Media round up from 10th Annual Cesar Chavez March!

The 10th annual march is a rap and a huge success! Here’s what the media is saying about the 1000-strong march.

Two preview stories set the tone for the march. Action 4 news started their morning show saying, “Cesar Chavez is one of the most recognizable Hispanic figures and a true leader in the civil rights movement.” See the video interview here.

The Rio Grande Guardian followed up the pre-march excitement:

LUPE Executive Director Juanita Valdez-Cox said the big issue for LUPE members this year is winning immigration reform that is “comprehensive and humane.” She said the 10th Anniversary March will “send the message” to elected officials that the Rio Grande Valley needs immigration reform for Valley families, the Valley’s economy and the safety of the community.

“2012 was the dawn of a new day of political empowerment of Latino and other minority voters that has brought the light of immigration reform to the horizon,” Valdez-Cox told the Guardian. “Latinos were instrumental in the outcome of the 2012 elections and immigration reform was a mobilizing issue. We are calling on Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to embrace this new day and support immigration reform that brings the light of justice to the Rio Grande Valley and the state of Texas.”

Why is ICE so determined to deport immigrants?

Last month, LUPE hosted students from Lafayette College in Easton, PA, who traveled to the Rio Grande Valley to learn more about the immigration system and its effects on the people living along the border. At the end of their week with us, as part of our trip evaluation, one of the students wrote the question, “Why is ICE so determined to deport immigrants?”

That is not a question that can be easily addressed in an article or blog post–and it may not be a question we will ever fully answer. But I wanted to offer some insight into the inner workings of ICE and the Border Patrol to give our readers an idea of why agents will go to great lengths to get attain a deportation–even harassment and violating immigration rights.

“I was a victim” – Francisca’s story shines light on need for humane and fair immigration reform

Francisca and her daughter participate in a planning meeting in response to raids. Francisca asked her face not be shown.

In light of the tragic yet hopeful events of last Friday–when immigration authorities entered the home of Arizona immigrant rights advocate Erika Andiola and arrested her mother and brother, but after public outcry released them the following day–we are re-posting a story from 2010, when Border Patrol agents increased raids in public areas around the lower Rio Grande Valley. Stories like Francisca’s below are being brought to the forefront of the fight for immigration reform. If you have experienced a situation like Erika or Francisca’s, you are encouraged to share it under the hashtag #WeAreAndiola.

“I was a victim. I believe that they violated my rights,” says Francisca of Edinburg. Her and her 6 children were detained by the Border Patrol early in the morning June 1, 2010 on their way to work in the tomato fields. Francisca and her four oldest children came to the US ten years earlier from a small town where women weren’t allowed to do the work men did. Looking for a better life for their children, and a place where Francisca could help her family financially, Francisca’s husband migrated to the US in 1996 and his family followed in 2000. In the US, after working daily for 10 years, they were able to buy a plot of land with a house. In 2001 and 2003 they had their 5th and 6th children. Francisca’s oldest daughter, 19, is in college and her second oldest, 17, was just accepted.

The morning of June 1, the family hoped to make some extra cash to help out Francisca’s husband, who worked all week on an area ranch and came home to be with his family on the weekends. On their way to the fields, a Border Patrol agent stopped the family. After two more agents arrived, one asked the first agent why he had detained them. His answer: “Because of the color of their skin.”

When the family was taken in, they were interrogated for hours. Francisca told the interrogating officer that she needed to have a hearing with a judge because of her 10 years in the country and two daughters that were US citizens. The agent responded that it wasn’t possible that she stay in the country, that it didn’t matter how many explanations she gave, she wouldn’t be able to stay in the country. She said she needed to see a judge, because her oldest daughter needed to be taking medicine that she didn’t have with her. The agent responded that he didn’t care and he’d seen worse cases than her daughter’s and that “what I do is bring an ambulance and we send them straight to their country. Let them get well there.” She responded that the medicine her daughter needed couldn’t be found in Mexico. He responded, “I already told you that I don’t care.” What would happen to her house that she just bought, she asked. “I don’t care about that either.”

With Obama Administration Announcement, a Sprinkle of Justice

Today we feel a sprinkle of justice.

With the announcement by the Obama administration, immigrant youth in the RGV are feeling a refreshing moment of hopefulness. After years of organizing for the DREAM Act, we are finally seeing a change in policy at the highest levels of government concerning our undocumented youth brothers and sisters. This is a recognition of the value that undocumented youth bring to this nation. Youth are hearing from the President himself that their lives are valuable and that they deserve to stay–and that he is willing to take action to make that happen.

It is refreshing as a cool summer shower.

But make no mistake, DREAMers made this happen.

BREAKING: RITA responds to Obama Announcement on DREAMer deportations

(EL PASO, Texas) — The White House announced today that the administration will provide Deferred Action for some undocumented youth.

The Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance congratulates the undocumented youth whose leadership and bold action forced this announcement. DREAMers have been occupying Obama campaign offices for weeks demanding action. And today, the White House had no choice but to respond.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO ANNOUNCES DEFERRED ACTION PROCESS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE LOW ENFORCEMENT PRIORITIES

June 15, 2012

WASHINGTON— Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today announced that effective immediately, certain young people who were brought to the United States as young children, do not present a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several key criteria will be considered for relief from removal from the country or from entering into removal proceedings. Those who demonstrate that they meet the criteria will be eligible to receive deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal, and will be eligible to apply for work authorization.

Gov. Perry, don’t militarize our borders!

Governor Rick Perry recently announced that “Ranger Reconnaissance Teams” will be deployed to the border to increase security. Translation: more troops to the border means increased militarization of our border communities. This is just more of the same failed border “security” policy that only causes more racial profiling & mistrust in communities of color. Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada, has also come out against this move as “an extremist and alarmist reaction to incidents that are happening in Mexico.” As part of the Texas Border Coalition, he believes this increase in troops would be wasteful spending and cause a decrease in economic activity for Border cities.

What we really need is a comprehensive, proactive solution in the form of federal immigration reform policy. In terms of ‘securing the border’ – we need to make sure any policy affecting border security is respectful of immigrants and holds those in charge accountable for their actions.

Unfortunately, the Texas Rangers are anything but respectful, professional and accountable. Among Chicanos, the Rangers are known as “Los Rinches de Tejas” and are known to have lynched thousands of Mexicans based on false arrests due to racial profiling since the 1800’s. The arrested migrant workers on both sides of the border were never given a fair trial and never were the Rangers asked to produce evidence to justify an arrest. (Kind of sounds familiar to the way today’s immigration system works right?)

An op-ed in the Rio Grande Guardian reveals some shocking statistics:

“In the period from 1848 to 1870, some official records show that 473 out of every 100,000 Mexican migrant workers died at the hands of Los Rinches. In the 1850s, Tejanos faced expulsion from their Central Texas homes on the accusation that they helped slaves escape to Mexico.”

It is bad enough that the Rangers have never been brought to justice but now Gov. Perry is announcing to bring them back to the border?
We can’t let him! Please contact Gov. Perry and tell him NO to militarization of our border and NO to the Texas Rangers in our communities!

UPDATE: The Texas Border Coalition has written a letter to Gov. Perry voicing concerns about the Ranger deployment. TBC Chairman and Eaglepass Mayor Chad Foster said that Perry’s announcement “create[s] a public impression of lawless hordes overrunning the border region and do not reflect our collective experience.” Read more here.

287(g) – what’s it all about?

We’ve been hearing a lot about “287(g) programs” in the news. So for today’s post…what are they exactly and how do they affect Valley residents?

In short, 287(g) programs grant participating local enforcement agencies the authority to enforce federal immigration policy. Currently, there are over 66 local law enforcement agencies that partner with I.C.E. to deputize officers who can enforce immigration laws. This can often lead to scenarios such as local police pulling people over on the road and asking for immigration status in addition to their license and registration. Who’s targeted by this program? A nonpartisan group, Justice Strategies, has found that these programs have intensified racial profiling as most of the stops, searches and seizures mainly target communities of color, specifically Latinos.

As one might guess, the 287(g) programs cause communities of color to mistrust local law enforcement if they are known to cooperate with I.C.E. agents. What might this fear look like? Residents and victims might be uneasy about calling police regarding crime, domestic violence or other incidents that they think would bring up questions around immigration status. It is not surprising then to see how this law has obstructed the ability of local cops to carry out their fundamental duty: to serve and protect residents. Worst of all, there is no accountability on the part of participating programs and no DHS oversight to deter abuse by authorities.

Specifically in the Valley, police authorities have been thinking heavily about these 287(g) programs with regards to their local operations. According to a recent Monitor article, Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio does not plan to participate in 287(g) programs while Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño is “considering” engaging with the detention side of the program, but remarks how he “would never do the enforcement.” While that is comforting to hear, we must stay wary of the fact that racial profiling still continues in the Valley as Latino residents are routinely asked for immigration status during traffic stops.

In some recent good news, Valley political leaders have come out against 287(g) tactics. U.S. Rep. Hinojosa and State Rep. Gonzales stated at the immigration reform rally on Saturday that the “use of local police departments to enforce immigration laws is deeply affecting the immigrants community.” Rep. Hinojosa went on to say:

“City or county police officers doing the job of U.S. Border Patrol are pressed by a small proportion of Americans who want 12 million undocumented people to be deported to their countries. It is not rational.”

Outraged over DHS Sec. Janet Napolitano’s expansion of these programs, 521 immigrant rights organizations signed on to and delivered a letter to President Obama to terminate these 287(g) programs that prevent local police from ensuring public safety and ignore the issue at hand: the need for humane, comprehensive immigration reform.

This taping of a rally is about a month old but still a great reminder that the fight against 287(g) is so important!

Texas-Wide Rallies Call for Immigration Reform

In solidarity with several other cities in Texas, the Rio Grande Valley held a rally for comprehensive immigration reform Saturday. The rally also included a memorial service for Sen. Ted Kennedy, who strongly supported humane immigration reform. More than 150 community members and political leaders including U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, Rep. Veronica Gonzales, and 13th Court of Appeals Justice Linda Yanez showed their support to make immigration reform a top priority.

Ann Cass, Executive Director of Proyecto Azteca

Rep. Hinojosa & Executive Director Juanita Valdez-Cox

Juanita Valdez-Cox, said of the event:

“This is an unprecedented statewide effort to show support for comprehensive immigration reform. With this event, several communities, cities and sectors in Texas will clearly express their call to President Obama and to members of Congress, especially Texas Senators Cornyn and Hutchison, to start a serious immigration reform discussion this year.”

Committee Leaders from LUPE & ARISE helped gather almost 4,000 signatures in support of immigration reform. These signatures, along with more than 15,000 thousand signatures from across Texas, will be sent to Sen. Cornyn and Sen. Hutchinson to show them the urgency in and importance of humane immigration reform.

LUPE Committee Leaders & Members

A LUPE member discusses why immigration reform is so important to her. Her most important reason? Simple: her kids.

Let us remember Senator Kennedy’s significant contributions to our communities and accept the challenge to continue his legacy for civil rights. The struggle for immigrant rights lives on in his honor.

“The work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on.”

For more on the rally, click here.

Also, check out Rep. Hinojosa’s full speech from the rally:
Hinojosa_VigilRemarks –

Honoring Sen. Ted Kennedy

The loss of Senator Ted Kennedy has been felt widely across America, especially among those in the Rio Grande Valley who saw him as a champion for immigrant and farm worker rights. He first came to the Valley in 1960 to campaign for his brother, John F. Kennedy’s bid for presidency. In 1967, Sen. Kennedy was back in the Valley to partake in subcommittee hearings to push for organized farm labor. Sen. Kennedy was a long-time friend of Cesar Chavez and was heavily involved in advocating for the farm workers’ movement.

Here is a clip of Juan Gonzales from Democracy Now! on the relationship between Ted Kennedy & Cesar Chavez:

“In 1969, Ted Kennedy marched with the farm workers to Calexico on the Mexican border in California…an eight-day, 200-mile march that was one of the turning points, the pivotal moments in the history of United Farm Workers. He then spoke at their founding convention of the Farm Workers. And throughout his career, Kennedy was the main defender of trying to get immigration reform, migrant education for children of migrants.”

– Juan Gonzales

A member of LUPE, Francisco Martinez, who worked closely with Cesar Chavez and had the opportunity to visit Sen. Kennedy and hear his speeches, said:

“We have lost a great champion in the struggle to win immigration reform and healthcare reform. Now we must work even harder to realize the dreams that we shared with Senator Kennedy.”

Famous picture of Cesar Chavez, Ted Kennedy and Coretta Scott King at a “No on Proposal 22” rally in the 1970’s:

Cesar Chavez and Sen. Kennedy addressing the U.S. Senate in 1985: