[migrawatch-public] Deportation & Detention News 11/21/08
Deportation & Detention News November 21
1. South Coast Today - New Bedford, MA: Settlement reached in Bianco case
- Company agrees to pay $850,000 in unpaid wages
2. ABC7Chicago.com – IL: Boy recounts experience of raid in Iowa
3. Gazette Online - Solon, IA: Immigration raids end with four arrests
4. Times Gazette – Shelbyville, TN: Refugee program stayed after feds
confirm fraud
5. Sun-Sentinel.com - Fort Lauderdale, FL: New program speeds the decision
for immigrants facing deportation - Immigrants facing deportation learn
whether they have the right to stay
6. Wall Street Journal – USA: Larger Inmate Population Is Boon to Private
Prisons
7. Orlando Sentinel - Orlando, FL: 60 Minutes" to spotlight Orlando woman
trying to avoid deportation
8. CharlotteObserver.com - Charlotte, NC: N.C. sheriffs line up 3,100 to
deport - Seven sheriff offices this year flagged the suspected immigration
violators after their arrests on other charges
9. San Francisco Chronicle – CA: Napolitano to head Homeland Security
10. UI The Daily Iowan (registration) - Iowa City, IA: Immigration raids
continue
11. Contra Costa Times - Walnut Creek, CA: Sant Clarita task force nabs 21
in anti-gang raids
12. Tucson Citizen - Tucson, AZ: Detention of migrant women faulted by UA
researcher - Problems cited include negligence in medical care, lack of
programs for detainees
13. New York Times: A Residency Dream, Now a Nightmare
1. South Coast Today - New Bedford, MA: Settlement reached in Bianco case
- Company agrees to pay $850,000 in unpaid wages
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081119/NEWS/811190357
BECKY W. EVANS
November 19, 2008
BOSTON — In its second major settlement in two weeks, Michael Bianco Inc.
has agreed to pay $850,000 in unpaid overtime and wages to more than 750
workers, including some who were arrested and deported following a massive
immigration raid at the former New Bedford military gear factory.
The agreement settles a federal class action lawsuit filed by Greater
Boston Legal Services, a legal advocacy group that has provided free
counsel to more than 100 of the 361 undocumented workers arrested in the
March 6, 2007, raid.
The lawsuit alleged that Bianco "systematically and intentionally violated
the laws requiring time-and-a-half for overtime work by creating a sham
second corporation called Front Line Defense Inc.," according to a release
from the group, known as GBLS.
Audrey Richardson, a senior attorney at GBLS, said workers had sought
overtime before the raid, but former owner Francesco Insolia had made it
"crystal clear" that he would not pay overtime. She described the
settlement as only "partial justice" for the workers, many whose lives
were torn apart when they were separated from their children and families
following the raid.
Ms. Richardson called upon President-elect Barack Obama and the new U.S.
Congress to push for federal immigration reform that would bring immigrant
workers out of the shadows and erase the climate of fear surrounding their
workplaces.
Frank Libby, an attorney representing both Bianco and Mr. Insolia, could
not be reached for comment.
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston announced that Bianco
and Mr. Insolia had pleaded guilty to federal charges involving a scheme
to hire illegal immigrants. As part of that settlement, the company agreed
to pay $460,000 in restitution for overtime pay owed to workers. Ms.
Richardson said that sum was included in the $850,000 settlement announced
Tuesday during a press conference at GBLS headquarters.
In addition to the overtime pay, Bianco has agreed to pay wages withheld
from workers who were as little as one minute late for work, according to
GBLS. The lawsuit alleged that workers were routinely docked 15 to 30
minutes of pay because they had waited in long lines to punch in for work
due to an insufficient number of time clocks.
The settlement includes money for New Bedford community groups that
support and organize immigrant workers and partial compensation for
attorneys' fees and costs incurred by legal services groups that represent
workers. In addition, the six plaintiffs named in the lawsuit will receive
a bonus of $2,000 each in recognition for their courage in coming forward
to testify, Ms. Richardson said.
A total of 764 former Bianco employees, including both documented and
undocumented workers, will receive payments ranging from less than $20 to
more than $8,000, she said. Payment will depend on the length of a
worker's employment at the factory and the number of overtime hours
worked. Ms. Richardson noted that court rulings have made it clear that
federal laws governing payment of wages and overtime cover all workers
regardless of their immigration status.
The U.S. Department of Labor will supervise and administer $613,000 in
restitution payments to workers. Both GBLS and Organization Maya K'iche, a
New Bedford advocacy group for Guatemalan Mayans, will assist in locating
workers and distributing checks. The groups have kept in touch with many
of the workers who were deported to their home countries and will work
with family members to track down other deported workers, Ms. Richardson
said.
Elsy Hernandez, a former Bianco worker who spoke in Spanish, said during
the press conference that no matter how much money she receives from the
settlement, she plans to spend it all helping family members who live
outside the United States. Ms. Hernandez, who would not identify her
country of birth nor her immigration status, said she worked 14 to 16
hours per day at the factory. She said she was paid the same hourly wage
of $7.25 per hour and received no overtime.
She described punching out with her Bianco time card at 5 p.m. and then
punching in with a different Front Line Defense time card at 5:30 p.m. She
said she did the same work for both companies at the factory on West
Rodney French Boulevard.
Adrian Ventura, president of Organization Maya K'iche, praised the
settlement, saying he hoped it would stand as a lesson to other employers
that they must "treat us with dignity and respect and "¦ abide by the law
of this country."
He said immigrant workers at area companies are "so afraid because all the
time there is talk about raids, and they are violating our rights," he
said.
When asked if there were other employers in New Bedford and Massachusetts
who were withholding wages and overtime from immigrant workers, Ms.
Richardson said she believed there were, but would not answer whether GBLS
was involved in any additional class action lawsuits.
"This is the tip of the iceberg, there is no doubt about that," she said.
The former Bianco plant was purchased in November 2007 by Eagle Industries
Inc., which has taken over Department of Defense contracts to make
military equipment for U.S. troops.
Of the 361 Bianco workers arrested in the raid, approximately 168 were
deported to their home countries, primarily in Central America, according
to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency told The
Standard-Times that 116 of the workers are awaiting a court ruling on
deportation, 26 have received final deportation orders and will be sent to
their home countries, and 16 had their residency changed to legal status.
The exact status of another 35 cases in the system was unclear.
GBLS attorney John Willshire-Carrera said many of the former Bianco
workers are struggling to get by without a job as they wait for their
immigration cases to go forward. He said the settlement awards should help
some of those families survive.
2. ABC7Chicago.com – IL: Boy recounts experience of raid in Iowa
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6513127
November 18, 2008
AP
CHICAGO -- Pedro Arturo Lopez was in social studies class when the
13-year-old undocumented boy from Mexico heard the unusual thudding of a
helicopter above his small Iowa town.
Moments later Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stormed the
Agriprocessors Inc. meat processing plant where his mother worked up to
16-hour shifts cutting beef.
With tears running down his cheeks, Lopez said Tuesday at a Chicago
immigration symposium that he was anxious and worried because he did not
know what would happen to his mother.
"That day, I sometimes dream it and it's horrible," Lopez said. "It's one
of those things that's gonna haunt me."
The effects of the May 12 raid in Postville, Iowa, one of the largest in
U.S. history, was the main topic of discussion at the symposium at DePaul
University's College of Law.
Experts and activists said the negative effects of immigration raids
ripple in communities across the country and pointed to recent examples in
Chicago's predominantly Mexican Little Village neighborhood.
Raids are "inhumane and immoral," said Julie Santos, a Midwest spokeswoman
for the League of United Latin American Citizens. "This is the impact of
broken laws."
She and others vowed to re-ignite their push for comprehensive immigration
reform starting Jan. 21, the day after President-elect Barack Obama's
inauguration.
Officials with ICE, who were not present at Tuesday's event, have long
said raids are an effective way of enforcing laws and have defended their
tactics, including the use of armed agents.
Last year in Chicago, agents raided a discount mall in the city's Little
Village neighborhood to dismantle a fake document ring. Top ICE officials
lauded the raid as one of the agency's most successful operations of the
year. A lengthy investigation and the raid resulted in nearly two dozen
arrests, including the father of a Chicago alderman.
But activists said the April 24, 2007, raid also affected innocent people.
Those inside the mall, which specializes in Mexican goods, have described
chaos as armed agents blocked entrances with dozens trapped inside.
After a raid, many are afraid to venture out, which panelists said has
happened in many communities.
The Rev. Paul Ouderkirk of St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville has
worked to rebuild trust and daily life in the community of about 2,300.
Nearly 400 immigrants were arrested and charged with crimes including
identity fraud at the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant. Several
owners and managers have since been charged with crimes, including
violating child labor laws.
"The raid did no good for anybody," Ouderkirk said, describing how the
church has housed and fed hundreds since May 12.
Lopez, who immigrated illegally from Mexico with his family when he was 3,
said it has been torturous waiting to know what would happen to his
mother, Consuelo Vega Nava.
After her arrest officials transferred her to a federal prison in
Leavenworth, Kan., and then later to a Florida facility before her
deportation to Mexico.
Lopez, who has not seen his mother since May 12, said he will be reunited
with her when he returns to Mexico next month.
"I've missed those days when me and my mom would just walk or go get an
ice cream," he said. "I don't want this to be forgotten."
3. Gazette Online - Solon,IA: Immigration raids end with four arrests
http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081118/NEWS/711189930/1006
Erika Binegar November 18th
VINTON - Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested four men —
three from Mexico and one from China — in immigration raids of Peony
Chinese Restaurants in Vinton and Toledo.
Two employees were arrested at each restaurant, ICE spokesman Tim Counts
said. The men face administrative immigration violations for being in the
country illegally, Counts said.
A hearing has not yet been scheduled before a federal immigration judge to
determine whether the men — whose names were not released — will be
deported.
Counts said the enforcement actions — which started about 11:30 a.m. and
ended about 2 p.m. — were part of an ongoing investigation.
"A 'raid' denotes something random or chaotic — this is neither," he said.
The same family owns Peony restaurants in Vinton and Toledo.
In Vinton, four Iowa State Patrol squad cars and one Vinton police car
were parked outside the popular restaurant near the Benton County
Courthouse. State patrol assigned three troopers to Benton and Tama
Counties to help ICE.
The Vinton restaurant has been operating for about 15 years. It is now
locked, and customers are being told to go elsewhere. The men arrested
there were from China and Mexico.
The employees arrested in Toledo were both from Mexico.
4. Times Gazette – Shelbyville, TN: Refugee program stayed after feds
confirm fraud
http://www.t-g.com/story/1478471.html
November 16, 2008
By Brian Mosely
A fact sheet released this week from the U.S. State Department reported
widespread fraud in the refugee program that has brought tens of thousands
of people from Somalia and other African nations to the United States.
The reported fraud spurred the State Department to suspend a humanitarian
program in August which was supposed to reunite African "anchor" refugees
already in the states with their family members who are still overseas.
DNA testing conducted earlier this year by the government to verify blood
ties between anchor refugees and their supposed family members revealed
that fewer than 20 percent of those checked could confirm their biological
relationships, the fact sheet stated.
The suspension impacts the Priority Three (P-3) Program of the U.S.
Refugee Admissions Program, which grants access to those claiming to be "a
parent, spouse, or minor child by certain legal residents in the United
States."
Priority One (P-1) and Priority Two (P-2) refugees are admitted into the
program based upon their vulnerability in their native country, through a
referral from the United Nations. The P-1 and P-2 statuses of the program
have not been suspended.
An applicant for refugee status must establish that he or she has suffered
persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race,
creed or origin.
"In recent years, applications to the P-3 program have been overwhelmingly
African -- primarily Somalis, Ethiopians and Liberians -- accounting for
some 95 percent of the P-3 applications," the fact sheet from the U.S.
Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration stated.
When asked about the fraud described, Catalina Nieto, director of advocacy
and educational programs for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Coalition, said that the State Department fact sheet is "a very general
report and it is referring to all refugees, not particular to
Shelbyville."
The rights group is made up of a coalition of immigrants, refugees and
their American-based supporters who work to "improve the rights and the
public's perception of Tennessee's rapidly growing foreign-born
population."
"We are talking about folks who are eager to reunite with their families
and are eager to bring their friends and families to a safe and peaceful
place," Nieto said.
Shelbyville has seen an influx of Somali refugees within the past few
years, and there has been no reported evidence that any fraud has been
perpetrated by local refugees. The suspension, however, may impact local
refugees who are hoping to be reunited with family members here.
"The U.S. Government has a fair share of the responsibility to help
resettle refugees from war torn areas," Nieto said. "We don't want
government bureaucracy to be a significant obstacle for reuniting
families."
Fraud uncovered
The DNA tests were conducted after both the Departments of State and
Homeland Security jointly decided to test a sample of refugee cases due to
reported fraud in the P-3 program, particularly in Kenya, the fact sheet
explained.
The rate of fraud varied among nationalities and from country to country,
"and is difficult to establish definitively as many individuals refused to
submit DNA samples," the State Department said.
Samples of some 500 refugees, who were under consideration for U.S.
resettlement through the P-3 program, were initially tested in Nairobi,
Kenya.
But after the sample "suggested high rates of fraud," testing was expanded
to Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia and Cote d'Ivoire, the State
Department said.
"Most of the approximately 3,000 refugees tested are from Somalia,
Ethiopia and Liberia," the fact sheet said. The initial DNA testing "was
limited to members of families applying for the P-3 program, and not
between the applicants and the anchor relative in the United States," the
State Department explained.
Family reunification processing and resettlement in Kenya and Ethiopia was
halted in March, the State Department said, and the suspension was
expanded in May to include the countries where the second round of DNA
testing was done. The State Department also stopped accepting applications
for the P-3 program on Oct. 22.
"The Departments of State and Homeland Security, along with our
resettlement agency partners, are currently discussing how to handle
applications that were submitted earlier this year," the fact sheet said.
Impact on refugees
Holly Johnson, State Refugee Coordinator for the Tennessee Office for
Refugees said Friday that to her knowledge, the suspension "has not had a
significant impact on the local program."
"It will impact refugees nationwide who have submitted a non-fraudulent
application for a parent, spouse, or minor child because they will be
separated from their family indefinitely," she said.
Johnson said all resettlement agencies "are under strict guidelines
regarding the reporting of suspected fraud in refugee families, and we are
no different."
"I take it very seriously," Johnson told the Times-Gazette. "Of the
hundreds of resettlement cases that I have handled in the ten years that I
have worked in the local resettlement program, there were only two cases
(in the state) where I suspected the possibility of fraud."
Those cases were reported immediately to their national organization,
Catholic Charities, Johnson said, and then were passed on to the State
Department and/or the Department of Homeland Security. She added they were
not notified of the outcome of these reports because of confidentiality
guidelines.
Johnson said that Catholic Charities' focus "is ..tling refugees that the
U.S. State Department selects and sends to Middle Tennessee."
"Our goal is to have them living independently within six months of
arrival," she said. "The many refugees that have resettled here over the
last 40 years have a solid track record of getting on their feet and
joining the community very quickly."
Johnson also noted that while those who work with refugees understand the
deplorable living conditions that would inspire one to attempt to flee by
any means possible, "we strongly believe that the established guidelines
must be followed in order to preserve the integrity of the U.S. refugee
program."
"In no way do we excuse or condone the falsification of these
applications, and are saddened by the fact that honest people are
suffering because of the dishonesty of others," Johnson said.
Tyson comments
Gary Michelson, director of media relations for Tyson Foods, which employs
nearly all of the Somali refugees that live in Shelbyville, said that
Tyson has "zero tolerance for employing people who are not authorized to
work in the U.S. That's why we use all available tools provided by the
U.S. government to verify the documents of the people we hire."
"We check the employment documents of all new team members when they are
first hired," Michelson said.
New hires are required to fill out a Form I-9, Employment Eligibility
Verification Form and are required to present documents that prove
identity and employment eligibility.
Since 1998, Tyson has also voluntarily participated in the U.S.
government's Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program,
which is now known as E-Verify, an internet-based system operated by the
DHS in partnership with the Social Security Administration.
Tyson also uses the Social Security Number Verification System (SSNVS), an
on-line service offered by the Social Security Administration (SSA), which
allows registered users (employers and certain third-party submitters) to
verify the names and Social Security numbers of employees against SSA
records, Michelson said.
"If we learn one of our workers may not have proper authorization to work
in this country, we take immediate measures. If they are unable to correct
any discrepancies in their documentation, then they are released from
employment," Michelson said.
Verifying claims
New methods of verifying family relationship claims are now being
developed with the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department
said, which may include voluntary DNA testing. The P-3 program in Africa
will remain suspended until new measures are finalized and implemented.
However, exactly what measures will be taken against the thousands of
refugees who have come into the country through the P-3 program in the
last 20 years will be a question for the Department of Homeland Security
to answer, the fact sheet said.
Since October 1, 2003, some 36,000 people have arrived from Africa through
the P-3 program, the fact sheet explained, but also only some 400 people
have arrived from other parts of the world through the program.
The P-3 program has not been suspended for non-African nationalities, the
State Department said, noting that "the number of individuals applying
from non-African countries, such as Burma, Cuba, etc., is very small."
Citizens from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, Burundi, Central African
Republic, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK),
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iran, Iraq,
Somalia, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe are eligible for consideration
through the P-3 Program.
UPCOMING IN THE T-G
The Times-Gazette is seeking refugees who have been affected by the
suspension for a follow-up report. Any affected refugees may call staff
writer Brian Mosely at 684-1200, Ext. 264.
5. Sun-Sentinel.com - Fort Lauderdale, FL: New program speeds the decision
for immigrants facing deportation - Immigrants facing deportation learn
whether they have the right to stay
Luis F. Perez
November 19, 2008
It saves time and millions of taxpayer dollars, and it has just arrived in
South Florida
Immigration court's Legal Orientation Program, which kicked off last month
at Miami's Krome Detention Center, shaves an average of 13 days off the
time it takes to process cases. That means immigrants get a quicker
decision on whether they're getting deported or set free. And that
translates into millions in savings on detention costs and a more
efficient immigration court system.
For immigrants, the benefits go beyond money.
"The cards tend to be stacked against immigrants seeking relief from
deportation," said Cheryl Little, executive director of Miami's Florida
Immigration Advocacy Center. Many face forced separation from family. Some
face the threat of death if they're returned to their native country. Some
have a legal claim to stay and don't know it.
The orientation gives detainees an overview of their rights and the legal
process, helps find pro-bono lawyers for some and allows others to better
represent themselves. It also convinces some immigrants they have no legal
right to be in the country, so it's best for them to cut the court
proceedings short and go home.
"This program is extraordinarily important because there are people in the
detained setting that are giving up their rights" to stay in the country,
said Linda Osberg-Braun, president of the American Immigration Lawyers
Association's South Florida chapter.
The government expanded the program, which it launched in 2003, from 13
sites to 25 across the country in October, bringing it to Krome for the
first time. If successful, it might come to the Broward Detention Center
next year.
New York City-based Vera Institute of Justice contracts with the
immigration court to run the $3.7 million program nationally. Vera, in
turn, sub-contracts with local organizations, including the Advocacy
Center and Catholic Charities Legal Services, to conduct orientation
sessions. As part of its contract, the court required Vera to conduct a
program evaluation, which found those who went through the program had
their cases processed in 27 days versus 40 days for those that didn't.
Since its inception, more than 130,000 detainees have gone through the
program. Federal immigration officials estimate it costs $97 a day to
house a detainee.
6. Wall Street Journal – USA: Larger Inmate Population Is Boon to Private
Prisons
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122705334657739263.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
STEPHANIE CHEN November 18
Prison companies are preparing for a wave of new business as the economic
downturn makes it increasingly difficult for federal and state government
officials to build and operate their own jails.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons and several state governments have sent
thousands of inmates in recent months to prisons and detention centers run
by Corrections Corp. of America, Geo Group Inc. and other private
operators, as a crackdown on illegal immigration, a lengthening of
mandatory sentences for certain crimes and other factors have overcrowded
many government facilities.
Prison-policy experts expect inmate populations in 10 states to have
increased by 25% or more between 2006 and 2011, according to a report by
the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts.
Private prisons housed 7.4% of the country's 1.59 million incarcerated
adults in federal and state prisons as of the middle of 2007, up from 1.57
million in 2006, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a
crime-data-gathering arm of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Corrections Corp., the largest private-prison operator in the U.S., with
64 facilities, has built two prisons this year and expanded nine
facilities, and it plans to finish two more in 2009. The Nashville, Tenn.,
company put 1,680 new prison beds into service in its third quarter,
helping boost net income 14% to $37.9 million. "There is going to be a
larger opportunity for us in the future," said Damon Hininger, Corrections
Corp.'s president and chief operations officer, in a recent interview.
California has shipped more than 5,100 inmates to private prisons run by
Corrections Corp. in Arizona, Mississippi and other states since late
2006, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered emergency measures to
control a ballooning state-prison population. Prisons were so overcrowded
that hundreds of inmates were sleeping in gyms, according to one report.
An additional 2,900 prisoners are scheduled to be transferred to private
prisons outside the state by the end of next year, according to the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
"Private prisons are a short-term solution while we work on long-term
solutions, rehabilitation programs and recidivism strategies," said Terry
Thornton, spokeswoman for the state's corrections department.
Geo Group, of Boca Raton, Fla., the second-largest prison company, has
built or expanded eight facilities this year in Georgia, Texas,
Mississippi and other states, and it plans seven more expansions or new
prisons by 2010. Last month, Geo Group was awarded a contract by Florida's
Department of Management Services to design and build a 2,000-bed
special-needs prison in that state. Cornell Cos., the nation's
third-largest prison company, recently broke ground on a 1,250-bed private
prison for men in Hudson, Colo.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons, the government agency that operates all
federal prisons and manages the handling of inmates convicted of federal
crimes, has awarded 13 contracts since 1997 to prison companies to build
prisons and detention centers that house low-security inmates, primarily
"low security criminal aliens," says Felicia Ponce, a spokeswoman for the
agency. The contracts give the bureau "flexibility to manage a rapidly
growing inmate population and to help control overcrowding," Ms. Ponce
says.
Outsourcing incarceration to prison companies can reduce a government's
cost of housing those prisoners by as much as 15%, according to a study by
the Reason Foundation, a research organization in Los Angeles. Private
operators say they can build prisons more quickly and operate them less
expensively than governments because their payroll costs are lower and
they can consolidate prisoners from many far-flung jurisdictions into
facilities located in areas where land and building costs are very low.
Some groups accuse the private prisons of neglecting inmates or of putting
them in bad conditions. "Profit is still a motive and it's structured into
the way these prisons are operated," says Judy Greene, a justice-policy
analyst for Justice Strategies, a nonprofit studying prison-sentencing
issues and problems. "Just because the system has expanded doesn't mean
there is evidence that conditions have improved."
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed lawsuits involving several
prison companies over the past decade alleging poor treatment of inmates.
Last year, the organization and other parties filed a lawsuit against
Corrections Corp. and the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration
and Customs Enforcement arm in federal court in San Diego, alleging that
the company was operating an overcrowded, unsafe immigrant-detention
center in that city. Detainees were routinely assigned in groups of three
to sleep in two-room cells -- meaning one had to sleep on the floor near
the toilet -- or to temporary beds in recreation rooms and other common
spaces, according to the complaint. The suit also alleged that detainees
had little access to mental-health care.
"We have serious concerns about for-profit prison companies because they
are notorious for cutting essential costs that need to be provided to
maintain a safe and constitutional environment for prisoners," says Jody
Kent, a public-policy coordinator for the ACLU's National Prison Project.
The lawsuit was settled in June, with Corrections Corp. and Homeland
Security agreeing to limit immigrant detainees to the number of inmates
the facility was designed for. Louise Grant, a Corrections Corp.
spokeswoman, says the company's prison practices complied with federal
standards and that it regularly discloses capacity levels and other
information in federal filings.
"Our government partners monitor us daily," Ms. Grant says. "There is no
cutting corners."
7. Orlando Sentinel - Orlando, FL: 60 Minutes" to spotlight Orlando woman
trying to avoid deportation
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2008/11/60-minutes-to-s.html
Nov 20, 2008 Hal Boedeker
CBS' "60 Minutes," the nation's No. 1 show the past two weeks, will turn
to an Orlando family in this weekend's installment.
The story: Bob Simon looks at the U.S. government's treatment of immigrant
widows and its efforts to deport them. The women in the report entered the
country legally. But before they could attend hearings to determine if
their marriages were based on love, their husbands died. Now U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services wants the women to leave.
One widow is Raquel Williams of Orlando. Her husband, Derek, died of a
heart condition. She and their young son, Ian, live with her in-laws.
Her mother, Linda Williams, tells Simon: "They were doing things legally.
They filed the right papers. They filed them in a timely manner. Things
were not processed in a timely manner. And then my son died. This was not
something that you can foresee."
As Simon explains in the story: "Immigration claims basically that a widow
is not a wife, that if the widow did not complete the process to become a
U.S. resident while her husband was alive, she cannot remain in the
country. If that sounds a little strange, wait till you hear what happened
to Raquel Williams when she met up with Immigration."
8. CharlotteObserver.com - Charlotte, NC: N.C. sheriffs line up 3,100 to
deport - Seven sheriff offices this year flagged the suspected immigration
violators after their arrests on other charges
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/363285.html
Benjamin Niolet
Nov. 19, 2008
RALEIGH More than 3,100 people from seven counties were placed in
deportation proceedings this year as a result of a program that allows
sheriffs to enforce federal immigration laws.
The people were flagged for deportation proceedings after being taken to
jail on charges ranging from a traffic violation to murder.
"It certainly documents that there are persons illegally in this state who
are committing crimes," said Eddie Caldwell, executive vice president and
general counsel for the N.C. Sheriffs' Association, which has received
about $1.3 million in state money in the past two years to help sheriffs
combat illegal immigration.
More than 1,200 of those who are now facing deportation were stopped for
traffic violations other than impaired driving. Civil rights advocates say
that arresting someone for speeding because of their questionable
immigration status takes limited resources from law enforcement that could
be used to fight serious crime. The practice also leaves people of color
open to racial profiling.
"A full third of the people who are being deported have been charged with
minor motor vehicle violations," said Rebecca Headen, a staff attorney
with the ACLU of North Carolina. "There are a lot of leaps being made in
the name of making this program sound good to the North Carolina public."
Caldwell presented the numbers to a legislative oversight committee Tuesday.
The counties participating in the program, known as 287(g) for the section
of federal law that enabled it, are Alamance, Cabarrus, Cumberland,
Gaston, Henderson, Mecklenburg and Wake. The Durham Police Department is
also participating but was not included in the sheriffs' association
survey.
Cumberland, Henderson and Wake counties and the Durham police joined the
program this year. The seven county sheriff offices interviewed 4,511
people suspected of not being legal residents, according to the report
Caldwell presented Tuesday. Of those, federal officials identified 3,359
violators. Of that number, federal officials have deportation proceedings
pending against 3,182. The remaining 177 have immigration detainers on
them, and federal officials are waiting for the resolution of the charges
that brought them to the sheriffs' attention in the first place.
A state law that went into effect in January requires all sheriffs to ask
about the immigration status of anyone arrested for a felony or impaired
dri
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posted by mike at 11:29 PM
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