Vol. 75/No. 31      September 5, 2011

Similar hearings were recently held in Dallas and Los Angeles. A couple hundred demonstrators walked out of the one in Los Angeles, according to the Times. Another hearing is scheduled for Washington, D.C., August 24.

“I will not sit idly by as ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] terrorizes my community, my family, and strips us of our dignity,” Carla Novoa told the Militant at the Chicago hearing. Novoa, who came to the U.S. from the Philippines at age 5, is now a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an organizer with the Immigrant Youth Justice League.

Workers, students, and immigrant rights activists were the overwhelming majority of those who turned out for the hearing held at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall. It was organized by an advisory task force to the Department of Homeland Security.

The Secure Communities program was initiated in 2008. In early August the Barack Obama administration declared the program would be expanded nationwide by 2013, after several state governments notified the White House that they would no longer cooperate.

In June, Massachusetts announced it was pulling out of the program, the third state to do so after New York and Illinois. Department of Homeland Security officials responded by stating that the program was not optional, is backed by the Obama administration and Congress, and would continue to be expanded.

State and local governments have been under pressure from cop organizations, many of whom argue that Secure Communities has made residents in immigrant communities less trustful and less cooperative with police.

Organizers of the hearing tried to close the doors soon after the meeting began to prevent people who arrived late from participating. The meeting was suspended as participants chanted, “Let the people in!” until the doors were opened.

A few people presented statements to the task force. Mario De la Rosa, of Waukegan, said he is fighting deportation proceedings after he was pulled over by Waukegan police in February for a broken taillight. De la Rosa, who is from Mexico, said he spent 12 days in custody before a federal immigration judge granted him a temporary release to care for his 24-year-old disabled son. His next court date is August 30.

A Mexican-born woman said Chicago police arrested her husband after a mix-up over some broken car windows. He ended up in deportation proceedings. The woman held up a federal order for him to board a flight back to Mexico.

“It used to be when we organized unions you wanted a union card but you didn’t have to worry about being carded,” said Jim Cusak, a retired union carpenter who traveled from Milwaukee for the hearing. Half the people he worked with were immigrants he said. “And we built things together.”

One man who supports the Secure Communities program spoke on how an “illegal immigrant” ran over his brother with a car and killed him.

After a few speakers, Alaa Mukahhal, who stood in the front of the room with a half a dozen others from the Immigrant Youth Justice League, called on people to walk out of the meeting in protest. “We are sick of hearings and waiting for justice!” she announced. Members of the group encouraged the majority to march out to the street to continue the protest. Later in the evening 10 demonstrators were arrested in a civil disobedience action.

Immigration officials boast that Secure Communities has led to the deportation of more than 86,000 immigrants convicted of crimes. Many of these are minor offenses. The program has also snared thousands who were booked and fingerprinted but never convicted.

“It is an attack on immigrant workers, not a way to catch criminals,” Carlos Arango, director of Casa Atzlán told the Militant. “You can be arrested and turned over to ICE now for violations like not having a driver’s license. We call on the government to end this program.”

A day after the hearing, the Obama administration announced that undocumented students and other “low-priority immigration offenders” will not be targeted for deportation under enforcement programs.
 
 
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