Jorge-Mario Cabrera2013-05-25T10:39:55-04:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=jorgemario-cabreraCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Jorge-Mario CabreraGood old fashioned elbow grease.Immigrants in the Time of Kobachtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.12973462012-02-23T15:34:26-05:002012-04-24T05:12:02-04:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/No hay mal que dure cien años ni cuerpo que lo resista.
The president's proposed 2013 budget includes more ammunition to keep "Secure Communities," the administration's well-oiled machine, running proficiently for the next few years. Not content with deporting 1.5 million during the first three years, the Obama administration appears content to sacrifice a few hundred thousand more. But try as he may, deportation hawks complain undocumented immigration has rebounded since Mr. Obama took office.
Alabama's poultry-processing plants and tomato fields were in dire need of working hands; workers not too frightened to come back to the place many have called home for decades in spite of the Gestapo-like conditions they must now face. Some politicians were quietly working on exceptions to ensure the state's revenues do not tank as a result of their irrational exuberance towards immigrants during their last legislative session.
In the presidential trail, Republican candidates were aiming their cannons at Arizona, one of the nation's most anti-immigrant states, all the while remaining mum about their tough and unintelligible stances on immigration. On the other hand, the Republican's anointed Latino of the month, Marco Rubio, was the GOP's VP of choice, according to a straw poll conducted during the much-elevated CPAC gathering in Washington, D.C. How a Latino son of immigrants could be the beloved child to CPAC is beyond me.
Finally, in Kansas, State Secretary Chris Kobach, a Romney supporter, reared his ugly head to introduce a number of bills that among other things, would criminalize helping an undocumented immigrant, would penalize workers and subject them to a broken and unreliable verification system, and essentially place an immigration cop at every corner to stop anyone suspected of being in the country without authorization.
For undocumented immigrants, there are no best of times. These are definitely the worst of times in a long time.
Lost in hypocrisy-land, the dreams of the American-in-waiting, the immigrant family, mean almost nothing to a political class intent on retaining or gaining power. While millions wail and curse, but also organize, there is good oratory from Democrats, severe xenophobia from Republicans, and a nation that demands responses by imposing the most draconian anti-immigrant measures state by state.
But not all is doom and gloom in 2012. There is a general election season that seems to go on forever.
On November 6, 2012, immigrant and Latino voters have a real opportunity to shift the balance and offer a new narrative about immigrants in America. A TIME magazine article out this week offers a few tips to why and how the GOP and Democrats alike will need to turn their attention to issues that matter to this vibrant and growing electorate, whether that's in Arizona, Florida, California, or Ohio. That is, if they want to occupy the White House in 2013.
But the shift will not take place on its own. The two major parties are far too invested in keeping alive the status quo that they would rather lose more than half the Latino electorate than "pander" to our legitimate needs. In the end, it must be an organized community, a furious contempt for mediocrity, and a true democracy that will push reform forward.
Perhaps the most potent antidote to counteract the likes of Kobach, Bebeu, Baca, Rubio, Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, Obama, Napolitano, et al, is the unswerving, informed, and unambiguous exercise of a most precious right of all: our right to vote.]]>A Day Without Calumnytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.12846342012-02-17T11:13:45-05:002012-04-18T05:12:01-04:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/
I am not a fan of the John and Ken Show on KFI AM640. In fact, I have been an active critic of the type of talk radio they represent: obtuse, callous, hate-filled propaganda against any and all groups not "American enough". I tolerate conservative talk radio because their views are protected by the Constitution just like my views are protected. I detest right-wing evangelizing masked by assertions of real patriotism.
But when John and Ken yell fire in a crowded multicultural city like Los Angeles, they are no longer simple antagonists, they are dangerous. Unfortunately, KFI and their parent company Clear Channel have been complacent and complicit in the distribution of fear-mongering, race-baiting, and xenophobic propaganda for two decades. Their cowardly attitude towards John and Ken, presumably because they represent juicy revenue for the bottom line, is reprehensible.
Thus, when John and Ken not only rallied their angry base against AB130 and AB131, two bills that make up the California Dream Act, an education bill that offers limited financial incentives for undocumented college students, they also made a calculated decision to attack me personally by airing my personal cell phone number several times on three of their shows. Not surprisingly, after being labeled as thieves, terrorists, anti-American, mafia members, blackmailers, traitors, and illegal-alien lovers, the non-profit organization I work for and I were the victims of harassment and threats for several weeks after.
Some may claim John and Ken were right to attack someone they disagreed with. I am open to being criticized for my views. But given that I am not a political figure, a lobbyist, or a company, where does it say my home address, my personal cell phone number, and my safety as a citizen is fair fame? John and Ken did not measure the consequences of their race-baiting and although after weeks of protests and bad press they eventually half-heartedly apologized through Univision and on air, their sophomoric ranting continued.
Through coalition work led by NHMC and CHIRLA, more than 15 sponsors left the John and Ken Show faster than a rat escapes a sinking ship. And still KFI and Clear Channel harbor their money-making hyenas.
Less than two weeks ago, John and Ken made racist comments about Korean painters and the Korean community rightfully rose to their feet and cried foul. KFI and Clear Channel stood by and watched the rally undeterred. The high-octane duo remained on the air.
Whitney Houston's death has moved many to ponder how a talented American icon could have succumbed to a life of alcohol and drugs. Whatever the political persuasion many of us grieved for her daughter and prayed for the canary's soul. John and Ken apparently were not amongst those touched by the loss of a human being to the addictive grasp of loneliness and depression. Instead, they mocked the singer and in the process insulted her memory.
Whitney Houston was also an African American woman. There has been much work that African Americans have had to do, much blood spilled, too many lives lost in order for the community to gain a little bit of respect. When a member of the community is defiled, especially by racist goons like John and Ken, the whole community reacts and demands answers. I believe this is why John and Ken were asked to go home and spend their long holiday weekend thinking about other people to target. Unfortunately, their suspension is temporary.
There will be a time when attacking immigrants, Latinos, Koreans, low-income families, gays and lesbians, and Jews will no longer be funny or profitable. We too will learn to carry our cross and stand tall, high above the putrid fecal matter that represents hate speech, xenophobia, and discrimination. The likes of John and Ken will have to think twice before they belittle us or use us as guinea pigs for their next rant.
For now, I applaud KFI for having the courage to step up to the light and show their boys' true colors. I only wish they would suspend these two irrational clowns once and for all.
Until that time, I will enjoy at least one day without calumny.]]>The Miramonte School Conspiracy of Silencetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.12745192012-02-15T13:45:09-05:002012-04-16T05:12:01-04:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/press conference came in the form of a girl's father. He was wearing an oversized hoodie that covered his entire face and a pair of dark glasses blocking us from seeing the fear in his eyes. He came to denounce a school system that allegedly allowed his daughter to become a victim of lewd acts committed by a trusted teacher at Miramonte Elementary School. When a reporter asked how he was feeling, the man in the hot seat barked back: "Come here and sit on this chair and see how it feels."
Parents at the Miramonte Elementary School in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood of central Los Angeles are outraged by the alleged sexual abuse and injustice that their children have suffered at the hands of trusted teachers and their lackadaisical supervisors.
A conspiracy of silence appears to have been in effect within the school itself and the entire Los Angeles Unified School District and so the parents remained unaware of what was happening. However, it is an involuntary code of silence that now threatens to hamper the investigation into this scandal going forward. This is based on the fear that the parents have expressed in going to the police -- in this case Sheriff Lee Baca and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department that patrols this area -- because they fear this would have immigration consequences, i.e. deportation.
While the sheriff himself has given his "word" that this fear is unwarranted, community members, immigration attorneys and advocates alike say unequivocally that this is simply not good enough. Not here in Los Angeles, not now in 2012, not when thousands upon thousands wind up deported due to the sheriff's excessive and zealous cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Indeed, along with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the National Immigration Law Center, CHIRLA has had to file a lawsuit against Sheriff Baca just to obtain more information on the extent of this collaboration. When vendors and domestic abuse victims are passed on to ICE after contact with local police, the Miramonte parents simply put one and one together: police = ICE.
Due to the pernicious nature of the misnamed of the all-seeing and omnipresent "Secure Communities" (S-Comm) program, this nightmare is closer to the truth than ever before. Los Angeles' local law enforcement databases are now connected to ICE and fingerprints are automatically checked in order to determine immigration status of any arrestee, regardless of the charge and before any conviction. As such, S-Comm is meant to leverage the arrest of any officer, whether based on racial profiling or a warrant. A recent report by the University of California Irvine Law School concluded that this is a "feature rather than a reparable flaw of the program."
Ask any police officer how hard it is to win the trust of communities. And after you gain it, the last thing you want is lose it. To really secure the community, especially in almost-forgotten communities such as the Florence-Firestone neighborhood, you draw a bright line between yourself and ICE. This the whole idea behind the Los Angeles Police Department's Special Order 40 -- preventing its officers from initiating contact in order to investigate immigration status. Both former Chief Bill Bratton and current Chief Charlie Beck of the LAPD have variously spoken out about ICE's programs threaten to undermine trust in the police and thus public safety. S-Comm blurs that bright line and in effect, it instead functions as a pipeline into the deportation system.
Los Angeles and California have been increasingly vocal against this trend -- especially after understanding that we were misled into S-Comm participation without even having had a real say. It also makes sense given our opposition to anything akin to Arizona's SB1070 and Alabama's HB56 -- whose main provision are intent on turning local police into mini ICE agents.
The cities of Los Angeles and South Gate have passed resolutions against this mission creep and last August, the community told the DHS assembled "Task Force on Secure Communities" in no uncertain terms that L.A. does not want this Frankenstein here. Letters from our local Members of Congress and Mayor Villaraigosa have expressed extreme concern to President Obama and Governor Brown. At all points along the way, DHS-ICE has reacted with subterfuge and spin.
Most recently, DHS voided the contracts that states like California had signed in good faith, thinking they were a prerequisite as well as a guarantor that S-Comm would operate as advertised.
Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the revamped TRUST Act, soon to be introduced by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano of San Francisco. In essence, it will "end the charade called S-Comm (and) ensure that our government protects its residents not criminalizes them when they have already suffered." California must be the next battleground in this effort to protect our communities.
'Secure Communities' is in fact perceived by many Angelenos as well as fellow Californians as highly detrimental to the core public safety mission of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and other local law enforcement agencies. By entangling agencies like the LAPD in immigration enforcement, community members are becoming wary of reaching out to police to report crime.
Sadly, his prophetic words are coming true and for the sake of the Miramonte school children and our entire community we need to reverse this trend.
Carl Bergquist, CHIRLA Policy Advocate, contributed to this story.]]>Credit for a Mini Fire Enginetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.12513292012-02-03T11:27:51-05:002012-04-04T05:12:01-04:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/
Come next year, Eliberto and his wife Sonia once again will file their income taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Numer (ITIN) but this time they will receive nothing in return from Uncle Sam if a proposal being entertained in Congress is approved.
Eliberto's two sons are U.S.-born. Every year, he and his wife file a joint tax return using an ITIN.
"The money [Child Tax Credit] is the only one we qualify for, and we end up using almost entirely on the children," stated Eliberto, who did not provide a last name to protect his family. The Van Nuys resident earns approximately $20,000 a year through full time employment and says that every two weeks approximately $154 disappear from his already small paycheck to pay federal and state taxes.
Eliberto and Sonia are really worried. Talk of Congress moving forward with a proposal to restrict the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) refund to taxpayers who have a SSN will impact their family budget and that of more than two million working families who pay income and payroll taxes. Hard-working families and low-income families pay over $9 billion in payroll taxes each year according to Accounting Coach. Eliberto pays $5,544 in taxes every year but receives $2,000 in return as part of the ACTC program.
"If I don't get that little bit of help for my children, it will affect what I buy for them. With that money I buy food, clothing, diapers, medications, and if I have any left over, a couple of toys. They are getting older and now they ask me to get them little things to play," notes Eliberto.
Republicans in the House came up with this anti-immigrant and anti-family scheme as a way to pay for the extension of the payroll tax cut. By imposing this exorbitant tax hike on the working poor, Latinos, immigrants, and the neighborhoods they live in will also suffer. This monstrosity of a proposal will have the most devastating impact on children: It is estimated that up to 5.5 million children, four million of whom are U.S.-born citizens, will have this safety net yanked from under their feet overnight.
Eliberto does not understand the political maneuvering pushing this bill forward. He worries, though, that in addition to his family, "lots of middle-class families and mom-and-pop businesses that serve our community will have serious needs because we will not be shopping there for a while." He is right. Studies have shown that every dollar received by low and moderate-income families has 1.5 to 2 times multiplier effect in terms of its impact on the local economies. Based on Eliberto's wish list, most of this year's ACTC refund will be spent in local stores and shops.
The irony is that while Congress has been consistently unable or unwilling to serve the American people by adjusting our immigration laws, they are willing to hurt the general public by making a point about immigration through this proposal.
Perhaps we will save a lot of money by denying eligibility to ITIN taxpayers for ACTC, you may be saying. The savings barely compute. The bill is estimated to save $9.6 billion in over 10 years -- a time period during which these same taxpayers will contribute $90 billion to the federal coffers.
I get that Congress must find ways to pay for the payroll benefits it will likely extend. I get that something has got to give. But to take this life-saving financial assistance away from the hands of taxpayers who are barely getting by is reprehensible. Over 60 percent of families using the refundable CTC earn less than $25,000 per year. According to a 2009 report, the ACTC credits protected approximately 1.3 million children from falling into poverty.
These are the numbers. The real impact can only be felt when you meet families like Eliberto's who do what they must to protect and feed their children but also do their best to comply with their civic duty which includes paying taxes and filing returns. "I have thought about not filing my returns," says Eliberto, "but I know that it is my responsibility and I want to help this country get stronger so that my family has a future here."
Thus far Congress has failed to address why it is necessary to target vulnerable population such as these four million U.S.-born children and their undocumented parents. Saving estimates pale in comparison to the robust contribution low-income families make to our economy in payroll taxes each and every year.
In this politicized environment where everything, or almost everything, is the immigrant's fault, we must caution members of Congress to tread carefully and not overreach. As members of the general public, we must ask our national leadership why this Herod-like persecution of children is necessary. Many of us may be against granting some benefits to undocumented workers, even if they pay their fair share of income and payroll taxes, but few of us will have the heart to keep Eliberto's U.S.-born sons from getting a mini fire truck engine, the Gerber puree, and a nice supply of pampers.
Editor's Note: This post has been updated since its original publication.]]>Joaquin Luna's Unfinished Blueprinttag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.11221832011-12-01T13:14:47-05:002012-01-31T05:12:02-05:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/take his own life a day after Thanksgiving Day. What I do not know is what drove this quiet and gentle undocumented immigrant high school student originally from Nayarit, Tepic, to suddenly bid his family and loved ones goodbye and shut his life's door forever. Was it despair, angst, fear, isolation, hopelessness, love, politics...
"To go to heaven you don't need papers," reads a hand-drawn picture posted at the entrance of Joaquin's small but well-lit bedroom. A giant window allows in plenty of sunlight which unapologetically meshes with the four sea-green-colored walls creating the illusion that you just have entered a magic world of ferns and vanilla leafs. This was Joaquin's space and on his computer he designed dozens of buildings and structures that once printed became complex and utterly fascinating blueprints.
The young guitarist wanted to become an engineer and be the family's savior. According to his schoolmates, teachers, and those who knew Joaquin closely, he exuded collegiate motivation and spoke of big future plans. Technically, he had already built his first castle from scratch. Blueprints drawn by Joaquin and eagerly shown to everyone by older brother Diyer were the foundation for the home he shared with his mother and two brothers. He didn't get to work on all the trimmings but when Diyer extends his arms wide to showcase his little brother's "design," you would think he was talking about a Taj Mahal or The Alhambra.
So who was this Joaquin, what did he want out of life, and why is he the subject of conversation in so many circles, especially amongst immigrant rights advocates who ask ourselves if we could have done something, anything, to prevent his suicide? The answers do not come easily because most of us just barely met the boy-becoming-a-man who was bursting with so many questions himself.
To describe Joaquin only as a dreamer, or an undocumented immigrant, is to cut short a lot of what his family and friends says he was. Most of us before this week probably did not know about this diamond in the raw living in a border town of 64,000 residents. Had he not with his own hands cut his life short, we would have never learned that Joaquin read the Bible every night right before he went to bed. We would not know that since early on in his childhood he earned a living performing odd jobs to help his family make ends meet. "He learned carpentry like that," says Santa Mendoza Lorma, Joaquin's mom. "He learned to make beautiful things out of nothing."
Had his actions not touched so many of us, we probably would have moved on, not intentionally dismissive of his struggle and achievements, but onward trying to save an immigrant over here, an immigrant over there. After all, the human crisis we talk about is very real and every day we see with our own eyes monsters with lances and spikes heading our community's way all the while our fearless leaders do nothing to protect us. The dreams this young man from Mission, Texas once had fell precipitously into the abyss to never return, and now we wonder selfishly how his life and death can help us, inspire us -- because God knows we need inspiration -- or anger us enough to keep fighting so that new Americans like him get a chance to be described with superlatives -- bravest, smartest, most American -- and not as invaders from another planet.
Ultimately, what we know about Joaquin so far is what we would like to believe killed him, a broken and inhumane immigration system. The DHS chimera, toxic by nature and obscenely fed by greed, politics and cowardice, is guilty, we contend with gnashing teeth. Perhaps we are on to something. Perhaps we are missing the point altogether.
Whatever led Joaquin to pull the trigger on that Friday evening, his family, his friends and the rest of us who now care about what he could have become, mourn the sudden loss, condemn the use of violence to solve a problem no matter how unsurpassable, praise the courage of thousands upon thousands of immigrant families and dreamers who keep fighting in spite of a life condemned in the shadows, and inevitably dig deep to find our bruised heart squatting alongside cynicism, contempt for politics, and righteousness. But we are feeling something and doing something about his loss.
As I write these thoughts, Joaquin's body lies in rest at a funeral home in southern Texas. Members of his family arrived early today to see his body for the first time since the coroner's office and the police investigators whisked it away Friday night. "My son left this earth as clean and as pure as he first came to me," Mrs. Mendoza tells me over the phone. "But he didn't want to be a nobody. He was convinced his lack of papers would doom his chances of success after college." And with anger rising in her voice, she says: "I hope these Republicans and racists finally understand that we are all here, we are all the same, we will all turn to dust just the same, and there's always someone higher than the highest of them all, always."
The image of Joaquin's blueprints splattered all over his desk stays with me because I never understood the myriad of patterns and lines crisscrossing each other along huge sheets of paper. Joaquin mastered the art of design early on and found beauty where I would only find a splitting headache. His untimely death is not the first or the last the immigrant community has faced, but to be young, have a dream, and to let it go so early has got to be the greatest tragedy of all. Let us hope his family finds the comfort and strenght they will need as they work through their great loss. Let us hope this administration will find it within its heart to shift the tides, shake some trees, make some noise, and bring about a new dawn, one that regrettably Joaquin did not have a chance to see.
]]>Calling the Question: Why Cecilia Muñoz Is Not the Issuetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.10871832011-11-11T16:49:52-05:002012-01-11T05:12:01-05:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/
Recently, our partner and ally Presente.org joined by some writers, took issue with a statement signed by CHIRLA and eighteen other organizations decrying the personal targeting of Cecilia Muñoz, President Obama's Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. Our open statement dated October 31, challenges the wisdom of singling out Muñoz demanding she "return to her advocacy roots" and to "renounce" her positions on Secure Communities and other deportation programs.
It seems the statement was misread by some, including Maegan Ortiz, publisher and managing editor of Vivir Latino, a news website. In a posting titled "How do you solve a problem like Cecilia?" (November 9, 2011) Ortiz goes for the jugular right from the start. Although her article is supposed to be about the reprehensible negative impact of blindly enforcing broken and unjust immigration policies by the Obama administration, Ortiz singles out Muñoz as the "once-fierce advocate" and slams her for "her complicity in sugarcoating the negative impact of Obama's immigration policies" on Latino and immigrant communities.
Ortiz, much like other critics, fails to distinguish between a player in a larger movement and the real problem -- absence of immigration reform and cowardly enforcement of broken immigration laws. Ortiz would lead us to believe that without Muñoz in the picture all would be well for immigrants as far as immigration enforcement is concerned. She is mistaken.
What happens next in Ortiz' article would be quite amusing were it not outright insulting. After praising "independent journalists and organizations" for targeting, even calling on Muñoz to resign, Ortiz goes on to slam "other, more mainstream Latino civil-rights organizations" for jumping to Muñoz' defense. Out of a long list of co-signing organizations and individuals which includes Dolores Huerta, Eliséo Medina, Janet Murguía, Anthony Romero, Gustavo Torres, and Petra Falcón, Ortiz places CHIRLA in the crosshairs of an illogical, uninformed, and unwarranted critique.
For the record: CHIRLA is a community-based organization based in Los Angeles founded in 1986 with a strong and transparent track record of organizing and advocating on behalf of the immigrant community. In spite of our long history of work, our budget and our funding remain relatively modest. As much as we would like, we still do not have access to President Obama's private line nor are we the recipients of gold-embroidered invitations to White House or Congressional dinners.
Since Ortiz questions our position on several issues, we should clarify that CHIRLA has been an enthusiastic proponent of the federal DREAM Act since its original introduction in 2001, AB540, one of the first in-state tuition bills enacted in the country, and the California Dream Act, which provides limited state aid to undocumented students to pursue higher education. And, we were intricately involved in ensuring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families and individuals were respected and included in the various versions of immigration reform legislation that were introduced.
Had Ortiz bothered to call CHIRLA, we would have told her that we agree with her argument that "it's foolhardy for a community to pin its hopes on one of its own" now in a position of power and influence. Unfortunately, it is an argument that even she ignores as she blindly focuses her energy on singling out Muñoz and CHIRLA.
Had Ortiz taken the time to read in full CHIRLA's statement on Muñoz, she would have noted that we openly chide her for "defending the indefensible." We also fault "the President's indecision, soft leadership on immigration reform, and mistaken focus to please Republicans in Congress," and we call on his Administration to halt the human crisis reaching the one and a half million deportations. The full statement was posted on our website and on Facebook on October 31, 2011.
Had Ortiz taken the time to learn about CHIRLA, she would have read our take on DHS, ICE, and Secure Communities in a Huffington Post blog titled "A record as straight as immigration's broken promise" (August 17, 2011), where we likened ICE's fuzzy math to "Mark Twain's three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics." In the same story, we tell Muñoz that "S-Comm and other deportation machines are nothing to be 'proud' of. Shame is more accurate." Furthermore, we call on Muñoz and President Obama to "swallow egos, flip the switch and pull the plug on this Frankenstein," referencing the faulty SComm program.
CHIRLA's strong values-based ministry, which Ortiz opines has succumbed to influence, access, "political favors or funding," has never been and will never be for sale. Our work is rooted in our mission and vision of a nation where immigrants are welcomed, appreciated, and respected; regardless of who is president and how many Cecilia Muñoz's serve as intermediaries. Guided by our membership priorities, CHIRLA has never been shy to question, challenge, or demand changes in local, state, or federal policies we judge harmful to our community. At times, we must confess, we have done the unthinkable: sit at the table across from friends and foes alike and we will continue to do so when it advances our collective agenda.
Still, in spite of our organization's hard work, and the work of many other allies and supporters, on behalf of more honest and humane immigration policies, we are far from winning a major fight on the immigration reform front. Elected or appointed leaders come and go, but our issues remain unresolved. With or without Muñoz, we face innumerable challenges moving forward. Muñoz just happens to be a strong ally of the immigrant community and a consistent voice of reason within the Obama administration and we have worked with her in the past and will continue to work with her in the future. She is but one voice, however, where many more are needed to convince a stubborn Congress and a frightened White House that change is needed.
That is why talk of resignation, retraction, and silly questioning of CHIRLA's intentions and values, is of lesser importance to the immigrant community than proactive, timely, and common-sense solutions. CHIRLA will not stop pressuring our policy makers, elected leaders, and their staffers to provide our community with answers, not just lip service. We will be passionate and use forceful advocacy when needed never forgetting to be respectful and compassionate as we expect others to be with our community.
To us, the most pressing issue is not Cecilia Muñoz, it is President Obama, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, ICE Director John Morton, and a gutless Congress. The real question is, how will we, together as a diverse community, work with Congress and the White House to approve just, humane, and sensible fixes to our broken immigration system before any more lives are disrupted, families separated, and dreams crushed. We think that's also the most pressing concern for Presente.org and writers like Ortiz.
]]>John and Ken: The Best Apology Is a Farewell Messagetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.10218402011-10-20T18:24:00-04:002011-12-20T05:12:01-05:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/John and Ken Show have lived in a rage-testosterone-and-feces-filled cave for so long that now they are beginning to act out their own oversized GI Joe and He-Man fantasies. Their ego is so huge, the disconnect with reality so abundantly clear, and the wads of money at stake so vast, that these two traffickers of hate speech, advised by their masters at Clear Channel and KFI, have made a few embarrassing attempts during the past few days to trade the show's trademark muck and venom for a tad-soft experiment at apologizing.
As unintentional as a poisonous snake's bite, John and Ken's recent so-called apology for giving out my private cell phone number and instigating anti-Dream Act listener harassment on immigrant rights advocates like myself, is a well-calculated, manipulative, and insulting public relations stunt meant to appease the opposition.
I am not buying their charade for one minute.
Clear Channel, KFI, and John and Ken have been in the wrong to purvey, condone, and sell hate speech in the past and are in the wrong now as they blunder this opportunity to make amends to several key Los Angeles communities. Clear Channel's tackling of this incident has been off the mark all along: they have personalized this incident, trivialized John and Ken's history of "yelling fire while in a crowded theater," and underestimated the power of a united community front.
First, let us be perfectly clear: John and Ken are not the targets of a blind mob upset over their outspoken views on undocumented immigration. We do not appreciate it, but it is their constitutional right to have their own opinion on the subject. What we do not condone is the race-based bile these two spew out on a daily basis because it is reckless, uncalled for, and ultimately dangerous. As the wave of intolerance floods town after town throughout our beloved America, Los Angeles must say enough is enough and call on John and Ken to step off the microphone once and for all.
Half-baked apologies or invitations to hold "man-to-man" conversations are of little interest to CHIRLA. We care for a Los Angeles and California where whites, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, immigrants and non-immigrants, working class and students, conservatives and liberals, Jews and Christians, women and men, LGBTs, and everyone else in between can work collaborative to build a place we can all call home. We care for a multicultural and multifaceted community that does not allow any of its own to fear for his well-being, all because a couple of thugs with a microphone have made it their profitable business to attack them day in and day out. We care for the freedoms handed down to us by our nation's founders and protected by the men and women in uniform, including the freedom to petition my government for sensible updates to our immigration laws, without feeling threatened, harassed, or violated all because of two irresponsible goons with an axe to grind.
If Clear Channel is sincere about establishing respectful dialogue with immigrant communities in Los Angeles, they should stop berating coalition members which include more than thirty respectable organizations. If Clear Channel is sincere about their intent to serve Los Angeles' diverse communities they should take John and Ken off the air immediately. If John and Ken are sincerely apologetic about fostering distrust, resentment, and hate in Los Angeles, they would do the honorable thing and walk out into the sunset and never return. Anything else is putrid leftovers.
Because if you think about it, how is the community supposed to believe in crocodile tears just when several key advertisers have announced their intention to distance themselves from the John and Ken show? How are we to believe in the words of crafty purveyors of "stimulating talk" when first, they appeal to dialogue and understanding, and on the next breath, they belittle the multicultural and broad coalition led by the National Hispanic Media Coalition and CHIRLA, question the veracity of our concerns, and steadfastly continue to justify the show's crude and offensive history of race-baiting as "freedom of speech."
John and Ken are not interested in ending their daily barrage of attacks on unauthorized immigrants nor do they care to acknowledge the negative impact such vitriol has on the lives of millions of Angelenos. Just last week, John and Ken assured their obedient audience that despite the "censorship" campaign they say is determined to silence them, swift action by their advertisers (impact they quickly minimized), and the threat of a possible boycott to KFI's major sponsors, they will continue to harass and inculpate "illegal aliens" of all our state's problems.
Frankly, to hear John and Ken on the defensive is uncomfortable. These are after all the roaring lions of conservative talk radio that Republican and Democrat politicians in Sacramento fear and loathe. To hear them "apologize" without any semblance of self-awareness makes their attempt embarrassing, comical even, if it were not so outright cynical.
John and Ken have far from capitulated. They are determined to stoop as low as they can to denounce, denigrate, and disparage immigrants because they say feel personally passionate about the issue and because the ranting makes their show's ratings go up. After all, they acknowledged, high ratings are good for business.
So in the end it's all about business and pleasure.
Despite all the formal complaints the show has received since it first aired, KFI, Clear Channel, and John and Ken seem to have adopted a nonchalant acceptance of the fires they fan by airing one uninformed accusation after another about the immigrant community. If their tirades lead to serious consequences and collateral damage, so be it. It fills them with pride that for a period of two decades they have been able to grab on tight to the infamous position of being California's instigators of intransigence, intolerance, and resentment. Why apologize now when they have gotten away with so much and paid little in return?
So instead of apologies and divide-and-conquer techniques, what is it going to be, Clear Channel: more smut or corporate responsibility and zero tolerance for intolerance and bigotry? What will it take, KFI, to convince your bottom line that John and Ken have had their run and must go, quick! What will it take, John and Ken, for both of you to realize the sort of hate-filled entertainment you love has grown passé. Whatever your response, please know this: We, the people of California you vilify the most on a daily basis, along with scores of local, regional and national allies, will not apologize when the door hits you on your way out.
]]>Dogs Bark Because We Galloptag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9945222011-10-06T08:06:13-04:002011-12-06T05:12:02-05:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/When the dogs bark we know we are riding on horseback".
This past week, the immigrant rights movement in the United States had its share of news that shook us to the core. It's not easy to watch your own country descend to the brink of the abyss of intolerance, dislike of foreigners, and divisive rhetoric, and not react angrily or with uncontrollable sarcasm.
In Alabama, California, and Massachusetts the seeds of discontent most likely sowed by corporate greed, lackadaisical oversight, and world economic disinterest in the middle and working class finally reaped resentment, distrust, and outright antagonism. The target of the collective rage nationwide: unauthorized immigrants.
Divide and rule, the politician cries; unite and lead, is watchword of the wise.
The Alabama known for its spring of social justice and civil liberties returned last week to the dark ages of vigilantism, inequality, and discrimination based on the color of skin, last name, ethnic origin, and now perceived immigration status.
The Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act has little to do with the protection of Alabama's citizens and it is definitely a result of the kind of political pandering and lynch-mob mentality that relish on letting loose rabid dogs in mad search of "the other".
Adeptly, Republicans in Alabama have used the community's hunger for answers, whatever they may be, to pin the community against the wall and accept that only without immigrants can Alabama's "Heart of Dixie" beat fastest. They couldn't be so wrong.
In a state where a child's school registration can mean a deportation order for his/her parents, reason and justice is seem to have been thrown under the bus. By Friday, five per cent of the state's student population (1,988 Latino students) had vanished, making true the wish of many in this angst-filled rural bastion, while signifying the darkening of the shadows for many others.
The state of the great bus boycott and civil rights mobilization that shook the nation's conscience, Alabama cannot forego its proud history of resistance, breaking the mold, and going its own way on important social issues.
Alabama has been a beacon of adaptability, respect to hard work, and deference to tradition. Alabamians must unite and lead our nation wisely by exercising a strong measure of common sense and humanity and resist the temptation to blame and segregate immigrants living and working your midst.
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
In Milford, MA, the stupidity of a drunken driver left an entire town mourning the untimely death of Matthew Denice and seeking payback by turning against the Ecuadorian community where loved ones of Nicolas D. Guaman lamented the unspeakable crime.
Instead of bringing together both communities, the tragedy pitted immigrants against everyone else. In Milford, Ecuadorian immigrants have been greeted by their own neighbors and local officials with water bottles and tomatoes in a clear effort to drive every one of them out of Milford and the entire state of Massachusetts.
Republicans smelled blood and in packs jumped at the chance to introduce anti-immigrant legislation they said has nothing to do with racism, immigrants, or Ecuadorians. Not wanting to seem weak, Democrats also joined in the cook fest and now are talking just as tough supporting calls by several MA sheriffs to bring back the ill-named "Secure Communities" program, a police-ICE collaboration scheme to identify unauthorized immigrants guilty of serious crimes.
Individual acts of battery, vandalism, physical and verbal abuse, and vigilante-style patrolling in Milford leave much to be desired for a town so vibrant and rich in history. Political posturing in the form of laws that will ultimately prove unconstitutional and costly to all citizens in Massachusetts is but lynch-mob, knee-jerk reaction wrapped in a silk, white veil of self-preservation.
There is no joy in neighbors treating neighbors as vermin. There is no peace when local officials racially profile entire neighborhoods looking to get someone in trouble. There is no honor in destroying one's neighborhood, town and state one anti-immigrant insult at a time.
First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth.
In Los Angeles, California, a smoggy urban center has been turning toxic every afternoon on KFI 640AM radio for a little more than a decade. From 3 pm until 7 pm, just when Angelenos' blood pressure raises to its highest level due to the insurmountable traffic, the John and Ken Radio Show ranks up the volume and gets to work on the hearts and minds of the disillusioned, dissatisfied, and unemployed.
John and Ken's fury is targeted at politicians in Sacramento and immigrants. These two thugs with a microphone sprinkle their daily program with taunts, jeers, and outright lies about the unauthorized immigrant community and call it freedom of speech. Although their shtick is to raise the temperature of their estimated 1.2 million listeners, John and Ken are keenly aware that their objectionable and incendiary language leads to more than discontent.
Hate crimes against people of color in the United States are on the rise, as are the number of hate groups. Last year hate crimes against Latinos in California increased by nearly 50%. According to statistics from the Southern Poverty Law Center, hate groups are increasing at alarming rates in the country. A shocking sixty eight hate groups reside in California alone, many of which are in KFI AM's listening area.
John and Ken are equal opportunity haters. In 2005, John and Ken focused their anger against Jasmyne A. Cannick, an African American woman and former press secretary for then-chairman of the California Legislative Black Caucus, retired Assemblymember Mervyn Dymally. In 2009, John and Ken went after the Jewish Labor Committee Western Region's union president, resulting in vandalism to his property. A bit more recently, John and Ken, as part of their ongoing rant against the California Dream Act, decided that I was the evil incarnate and to exercise me they gave out my personal cell number and direct office number for their listeners. The nasty, abusive, and racist calls flooded our phones and have not stopped since.
The question we must ask ourselves as members of a multicultural society like Los Angeles is how much is enough. There is no denying there is discontent amongst the population for many reasons. It's true the politicians in Sacramento and Washington often ignore our pleas for change. But is that reason enough to bypass common sense, respectful dialogue, and disagreement without being disagreeable. John and Ken care little for such banalities and instead go for the throat on a daily basis.
John and Ken work for a radio station that must serve the needs of the community. In Los Angeles, more than 49% of the population is Latino, and most of immigrant descent. Although 70% of Latinos in the United States are U.S. born, the issue of immigration is dear to our hearts. John and Ken seem to miss the mark every time they attack immigrants. Their blinders keep them from offering context to their objections and instead of options they offer venom, hate, and more anxiety.
I for one will not let John and Ken infect our local radio waves with their insensitivity, offhand attitude about immigrants, and their constant badgering of those they disagree with. If true change is what John and Ken look for, they will get it. We will work hard until they have been taken off the air.
The cavavan moves on
The gaping hole left by the federal government's lack of courage to update our immigration system has become a chimera's sanctuary in Alabama, Massachusetts, and California and now we must act to sedate it fast. As the most horrible nightmare on immigration chaos becomes ever more real, President Obama and the Democrat and Republican leaders remain disturbingly silent.
There is no room for second-guessing, Mr. President. Congress and the White House must hold onto courage, heart, and mind to stop the types of ill-intentioned, myopic, inhumane laws such as SB1070 and SB56, and get back to work on smart, humane, and sensible updates to our nation's broken and inconsistent immigration laws.
In the meantime, as the old Arab proverb reads, though the dogs may bark, and some ocassionally bite, our caravan must keep going. There will be time for resting at the oasis of understanding, truth, and healing, just like in Alabama after the turbulent 60's. In the meantime, our caravan must hold on tight because in addition to the rabid beasts, the road is quite bumpy out there.
]]>John and Ken's Misguided Fury on Immigrationtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9492372011-09-08T07:57:58-04:002011-11-08T05:12:02-05:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/
Meet disc jockeys John Chester Kobylt and Kenneth Robertson Chaimpou, better known as John and Ken, hosts of a four-hour weekday radio show, The John and Ken Show, on KFI AM640. Last week I got a real taste of how far these low-brow instigators will go and how low they will stoop to "stimulate" political discourse. For these trash-talking agitators any type of immigrant integration legislation is "treasonous", any immigrant supporter a "traitor", and tax-payers (code word for non-immigrant, white males) should be mad-as-hell about it all.
Late last week John and Ken decided that pushing the envelope with rabid anti-immigrant rubbish was not enough. After much on-air ranting and raving about what they labeled "the illegal alien California DREAM Act"(AB131-Cedillo) scheduled for a vote in the California Assembly the following day, they proceeded to verbally attack the "Mexican Democratic mafia" in the California State Assembly and the "traitorous" bill author Assemblyman Gill Cedillo.
"Nothing makes them happier than stealing money from an American kid and giving it to an illegal kid. They get aroused, they get excited," asserted one of the shock jocks referring to supporters of the California DREAM Act. "We got to cause trouble. They are the traitors, they have committed treason," the second shock jock chimed in. (AB131 was approved on Friday by the California State Assembly and will now go to the Governor Brown's desk). As unsavory but wildly-popular as their venting can be, public officials face this type of verbal attack constantly from the right and the left and everything in between. But when these toxic assaults violate a citizen's privacy, it is a whole different matter.
As a spokesman for CHIRLA, a non-profit immigrant rights organization, I have had my share of uncomfortable moments on and off the air with people who do not agree with my organization's stands. Differences of opinion are part of the democratic process and I cherish every opportunity to engage with those who do not think like me. In my short eight years in the immigrant rights movement I have been called quite a plethora of names but my privacy and personal safety has never been compromised.
This all changed last Thursday when John and Ken decided that during the show's popular 5 pm hour, my name, my office's direct line, and my personal cell phone number were fair game as they taunted their audience to rise up against California's attempt to pass AB131, part two of the California DREAM Act. Call Jorge, the DJs pressed the audience, to "congratulate him for stealing your taxpayer money". They went ahead and read out loud both of my phone numbers as listed in a press advisory I had sent KFI's news director. Although my phone contacts were clearly labeled, radio listeners were not informed that one of the numbers was a mobile number and likely a private number meant to be used by media outlets only.
Anyone familiar with media relations knows personal contact information is usually treated by all parties with utmost confidentiality. It's the unspoken and unwritten rule of mutual respect between a media outlet representative such as reporter, media personality, editor, or photographer, and a source, especially a private citizen working for a non-profit community advocacy organization without party affiliation.
What ensued after John and Ken urged listeners to call me was a barrage of angry, very angry, and at times threatening calls. For the next fifteen minutes, my cell phone registered 72 incoming calls and 45 voicemail messages. CHIRLA's voicemail phone system, unable to deal with the onslaught of calls, crashed. The nasty calls kept coming my way Thursday evening all the way through midnight, Friday at 2 am, and all day Friday. In all, I registered 291 calls just on my cell.
This is a sampling of some of the calls I received.
"You goddamn traitor to our nation. What the f*** are you doing? Go back to Mexico and fix your s*** over there. If I ever see your ass I'm gonna kick it. How dare you come to this country? This is a f****hostile takeover. I hope somebody shoots your ass." Cypress caller.
"Jorge, you are stealing from American citizen kids. F*** you." Los Angeles caller.
"Congratulations on the vote tomorrow that's going to steal money from college students that were born in this country. In celebration of this victory, after having lived a lifetime in California, having three separate sets of Hispanic workers that work for me at home and various jobs, I'm gonna fire all of them tomorrow and never hire another. Thanks. Enjoy." Orange County Area caller.
"How dare you, how dare you take American taxpayer's money for illegal aliens. This is gonna come to blows, I can guarantee it. Why don't you go back to wherever you came from and take those people with you and do something great in your country. And stop messing with mine."
"Am I calling the traitorous illegal alien advocate? You gotta be ashamed of yourself. Someday I think you will be." Buena Park caller.
"The Illegals are never gonna be welcomed in this country. You guys are breaking the law and you're stealing the taxpayer's money. I can't believe what you guys are doing to us." Pomona caller.
"I am so upset at you guys. You have destroyed this country and continue to destroy it. You are rewarding criminals. You guys are the worst scum of the earth I have ever seen. I can't stand you guys." Pomona caller.
"I want to thank you for stealing my hard-earned tax money to support all your Third-World illegal immigrants from Mexico. You guys might wanna save your celebration because it's gonna be short-lived. It's gonna get shut down one way or another. You guys better pack your bags. You don't belong here. Do the right thing for once, please. Go home." Beverly Hills caller.
"Is this Jorge's number? You are a f***** loser. That's all I can say right now. Speak in the f*** English, a**hole." Montebello caller.
"Jorge, you need to stop encouraging people to steal our money for illegal aliens. Shame on you. Go back to Mexico, you make us sick." Northern Los Angeles Area caller.
"Get your people out of the United States. You are not American, you are a disgrace." Anaheim caller.
In spite of the many angry calls, I am thankful only a few entered the real of threatening physical harm. I did fear for my personal safety in more than one ocassion. This is why I am taking the unusual step of changing my phone number to an unlisted one immediately and we have spruced up our security system at CHIRLA. So much misinformation can easily turn into uncontrollable rage and violence.
I wonder what the FCC will say about this intrusion of privacy and disclosure of private facts?
I understand John and Ken are upset about the California DREAM Act advancing in the state legislature. I also understand they are incensed at the fact that their objections and loud mouths have done little to diminish the support this legislation has garnished in Sacramento and across the United States. Through incendiary language that borders on hate and deceit, disclosure of private facts, and misrepresentation of my work as a representative of an organization, John and Ken rule the ultra-conservative airwaves seemingly oblivious to the ardors their "amusing theatre" may ignite.
These so-called entertainers, with an audience of almost one million nationwide, have got it all wrong. The kind of hate-speech they are inciting should raise big red flags for anyone intent on building decent, respectable, and tolerant dialogue in our society. It is clear we differ on how our beautiful nation benefits from its immigrant community but such differences should not descend into the abyss of destructive, racist, divisive demagoguery that passes for free speech. It is even more insulting and dangerous when John and Ken get their kicks baiting their audience to go against private citizens like me. If anyone should be ashamed of their infantile and impudent behavior it's John and Ken.
]]>The Lull in Between Stormstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9322222011-08-22T12:38:20-04:002011-10-22T05:12:02-04:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/if deemed non-dangerous, they might get to stay and possibly receive a work permit. How soon will this new working group get to work and how much will they get to decide it's anyone's guess, but you got to give it up for the White House's PR machine that knows how to defuse a time bomb faster than a trained squad.
Let's get back to the dark, stormy days of early last week. Hundreds if not thousands throughout the United States were calling on President Obama and his administration to cease and desist expansion of the (in)"Secure Communities" program, a "collaboration" scheme that mandates local police departments to work alongside immigration. S-Comm, as it is commonly referred to by detractors, has been the number one reason why at least 121,000 immigrants have been nabbed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who now seem to be showing up everywhere, even inside chicken broth. Half of all deportees have committed no crime at all or are accused (not convicted) of small infractions such as street vending, driving without a license, or jaywalking. Last week even the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times chimed in with editorials calling for the shelving and unplugging of S-Comm.
The delegitimized ICE Taskforce on "Secure Communities" got more than earful on Monday and Tuesday of last week during boisterous and at times highly emotional hearings with real-life testimonies that strengthened our community's argument that S-Comm has cast such a wide net it is no longer able to tell between a good guy and a threat to the community. As community members chanted and echoed an end to S-Comm, it was clear that all index fingers were pointed at the Obama Administration for allowing such a toxic chimera to continue breathing in spite of so much grief it's causing Americans everywhere.
On Tuesday, at least six Obama 2012 campaign headquarters were the target of a well-coordinated protests by Latinos and other immigrant communities calling on the president to stop S-Comm. The calls were loud and clear: we are not looking for changes in the law (the president obviously is unwilling to spend political capitol in such an enterprise), but at least use your executive authority to lessen the pain and suffering of our community. And, chop off S-Comm's head for good. The demonstrators submitted 24,300 petitions to the Chicago campaign headquarter seeking to soften the president's ever-so-hardening heart. During the Chicago DHS Taskforce hearing on "Secure Communities" between 500 and 900 participants screamed their guts out to a reserved panel that carefully listened and sympathized with most of the protesters. At least forty people were reported to have been detained for conducting civil disobedience.
So, when on Thursday, only 24 hours after the White House pushed Cecilia Munoz to pen a defensive post on behalf of her boss the president and in support of Secure Communities, we were told senior administration officials would make a 'big' announcement, I held my breath. Could it be the president has come to his senses and realize S-Comm is just too mean a monster to be an American creation? Could it be that Janet Napolitano is too tired of arresting and deporting so many working families and bright students and not getting any credit when she testifies in front of Congress? Could it be Ms. Munoz will announce she's had it and will no longer post anything on The White House Blog?
About twenty of us gathered at CHIRLA's headquarters to listen to the brief announcement. Senior administration officials tried very hard in the simplest of terms to explain that some things were changing for approximately 300,000 immigrants in deportation proceedings. As they put it, in order to have maximum impact on undocumented immigration, DHS and ICE will readjust their deportation machine and focus on "high priority cases." Those who have committed serious crime, repeat border crossers, and those who represent a threat to our community will be deported at higher rates of speed. But those who represent no threat to our community, including students, pregnant women, members of the military, LGBTs and their spouses, victims of domestic violence, long term residents, and others, will have their cases reviewed by a new working group. The working group could find that an immigrant fits the new guidelines, dismiss the case, and, on a case by case basis, a work permit granted.
It sounded too good to be true. And it was.
Nothing comes free from this White House intent on being named the "Top Deportations Administration Ever." DHS's announcement is a distraction bearing good news for a limited few, bad news for some, and no news for the large majority of immigrants and the American public, who watches on the side growing ever more impatient. Thursday's announcement is like the period of time in between one storm and the next. There may be sunlight, a rainbow, even birds chirping in the background. But the ground remains wet and muddy, the clouds are fat and grey, and the gusts of wind remain gelid.
We are most appreciative to this Administration for using one of the many cards we have argued they carry hidden in their sleeve. The 300,000 immigrants that will have their cases reviewed is no small number. The feat to review, prioritize and decide all these cases is gargantuan and those who will have their cases dismissed at the end of the day will smile and breathe temporary sighs of relief. But let there be no mistake about it: DHS's announcement is about slowing down some deportations, not stopping them. This announcement is to quell the fires burning in the distance.
The announcement is far from being a benevolent step back from conducting the worst persecution of immigrants in ages; a review of all these cases clogging the system has been made necessary because the immigration courts are bursting at the seams. Arresting, processing, detaining, and deporting immigrants will continue under the ever-expanding tentacles of "Secure Communities". Millions are expected to be fired from their jobs with the announcement last week that DHS will continue auditing large companies and industries known to hire undocumented workers. So far, 2,300 companies have been audited by DHS.
I am not cynical, not yet. I do believe public pressure will eventually force this or the next congress and administration to implement more humane, sensible, smart immigration policies that match our nation's values and respond to our growing economic and geo-strategic needs. Thursday's announcement by DHS is a welcome respite in what has amounted to a monsoon season for immigrants in America. What the next few months will bring, I don't know.
I do know that now more than ever, we must not stop working with and pressuring Congress and the Obama Administration to pass real, substantive, and long-lasting changes in immigration policy. What we have seen so far is that as soon as we step up the pressure, the president calls for a meeting with celebrities, posts a blog, makes a fiery announcement in Texas, and eventually gets away with doing nothing. Meanwhile, Congress hides its head in the sand and does nothing too. This is not the President Obama that sparked the fire within me one stormy day when we thanked the heavens the Bush regime was about to be over. If Thursday's announcement by DHS is the lull between storms, let's welcome it; but let us be ready, for the sky remains dark, the thunder is audible, and the next ominous and burdensome storm approaches.
]]>A Record as Straight as Immigration Reform's Broken Promisetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9295572011-08-17T18:42:12-04:002011-10-17T05:12:01-04:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/
Entitled "In the Debate Over Immigration and Deportations, the Facts Matter," the entry in The White House Blog by Cecilia Muñoz, White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and former immigrant-rights advocate at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), was posted on August 16.
With an opening broadside against immigrant rights advocates tacitly comparing them to anti-immigrant zealots, Ms. Muñoz argues the president's heart is in the right place and that he is proud of the wrongly-coded "Secure Communities" program calling it "a powerful tool" and "central" to the administration's strategy to fight crime in our communities. S-Comm is indeed a "powerful tool" but one that is beloved by the likes of Sheriff Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona and Governor Deal of Georgia rather than the community that it is supposed to protect. It is no coincidence that these are supporters of SB 1070 and its copycat ilk - they are hoping that even if their hate-based laws are stopped in the courts, "the powerful tool" of S-Comm will be there to help deport community members. In spite of this, Ms. Muñoz feels that "anger and heated rhetoric from all sides dominate while the facts tend to get lost along the way."
If there were any doubts the administration is feeling the heat over their unstated approval of more than a million deportations, none exist now. It appears that ICE has begun sharing the wool it has spun and failed to pull over the community's eyes with the White House. Unfortunately, ahead of the 2012 election and feeling truly angry rhetoric of ultra-conservative presidential-candidates Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann and Johny-come-lately Texas Governor Rick Perry, signs are that this icy wool is clouding the line of sight from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
For the record, Ms. Muñoz: while we agree that statistics matter, relying solely on ICE's opaque numbers and fuzzy math puts us in the realm of Mark Twain's three kinds of lies: "lies, damn lies and statistics." Our community's facts are generally on point--when ICE releases enough data for us to debunk that is.
For the record: We have read the president's expansive blueprint on comprehensive immigration reform. Although he has argued that a dance partner has been missing, I question the White House and the Democratic leadership's decision to introduce legislation so late in the game making it a fait accompli that it would fail. In the absence of a legislative victory, the president retains the power to exercise discretion as he enforces the law. If he doesn't, perhaps signing Rep. Lamar Smith's HALT Act might not be so bad after all since the law would strip him of his power to do something that he never does.
Ms. Muñoz argues that Secure Commuties is a smart and effective approach to fight crime in our communities. There is nothing smart about wasting precious resources on apprehending, processing, detaining and deporting men and women like Isaura, Blanca, Adan, and Ana, immigrant workers who have demonstrated that hard work and honesty can get you deported during these dark, dark times. Even if ICE attorneys or judges way down the pipeline in the overwhelmed immigration courts are able to exercise discretion, there is no question that countless taxpayer dollars will have been wasted and worst yet, fear sown in the community to boot.
For the record: Record numbers of deportations do not public safety maximize. The opposite is the case. By expanding the S-Comm dragnet, the Obama Administration is eviscerating the few protections left, e.g., Special Order 40 in Los Angeles. Local police departments in jurisdiction after jurisdiction, as evidenced by a shadow report released this week are increasingly waking up to this fact. No amount of repeating the opposite makes it true.
As much as Ms. Muñoz, the President or Gary Mead, ICE's Executive Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, try to get Americans to drink the Kool-Aid that only those convicted of crimes are being prioritized, the facts speak for themselves. Indeed, Mr. Mead's statements on KABC-TV 7 on Monday night were crystal clear: being here in the United States without authorization is also a deportable offense and ICE is only too happy to use S-Comm to ensnare and deport our community members. Moreover, when we speak of crimes, what do we mean? Any conviction for just about anything will qualify? Director John Morton implied as much when he visited Los Angeles in June. He will wait until street vendors like Blanca or Magali are convicted of their vending misdemeanor and/or false ID charge, and then deport them as "criminals". This is statistical chicanery of the highest order.
For the record: Nationally, over 25% of those deported via S-Comm have no criminal record. This number is even higher in many jurisdictions, a clear indicator of racial profiling by local police. Using Alice in Wonderland thinking, ICE absurdly argues that S-Comm reduces the risk of such profiling . In reality, it does no such thing. In fact, as Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank and others have pointed out, it even incentivizes it. ICE openly admits that racial profiling exists and it is allegedly looking for "anomalies" in S-Comm use around the country. So far, radio silence; and S-Comm is nearly three years old. Yet, this dragnet is designed this way - ICE sells S-Comm by claiming that it doesn't change police practices and if we are to believe that, it then follows that it leverages current racial profiling to help deport more people. And yes, half of overall ICE deportations are people who have been convicted of something, but the other half are non-criminals. We agree on this point with Ms. Muñoz, even if we choose to emphasize the whole picture.
I would like to be as optimistic as Ms. Muñoz, but changes to the S-Comm program announced in June are not "important" but rather "cosmetic". The only S-Comm specific reforms were the creation are on the Task Force, which heard from Los Angeles Monday night, and for DHS Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to monitor S-Comm. But we still wonder how a shrinking office with one statistician is supposed to monitor an out of control monster that is metastasizing across the country? I would also be remiss to point out that the review of S-Comm by DHS Office of the Inspector General is not the result of the S-Comm "reforms" by ICE but rather the strongly worded request by California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren - who has been as deceived by ICE as the communiity.
Additionally, the famous and lauded memos, including the one for victims of domestic violence, are not specific to S-Comm. These memos were general in their scope and they are ineffective and rehashed ghosts from the past. They may occasionally would have an effect on the backend, but only after the trauma of arrest, detention and trial. In other words, they do nothing to deal with the frontend horrors that S-Comm causes by forcing such close collaboration between local police and ICE and the rest of DHS. Again, implying that these memos will address the Orwellian design of S-Comm is giving them more credit than they are due.
Interestingly, Setting the Record Straight, a term used by Ms. Muñoz, was the title of an ICE document on S-Comm that was released last year only to then mysteriously vanish once it was shown to be nothing more than hot air. The ICE document, among other tall tales, outlined what turned out to be a fantasy process for how local jurisdictions could opt out of S-Comm. It didn't even mention what then appeared blindingly and legally obvious - i.e. that states like California could opt out by cancelling their contracts or Memorandums of Agreeement (MOAs) with ICE - but has now also been rendered magic dust by ICE's latest exercise in Orwellian logic. ICE is no longer honoring those MOAs, which have been disappeared just like its "Setting the Record Straight" document.
Hopefully the same fate awaits Ms. Muñoz's blog post.
For the record, Mr. President: S-Comm and other deportation machines are nothing to be "proud" of. Shame is more accurate. Taking a Bush-era experiment like S-Comm which is clearly part of a larger Big Brother FBI Scheme and spreading it like wildfire is thoughtless and reckless at best. It is time to swallow egos, flip the switch and pull the plug on this Frankenstein.
Carl Bergquist, Policy Advocate at CHIRLA, contributed to this story.]]>To Vote or Not to Vote, That Is Not the Questiontag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9228442011-08-13T08:03:40-04:002011-10-13T05:12:01-04:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/
There is no way to sugar coat it. President Obama has failed miserably in his promise to update our flawed immigration system. But as much as our community's grief pushes me to detest, denounce, and defy this administration's terror-inducing immigration policies, I do not for a minute think that getting rid of President Obama or withholding my vote next November will do my family, the community, or the nation any good whatsoever.
The question is not whether I will vote in 2012. The question is how to make my vote count. How do immigrants and Latinos flex their voting muscle to effectively remind our national elected leaders, whoever they may be, that we cannot be taken for granted, especially when it comes to solving a deeply-emotional and personal issue like immigration reform?
Many of us will remember the highly-publicized and often replayed immigration reform promises then candidate-Obama made to Latinos and immigrants at key constituent gatherings, including NCLR's national conference. There were no embarrassing pauses or caveats, or much blaming of the opposing party for that matter, in his speeches as he pointedly chastised a system that blindly separates mothers from their babies. Latino voters were enthralled by the empathy and compassion of his words and gave him our vote by the millions.
For two years in a row, address after address, President Obama held steadfast in his expressed commitment to change the dangerously broken immigration system. He told small groups and large groups alike, elected officials and celebrities, advocates and community members that he was personally committed and engaged in finding a solution. All we were missing, the president would often say, is one or two courageous Republicans. He rarely, if ever, talked about the non-courageous Democrats in Congress that were committed to block any attempt by the White House to pass any type of immigration reform legislation.
There was something else missing from the president's usual words of encouragement on immigration reform: the Obama administration's deportation machine was moving full speed ahead all the while we held out hope for our dose of change to come. For two years the president offered various explanations as to why immigration reform would not happen. He did not, however, have the courage to explain why he felt compelled to tear apart close to a million families and exponentially expand toxic monsters like the "Secure Communities" program.
So, when in early May of this year the president announced with much fanfare that he would make a major speech on immigration, I perked up. With twelve American flags blowing elegantly in the background, the president asserted that immigration reform "is not just the right thing to do. It's right for our economy. The question is, will we finally summon the political will to do something about it?" I detected a wistful tone in his voice and for a moment I wondered if he was talking about himself or Congress. He went on: "That's one reason it's been so difficult to reform our broken immigration system. When an issue is this complex, when it raises such strong feelings, it's easier for politicians to defer the problem until the next election. And there's always a next election."
I understood then that President Obama had always meant well, but his lack of progress on immigration reform is deplorable and his tacit approval of a merciless state-imposed detention and deportation regime is disgraceful. To my chagrin, this president had become a mediocre shadow of the candidate I was led to believe would lead us to change.
The president's vision for a 21st century immigration system is an online document anyone can review. With terms like responsibility, accountability, competitiveness, and a system of laws that reflects our values and diverse needs, the White House clearly has covered all its bases. It even includes a section on mandatory E-Verify, a system that determines an applicant's work eligibility. No mind that the database behind the program contains more than ten million errors and has been found to miss more than half of unauthorized workers.
The intent, the desire, and the wish for immigration reform remain alive and well in the president's vision of a multicultural and immigrant society. It's the doing that has yet to materialize. It's the change that has yet to reach my community. It's the President Obama of yonder, the public servant I bestowed my vote upon that has yet to stand and deliver.
While the president and his Administration come to their senses on real immigration policy, I will continue to support actions that challenge, not hinder, our nation's democratic process. I will continue to press for social justice in the broadest term possible, while engaging with those elected leaders that can make change possible. If our elected leaders are unable, incapable, or unwilling to forge change, I will use every tool within my reach, including words, to encourage, cajole, foster public discourse and public action. For one thing, there remains millions of unregistered immigrant voters. Our voting records are improving but can certainly reach stronger numbers. Millions of permanent residents now qualify for citizenship and it's time we step up and take the plunge. Finally, our community's dollars need to speak as loud as our marching brothers and sisters. Unless we donate to the causes we believe in, the opposition will always undercut (and pay well to do it) our efforts. Because I seek the change that was promised to me and my community the first time I voted in 2008, there is no way I can withhold my vote now or in the future for this or any other elected leader.
]]>Takes Two to Tangotag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9103282011-07-27T11:11:57-04:002011-09-26T05:12:02-04:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/the podium this week to address the largest and most powerful annual gathering of Chicano/Latinos and he was smiling. It was at the same NCLR annual conference that in 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama, made one of the most stirring rebukes of this nation's immigration enforcement policies:
The system isn't working when 12 million people live in hiding, and hundreds of thousands cross our borders illegally each year; when companies hire undocumented immigrants instead of legal citizens to avoid paying overtime or to avoid a union; when communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids -- when nursing mothers are torn from their babies, when children come home from school to find their parents missing, when people are detained without access to legal counsel.
And days before the election that would catapult him to the White House, Mr. Obama once again promised "to develop the right formula during my first year in office to reform our immigration laws. I am committed to do that."
Without a doubt, the immigrant community, yours truly included, perked up in those days before the 2008 presidential election and cranked up the volume to hear more of what this senator from Illinois had to say. The melody Mr. Obama was inviting us to dance was sweet music to our ears. The song's tone, rhythm, and lyrics were orchestrated so eloquently as to defy logic, partisanship, history. But, it worked. The Pied Piper of Illinois had so defiantly spoken against conformism and paralysis in Washington, DC that six out of ten Latino voters gave Barack Obama the nod. Even Florida Latinos cast their vote for Obama!
But the magic of the moment fizzled soon after President Obama was elected. The party favors, orchestra, and minstrels soon disappeared and the defiant and catchy melody turned grave and bewildered.
While there were a few well-meaning efforts to address immigration reform in the House and Senate under Democratic leadership, no progress was made. Outside Washington, DC, between President Obama's first day in office and the end of June 2011, one million immigrants and families have been detained, deported, or fired from their place of work. In addition, the well-oiled enforcement machine led by ICE in collaboration with local police departments under the rubric of the wrongly-named "Secure Communities," I-9 audits, and 287(g) agreements, just to name a few, is running full speed ahead.
During his speech, President Obama went to great pains to remind listeners that his administration is "keeping our promises." The audience must have nodded that when it came to the economy, gay and lesbian rights, and women's issues, the president has indeed delivered. But when President Obama pivoted to immigration reform, he blamed Republicans for the impasse, chided those who call on him to use his executive authority to alleviate the suffering of immigrant families, and committed to keep up the fight while encouraging the community to "keep the heat on me and Democrats." Lastly the Pied Piper in Chief, dressed in a most charming outfit, conceded he knows "very well the real pain and heartbreak that deportations cause" and he made an appeal we have heard once before: "Let's be honest. I need a dance partner, and the floor's empty."
It must not be an easy for President Obama to be at a party and not have a partner he can enjoy the music with. Although his political advisors are telling the president he has Latinos in the bag in 2012, the jury is by far out deliberating whether or not this president means it when he says he will fight the fight with us on the moral and practical issue of immigration reform. Does he meant it when he says we will not be stepped upon again? Thousands and thousands, millions even, of families throughout the United States are suffering on a daily basis the failure of this administration and this Congress to update our immigration laws. In the absence of real reform, immigrant communities everywhere have endured two and a half years of sustained torture led by none other than another "friend" of the community, Secretary Janet Napolitano, and face an increasing chorus of legislatures approving anti-immigrant, discriminatory, and unconstitutional laws. This song's tune is not for dancing.
Thus, the president must have surely felt the heat even while he read his speech at the NCLR conference. If he did, he kept his composure and was as eloquent and convincing as he was in 2008. But President Obama, Republicans and Democrats should recognize that we have danced together quite a lot during the past two years and a half and our feet are getting tired. Not tired enough to stop our fight for justice and changes in immigration laws so that they accurately reflect our nation's compassion, values, and interest. Not tired enough not to register millions more and switch the tune at the ballot box if this one does not suit us. Certainly we are not tired enough to remind our national elected leaders that even the most avid dancer can trip if he is not careful.
]]>Free Trips to Tijuanatag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8891402011-07-01T20:52:58-04:002011-08-31T05:12:01-04:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/
It was your typical Friday morning right before a major American holiday. The Fourth of July long weekend was upon us and travelers from throughout the Southland were gathering at the majestic Union Station, an awe-inspiring structure combining Dutch Colonial Revival Style architecture, Mission Revival, and Streamline Moderne style. Terra cotta and marble tiles aside, the station is a major hub (perhaps the only hub) for commuter trains, especially Metrolink. On a typical day, one can see entire families traversing the languid hall in the waiting area or gawk at thousands upon thousands of pensive men and women in business attire breezing past each other in an attempt to get out of the station. The place is certainly a multicultural microcosm of Los Angeles and the world.
The first text message came in at 9:15 in the morning. Other text messages and Tweets followed, like raindrops after cold wind, quiet but resolute. A local radio station, KPFK, had just interrupted its morning program to alert Angelenos that Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents were in the process of conducting a "check" inside Union Station. No more details were given, but they were unnecessary. The tolling of the bells from concerned members of the community, immigrant advocates, immigration attorneys, families and loved ones, even from an assemblyman's district office was almost immediate: beware, ICE and Homeland Security agents checking immigration status at Union Station. God save the commuters caught in the maelstrom.
Facebook, meanwhile, was abuzz with updates that pleaded others to be careful and to pass along. One after another, Facebookers formed a perfectly straight line ready to help their comrades avoid the ultimate punishment: deportation. On Twitter, the term "Union Station" was traded with such regularity that it became a trending topic!
A good media socialite, I tweeted and posted on Facebook; I even answered a few now-almost-defunct phone calls. Worried about the devastating impact an ICE raid could have, I contacted local media outlets and activated the ICE Raid Rapid Response Network, a community collaborative made up of immigration attorneys, advocates, and allies. Our immediate concern, of course, is always to ensure those detained know they have civil rights that need to be protected. Rights such as remain silent, not sign anything unless an attorney is present, request a phone call, and above all, not divulge information that could be damaging to a person's wellbeing. After all, ICE raids in public transportation hubs, work sites, homes, and schools are no longer uncommon and accurate, fast, and easy to understand information can help immigrant families and the general public.
By mid-day the dust had settled and accounts of the supposed-ICE raid were dying down. Reports from station vendors, church staff, witnesses, and reporters on the ground led us to believe that whatever had taken place in the MetroLink side of the station had not been immigration related. Full details have yet to emerge as to what happened and who exactly was at the Station this morning, but from what we can tell, the incident may have been nothing more than a routine security check by either federal marshals or transportation authority folks. We believe no one was arrested during the operation and the dogs seen sniffing around were not there to spot passengers wearing Mexican cologne. In spite of the relative comfort we felt after receiving the latest reports, we could not help but notice that even without a physical immigration raid, an assault on immigrant psyche had taken place all the same.
The silver lining in an otherwise disturbing incident is the fact that immigrants from all walks of life are using communications tools to alert their fellow brethren that something is afoot. If this had been an actual emergency, I hope the news would have traveled as fast if not faster. From Twitter to Facebook, to calling KPFK's hotline, to phone calls and e-lists, and good old mouth to mouth, I trust we will be there together to let the world know what is happening to millions under President Obama's watch. I trust we will also use the technology at hand to urge more members of the community to turn out in masse and become U.S. citizens, register to vote, vote, and engage in our nation's civic process. Otherwise, this weekend's scare will have been for naught.]]>Too Close for Comfort: President Obama Should Meet With Families of Unauthorized Immigrantstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8842002011-06-27T13:03:51-04:002011-08-27T05:12:01-04:00Jorge-Mario Cabrerahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jorgemario-cabrera/Yolanda looks directly at the camera and pauses. What to say that hasn't already been said? How to weave into a short paragraph a lifetime of uncertainty, guilt, and fear as it relates to her 22-year-old brother's immigration status? Will her story sound maudlin, insincere, self-serving perhaps? Will all this be for naught? She clears her throat, grips her brother's hand, and begins to speak.
Back in mid-April 2011, the president of the United States swung open the doors of the White House to chat immigration reform with, among others, Rev. Alan Sharpton, New York City Mayor Bloomberg, LA City Councilmember Garcetti, Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg, and former LA City Police Chief Bill Bratton. A week later, the president met with a somewhat more chic crowd of influential Latinos, primarily television and radio personalities, actors, and producers. The topic of the gathering was immigration reform.
In early May, the president also met face to face with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Although he meant to talk to them about immigration reform, it was the legislators who told the president what was on their mind. The meeting was probably not as fun as the two previous ones.
One after another, the distinguished White House guests would rush in with faint smiles and leave briskly, looking pensive, anxious. After their meeting with the president, the Latino celebrities worked particularly hard to both look interested and knowledgeable on the issue. A few of their collective comments would later become the message that would carry the day: the president is trying his best to pass immigration but he can't do it alone. And, by the way, Latinos have an image problem in America.
Floundering, in the midst of spin from all sides, were millions of immigrant families and their U.S.-born and US-citizen loved ones whose well-being and prosperity was the subject of much discussion and rancor. During the week or two that these highly-publicized meetings with stakeholders took place inside the White House, a little over 19,000 immigrants from throughout the land were deported from the only home most of them have known for much of their lives. In the first two years of the Obama Administration nearly one million immigrants have been detained or deported.
The families most impacted by the lack of action on immigration reform are not unlike your family or mine. Presently, eleven million unauthorized immigrants live and work in the U.S. They include asylum seekers fleeing persecution, students who overstayed their visa terms, workers who could not get a visa, and family members who came to join their loved ones. One-fourth of all children living in the U.S. are children of immigrant parents. Nearly four million U.S-born children have at least one parent who is an unauthorized immigrant. According to a 2006 study, 6.6 million families in the US have either the head of household or the spouse as undocumented.
On the other hand, close to 30 percent of all immigrants in the U.S. are legal permanent residents and nearly 35 percent of all immigrants living in the U.S. are naturalized citizens. As to Latinos in the U.S., the 2010 Census counted more than 50 million, 63% of whom were born in the U.S. and 37% were foreign-born.
These are not mere statistics. Yolanda, a US citizen, is a member of one such mixed-status family where mom is a permanent resident, dad is a US citizen, but the youngest brother is undocumented. Yolandas' brother is a university student but recently he received a letter indicating he may be sent back soon to a place in Mexico he does not know much about. To most of America, Yolanda's family saga is a perhaps a non-issue, a mere distraction, a nuisance. To her, it's about the most essential aspect of her life, having a united family to love and that loves her.
President Obama has often repeated his commitment to immigration reform. I believe him. My concern is that the president of the United States has heard too much rhetoric from both sides of the issue and has turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to an issue he himself acknowledged needs courage and political will. But President Obama cannot, above all, turn a cold heart to the real suffering of millions under his watch. Now that President Obama has met with stakeholders, influential Latinos, legislators, and community advocates, he should request a meeting with US-citizen families who live with unauthorized immigrant loved ones. The president needs to truly understand what life is like in immigration limbo hell.
These are five additional reasons why I think President Obama should meet with these families:
1) He's the president of the United States, not only of those who vote or donate, but of every resident of this great nation. Immigrant families in the United States are interwoven in the social fabric of this nation and so are there unauthorized immigrant loved ones. President Obama is their president too.
2) President Obama is a family man and fully understands how important it is to be able to tuck your children in bed at night, attend church with your family, play ball with your dad, to graduate from high school and hug your grandparents proudly afterwards. I do not think the president can, at this time, fathom the devastation left behind after a loved one is torn away by an immigration official.
3) President Obama must show the immigrant electorate that their vote was important in 2008 and that their vote will matter once again in 2012. He must convince a disaffected audience that on this issue, our president will stand above fear, politics, and division. He should intervene now to stop the pernicious impact of programs such as "Secure Communities" and I-9 audits.
4) President Obama owes himself the opportunity to hear, to feel the pain, from the most impacted stakeholders of all: immigrant families. The president has acknowledged the laws are broken, need fixing, and are complex. But has he given himself the chance to hear from an immigrant soldier, an immigrant grandmother, an immigrant doctoral candidate, each one who has loved ones he can no longer embrace because they were deported or remain in detention? Has President Obama heard directly from a mother whose son has been yanked directly from her arms in the late hours of night? Has the president heard the common-sense appeal of a sister whose brother, a main source of inspiration for her getting back on her feet, going back to college, and getting involved in her community? Has the president heard of a wife who misses her husband so much, even after two years of his deportation, she still keeps his clothes in the closet just as he left them and his favorite coffee mug just in case he returns?
5) President Obama is a man of values, a god-fearing man who recognizes the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Millions of people have crossed the border without authorization for reasons some may decry as rubbish. But deporting by the thousands, firing them from their only source of revenue, criminalizing them on a state-by-state basis, is not the answer. Treating human beings, even unauthorized immigrants, as if they were beasts is inhumane, inconsistent with our nation's values and principles, and is immoral.
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