. Wages allegedly start at $6.25 an hour. Bathrooms are said to be limited. In March, the company was fined $182,000 for 39 state health, safety and labor violations. “It was the worst plant in the United States,” said Father Paul Ouderkirk of St. Bridget's Catholic Church, who toured the plant twice in the 10 years since he’s been in Postville, Iowa. On the day of the raid, Irma’s children were in school. She was arrested at 10 in the morning and spent the day worrying about her boys. A friend, however, had picked them up at the school and taken them to the church. Teachers had also taken students to the church. Irma was released by six that evening and reunited with her children. Today, the parents are in immigration limbo, waiting for immigration officials to make contact with them and hoping their pro bono lawyers will be able to reunite them with their spouses and allow them to stay. The immediate worry though is about food and shelter. Without assistance from the church and the donations made there, Irma said, she doesn’t know what would have happened to her and her two boys. But, she asked, “When the funds are gone, what’s going to happen to us?”

Immigration Detention Reform now on the "Front Burner"

New America Media, Roberto Lovato, Posted: Feb 02, 2009

Guantanamo Bay isn’t the only prison crisis that President Barack Obama will have to deal with. There’s another crisis growing - in the many immigration detention centers carpeting the interior of the country. Long ignored by policymakers because they make up the politically lethal combination of immigration and prison reform, calls for major restructuring of the immigration detention system may soon become unavoidable. The death of German immigrant Guido Newbrough in a Virginia detention center has pushed the issue to the front burner, helped along by incessant calls for change from advocates like Gil Velazquez.

“I went through that system. I was there. I could have died too,” says Velazquez upon hearing of Newbrough’s death. Velazquez, a recently released immigrant detainee from Oaxaca, Mexico who now lives in Richmond, Virginia, is looking for action from Washington. “I wish I could speak to Mr. Obama. I would tell him ‘They (immigration authorities) jail so many people and they don’t know what they’re doing. They have no right to let people die,’” said Velazquez.

His mobility and work possibilities are limited by the big black ankle bracelet that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is forcing him to wear until his hearing in June. He cannot leave his sister’s apartment in the evenings. But Velazquez does not let his undocumented status limit his freedom.

“I want him (Obama) to know that we should be building schools and hospitals, things that help people, not these prisons,” the very soft-spoken Velazquez declared in his most strident cadence as he took a break from folding flyers for a protest to halt the construction of another immigrant detention center in Farmville, where Newborough died.

Velazquez’s indefatigable efforts form part of a large and growing movement to put immigration detention issues front and center of any upcoming reform of the larger immigration system from the Obama administration. He and other critics of the system see the root of Newbrough’s death and a host of other problems –death from medical neglect, denial of habeas corpus and other basic legal rights, lack of sanitation, food and other basic necessities, violent and abusive guards, to name a few- in the exponential growth of the immigrant detainee population. It has tripled since 1996, according to ICE records.

Demands for a radical restructuring of the detention and deportation system have become the main message on the placards, press statements and posters of a growing galaxy of older and new advocacy groups outside the Beltway. Groups like the Detention Watch Network, an umbrella organization made up of immigrant detention advocates from across the country, report rapid growth in membership and actions since the failure of immigration reform unleashed an unprecedented regime of raids and incarceration targeting immigrants.

Fueled by what groups like Virginia’s People United, a multi-issue activist organization, are calling the “humanitarian crisis” in immigrant detention, Velazquez and others’ increasingly vociferous calls for changes to the detention system have also created a political crisis for supporters of the more legalization-centered approach to immigration reform favored by supporters of some version of the McCain-Kennedy bill of 2006-2007 which was also supported by then Senator Barack Obama. The failure of McCain-Kennedy, gave rise not just to exponential increases in the numbers of ICE raids (an average of 11 per day); it also gave long-ignored detention reform flank of the immigrant rights movement more motivated troops and unprecedented resources - more than a dozen reports on detention issues are expected in coming months.

Many new detention reform groups have arisen and established groups like People United have placed immigrant detention near the center of their agenda in the last two years thanks to the constant stream of sad and often bizarre detention stories. “I just spoke with a man being held in the jail where Mr. Newbrough died,” said Jeff Winder, a regional organizer with People United. “The man told me that they’re cutting even more services to save money. Less than two months after the second death in that prison they’re cutting heat, toilet paper, food and other basic services. He even told me that there are 30 lights on the ceiling but that only 5 are turned on. People are crowding under lights just to read.”

Winder also pointed to several recent events – a hostage situation in Texas, hunger strikes across the country, legal victories for detainees claiming they were physically and psychologically abused, other deaths in detention – as examples of the “scandal in immigrant detention we see every week.” The steady stream of bad detention news is forcing Winder and other activists to find balance in the optimism mirrored by the Obama moment. “There’s a real mood of hope in the country. The end of the horrible abuses of Bush is very important and historic. I celebrate that, he said, adding, “But I’m waiting to see what President Obama will do about creating really viable alternatives to detention.”

Asked about the alternatives, Winder cited a 1998 government-funded study by the Vera Institute of Justice. The study found that, with a battery of community services costing less than $12 per person per day (versus the national average of $120 per day for people in immigration detention centers) the government could drastically reduce the numbers of people in immigrant detention facilities. “Reducing the number of people is important,” said Winder. “But the more important question President Obama will have to answer why we have so many people rotting in immigrant prisons in the first place.”