Today's Date: March 28, 2024
Bill Introduced in Minnesota Would Increase Access To Genetic Testing   •   Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. Expands OTC Portfolio for Children with the Introduction of bébé Bottoms™   •   Scotiabank ranks on The Globe and Mail's annual Women Lead Here benchmark of executive gender diversity for the fourth consecuti   •   Argonne-Supported Critical Materials Assessment Tags Potential Supply Chain Bottlenecks   •   80 M/other Artists Converge for MICAfest 2024 in Northampton, MA this May   •   Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas and Wells Fargo Bank Award $850K for Rio Manor Apartments Renovation   •   PMI Foods Gives Easter Donation of 15,000 Pounds of Prime Rib to New Life Church in Arkansas   •   American Water Charitable Foundation Announces National Partnership With American Red Cross With $250,000 Donation   •   More $10-a-day child care spaces   •   New Report Shows Massachusetts Customers Could Have Saved Hundreds of Millions in 2024 Through Competitive Energy Supply   •   Gale Primary Sources Release Four New Archives Devoted to Contributions from Underrecognized Communities   •   BNSF Railway builds upon safety record by utilizing virtual reality for training   •   Pushing Policy: Women Uniting for Legislative Change; Four Trailblazing women at the forefront of the Quad Caucus   •   JAMS Diversity Fellowship Accepting Applications   •   UC Berkeley FHL Vive Center Teams Up with BeamNG   •   Impacts of Extreme Weather on Interior Design Examined in New Research   •   University of Phoenix Receives Arizona Veteran Supportive Campus Recertification   •   Paralyzed Veterans of America to honor former Senator Elizabeth Dole with 2024 Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Awar   •   Consolidated Credit Launches Free Webinar Series to Empower Individuals During Challenging Economic Climate   •   Chevron Announces Opening of Fab Labs at HBCUs
Bookmark and Share

Rights Groups Take ICE To Court

 NEW YORK -  The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic of Cardozo Law will request an emergency injunction in federal court in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuitNDLON v. ICE filed on behalf of the National Day Laborer Organization Network (NDLON). The case requests information regarding the controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Secure Communities program and the emergency injunction specifically requests documents related to the voluntary nature of the program, which has been unclear thus far. Advocates and community leaders across the country have called this program "dangerous" and say it strains local law enforcement and resources while damaging already the already tenuous relationship between immigrant communities and the police.


"To keep our families together, we need to keep police and ICE separate. The Orwellian-named Secure Communities program does the opposite of making us safer," saidSarahí Uribe of NDLON. "We see innocent people swept up in a massive dragnet sending a chilling effect through migrant communities."   Advocates argue that ICE'S unwillingness to provide clear information about the program's opt-out process at a time when municipalities such as San Francisco and Santa Clara in California and Arlington, Virginia voted to opt-out and numerous others localities are deliberating their participation, requires court-ordered immediate access to key documents.

"As advocates across the country are pushing on the state and local levels to find a way to opt-out of Secure Communities, we are going to court to obtain information that the public and advocates need to determine how and if it's possible to opt-out," said CCR staff attorney Sunita Patel. "Only the government has the information everyone needs."

The groups say immigration authorities in charge of the program, which culls fingerprint data from local jails, have been inconsistent and dishonest in representing the relationship between local governments and the federal program. In an email to Governor Patterson, the agency said "[W]e get it. No one will be forced.']. In a press conference two months later, ICE wrote: "[W]e do not see this as an opt-in opt-out program."

At a recent speaking engagement, Assistant Director of Secure Communities David Venturella was confronted by Maria Bolaños, a domestic violence survivor whose call for help resulted in deportation proceedings under the program. His accusation of inaccurate reporting moved the Washington Post to publish "ICE Reversals Sowing Mistrust." Citing cases like Bolaños as a reason for concern, cities worried about the program's effects on community-policing efforts are interested in opting-out of the overly broad dragnet. The on-going dishonesty and desire to opt-out makes gives today's injunction urgency.

With thirteen states yet to join the program, New York and numerous other activated jurisdictions still trying to get out, and its current spokespeople unwilling to set the record straight, advocates are asking a judge to counteract the misinformation by opening the files related to the "opt-out" policies immediately.


The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.


STORY TAGS: HISPANIC, LATINO, MEXICAN, MINORITY, CIVIL RIGHTS, DISCRIMINATION, RACISM, DIVERSITY, LATINA, RACIAL EQUALITY, BIAS, EQUALITY



Back to top
| Back to home page
Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News