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

$4 billion of the settlement will go to consumer relief, but it's still not clear where that money would go. $3.3 billion was earmarked for foreclosed homeowners as part of the Independent Foreclosure Review Settlement, which resulted in most homeowners, many of whom had lost their homes, receiving checks of $300 to $500.

“The first priority of the settlement should be to keep people in their homes,” said Jaymie Kelly, who has lived in her south Minneapolis home for 30 years and is now facing imminent eviction by JPMorgan Chase and Freddie Mac. “JPMorgan Chase refused to work with me after I fell behind on a predatory loan, even though I had paid for my home five times over. Now they want to evict me from my home of 30 years. I am not interested in a settlement check. I want a negotiation with principal reduction to stay in my home.”

Kelly, who bought her home in 1983 for $74,900, has paid $425,000 for it over the years. When Chase foreclosed on her, they claimed she still owed $255,000. Instead of modifying her loan, they sold her home to Freddie Mac, which is aggressively pushing to evict.

Kelly is fighting an eviction defense campaign with Occupy Homes MN. On Oct. 8, 150 community members blockaded the sheriff's attempt to evict her. JPMorgan Chase and Freddie Mac have filed for another eviction order to remove Kelly from her home, but Kelly is not going anywhere.

“No settlement check could make up for the trauma of being forced out of my home of 30 years,” said Kelly. “If this settlement doesn't keep me in my home, my community will. I am not leaving.”

#MinneapolisMN #HousingStruggles #JPMorganChase #HomeForeclosures #OccupyHomesMN #HouseStruggles #JaymieKelly

Kelly, who has paid the value of her home five times over, was scheduled to be evicted by Freddie Mac and the Hennepin County sheriff's department at 10:30 this morning, on her daughter Sinead's 23rd birthday, but a rapid community response forced the sheriffs' deputies to reschedule.

“The government is shut down, but Freddie Mac evictions are still considered an essential service. But the power of community is too big to fail,” said Kelly. “Today's blocked eviction is the greatest birthday present I could give my daughter. I am not moving, and my neighbors stand with me.”

Freddie Mac, which operates under the federal agency FHFA, is continuing its evictions of Kelly and others in spite of the government shutdown.

“Sheriff Stanek and the big banks don't want to do their dirty work in front of 150 community members,” said Nick Espinosa, an organizer with Occupy Homes MN whose family successfully fought off foreclosure last year. “But we will be ready for them at any hour of the day or night. Jaymie's not going anywhere, and neither are we.”

#MinneapolisMN #HousingStruggles #Evictions #governmentShutdown #HomeForeclosures #OccupyHomesMN #HouseStruggles #JaymieKelly #