San Joaquin Valley’s elected officials must stand up for immigrants

San Joaquin Valley’s elected officials must stand up for immigrants

BY MARICELA GUTIÉRREZ 

SEPTEMBER 04, 2018 11:47 AM,

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 04, 2018 10:47 AM

Pro-ICE supporter Ben Bergquam, left, and Jaimie Loza, right, who spoke out for immigrant rights, have a heated exchange at the community rally outside the Hall of Records building, Tuesday Aug 8, 2018. The demonstration was held to protest recent arrests by ICE agents at the Fresno County Courthouse. JOHN WALKER FRESNO BEE FILE

Since mid-July, Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials have been making arrests at Fresno’s courthouses, violating people’s right to due process and continuing to stoke fear within the immigrant community. It’s no coincidence that Fresno County is home to one of the fiercest in-state critics of California’s sanctuary policies, Sheriff Margaret Mims, who has proudly announced that her deputies and ICE have a strong working relationship. Though she claims that she is complying with state laws, the experience of community members in the Valley proves that there continues to be tight entanglement between her office and ICE. In our daily interactions with the immigrant community, providing legal services and know your rights trainings, we have heard more and more stories about a growing fear of contacting local law enforcement because of legitimate concerns of potential deportation.

The Central Valley is being acutely impacted by Trump’s war on immigrants – so much so that my organization, the Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network is poised to open a new office in Fresno due to increased demand. I have witnessed the plight of immigrants in our community firsthand since I was young. I grew up in the Fresno area as the daughter of immigrant farmworkers, hearing the stories of abusive employers and seeing my family and neighbors racially profiled by police and targeted by ICE. Now, as the executive director of SIREN, an immigrant and refugee rights advocacy organization, I’ve been connecting with many people who have been swept up by ICE in their brutal campaign.

ACTION ALERT: Call Congress and tell them to #DefundHate/ Alerta de acción: Llame al Congreso y digales que #DefundHate

*Español abajo

ICE is asking for a special funding increase to terrorize communities. Call your lawmakers now to let them know: WE NEED TO DEFUND ICE!

Click here to be patched through to your members of Congress

La migra esta solicitando un aumento especial de dinero por parte del congreso. Llame su politicos ahora y digales que: ¡NO APOYEN LA MIGRA!

Haga clic aquí para estar conectado con sus representantes

Maricela Gutiérrez - Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network
http://siren.nationbuilder.com/

Donate to SIREN and give the gift of opportunity.
The opportunity to LEAD. DREAM. VOTE. 





Maricela Gutierrez - Executive Director 
Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network
http://siren.nationbuilder.com/

Hundreds of Youth Walkout and March to San Jose City Hall and Federal Building in Support of Clean DREAM Act and TPS and to Denounce Cruel ICE Enforcements

SIREN Press Release 3/6/18
Media Contact: Erik Schnabel
Communications Manager
erik@siren-bayarea.org

Hundreds of Youth Walkout and March to San Jose City Hall and Federal Building in Support of Clean DREAM Act and TPS and to Denounce Cruel ICE Enforcements

Yesterday, hundreds of high school and college students walked out of classrooms across San Jose to urge congressional action on a Clean DREAM Act and Temporary Protective Status, and also denounce recent abusive ICE actions in Northern and Central California that resulted in the 232 people being detained. The local action, led by Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN), was part of a National Day of Action for a Clean DREAM Act, that saw actions all across the U.S. and a civil disobedience campaign in Washington D.C. urging Congress to act. As students converged on the plaza in front of San Jose City Hall, speakers took the stage to share why they felt the need for action that resulted in student walkouts. Several of the speakers who have received DACA addressed the personal impact of the Trump Administration ending the DACA program, and Congress failing to act to find a permanent solution for the affected young people. As student speaker Amairani Oronia said, “DACA has given me the opportunity to work and go to college. I have protection from immigration because of DACA but for how long?” Although speakers discussed how important DACA is to them, they were also clear that they weren’t willing to compromise their family members in order to get see DACA passed. Several of the speakers referred to various legislative solutions that have been discussed which proposed passage of DACA at the expense of criminalizing their parents for bringing them here or that pushed for the end of certain family categories in the family reunification immigrant program. Many of the speakers also denounced the recent ICE actions across Northern and Central California that occurred last week, which saw the arrest of 232 people. As has been well documented, ICE actions were extremely troubling and caused widespread panic among immigrant communities; with report of racial profiling, ICE vans driving around public parking lots, denial of detainees access to counsel, and various abusive practices. As SIREN Youth Leader, Nithya Badrinath stated in her speech, “ICE has deported, is deporting and wants to deport even more people who came to this country to chase the American Dream, the ideal that this country was founded on, to escape violence and hardship in their native countries, and to live a normal life where they can feel safe and protected”. After gathering at San Jose City Hall to hear the speakers, the youth then marched to the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building to continue the rally, before returning to San Jose City Hall to finish the action.

 

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The opportunity to LEAD. DREAM. VOTE. 

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