In response to several hundred detentions in the Bay Area conducted by federal immigration officials--immigrant mothers, their children and immigrant rights advocates came out Feb. 28 as part of a Week of Action Against ICE Raids and for Immigrant Rights. “We are Families!” carried the theme of family reunification on Wednesday.

Each day this week in front of the Homeland Security building in downtown San Francisco, the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition and Deporten a la Migra Coalition are denouncing the sharp increase in raids nationwide and locally since January 2007--particularly the devastating effects it has had on our families. There have been countless reports of trauma inflicted children, separated families, and community members too afraid to leave their homes.

Together we are calling on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop their national operation and to urge San Francisco’s Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, to call for a moratorium on all ICE raids until congress is able to bring relief through a new and just immigration law which must include legalization.

Activities carried out by ICE have come to leave countless US citizen children parentless and contradict all congressional efforts to create a new immigration law – recognizing that our current immigration system is broken and impracticable - to ensure among other things family unity.

Anne O’Callaghan, executive director of the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians wrote this commentary for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

It’s a few minutes before midnight on Dec. 31, 2014. A festive crowd at Penn’s Landing, ready for fireworks, wildly applauds the popular outgoing mayor as he steps up to address the crowd:

“Fellow Philadelphians, as we gather to celebrate the dawn of a new year, I can’t help reflecting on where our city was and how far it has come. We have much to celebrate. “Take a look around – there are more of us. After 50 years of population loss, the City of Brotherly Love is growing again. More than two million people live here now.

“For this turnaround there are many groups to thank, but I’ll focus on one: Philadelphia’s foreign-born citizens. While immigrants have always come to Philadelphia, it is only in the last eight years that we have given them the wings they need to fly.

“Back in 2006, 11 percent of Philadelphians were foreign-born. Today, 21 percent are immigrants. In 2006, Philadelphia had 5,000 abandoned buildings and vacant lots. Today, investors are clamoring for commercial space. Natives of India and the Ukraine have opened businesses that are stabilizing North Philadelphia’s economy. West African bodegas line Woodland Avenue, bringing prosperity both to their owners and to neighboring businesses.

“Back in 2006, Philadelphia was the site of 406 homicides. In the year we say good-bye to tonight, that number is 190. We never could have fought crime so effectively without the financial contributions of immigrant taxpayers, the vigilance of neighborhood watch groups, and a renewed willingness on everyone’s part to look out for their neighbors.

“Immigrants have done much for Philadelphia, and the city, in turn, has reached out to them. We partnered with the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians to provide immigrants with a clearinghouse of information for finding jobs and starting businesses in the area. We dedicated funding for English as a Second Language classes. Back in 2006, cheeseteak vendor, Joey Vento famously said that immigrants needed to learn English to succeed. You know, he was right – but we helped them do that by providing the teachers and materials they needed.

“We have developed a system for converting foreign educational and professional credentials into terms which area employers can understand. We’re making it easier for the Nigerian scientist to give up his taxicab for a laboratory job. We want the Albanian mathematician teaching our students rather than delivering our pizzas. Integrating the foreign-born into our professional economy has been good for immigrants and vital to the city’s economic comeback.

“Philadelphia has thrived because we have stopped seeing immigrants as victims who needed our charity and instead look upon them as business partners, social collaborators, and vital human resources. As you outgoing mayor, I am thrilled to be leaving you in the hands of my successor – who is himself an immigrant. “Here’s to our future!”

Aeryca Steinbauer of Oregon’s immigrant rights coalition, CAUSA, talks about the People of Color Action Academy, which aims to build alliances between the African American and Latino communities on issues such as drivers licenses for immigrants and access to higher education for undocumented immigrants.

The half-day session and dialogue took place on January 27 at the Chemeketa Community College in Salem.

Q: What are the objectives of the People of Color Academy?

A: CAUSA is a statewide coalition of immigrant rights groups joining forces with African American organizations to educate each other on issues and campaigns such as criminal justice reform and farmworker rights in order to tackle them together.

Some of the issues could become laws this year. The timing of the academy coincides with the Oregon state legislature coming back into session (which convenes every other year). Part of the session will be demystifying the process and educating our base.

Q: Which communities will be represented?

A: The African American participants will be coming with the NAACP in Salem and Oregon Action in Portland. Mexicans make up the largest Latino community in the state. In Portland, we have a sizeable Somalian community as well. Minority communities in Oregon tend to be more isolated, so this is a great opportunity to bring everyone together.

Q: What issues will be presented?

A: Oregon Action from Portland will lead a workshop on racial profiling. PCUN which represents farmworkers in the state will talk about protecting farmworker rights and preserving annual increases in the minimum wage. The youth groups are planning a workshop on access to higher education for undocumented immigrants. Partnership for Safety and Justice will talk about criminal justice reform.

Q: What laws have been passed in Oregon on a state or local level that impact the immigrant community and what is currently being debated?

A: Last year, the city of Portland passed a resolution that created a task force to investigate barriers immigrants face. In addition, there is a big debate over the REAL ID Act, and keeping drivers licenses accessible for everyone, regardless of immigrant status. Right now, Oregon does not require documents regarding legal status when applying for a license, but the REAL ID Act, passed in 2005 would change all of that. Oregon is joining other states, including Washington, New Hampshire, and New Mexico, to push back against REAL ID implementation. As a public safety concern we want to keep the driver’s licenses accessible.

For more information on CAUSA’s People of Color Action Academy email aeryica@causaoregon.org or visit www.causaoregon.org

Elena Shore writes for New America Media.

The town of Cactus lost ten percent of its population in the raids, reports the San Antonio-based Spanish newspaper Rumbo.

The church of St. Peter and Paul, in the town of Dumas, just south of Cactus, has been one of the refuges for children whose parents were detained.

Church spokesperson Orlando Gajardo told the newspaper that more than 200 children were affected by the raid, many of them under 10 years old. In the best of cases, Rumbo reports, only one of their parents has been arrested or deported.

The day after the raids, 62 out of the 400 children enrolled at Cactus’s elementary school did not attend class, according to the newspaper. As of Saturday, Dec. 16, no representatives from Child Protective Services had shown up to look after children of those deported.

The majority of those arrested in the Cactus raids (200 of the 295 detainees) are from Guatemala, according to ICE.

Many of the children affected by the ICE raid are U.S. citizens. José Barillas Trennert, the Guatemalan consul in Houston, told Rumbo that he was offering to register the children as Guatemalans so they wouldn’t be taken under the care of the state.

According to the Consul, the majority of detained Guatemalans agreed to voluntary removal to avoid jail, Rumbo reports. “Those who have officlally been deported will be in Guatemala in three weeks,” Barillas told the newspaper.

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1161 and
Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network update on the ongoing efforts to support the families and workers affected by the immigration raids.

This past Sunday, about 50 community members organized a candle night vigil for Senora Catalina, a mother who was detained at Swift and cruelly separated from her baby, 13 month old Hamilton. ICE agents placed her in the Worthington jail where she spent nearly a week without contact with her baby until finally, on Monday morning, she was reunited with her son thanks to the effort of baby Hamilton’s babysitter, Amy Juarez, and immigration laywer Ben Casper.

Hear the story on Minnesota Public Radio.

On January 6, 2007 the Worthington community will host an event to aim at community building and addressing the long term action plan for immigrant rights. More details will be available soon.

In the six days the MIFN has been in Worthington, we’ve been able to connect with about a hundred families who are affected by this issue. As we developed relationships with various people, some decided to share their stories with us so we could share those stories with you. We’ve placed two links on this email, one for photos and one for video. If you decide to use any of the photos specific to Worthington please credit Diego Perez Velez/Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network. To cite information on the videos, please credit “courtesy of new-Minnesotans in Worthington and the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network.”

Immigrant Rights Now on You Tube

Worthington community Photos in Flickr

For a long term strategy, many agree we must keep pushing to pass a fair immigration bill that would provide legalization for new Minnesota families and workers. We hope you can keep the fire in your belly going for struggles up ahead.

La lucha sigue,
the struggle continues,

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1161
Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network

Worthington, MN