December 05, 2009
Ms. Janet Napolitano
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington D.C. 20528
We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to express our deep concern with developments in immigration enforcement by this administration that are exceedingly heavy-handed and having a devastating impact on our community. Specifically, we are concerned with the increase in the number of Latino immigrants being placed into detention, the expansion of the 287g program, the implementation of “Secure Communities,” the increase in “audits” of businesses, and the continued construction of yet more immigrant detention centers.
During the presidential campaign, President Obama promised the Latino community that he would address immigration during his first year in office. It was a pledge that drove millions of hopeful Latinos to the polls. As his first year winds down, it is disheartening for us to see that not only has immigration reform not been realized, but on the contrary, immigration enforcement is harsher than ever. Our anguish grows ever more desperate with each day that goes by and more families are split apart by this broken immigration system.
As Latino leaders nationwide, we are startled and angry by the actions that have been undertaken during the first year of the Obama administration. A sobering report with the name of “Immigration Detention Overview and Recommendations” released October 6 by Dr. Dora Schriro, former Director of the Office of Detention Policy and Planning, reveals that nearly a quarter million Latino immigrants have been detained in FY 2009, an increase over those detained during the Bush administration. This stunning report comes in the wake of alarming statements from you as DHS Secretary during a New York Times interview published October 5, promising to reform the detention system by converting America’s vacant hotels into detention centers for immigrant women and children.
We are also bewildered that this administration has recently announced its goal to expand the 287g program, despite a letter signed by 500 organizations, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, asking for such program to be eliminated. To continue to expand 287g is premature, since no studies about the impact on victims of crime and human trafficking have been done. We know that 287g programs harm the relationships between Latinos and law enforcement, and create fear among victims of crime. In fact, though the U visa for victims of crime was created in 2000, with an allocation of 10,000 per year, to date, less than 100 have been granted.
The relationship between Latinos and police is being further compromised as this administration expands the Secure Communities program (SCOMM) initiated by President George W. Bush. In his proposed 2010 budget, President Obama asked Congress for $200 million for the program, a 30 percent increase that puts it on track to receive $1.1 billion by 2013. SCOMM has increased neighborhood sweeps and arrests during traffic stops.
Another troubling development is the workplace “audits.” During the Bush administration Latinos protested the military-style raids on worksites that resulted in the mass arrests and incarceration of immigrant workers. The largest, in 2007, rounded up 1300 workers. Yet these numbers pale in comparison to the massive lay-offs of 1800 immigrant workers during the Obama administration’s “audit” of American Apparel in Los Angeles, and the 1250 janitors fired by ABM Industries in Minneapolis, MN last month. We are devastated to learn that 1,000 more audits are underway, as we realize the majority of those who will lose their jobs are Latinos with families to support. Though the military garb and tactics are gone, the net result is practically the same: long-established, taxpaying Latino immigrant workers and their families are suffering the loss of their means of support.
Finally, we decry the construction of more detention centers for immigrants, including the new 500-bed facility that just opened in North Georgia, and the 2,200-bed immigrant detention center slated for construction in Los Angeles, for which DHS is opening bids on Dec. 15. We respectfully call on you and the Obama administration to stop placing the members of our community into detention, and to honor your promise to go after only “the worst of the worst.”
When he was on the campaign trail, President Obama promised immigration reform during his first year in office to the Latino community. Latinos believed those promises were made in good faith. Yet it has become disturbingly apparent that instead of reform that will bring our community out of the shadows and become fully integrated members of society, the administration is intent on stepping up enforcement and placing more of our people into detention.
We come to you as Latino voters, leaders, advocates, and caring human beings that are working to keep our families and communities together. We are respectfully calling on you and President Obama to honor his pledge to reform immigration, and to stop the heavy-handed enforcement tactics that are destroying the fabric of our communities. This must be done NOW for the sake of our families—hardworking men and women who toil in the fields and factories of this country, and millions of US citizen children, who depend on them for love and support.
We thank you for your time and consideration,
Mexican-American Coalition for Immigration Reform (MXACIR)
TO ENDORSE THIS LETTER PLEASE VISIT:
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Sunday, December 6, 2009
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