Tag Archives: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

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don’t Deport

 ICE: Please Don’t Deport My Mother, Gloria Pedroza 
  By joe sotelo
                                                San Antonio, Texas

My Mother came to this country to give us a better future, but is being prosecuted and will be deported in February 2014. On top of that they want to give her a 10year no entry into the U.S . As a 6 1/2 year service vet with 2 deployments to Afghanistan I find this appalling. I was born here in the U.S, server my country, and they wont let my mother stay.

The only crime here is her not being allowed to stay after she raised us to be the best that she could, which she accomplished. We all have successful jobs as Managers, History majors, Pottery/Art teachers and even in the Military.

But now they want to deport her because she dose not have papers after 26 years of being in this country, which was founded on immigrants who came to this new world in hopes of a better life. She even has a Daughter who depends on her due to having Liver failure cause by a UCLA Hospital due to them giving her the wrong medication. My sister needs my mother for moral and finacial support. She even has grandkids, and still they wont consider this as sufficient to let her stay.

So I’m asking for your help to help me fight this and help keep my mom here so she can watch her grandkids grow and see them have kids of there own.

Thank you for your time. Spc. Sotelo, Joe

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Please, help me stay in the U.S. with my family


  ICE: Don’t Deport Me Away From My Sons; Grant Me Prosecutorial Discretion 
  By Tsatsral Bekhbat
                                                Omaha, Nebraska

I am a wife, a mother of three boys, and long-standing member of my community in Omaha, Nebraska. But despite President Obama’s declaration that people like me should be low-priority for deportation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office, is trying to deport me.  Please, help me stay in the U.S. with my family by signing this petition asking ICE to close my case.

I came here to the United States at the age of 16 as a high school exchange student. I lived with my host family for ten months and graduated from high school, after which I was accepted into college. I lived here over 16 years, and this is where I graduated from college, learned to drive, bought my first car, got married, bought our first home and most of all had our sons. Brandon 9, Nike 5, avid basketball lovers. Jordan, my youngest, is only two years old. This is the country I grew up, and became the person who I am today. I mourn and cry when horrific happens, or celebrate the remarkable events, because I consider this great nation as my home.

I maintained my immigration status for years , but in 2009, I met a person who I thought was an immigration attorney, and she agreed to file my case. Later, I found out not only she didn’t file my case within a reasonable time, but also wasn’t an attorney, even though I was paying very high fee. I hired another attorney who later filed a complaint with State Bar Association on my behalf, because she said that there are a lots of people like her out there who take advantage of people.

My case was initially denied by Immigration Officer because not filing my case in timely manner. When my case was heard by Immigration Judge, it was denied because he didn’t think I had good reason to get my permanent residency granted based on information I provided. We appealed the case with BIA, and it was denied October of this year, and gave me 60 days to leave the country or face deportation. I am requesting Department of Homeland Security and ICE to grant me prosecutorial discretion.

Now, my precious boys might have to grow up without their mother around or leave the only home they have ever known. And I can’t let that happen.

Please, help me keep my family together. Join me in asking DHS/ICE to grant me prosecutorial discretion ( my alien number is 076768406) and remove me from deportation proceedings.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Dan O’Neill, Mercy Corps


Mercy Corps

Get this limited edition first aid kit

Ernie Lynn knows one thing: she’s grateful to be alive — grateful that she, her husband and their one-month-old baby survived Typhoon Haiyan.
After the typhoon devastated her village, Ernie Lynn and her neighbors urgently needed food, clean water and shelter.
Mercy Corps responded immediately, providing food, clean water, blankets, shelter materials and hygiene kits to families who lost everything in the storm.
Now, families must begin the long and difficult process of rebuilding, and they need your help.  Will you stand with them, and with other families in the world’s toughest places, by making a monthly pledge to Mercy Corps today?
When the storm passed, Ernie Lynn learned that the fishing boat her husband works on was severely damaged — meaning they’d lost not only their home but also their income.
Imagine the conflicting emotions Ernie Lynn must be feeling — grateful to have her baby safe in her arms, but grieving her family’s many losses… and worried about the future.  Without a job, her husband won’t be able to earn enough money to repair their home.  Where will they go?  How do they move forward?  How can they give their baby what he needs to grow strong?
Partners In Mercy monthly donors help families like Ernie Lynn’s move forward every day.  They help parents get back to work, so that they can earn money to provide for their families — to prepare healthy food, get medical care, and rebuild their homes.
The ongoing monthly support of Partners In Mercy makes it possible for us to respond immediately when a crisis strikes — distributing clean water and emergency supplies to survivors of natural disasters like the typhoon, providing food to hungry children during a hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa, and giving warm clothing and blankets to Syrian refugees facing a cold winter.  But your monthly gift will do so much more.
Your monthly support will fund effective, efficient programs that help communities recover and rebuild for the long term, better and stronger than they were before.
Becoming a Partner in Mercy monthly donor is quick and easy. So please take a moment to sign up today.  You’ll feel good knowing that you’re providing life-changing assistance to people like Ernie Lynn and her family every day
Sincerely,
Dan O'Neill, Mercy Corps Founder
Dan O’Neill Mercy Corps Founder
P.S.  Please make a life-changing difference for families in need by becoming a Partner In Mercy monthly donor.  Sign up now, and you’ll receive a limited edition first aid kit — a reminder of the help you’re providing to survivors of the typhoon, and other families in the world’s toughest places.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell the “Gang of Eight”: Stop the prison-to-​deportatio​n pipeline!


End the criminalization of our communities.boy holding immigrant rights sign

Tell the “Gang Of Eight”: We demand immigration reform that protects the rights of all immigrants.

Add Your Voice

 

In President Obama’s State of the Union address, he expressed his administration’s intention to make immigration a priority. Last month, a bipartisan group of senators known as the “Gang of Eight” rolled out a series of principles to overhaul the immigration system.1 Key among their proposed reforms is a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as well as an increase in border security protocols.2

On April 10, immigrants’ rights groups from across the country will be joining together for a National Day of Action,3 calling on Congress to create immigration policy that recognizes the hardships and contributions of new Americans and aspiring citizens. With over 11 million undocumented immigrants4 in this country waiting for an answer, the “Gang of Eight” has an opportunity to write immigration reform that responds to the needs of everyone.

In anticipation of such a proposal, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has made immigration reform a key focus of this year’s policy agenda.5 The CBC has formed a task force to address what they’re calling the “prison-to-deportation pipeline” and its effects on the Black and brown community.6 They recognize what we already know — we’re stronger together.

Please join us in demanding the “Gang of Eight” write immigration reform that protects the rights of all immigrants. It only takes a moment.

For years, America’s broken immigration system has been focused on detention and deportation largely at the expense of our communities.7,8 While enforcement drives the political conversation around reform, inflammatory rhetoric attempts to pit Black and immigrant communities against each other as if the terms “immigrant” or even “Latino” can never have a Black face. Economic opportunities for Black folks have not grown increasingly scarce because of competition with undocumented immigrants.9 These tired rivalries are played up in divide-and-conquer power politics to distract us from the work of addressing the real causes of skyrocketing Black unemployment, which include a history of being economically exploited, marginalized and discriminated against.10

A focus on border security highlights a fundamental divide in the current immigration conversation. Often absent from immigration reform discussions are the more than three million Black immigrants who comprise nine percent of the U.S. foreign-born population, primarily coming from the Caribbean, North and sub-Saharan Africa.11 For Black immigrants, arrival often looks very different — many come into the country with some form of documentation, typically a visa. If these documents expire, those immigrants remain in the country undetected and without status. Although these crossings are less controversial, they remain fraught. For these immigrants, increased enforcement translates to an increase in racial profiling — a reality that is not lost on the already hyper-criminalized Black community.

Immigration reform that primarily focuses on enforcement through border patrol dragnets and the use of questionable government databases such as “Secure Communities” — a flawed, high-tech way of tracking immigration violators via fingerprint data procured from every interaction a person makes with Homeland Security in their lifetime — violates the basic promises of fairness in our legal system.12,13 Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) has overwhelmingly targeted Black and brown folks through suspect methods that use racial profiling — separating families and continuing a pattern of distrust between our communities and law enforcement.14

Demand the “Gang of Eight” propose immigration legislation that includes a roadmap to citizenship for America’s 11 million undocumented immigrants and seeks to reduce the over-reliance on prisons and detention facilities for enforcement.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 — one of the greatest pieces of civil rights legislation introduced in this country — ushered in sweeping reforms of U.S. immigration policy through the implementation and signing of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965.15 Prior to this, our laws actively favored immigrants from Northern and Central Europe only. The new law shifted the focus to family reunification, while opening the door to millions of new immigrants from around the world by turning away from race-based quotas and including a provision giving preference to professional skills that were in short supply in the United States. At the time, these reforms were monumental. However, due to the racially-punitive nature of previous immigration policy, a focus on family reunification has created a stratified system where immigration quotas from some countries are higher than others, keeping our communities permanently at the “back of the line.”16

Under President Obama’s tenure, we have seen record-breaking detention and deportations of undocumented immigrants and legal residents swept up under unrealistic deportation quotas for minor traffic offenses, misdemeanors and visa violations.17 Although Black immigrants constitute such a small percentage of the U.S. immigrant population, they are always in the top ten of most-deported foreign nationals and have the highest per capita deportation level of any other racial group.18 Truly just immigration reform must address the inefficiencies in the visa system as well as unrealistic quotas introduced in the family reunification sections of the law.19

Demand immigration reform that ends the criminalization of immigrant communities. And when you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

Thanks and Peace,

–Rashad, Arisha, Matt, Aimée, William and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team    March 29th, 2013

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way.

References

1. “Who Are the Gang Of 8 in Senate Immigration Debate?” ABC News, 01-30-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2270?t=10&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

2. “Fixing the Immigration System for America’s 21st Century Economy,” The White House, 01-29-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2225?t=12&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

3. “Wanna Get Involved in the Coming Immigration Reform Fight? Here’s How,” Colorlines, 02-01-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2444?t=14&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

4. “11 Million Undocumented Immigrants: What’s Behind This Number,” Huffington Post, 02-13-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2315?t=16&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

5. “113th Congress Outlook: CBC Policy Agenda” (.pdf), Congressional Black Caucus, 02-05-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2452?t=18&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

6. “Black Lawmakers Demand an End to Prison-to-Deportation Pipeline,” Colorlines, 03-13-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2424?t=20&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

7. “Documenting the Undocumented,” Slate, 01-13-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2226?t=22&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

8. “Immigration tactics aimed at boosting deportations,” USA Today, 02-17-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2265?t=24&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

9. “Blacks and the Immigration Crisis, Pt. 2: ‘Taking All Our Jobs,'” Ebony, 02-25-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2450?t=26&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

10. “Organize to Improve the Quality of Jobs in the Black Community,” UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education (.pdf), 05-01-04 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2273?t=28&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

11. “5 Fast Facts About Black Immigrants in the United States,” Center For American Progress, 12-20-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2228?t=30&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

12. “Immigration Crackdown Also Snares Americans,” New York Times, 12-13-11 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2317?t=32&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

13. “New Secure Communities Study Reveals Troubling Data,” PBS, 10-19-11 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2319?t=34&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

14. “Racial Profiling, False Arrests, Deportation — The True Face of Federally Mandated ‘Secure Communities,’” Alternet, 07-24-12 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2291?t=36&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

15. “1965 Immigration Law Changed Face of America,” NPR, 05-09-06 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2264?t=38&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

16. “Getting in line for immigration,” Twin Cities Daily Planet, 02-21-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2316?t=40&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

17. “Blacks and the Immigration Crisis, Part 1,” Ebony, 02-13-13 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2327?t=42&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

18. See reference 17.

19. “DHS Tells States: We Don’t Need Your Approval for Secure Communities,” Colorlines, 08-09-11 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2276?t=44&akid=2871.1174326.bvkukF

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Family’s legal error could cost student his life …Jackie Mahendra, Change.org


 
                ICE: Don’t deport a student who could be killed in his birth country of Pakistan.             
Sign the Petition

Balal Parveez has nine brothers and sisters, a wife, and two parents who love him — they’re all American citizens. But because of a laeyer’s error from years ago, Balal is the only person in his family who is undocumented.

Now Balal is facing deportation: He’s been held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for eight long months, during which time the former athlete has grown thin and depressed. This week Balal required surgery to remove growths on his chest, and ICE threw Balal back into his cell right after surgery.

Balal’s family is fighting hard to keep him in America. Balal’s sister, Nosheen Dean, went to visit him in Florida last week. She says, “I told him, ‘I promise you I’m not going to let them deport you.’” Nosheen started a petition on Change.org begging ICE to let Balal stay in America. Click here to sign Nosheen’s petition right now.

Balal embodies the idea of a model American. He was brought to the US from Pakistan when he was five. He was a good student, played on his high school football team, went to community college, and married his high school sweetheart. Balal has no criminal record whatsoever.

But Balal first came to the U.S. with his aunt, and the family lawyer mistakenly processed Balal’s immigration case with his aunt’s instead of his parents’. That’s why Balal has spent 8 months in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Florida, 1200 miles from his family in New York. He’s facing deportation to a country that’s foreign to him — a place where he could be killed because of his father’s outspoken opposition to the Taliban.

Balal shouldn’t be in detention in the first place. He clearly fits the new criteria laid out by President Obama that should make him an extremely low priority for deportation. ICE officials need to know that their actions are being watched, and that it is unacceptable for them to rip apart American families.

Please sign Nosheen’s petition demanding that ICE release her brother Balal from detention and allow him to stay with his wife and family in the U.S.:

http://www.change.org/petitions/release-dreamer-balal-parveez-to-his-family-and-stop-his-deportation

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Jackie and the Change.org team