Grassroots Effort Halts Walter Lara's Deportation

by Dave Bennion

categories: Advocacy and Activism, DREAM Act, Immigration Reform

Published July 02, 2009 @ 07:50PM PT

From America's Voice comes great news today:

[A]fter a strong coordinated effort this week, led by Dream Activist.org and SEIU, to allow Walter Lara to stay in this country, we've scored an important victory. Walter was granted a one-year stay of deportation today.  The 23-year-old honor student will now get to spend this Fourth of July watching fireworks with his family in Florida instead of waiting to be deported to a country he's never known. Congratulations to everyone who worked to make this happen!

This was a effort initiated on the ground by local student organizers coordinating with the national Dream Graduation Day, then propelled through new media strategies by Dreamactivist.org and the SEIU.  There have been stories of other Dreamers that hit the mainstream, but none so forcefully, enlisting allies like Kos and Senator Bill Nelson.  This is not because Walter's story is unique--unfortunately, Walter's legal situation is all too common among ambitious undocumented youth.  But today's result gives me hope in a time when hope is in short supply.  Hope that the balance is tipping in favor of compassion and common sense.

Walter graciously thanked DHS Secretary Napolitano for exercising discretion to defer an action that made no sense to anyone--the deportation of an honor student who came to the U.S. at the age of three.  He also looks forward, calling for Congress to remember the others who could benefit from the DREAM Act:

But even as the dust settles on this tremendous personal victory, my sights are clearly set on the struggle ahead to build a long-term future for me and the more than 2 million like me whose lives may be cut short and dreams deferred.

The action taken by the leaders in Congress and the Department of Homeland Security is an acknowledgment that our immigration laws are broken. The DREAM Act, if passed, would help people like myself, who came here through no fault of their own, stay in this country, be put on a path to citizenship and contribute to our nation.

Congratulations, Walter, and thanks to all who worked to make this day possible!

“Illegal Immigrant” Is the Real Euphemism

by Dave Bennion

categories: Immigration Law, Nativism

Published July 02, 2009 @ 07:00AM PT

illegal, n. A term used by descendents of European immigrants to refer to descendants of Indigenous Americans.

Is Senator Chuck Schumer taking his talking points on immigration from far-right anti-immigrant websites?

Last week, Schumer (NY-D) gave reporters an indication of the administration’s rhetorical strategy as Congress prepares to draft immigration reform legislation.  From the Washington Post:

Schumer said legislation should secure control of the nation's borders within a year and require that an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants register with the government and "submit to a rigorous process to convert to legal status" or face immediate deportation. Rejecting the euphemism "undocumented workers," he said: "Illegal immigration is wrong -- plain and simple."

McClatchy described Schumer’s comments in similar terms:

Schumer said Democrats no longer can afford to use soft, euphemistic language about illegal immigration.

"When we use phrases like 'undocumented workers,' we convey a message to the American people that their government is not serious about combating illegal immigration, which the American people overwhelmingly oppose."

So either Senator Schumer himself used the word “euphemism” to describe the phrase “undocumented workers,” or two media outlets did in describing his comments.  Regardless, his message is clear.  According to Senator Schumer, “undocumented” is a misleading term, and he intends to be straight with the public by using accurate language.

But Senators and their speechwriters rarely construct their own arguments from scratch.  So where did this meme come from?

The top result in a google search for “undocumented” and “euphemism” right now is a blog post about Schumer’s recent remarks. But the second and third results go to far right-wing nativist websites VDare and 24Ahead (formerly Lonewacko).  From 24Ahead:

Is “undocumented immigrant” a euphemism?

Yes, it's just a politically-correct way of saying the legally correct term: "illegal alien". They're "aliens" - people who are citizens of some other country - and they're here illegally.

The post goes on to quote a thinly-sourced portion of the nativist site illegalaliens.us (scroll to the bottom) which argues that "illegal alien" is a more accurate term than “undocumented” or “out of status,” but doesn’t bother to cite to any case, statute, or legal document.

I’ve often seen in comment threads on immigration stories or blog posts the assertion that the terms “undocumented” or even “illegal immigrant” are politically correct euphemisms for the legally correct term: "illegal alien."  This is the meme that Schumer picked up on last week.

Unfortunately for Schumer and the nativists, the meme is wrong.  “Illegal alien” and “illegal immigrant” are not recognized terms of immigration law.

Read More »

Stop the Deportation of Walter Lara!

by Dave Bennion

category: DREAM Act

Published July 01, 2009 @ 07:22PM PT

They write letters:

Walter Lara is a 23 year-old honor student facing deportation on July 6, 2009.  Walter’s family immigrated from Argentina when he was three years old.  He has only known life as an American, and proudly declares that “the United States is my home.”

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson wrote the Department of Homeland Security on Walter's behalf, requesting that they defer action on Walter's deportation because "he has earned the chance to live and work here and call America home."

Sign onto Sen. Nelson's letter and on Thursday, July 2, 2009, we will deliver Sen. Nelson's letter with your co-signature to the Department of Homeland Security.

That's tomorrow!  And July 6 is this Monday.  Walter is running out of time.  Sign the letter here.

As usual, the readers/Dreamers at change.org are 8 steps ahead of me, already having put up an action here over a week ago.

Join Walter's Facebook support group.

Recommend Gabacha's diary at DailyKos.

Read Senator Nelson's letter to DHS below the fold.  My question for Senator Nelson: Your support thus far is appreciated more than you know, but where is your private bill for Walter Lara?

Read More »

Immigration Courts Under Strain

by Dave Bennion

categories: Immigration Detention, Immigration Law

Published July 01, 2009 @ 07:00AM PT

Andrew Becker and Hugo Cabrera have written a very good story for TruthDig about the detention/deportation system that is stacked against immigrants:

While the nation’s understaffed immigration courts strain under a backlog that has grown to more than 200,000 cases, thousands of new border agents have been hired and the number of government attorneys who argue for deportation has increased by 35 percent, pushing more cases onto an already overburdened system.

As a result, cases often take months if not years to complete, leading to more immigrants being held in a growing network of detention facilities and jails. On any given day there are more than 30,000 people in immigration lockup.

This article is best read in conjunction with the recent study from UC San Francisco on the effects of stress and burnout on immigration judges resulting from sky-high caseloads and traumatic subject matter.

A new study finds that many immigration judges adjudicating cases of asylum seekers are suffering from significant symptoms of secondary traumatic stress and job burnout, which, according to the researchers, may shape their judicial decision-making processes.

. . .

The researchers found, through a quantitative data analysis of the 96 immigration judges who responded to a survey, that the judges’ burnout levels were higher than those suffered by hospital physicians and prison wardens.

. . .

The study notes that mental health clinicians have been interested in the occupational effects among those who work with trauma victims, such as immigration judges, since some victims, including asylum seekers, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  The researchers note that the occupational hazards of the immigration judges may include “compassion fatigue” and “secondary traumatic stress” (STS).  Sufferers of STS may manifest physical symptoms as significant and frequent as victims of trauma themselves do.

. . .

“I am concerned that the stress and trauma in judges may make it hard for them to recognize trauma in the refugees whose cases come before them in the courtroom,” said Lustig.  Lustig said that this can affect their future caseloads in one of two ways: they may become particularly lenient and grant asylum at a higher rate than they would otherwise, or they may just shut down and become desensitized to those applicants whose stories of persecution are genuine.

The distinction between DHS (immigration enforcement) and the DOJ (immigration courts) is often flimsy--both are executive branch agencies answerable to President Obama.  These two articles indicate that the Obama administration's priority is not to secure just outcomes through the court system but to deport as many people as quickly as possible.

Also, Lena Graber has a good post about conveyor-belt justice for migrants charged in criminal court.

Temporary Tax ID Number (ITIN) Explained

by Dave Bennion

category: Economy

Published June 30, 2009 @ 08:08PM PT

Immigration Impact has written your one-stop ITIN post.  For the uninitiated, ITIN stands for Temporary Tax ID Number.  If you are an immigrant in need of a way to pay taxes without a social security number OR if you are in need of a handy fact sheet to combat anti-immigrant falsehoods, then this post and fact sheet (pdf) are for you.  A sample:

• Although many use ITINs to file their federal tax forms, ITIN holders are not eligible to receive most of the benefits their tax dollars go toward. For example, an ITIN cannot be used to get Social Security benefits or the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

• An ITIN does not grant anyone legal status or work authorization.

• An ITIN cannot be used in lieu of an SSN on the I-9 work authorization form.

• An ITIN cannot be used to prove legal status.

And here is the IRS ITIN page, with the W-7 Form itself (pdf).

A Facebook Favor

by Dave Bennion

category: Advocacy and Activism

Published June 30, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT

I have a favor to ask.  If you get a moment, please stop by our Immigrant Rights Facebook page and become a fan.

Otherwise, treat this as an open thread for (positive/productive) suggestions on how to improve this blog or the wider site.

Thanks!

QOTD: Yglesias on Climate Change and Global Redistribution

by Dave Bennion

categories: Economy, Foreign Policy

Published June 29, 2009 @ 08:59PM PT

It’s very difficult to imagine Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) wading through the jungles of Vietnam slaughtering villagers and redistributing their possessions to the people of Missouri. It’s easy, by contrast, to imagine her tweeting complaints about Waxman-Markey being unfair to coal-dependent states like Missouri.

--Matthew Yglesias