Saint Paul, MN – On May 11 at 8:18 a.m., a video was posted publicly on Facebook which shows a brief clip of plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents terrorizing a local family in St. Paul when, according to witness accounts, their unmarked car swerved in front of a vehicle with four Latino men and stopped and detained them. A man from El Salvador and a man from Honduras were detained. Family members arrived on scene but could not get answers from ICE agents about who they were or why the men were being detained – instead they were shouted at and one of the detained men's wife had a gun pointed at her. Neither man had any criminal conviction.

In response, the MIRAC (Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee) No More Deportations Campaign together with several allied organizations called an emergency response protest, sending a text blast asking people to protest the same day at 4:00 pm at the Whipple Federal Building, where ICE operations are housed. On about an hour’s notice, more than 25 people came to the Federal Building to protest, joining together with family members of one of the men who had been detained, holding signs saying “no more deportations!”

A call-in campaign to ICE has been initiated, demanding the release of the two men detained in the incident on the east side of Saint Paul, as well as another local man who was also detained in a separate case. Details on the call-in campaign are here.

#SaintPaulMN #MIRAc #ImmigrationAndCustomEnforcementICE #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign

Minneapolis, MN – The Anti-War Committee and the No More Deportations campaign are co-sponsoring a community march to show solidarity with the immigrants and refugees targeted by President Trump’s executive orders, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017 from 1-3:30 pm. Protesters will rally in Powderhorn Park and then march on Lake Street past hundreds of immigrant owned businesses to say “Immigrants are welcome here!”

The Anti-War Committee’s call for the protest says the protest will focus on denouncing the Muslim ban, the wall on the US-Mexico border, and Trump’s war threats. The protest call also calls for Minneapolis and St. Paul to remain sanctuary cities.

There is a growing movement against the president’s anti-immigrant policies. The Washington Post reported on Feb. 7, “that majorities oppose all of President Trump’s recent immigration moves...There has been a 12 point net swing against the general idea of the travel ban in the last month.”

According to reports from the Associated Press Feb.17, the Trump administration is considering the deployment of up to 100,000 members of the National Guard to round up undocumented immigrants.

Ana Vasquez of the No More Deportations campaign said, “We must all stand together to stop deportations and defeat the travel ban. Immigrant and refugee communities are under attack and all people of good conscience must unite and resist these racist attacks.”

This protest is the follow up event from the Anti-War Committee’s last march on Jan. 31st where 15,000 people protested and the march was 7 blocks long.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #AntiWarCommittee #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #DonaldTrump #MuslimBan

Minneapolis, MN – On June 11, Hennepin County Sheriff Stanek announced that the Hennepin County Jail will no longer honor Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests, or “ICE holds”, which have resulted in countless deportations against immigrants who are guilty of no crime. The announcement is an about-face for Sheriff Stanek, who in the past has supported close police-immigration collaboration and has campaigned for harsher immigration enforcement in the state legislature. The change in policy for Minnesota’s largest jail follows four years of grassroots pressure from the No More Deportations campaign organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), as well as pressure from many other community organizations, lawyers, and from immigrant families who have spoken out about their experience with deportation.

Immigrant rights activists around the country are targeting sheriffs to break ties with ICE as one way to limit the effects of the disastrous “Secure Communities” deportation program that was imposed nationwide in 2010 and caused an unprecedented wave of deportations. Since 2009 when President Obama took office, 2 million people have been deported, more than under any other administration in U.S. history. Most of those deportations happen through county jails as a result of “Secure Communities” and related ICE programs. Recent court rulings have indicated that ICE holds may be unconstitutional since they cause local jails to detain people for an undetermined amount of time without charge waiting for ICE to arrive to question them about their immigration status. These questions about whether ICE holds are even legal has given further momentum to these anti-deportation campaigns, and increasing numbers of sheriffs are announcing their refusal to honor ICE hold requests anymore.

Since 2010 the No More Deportations campaign has demanded this change, organizing dozens of protests outside the Hennepin County Jail and Sheriff Stanek’s office, as well as educational events about deportations and ‘know your rights’ trainings at churches, community centers, and campuses. MIRAC also helped form a coalition with a broad array of organizations concerned about deportations. Just last week MIRAC protested outside Sheriff Stanek’s reelection campaign fundraising event in downtown Minneapolis, while three activists also attempted to respectfully raise the issue inside the event but were forcibly removed. These grassroots efforts as well as the recent court rulings and electoral factors (last week a Minneapolis Police Department Deputy Chief announced his intention to run against Stanek in November) seem to have converged to influence Sheriff Stanek to reverse course and loosen his jail’s ties with ICE.

According to Brad Sigal of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), “This is an important victory against deportations that will help prevent the separation of some families, but the struggle is not over. We will continue to fight for an end to deportations in Minnesota and nationally. We call on Ramsey County Sheriff Bostrom to follow Sheriff Stanek and immediately stop cooperating with ICE holds in Ramsey County. And we call on President Obama to take immediate executive action to expand deferred action to stop deportations nationally.”

#MinneapolisMN #MIRAc #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SheriffStanek

Minneapolis, MN – Chanting, “Stanek says deportation! We say no!” 30 immigrant rights activists protested outside Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek’s reelection campaign fundraiser here June 4. Protesters marched around the busy downtown intersection of Nicollet and 9th Street for an hour, while chanting, handing out flyers and engaging the public. Stanek’s fundraiser was inside at the Minneapolis Downtown Council office. Two activists tried to enter Sheriff Stanek’s fundraiser but were immediately confronted by police, threatened with arrest and kicked out.

The protest was organized by the No More Deportations campaign of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC). Protesters were highly visible marching in the crowded Nicollet Mall area, educating the public about Sheriff Stanek’s role in deporting immigrants and separating families.

More immigrants are deported from Sheriff Stanek’s Hennepin County jail than any other in Minnesota. Stanek has also lobbied for anti-immigrant legislation at the state legislature. Stanek is running for reelection in November so he has been campaigning in many communities, including in the Latino community, smiling and waving on a float in the Cinco de Mayo parade on Lake Street.

Activists with MIRAC’s No More Deportations campaign say they will continue to pressure Sheriff Stanek until he agrees to stop cooperating with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s ‘hold requests’ on immigrants in the Hennepin County jail. The activists see this as a way to prevent deportations that separate families. 2 million people have been deported since President Obama took office in 2009, more than Bush deported during his entire eight years in office, and more than any other president in U.S. history.

While immigrant rights activists continue to push President Obama to take executive action to stop deportations nationally, campaigns are gaining momentum on the local level to pressure sheriffs to stop cooperating with ICE in detaining and deporting so many people. These campaigns have been successful in several major cities and counties around the country.

On June 4, the same day as the Minneapolis protest, there was a victory in San Diego county in California where Sheriff Bill Gore said in a statement, “The Sheriff's Department will no longer hold someone past their release date based on an ICE detainer alone.” A recent federal court decision has bolstered activists’ efforts to get local sheriffs to stop honoring ICE hold requests. The court decision held that a local jail had violated the Fourth Amendment by granting the detainer request without probable cause or a court-approved warrant.

#MinneapolisMN #Deportation #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SheriffStanek #ICEHolds

Saint Paul, MN – El 1ro de mayo, el día internacional de los trabajadores, alrededor de dos mil personas marcharon dos millas y media desde la mansión del gobernador hasta el capitolio estatal. La marcha tuvo cuatro demandas: licencias de conducir para todos, derechos para los trabajadores, una reforma migratoria justa, y no más deportaciones.

Casi todo el movimiento inmigrante en Minnesota está unido con la demanda para las licencias de conducir para todos. Una propuesta de ley para las licencias esta cerca de ser aprobada en el capitolio de Minnesota pero la session legislativa ya casi va a terminar y la propuesta está bloqueada por el Portavoz de la Casa de Representantes Paul Thissen. Eso dio una urgencia y un enfoque a la marcha del 1ro de mayo y se escuchó la demanda por las licencias de conducir en toda la marcha. Cuando la marcha llegó al capitolio, después de varios oradores, los manifestantes entraron al capitolio llenando la Rotunda con gritos exigiendo que aprueben las licencias para todos en esta sesión legislativa. Los inmigrantes sienten muy fuerte la demanda para las licencias porque el gobierno ha deportado más de dos millones de personas desde 2009 y muchos de ellos fueron detenidos sólo por manejar sin licencia.

Los manifestantes no sólo exigieron las licencias, también exigieron ‘no más deportaciones’. Debido a la realidad de tantas deportaciones, es un asunto que ha tocado casi todas las familias de inmigrantes y sus comunidades. En la marcha el Comite por los derechos de los Inmigrantes (MIRAC) organizó un bloque en la marcha con el tema de ‘No más deportaciones’ para amplificar esta demanda con mantas, banderas, posteres, volantes y consignas exigiendo ‘ni una más deportación’.

La marcha en St. Paul fue liderada por la organización Mesa Latina juntos con el Comite por los derechos de los inmigrantes (MIRAC) y alrededor de 30 organizaciones más incluyendo sindicatos como AFSCME Local 3800 y Local 34, UNITE HERE Local 17, y organizaciones como el Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL), MORENA-Minnesota, Centro Campesino, Occupy Homes, los departamentos de Estudios Chicanos en la Universidad de Minnesota y en St. Cloud State University, y muchos más. Muchos estudiantes llegaron también de la Universidad de Minnesota, St. Olaf, St. Benedict y de bachilleratos como Washburn, Harding y otros.

La marcha en St. Paul no fue la única acción en las Ciudades Gemelas en el 1ro de mayo. Una organización con base en las iglesias, Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, bloqueo tráfico en el centro de Minneapolis para exigir acción para parar las deportaciones y para una reforma migratoria.

Y también este sabado 3 de mayo Freedom Road Socialist Organization esta organizando una cena y celebracion del dia de los trabajadores con presentaciones de varias luchas de trabajadores en Minnesota. El evento empieza a las 5:00 p.m. en 4200 Cedar Avenue South, Minneapolis.

#SaintPaulMN #Labor #MayDay #internationalWorkersDay #May1 #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #LicensesForAll

Saint Paul, MN – On May 1, International Workers Day, around 2000 people marched two and a half miles from the Governor’s Mansion to the State Capitol. The march raised four demands: drivers licenses for all, workers rights, just immigration reform, and no more deportations.

Most of the immigrant rights movement in Minnesota is united behind the push for drivers licenses for all. A drivers licenses bill at the capitol is near passage, but the legislative session is almost over and the bill is being blocked by Speaker of the House Representative Paul Thissen. That gave an urgency and focus to the May 1 march to the capitol.

The demand for drivers licenses rang out strongly throughout the march. The demonstration arrived at the capitol and , after several speakers, the marchers streamed into the capitol building and filled the rotunda with booming chants, demanding that the legislature approve the bill for drivers licenses for all this session. The demand for drivers licenses resonates deeply because 2 million people have been deported since 2009. A large number of them are first detained for driving without a license.

The demand for “no more deportations” was also prominent at the march. Because so many people are being deported, it is an issue that has touched almost all immigrant families and their communities. The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) organized a No More Deportations contingent to press this demand with banners, flags, posters, flyers and chants.

The St. Paul march was led by immigrant rights organization Mesa Latina along with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee and around 30 other organizations including unions such as AFSCME Locals 3800 and Local 34, UNITE HERE Local 17 and organizations including Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL), MORENA-Minnesota, Centro Campesino, Occupy Homes, Chicano Studies departments at the University of Minnesota and at Saint Cloud State University and many others. Many students came to the march from the University of Minnesota, Saint Olaf, Saint Benedicts, and high schools including Washburn, Harding and others.

The march in Saint Paul wasn’t the only May Day action in the Twin Cities. A church-based immigrant rights group, Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, blocked traffic in downtown Minneapolis to demand action on deportations and immigration reform.

On May 3, Freedom Road Socialist Organization is hosting a May Day Dinner and Celebration featuring speakers from important local working class struggles. The celebration is at 5:00 p.m. at 4200 Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis.

#SaintPaulMN #Labor #MayDay #internationalWorkersDay #May1 #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #LicensesForAll

Minneapolis, MN – With the new legislative session underway, the drivers licenses for all campaign is kicking back into high gear in Minnesota. The immigrant rights movement is mobilizing to press the state legislature and Governor Dayton to pass a bill that would grant basic equality for immigrants.

Currently undocumented immigrants cannot get drivers licenses in Minnesota. Due to extreme weather and inadequate public transportation, the thousands of immigrants that live in Minnesota are forced to drive for everyday tasks, like getting to work and taking children to school. Many of the immigrants that are deported and separated from their families first get ensnared in the criminal justice system when they are stopped for driving without a license. Once in the criminal justice system, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intervenes and starts deportation proceedings against many people who have done nothing more than drive to work.

According to Eder Alarcon of the No More Deportations campaign, “I think that as members of the immigrant community we need to struggle for drivers licenses to have access to one of the most important and necessary means of transportation in our state. If Minnesota grants drivers licenses to immigrants it would reduce one of the main causes of immigrants being detained and deported. Drivers licenses are one of the main needs of immigrants to be able to get to jobs that there’s no other way to get to without driving.”

Several other states allow immigrants to get drivers licenses, and immigrants’ rights activists have won recent victories in places like Illinois and Washington D.C. which now allow immigrants to get drivers licenses.

Immigrant rights activists in Minnesota have mobilized for several years to try to get the state legislature and the governor to allow immigrants to get a Minnesota drivers licenses. When the Democrats won control of both houses of the state legislature and the governor’s office in 2012, hopes were high that drivers’ licenses for all could finally be passed after several years without success due to Republican control of the Senate, and prior to 2010, a Republican governor. Yet even with Democratic control of both houses of the state legislature and with a Democratic governor, it has still been an uphill battle to get the drivers license bill passed.

Last year a vigorous campaign succeeded in getting the Minnesota Senate to pass the drivers licenses bill, SF271. Hundreds of Latino immigrants and progressive supporters packed one committee hearing after another until the bill passed the Senate. But as last year’s legislative session wound down, the House version of the bill, HF348, stalled and Governor Dayton signaled he was reluctant to support it. At the end of the session several people staged a hunger strike at the Capitol over the issue, but in the end the House and the governor wouldn’t budge, killing the bill for the year. Since it passed the Senate last session, this year the bill just needs to pass the House and be signed by Governor Dayton.

The driver’s license campaign in Minnesota is led by the community organization Mesa Latina, with support from the whole immigrant rights movement. On March 14, Mesa Latina led a meeting that rallied more than 200 people at the Waite House Community Center to kick off the campaign to win drivers licenses this year. At that meeting a march at the Capitol for drivers licenses for all was announced for Wednesday, March 26 at 3:00 p.m., with more mobilizations to come as the legislative session advances. Mesa Latina is also encouraging people to sign the online petition to support the Drivers License bill in the House, HF348.

#MinneapolisMN #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #driversLicences #MesaLatina

Minneapolis, MN – A Valentine’s Day protest here called on Hennepin County Sheriff Stanek to stop cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in deporting immigrants via the Hennepin County jail. Protesters gathered at noon outside the jail and then marched to Sheriff Stanek’s office inside City Hall. The protest was organized by MIRAc’s No More Deportations campaign and endorsed by several other organizations.

In the Valentine’s Day spirit, protesters sang songs to the tune of Heartbreaker by Pat Benetar and Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee, with lyrics reworded to make Sheriff Stanek the ‘heartbreaker’ for deporting people and separating families.

Speakers included Jeff Carlson, who spoke of community mobilization in the face of several recent deportations in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis; Eder Alarcon of the No More Deportations campaign who spoke of his ongoing struggle against deportation; David Cruz of Occupy Homes and Katie Hatt, who is running for a Hennepin County Commissioner seat and who expressed her support for stopping deportations.

Protesters left a large Valentine’s Day heart at Sheriff Stanek’s office with messages calling on him to stop breaking our hearts by stopping deportations and the separation of families.

#MinneapolisMN #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SheriffStanek #ValentinesDay

Minneapolis, MN – On Dec. 19, MIRAc’s No More Deportations campaign and Occupy Homes MN joined together to protest deportations and evictions in Hennepin County. They demanded that Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek stop evicting people from their homes and stop cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport immigrants from the county jail.

The protest started outside the Hennepin County jail, where immigrants are routinely turned over to ICE for deportation, even if they have not been convicted of any crime. Outside the jail, a street theater skit began in which “Mr. Rich” (Mr. Grinch) came to steal the holidays by deporting and evicting as many people as possible in the interests of the 1%. The group then marched to City Hall, went inside the building and marched to Sheriff Stanek’s office door.

The street theater continued there, where Mr. Rich was confronted by three “ghosts of evictions and deportations past,” who spoke about their experiences with eviction and deportation in Hennepin County. The protesters also set up a full-size Christmas tree directly outside the Sheriff’s office, decorated with ornaments with anti-deportation and anti-eviction messages.

“Sheriff Stanek used our tax dollars to violently and illegally raid my home on Election Day, breaking down my door and forcing my daughter to walk barefoot across broken glass,” said Jaymie Kelly, who remains in her home and is currently fighting her eviction with Occupy Homes MN. “We should not be using tax dollars to violently separate families and force them into the streets. It’s time for Scrooge Stanek to change his ways. Not one more eviction or deportation!”

According to Brad Sigal of the No More Deportations campaign, “Sheriff Stanek holds immigrants in the county jail for ICE to come deport them. He doesn’t have to do that. This holiday season, we demand that he stop using the jail as a deportation machine. Everyone should be able to stay in their home with their families for the holidays.”

#MinneapolisMN #HousingStruggles #MIRAc #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #OccupyHomesMN

Minneapolis, MN – On Jan. 12, immigrant rights activists protested outside the Hennepin County jail, demanding that Sheriff Stanek stop using the jail as a deportation machine. More people are deported from the Hennepin County jail than from any other jail in the state.

The protest was organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc). MIRAc’s No More Deportations campaign is targeting Sheriff Stanek, demanding that he change policy in the Hennepin County jail to stop cooperating with the ‘Secure Communities’ deportation program, by ceasing to honor ICE hold requests. Jail-based deportation programs like Secure Communities are the main source of deportations and separation of families, which have reached record numbers, with well over a million deportations in the last four years.

When people are booked into county jails, they are now run through a national Secure Communities database and ICE flags people they want to interview. So even if a person is arrested without cause and isn’t charged with anything (as happens quite commonly with Latino, Black and Native people in Hennepin County), they still go through the booking process and can end up getting deported.

It’s not mandatory for county jails to hold people extra time (at the local jail’s cost)for ICE to come interview them, so many county jails around the country are deciding to stop honoring ICE’s hold requests. Most significantly, the California attorney general recently declared that jails statewide will no longer have to cooperate with ICE hold requests. Many counties in other states are also making the same decision, as they don’t want their local jails to be turned into conveyer belts to ICE’s deportation juggernaut.

Sheriff Stanek has a long history of antagonizing people of color and immigrants. Before he was sheriff, he admitted to racist conduct when he was an officer. He pushed for the state to adopt harsh anti-immigrant policies. He also antagonized progressive political movements like Occupy Homes, using heavy-handed tactics to carry out foreclosures, and he was in charge of the repressive police response to the Occupy Minneapolis encampment in People’s Plaza, which was on Hennepin County property, last year.

MIRAc’s No More Deportations campaign will continue to target Sheriff Stanek to stop deportations in Hennepin County jail. The next protest targeting Stanek will be Saturday, Feb. 16 at 9:00 a.m. in front of the jail at 4th Avenue and 5th Street in Minneapolis.

#MinneapolisMN #deportations #MIRAc #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SecureCommunities #SheriffStanek

Saint Paul, MN – Amidst the flurry of budget cuts hastily pushed through on July 19 and signed on July 20 on the 20th day of the state government shutdown, immigrant rights activists claimed one victory and one defeat amidst the chaos.

The victory is that the Secure Communities deportation program was not included in the final Public Safety/Judiciary budget bill. This makes Minnesota one of the states that continues to refuse to implement the controversial fingerprint-sharing deportation program that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Obama administration are trying to implement nationwide. It was recently revealed that the program has a behind-the-scenes push from the FBI, which is hungry to universalize such programs that gather biometric data on as many people as possible.

The absence of the Secure Communities program from the Public Safety bill was a reversal from the version of the bill that passed at the end of the legislative session in late May. About a week before the Minnesota legislative session ended, Sen. Ortman ® snuck the deportation program into SF1143, an omnibus bill, with no debate, discussion or committee hearings, and it quickly passed with an unanimous 57-0 vote. Then just before the end of the session, Secure Communities was transferred into SF958, the Public Safety bill, which the legislature passed just before the session ended on May 23. However, on May 24, Governor Dayton vetoed SF958, along with all the other budget bills.

According to Anh Pham of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc), “Preventing Secure Communities deportation program from being implemented in Minnesota is a victory. Because of this, there will be fewer families torn apart over the next year. The No More Deportations campaign will continue working to stop the other deportation programs that are already separating families in Minnesota. Even one separated family is too many.”

The setback for immigrant rights this session is that the national E-Verify program was inserted into the State Government Finance bill. The new law says that any company with contracts with the state of Minnesota over $50,000 will need to use E-Verify to screen their workers for immigration status. In 2008 Governor Pawlenty implemented this same policy administratively through an executive order. When Dayton became governor last year, he decided to let this and another of Pawlenty’s anti-immigrant executive orders expire without renewing them. According to Anh Pham, “It was a step forward when Gov. Dayton let Pawlenty’s anti-immigrant executive orders expire. Now it’s a step back to have the unreliable and unfair e-verify program put into law in Minnesota. The Republican leadership and Governor Dayton shouldn't have done this.”

Battle over Cuts and Taxing the Rich Led to Shutdown

At the end of the regular legislative session in May, Governor Dayton’s vetoed all the Republican-crafted budget bills that contained severe budget cuts with no new revenue. Dayton instead favored an approach of keeping some budget cuts, but cutting less severely by raising taxes on the richest 2% of Minnesota. The Republicans wouldn’t budge from their all-cuts and ‘no new taxes’ pledge, protecting the richest 2% of Minnesotans from paying even a tiny bit more in taxes while the budgets for education, transit, health and human services programs are gutted. This impasse led to the state government shutdown on July 1.

In mid-July Gov. Dayton finally gave in to the obstinate Republicans, announcing he would accept their June 30 budget proposal made right before the shutdown. This led to a sudden and furious push by the governor and the Republican legislative leadership to hastily rewrite all nine budget bills behind closed doors, without debate or time for public review, at the special legislative session that Gov. Dayton initiated on July 19 with only a couple hours notice.

The Health and Human Services bill has severe cuts. Among other things, $58 million are taken from TANF funds designated for poor people. According to Linden Gawboy of the Welfare Rights Committee, “TANF is supposed to be used for poor families, but because they didn't tax the rich, they had to steal from the poorest of the poor.” Education, transit and other key services are not spared either.

One Front in the State-by-State Battle Over Immigrant Rights

In the absence of national immigrant rights legislation, battles are being fought state-by-state. Over the last few years, deportations that separate immigrant families have increased around the country to levels not seen even under the Bush administration. Secure Communities is a program that is responsible for a large part of this increase in deportations. States opt in to the ICE program, and then force counties to connect booking information from county jails to a federal database used by both ICE and the FBI. ICE claims that Secure Communities focuses on deporting “dangerous criminals”. But over 70% of the people deported under Secure Communities have not been convicted of any crime or have only been convicted of minor traffic-type offenses.

While harsh anti-immigrant laws are being passed in states like Arizona, Georgia and Alabama, immigrant rights activists have struck back against repressive ICE programs in other states. Specifically ICE and the Obama administration are on the defensive around the country about the Secure Communities deportation program. Illinois, Massachusetts and New York announced they want to get out of the program. California’s Assembly voted to allow it’s counties to opt out if they want to. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus came out against it as well as many other congresspeople. Dozens of counties and cities around the country have also tried to opt out of Secure Communities.

In response, ICE told states and counties that they can not opt out, but this just caused more states and counties to say they don’t want to participate. In damage control mode as more states abandoned ship, the Obama administration finally announced in mid-June that they would make minor reforms to the embattled program. But most activist groups see this as too little too late. Dozens of immigrant rights and civil liberties organizations jointly signed a letter to ICE director John Morton on July 20 condemning their inadequate review and reforms of Secure Communities, and instead demanding that a moratorium be called to halt the program entirely.

#SaintPaulMN #ICE #deportations #MIRAc #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SecureCommunities #GovernorMarkDayton #governmentShutdown #everify

St. Paul, MN – On May 20, protesters from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) and the No More Deportations campaign marched through the State Capitol chanting “‘Secure Communities’ divides families – no more deportations!” and “Immigrant workers are under attack – what do we do? Stand up fight back!” At the same time, several other progressive groups also protested noisily inside the capitol as the end of the session looms with unprecedented cuts and attacks on every front.

The immigrant rights protesters marched to Governor Dayton’s office to deliver a statement urging him to veto SF 1143, the Omnibus Data Practices Bill, until Republican Senator Julie Ortman’s amendment mandating participation in the “Secure Communities” deportation program is removed. On May 16, Sen. Ortman inserted the Secure Communities amendment in the bill without any committee hearings, debate or discussion and it quickly passed the Senate. As of the writing of this article, it has not yet been approved by the House.

MIRAc’s statement condemned Sen. Ortman’s move of sneaking the highly controversial Secure Communities deportation program into a larger omnibus bill at the end of the session without debate. The MIRAc statement calls on Gov. Dayton to veto the bill until the deportation program is removed, and says it’s a bad program that’s separating thousands of children from their parents. While the program is supposed to focus on deporting criminals, more than 70% of the people it deports are not convicted of any crime or are only convicted of minor traffic-type violations.

Although the Obama administration’s stated goal is to have Secure Communities implemented in all states by 2013, the tide seems to be turning against the program. Illinois just withdrew from Secure Communities, California is trying to renegotiate their agreement because of ICE’s dishonest conduct in forcing it on them; the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other prominent legislators have come out against it; and increasing numbers of cities and counties are passing resolutions saying they don’t want it. The Secure Communities deportation program, along with ICE’s other main deportations programs, 287g and the “Criminal Alien Program” (CAP), have resulted in deportations rising dramatically under the Obama administration to record levels never seen even under President Bush.

Protesters on different issues unite in the capitol

As MIRAc stood outside the governor's office, some disability rights activists who were there with their own protest joined in with the immigrant rights chants. The immigrant rights protesters delivered their letter to governor’s secretary, then marched back through the capitol again. On the second floor of the capitol outside chamber where legislators were meeting, they joined with protesters for LGBT marriage equality who cheered as the immigrant rights protesters joined them. Together they chanted unified chants that applied to both issues: “Equal rights!” “Vote no!” and “Create jobs, not hate!” as the spontaneous solidarity energized both groups.

Inside the House chamber, the legislative session had erupted in chaos a few hours earlier when Republican legislators invited Pastor Bradlee Dean to lead the opening prayer for the day’s session. This was the day they were expected to vote to authorize an anti-gay referendum, so many people from the LGBT community and their allies were already mobilized to protest. Pastor Bradlee Dean launched into a partisan tirade, throwing the session into chaos. Dean was quickly indentified as a pastor who preaches that GLBT people should be put to death. The Republicans, who had been insisting that their marriage referendum proposal is not based on anti-gay prejudice or hate, left the session in disarray to caucus for an hour to figure out how to do damage control. They emerged with a contrite apology. But hours later, LGBT equality protesters were still chanting non-stop outside the chamber as legislators met inside, their powerful voices reverberating throughout the capitol. Their protest went into the night, and they plan to continue protesting non-stop as long as the legislature is in session.

Many union members were also at the capitol pressing legislators to focus on creating jobs, after having rallied earlier in the day. SEIU and other unions are planning a large rally at the Capitol on Saturday, May 21, and the public sector unions AFSCME and MAPE are calling on workers to descend on the capitol May 23 from 9:00 p.m. until midnight to have an overwhelming presence until the last second of the legislative session.

On all issues the demands are similar: telling the Republican-controlled legislature to stop the attacks and cuts, and demanding that Governor Dayton veto the legislature’s attacks and cuts.

#SaintPaulMN #deportations #MIRAc #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SecureCommunities #GovernorMarkDayton

St. Paul, MN – On April 14, immigrant rights activists in Minnesota celebrated a victory as Governor Mark Dayton announced he would not pursue an Executive Order collaborating with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on deportations and enforcement programs.

Earlier on April 5, Governor Dayton announced he would let two Executive Orders concerning immigration enforcement left over from former Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty expire and that he would spend about a week deciding whether to pursue any new executive orders regarding immigration.

The first order he let expire was Pawlenty’s order mandating employers with state contracts to check new employees using the E-Verify federal immigration database. The second order was one that directed state agencies to pursue cooperation with ICE to carry out deportations and other punitive enforcement wherever possible, including the Criminal Alien Program (CAP) and 287g agreements with the Department of Public Safety, among other things. CAP is responsible for many deportations in Minnesota and is implemented in the county jails. 287g is a program that trains police officers to act both as local police and as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents.

When former Governor Pawlenty, who is now running for the Republican presidential nomination, announced the immigration enforcement executive orders in January 2008, it touched off a firestorm of protests and criticisms. Most considered the executive orders to be little more than divide-and-conquer political grandstanding in an election year, yet the orders had a real effect in making life more difficult for immigrants in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee ( MIRAc) is waging a No More Deportations campaign which aims to stop Minnesota and its counties from collaborating with ICE deportation programs like CAP, 287g and Secure Communities. MIRAc put out a statement encouraging people to call Governor Dayton to demand that he not pursue any further collaboration with ICE on deportation or enforcement programs.

According to Niger Arevalo of MIRAc, “It’s good that Governor Dayton didn’t renew Pawlenty’s anti-immigrant executive orders. But this is just the beginning – immigrant workers are still being deported and families are being separated at an alarming rate in Minnesota and this has to stop now. The No More Deportations campaign wants to make sure that Governor Dayton does not implement the so-called Secure Communities deportation program. And we’re calling on the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners to vote to stop cooperating with ICE through the Criminal Alien Program. We encourage people to join our campaign to stop deportations in Minnesota.”

#SaintPaulMN #InJusticeSystem #ICE #MIRAc #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #287g #CriminalAlienProgram #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SecureCommunities #GovernorMarkDayton

Minneapolis, MN – On Dec. 19 activists from the No More Deportations campaign brought their message to the New York Plaza shopping center on Lake Street in Minneapolis. In the Latino market, activists explained the campaign to weekend shoppers and signed up dozens of people on the petition to stop deportations in Hennepin County.

The No More Deportations campaign is an all-volunteer effort to stop deportations in Hennepin County. They are organizing community outreach and education activities like this to explain how immigrants can exercise their rights and be part of the struggle to stop deportations that tear apart families and communities.

Many shoppers stopped to listen as activists explained about the No More Deportations campaign. The campaign aims to stop Hennepin County Jails from cooperating with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through the so-called Criminal Alien Program (CAP). The campaign also aims to block the so-called Secure Communities program from being implemented in Hennepin County. It’s not here yet, but the Obama administration wants to implement it nationwide by 2013. These programs, along with 287g, are responsible for the majority of deportations under the Obama administration.

Under the CAP program, during the jail booking process people are asked where they’re from, and if they’re immigrants their file is flagged so that ICE comes to interview them and possibly start the deportation process, even if the person is never charged with or convicted of a crime. Likewise, under the Secure Communities program, people are fingerprinted when they are booked into jail, and their fingerprints are run through a national database to see if they should be deported. County jails are not obligated to participate in these deportation programs. The No More Deportations campaign aims to convince the Hennepin County Commissioners to vote to cut off these programs.

At New York Plaza, four activists with the campaign did a street theater to demonstrate that immigrants should exercise their right to not talk to the police or let the police into their house without a warrant, because they could end up getting deported. Christian performed a spoken word decrying the government for its repression against immigrants and all oppressed people and Niger explained the Secure Communities and Criminal Alien Programs, encouraging people to get involved in the campaign to demand that the Hennepin County Commissioners stop these programs.

The No More Deportations campaign was initiated by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc), a Twin Cities-based immigrant rights group fighting for legalization and full equality for immigrants.

#MinneapolisMN #InJusticeSystem #MIRAc #ImmigrationAndCustomsEnforcementICE #Deportation #MinnesotaImmigrantRightsActionCommittee #CriminalAlienProgram #NoMoreDeportationsCampaign #SecureCommunities #CAP