Winter 2020 National Immigrant Solidarity Network Monthly News Digest and News Alert!

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Summer 2020 U.S. Immigrant Alert! Newsletter
Published by National Immigrant Solidarity Network

Please Download Our Newsletter: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Newsletter/Winter20.pdf

[Requires Adobe Acrobat, to download, go: http://www.adobe.com]



 

As Immigrant Detain, Deport and Dying Under Trump, What’ll be Biden Mean for Immigrant Rights?

 

In This Issue:

1) Biden Has Promised to Undo Trump's Immigration Policies. How Much Is He Really Likely to Reform? (Pg 1)

2) “A Silent Pandemic”: Nurse at ICE Facility Blows the Whistle on Coronavirus Dangers (Pg 4)

3) SAALT Releases Report Mapping Impact of COVID-19 on South Asian American Communities (Pg 8)

4) Border Patrol raid on No More Deaths aid station (Pg 9)

5) The Police System That Terrorizes the Poor and Minorities Is Rooted in the Colonial Past (Pg 10)

8) Updates, Please Support NISN! Subscribe the Newsletter! (Pg 12)

 

Please download our latest newsletter: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Newsletter/Winter20.pdf


11/20: Biden Has Promised to Undo Trump's Immigration Policies. How Much Is He Really Likely to Reform?

President Donald Trump ran his first presidential campaign on the promise to overhaul U.S. immigration, and for the most part, he kept that promise. Month after month, from the very start of Trump’s term, immigration policy changed rapidly, from the Zero Tolerance policy that separated children from their parents, to record low caps on the number of refugees accepted by the U.S. each year.

President-elect Joe Biden has promised to undo most — if not all — of President Trump’s immigration reforms. He’s pledged, for instance, to immediately end the ban restricting foreigners from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. and reinstate protections from deportation for the roughly 650,000 people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as minors, known as Dreamers.

But after four years of sweeping changes, making some changes could prove more complicated, and could come through executive orders, presidential proclamations or possibly get stuck in a divided Congress, experts say. For instance, the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), otherwise known as “Remain in Mexico,” which has kept an estimated more than 67,000 asylum seekers in Mexico while their cases are adjudicated in the U.S., could prove difficult to reverse if the Biden Administration hopes to avoid a surge in migration to the southern border.

And while Biden’s campaign website promises to “modernize America’s immigration system,” immigration advocates and attorneys point out that the Obama-Biden Administration oversaw millions of deportations and an expansion of family detention, raising concerns about what the next four years will bring. Spokespeople from the Biden transition team and the Biden Campaign did not return TIME’s request for comment.

“The Trump Administration made immigration its signature issue,” says Tom Wong, an assistant professor of political science at the University of California San Diego. “What we’ll see from a Biden Administration within the first 100 days are those things that can be undone with the stroke of a pen… [Immigration] advocates need to be clear-eyed that a Biden Administration does not automatically bring about comprehensive immigration reform.”....

Link to the Article:

Part One: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1488

Part Two: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1489


9/14: “A Silent Pandemic”: Nurse at ICE Facility Blows the Whistle on Coronavirus Dangers

A nurse at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia is speaking out about a host of dangerous medical practices at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The whistleblower, Dawn Wooten, says that Irwin, which is run by the private corporation LaSalle Corrections, has underreported Covid-19 cases, knowingly placed staff and detainees at risk of contracting the virus, neglected medical complaints, and refused to test symptomatic detainees, among other dangerous practices. On September 8, Wooten submitted a letter detailing her complaints to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, with the help of attorneys from the Government Accountability Project. The grim situation inside the facility reflects what she called “a silent pandemic” running rampant behind the prison bars.

“You don’t want to see what you’re seeing,” Wooten told The Intercept. “You’re responsible for the lives of others,” but Irwin management, in her eyes, downplayed the threat of the virus from the start.

When the first suspected case of Covid-19 arrived at Irwin in March, Wooten says, she overheard the warden, David Paulk, tell a member of the nursing staff not to tell anybody that the man recently transferred might have the coronavirus. “He didn’t want there to be mass panic,” she said. (Reached by phone, Paulk said he had no comment.) Another member of the medical staff ordered Wooten to triage the man, even though she didn’t have a mask. She refused. “They’re still not taking this seriously,” Wooten said. “Enough was enough.”

In a series of interviews with The Intercept, Wooten described how she repeatedly complained to staff leadership before she was demoted in early July from working full time to an on-call position, where she was only offered a few hours a month — a move she charges was retaliation for speaking up and demanding stricter medical safety protocols. She has worked at the facility for three years in three separate stints as a licensed practical nurse, and has over 10 years of experience working as a nurse in prisons.

Her own health was imperiled while working at Irwin during the outbreak. She has sickle cell anemia, and although she told her supervisors her doctor had warned her that exposure to the coronavirus could be deadly, management at Irwin neglected to tell her that detainees she had contact with were symptomatic and, in three cases, had tested positive for Covid-19....
 

Link to the letter:

Part One: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1481

Part Two: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1482


More Recent Immigrant Justice News..

9/14: “A Silent Pandemic”: Nurse at ICE Facility Blows the Whistle on Coronavirus Dangers(1)
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1481

9/14: “A Silent Pandemic”: Nurse at ICE Facility Blows the Whistle on Coronavirus Dangers(2)
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1482

9/29: SAALT Releases Report Mapping Impact of COVID-19 on South Asian American Communities
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1483

10/3: Collier County Sheriff’s changing version of events that led to police shooting of Nicolas Morales undermines public trust in the investigation and demands immediate transparency
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1484

10/5: Border Patrol raid on No More Deaths aid station
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1485

10/29: The Police System That Terrorizes the Poor and Minorities Is Rooted in the Colonial Past(1)
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1486

10/29: The Police System That Terrorizes the Poor and Minorities Is Rooted in the Colonial Past(2)
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1487

11/20: Biden Has Promised to Undo Trump's Immigration Policies. How Much Is He Really Likely to Reform?(1)
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1488

11/20: Biden Has Promised to Undo Trump's Immigration Policies. How Much Is He Really Likely to Reform?(2)
http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Issues&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=1489


Please download our latest newsletter: http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/Newsletter/Winter20.pdf

 


Useful Immigrant Resources on Detention and Deportation

 

Useful Handouts and Know Your Immigrant Rights When Marches
 
 
Immigrant Marches / Marchas de los Inmigrantes
(By ACLU)

Immigrants and their supporters are participating in marches all over the country to protest proposed national legislation and to seek justice for immigrants. The materials available here provide important information about the rights and risks involved for anyone who is planning to participate in the ongoing marches.

If government agents question you, it is important to understand your rights. You should be careful in the way you speak when approached by the police, FBI, or INS. If you give answers, they can be used against you in a criminal, immigration, or civil case.

The ACLU's publications below provide effective and useful guidance in several languages for many situations. The brochures apprise you of your legal rights, recommend how to preserve those rights, and provide guidance on how to interact with officials.

IMMIGRATION
Know Your Rights When Encountering Law Enforcement
| Conozca Sus Derechos Frente A Los Agentes Del Orden Público

ACLU of Massachusetts - Your Rights And Responsibilities If You Are Contacted By The Authorities English | Spanish | Chinese

ACLU of Massachusetts - What to do if stopped and questioned about your immigration status on the street, the subway, or the bus
| Que hacer si Usted es interrogado en el tren o autobus acerca de su estatus inmigratorio

ACLU of South Carolina - How To Deal With A 287(g)
| Como Lidiar Con Una 287(g)

ACLU of Southern California - What to Do If Immigration Agents or Police Stop You While on Foot, in Your Car, or Come to Your Home
| Qué Hacer Si Agentes de Inmigración o la Policía lo Paran Mientras Va Caminando, lo Detienen en su Auto o Vienen a su Hogar

ACLU of Washington - Brochure for Iraqis: What to Do If the FBI or Police Contact You for Questioning English | Arabic

ACLU of Washington - Your Rights at Checkpoints at Ferry Terminals
| Sus Derechos en Puestos de Control en las Terminales de Transbordadores

LABOR / FREE SPEECH
Immigrant Protests - What Every Worker Should Know:
| Manifestaciones de los Inmigrantes - Lo Que Todo Trabajador Debe Saber

PROTESTERS
ACLU of Florida Brochure - The Rights of Protesters
| Los Derechos de los Manifestantes

STUDENTS
Washington State - Student Walkouts and Political Speech at School
| Huelgas Estudiantiles y Expresión Política en las Escuelas

California Students: Public School Walk-outs and Free Speech
| Estudiantes de California: Marchas o Huelgas y La Libertad de Expresión en las Escuelas Públicas

 


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