INDIVISIBLE Lambertville NJ / New Hope PA

Category: Immigration

  • VOTE on (or before) November 6: What’s At Stake

    Contributed by Action Groups.

    Artwork by Sarah Bush. Posters available. Donations welcome.

    Maybe we don’t have to give you more reasons to vote, but maybe we can encourage you to step up your efforts to get your family, friends and community to increase their efforts to GOTV. As of this writing, polls are saying that Republicans are narrowing the gap in the number of voters planning to head to the polls – so much so that the Blue Wave may not happen after all. Right now, all of our civil rights are being attacked and eroded. Here’s a small sampling of what’s at stake:

    • Vulnerable rights include Workers’ Rights, LGBTQ+ Rights, Women’s Rights, Prisoners’ Rights, Students’ Rights, First Amendment Rights, and Minority Rights.
    • The Right to Vote is on the line! Voters’ names are being purged from the rolls, and voting is being made less accessible for many poor, minority, and elderly voters. In NJ, people who are incarcerated, on probation, or on parole are denied the right to vote. Note: NJ denies the right to vote to 94,000 people with criminal convictions, and  three-fourths of those are on parole or probation, which means they are living in their communities. While 15% of NJ’s population is black, 50%of those denied the right to vote are black). Gerrymandering dilutes the power of individual votes.
    • Immigrants’ Rights are on the line! Nationally, we need to end family separations, end the detention of children, protect families, and protect individuals’ rights to due process! Locally, we need protections for all of our residents in our communities and protections for towns and cities who are identifying as Fair and Welcoming Communities or as Sanctuary Cities. We need to grant driver’s licenses to people without documentation.
    • The Federal Judiciary will be instrumental in interpreting voting laws that protect all citizens’ right to vote, gerrymandering challenges, and all civil rights! As the Trump administration packs federal judicial vacancies, our rights are weakened. All civil rights are at stake! Get out and vote to protect all of our rights!
    • The effectiveness of the 2020 census, which drives billions of dollars that come into communities from the federal government, and helps ensure accurate voting districts that foster true democratic representation in the electoral process. The effectiveness is currently compromised by inadequate oversight, including the necessary resources for outreach and cybersecurity.
    • Public safety with protection from gun violence and the protection of our natural resources, including clean land, air and water. What kind of world do you want to live in?

    What’s important to you and at risk? Use it to have the conversations to drive awareness and personal responsibility to ensure those who are given the power to govern actually deserve it.

  • America’s Shame: “What About the Children? Part II”

    A quick re-cap of the June newsletter Hot Topic “What About the Children?”

    • Sessions issued a “Zero-Tolerance” policy. Per Sessions, this policy is to deter migrant families from crossing the border. Even if families are seeking asylum the parents will be taken to the Customs and Border Protection facility where their children will be removed from their custody. It is unclear how the children are being tracked and/or reunited with the parents once their parents cases are heard and adjudicated.
    • Separate from this issue are the unaccompanied minors. Minors who cross the border without their parents are processed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). It is unclear how the system is tracking their whereabouts once they are released to either foster care or other facilities.
    • Senator Feinstein (D-CA) introduced S.3036 The Keep Families Together Act
    Since the June newsletter, an astounding 2,342 children have been forcibly separated from their parents by our government. It should be repeated that this policy is unique to this administration. No other administration has sought to separate children from their parents as a means to deter illegal border crossings.
    What is of dire concern are the ages of the children being separated from their parents. Babies as young as 8 months old have been removed from their mothers and sent to one of three “Tender Age” facilities. Doctors visiting shelters in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley said, “the facilities were fine, clean and safe, but the children — who have no idea where their parents are — were hysterical, crying and acting out. Many of them are under age 5, and some are so young they have not yet learned to talk.” – AP News
    It’s highly questionable what the parents are being told about their child’s whereabouts once taken from their custody. It’s been reported that parents are told that their children are being taken for a bath and then not returned. This smacks of Nazi history repeating itself. It is also highly concerning how unaccompanied minors as well as those who are undocumented are being treated at secretive facilities unknown to the public. Almost daily there are reports of abuses from within the facilities and also within the foster care homes. – Children Allege Grave Abuse at Migrant Detention Centers
    ORR states that children are typically placed on average within 57 days. ICE states that they have set up a hotline for adjudicated immigrants to call to help locate their children. However according to attorneys working for such cases, “there is no formal process or clear protocol for tracking parents and children within the system and that chaotic systems and inadequate record keeping make it difficult even to know which facility a child might be kept at.” – NPR
    As of Wednesday June 20, in an attempt to appear the hero for a situation created by this very administration, Trump signed an Executive Order that will stop the separation of families at the border. However, there is no clear protocol for how to reunite the 2,342 children with their parents. The EO also states “to hold families indefinitely until prosecution.” It is illegal to hold children indefinitely in detention centers therefore his EO is in direct violation of the U.S. law.
    The backlash to protest Trump’s “Zero Tolerance” policy needs to be unabashedly swift and loud. Peaceful civil disobedience is the order of the day and must remain until this STOPS. Call your congressman. Write your congressman. We can not allow children to be separated from their parents at the border nor allow children to be held indefinitely in violation of the Flores Settlement Agreement. Not now. Not ever.

     

    TAKE ACTION NOW

    Call the following Senators and Congressman

    Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA), Senator Collins (R-ME), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Senator John McCain (R-AZ) Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

    Call (202) 224-3121 and say, “My name is… I am from the state of…. I implore you to support bill S.3036 The Keep Families Together Act. Despite the recent rescission of Trump’s Zero Tolerance policy that will allow families to stay together, there is no reasonable protocol that states how long the government may hold the family. The EO states, “To hold families indefinitely until prosecution.” Not only does this violate the Flores Settlement agreement, it’s inhumane, unacceptable and a violation of international human rights laws. DO THE RIGHT THING! SUPPORT BILL S.3036. It is IMPERATIVE that you DO NOT support Ted Cruz’s bill to detain children beyond 20 days at the border. Thank you for your time.”

    The following Senators from NJ and PA are in support of the Keep Families Together Act:Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)

    Call your district representatives who support The Keep Families Together Act at (202) 224-3121 and say “My name is…. I am a constituent from your home state of …. Thank you for supporting The Keep Families Together Act. Despite the recent rescission of Trump’s Zero Tolerance policy that will allow families to stay together, there is no reasonable protocol that states how long the government may hold the family. The EO states, “To hold families indefinitely until prosecution.” Not only does this violate the Flores Settlement agreement, it’s inhumane, unacceptable and a violation of international human rights laws. Again, thank you for your support and your time.”

    You can also send this message to your congressman and senators via Resistbot text “resist” to 50409.

  • What About the Children?

    Last month, a local incident involving ICE brought the immigration issue to our front door. More recently, two stories about children lost after being taken into custody and young children separated from their families at the border populated the headlines and pulled at our hearts.
    First, a clarification: The two stories were often conflated into one, with many believing that nearly 1500 children separated from their families at the border were then lost by the system – in some cases, to human traffickers. While there is no excuse for taking children into the care of an agency and then losing track of them, the 1500 children were those that arrived at the border without a parent or guardian – aka unaccompanied minors. The children were subsequently processed by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) and turned over to a sponsor. However, it appears that there may have been little effort to do background checks on or follow-ups with those sponsors. Congress says it is looking into the agency practices and need for safeguards.
    The issue of separating migrant children from their families is another concern. Earlier in May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new, “zero tolerance” policy that includes criminal penalties to deter illegal border crossings. If a parent is with a child when apprehended for ‘illegal entry’, he or she is taken from the parent. That said, many parents have legally presented themselves to border officials as they were seeking asylum and had their children taken away. The stories are heart-wrenching: Hundreds of children – by some reports more than 700 — have been separated from their families since October and this policy will drive a steep increase.
    Once taken, the children are placed in the custody of the DHS’s Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement – the same office that handles unaccompanied minors arriving at the border. The adults are sent to detention centers to await trial.
    There is no law mandating separation, according to a fact-checking article in the New York Times. Further, the current administration has pointed to the Democrats as the instigators of such a law – another untruth in a long line of lies propagated by this current government.
    According to The Hill, Senator Diane Feinstein plans introduced a bill in that would prevent the separation of children from their immigrant families at the border
    “It’s hard to conceive of a policy more horrific than intentionally separating children from their parents as a form of punishment. … This is not what the United States of America should be,” Feinstein said in a Thursday (5/31) statement.
    Of deeper concern, the ACLU has uncovered evidence that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have physically, sexually and verbally abused migrant children – this is a clear violation of U.S. law and international human rights laws that protect migrants, refugees and asylum seekers regardless of their country of origin. “The violations are numerous,” says the ACLU.
    The law requires that CBP release unaccompanied children within 72 hours, and that all allegations of child abuse are reported to law enforcement, child protective services or the FBI. But the government has failed to hold the officials accountable, and the escalation of anti-immigrant policies and hateful rhetoric are likely to exacerbate the treatment of immigrant children.
    Call to Action – Contact your Senators and Representatives!

    Demand the DHS step up efforts to find children who have been lost due to the lax agency practices, that they increase accountability and strengthen background checks for sponsors.Call for an end to the practice of separating young migrant children from their families. Support Feinstein’s legislation and call for a similar bill in the House. Demand that the CBP be held accountable for any abuse, that officials who have been in charge of the agency who turned a blind eye to the abuse be fired immediately.

    Sign the ACLU petition to hold the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection accountable.

  • The Lambertville ICE Incident. What It Was, What it Wasn’t, and How You Can Help

    On the morning of Friday April 13 at around 8:30 a.m. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) came to Lambertville pursuing an individual with an open warrant. They were seen by several people in the community, and reports of the incident spread quickly through social media and word of mouth.

    Lambertville Police Director, Bruce Cocuzza, confirmed that ICE informed the Lambertville Police Department that morning that they had a warrant for a specific suspect wanted for a high speed chase in Delaware Township. The ICE agents stopped a van in which they expected to find the suspect on Bridge Street. While the target was not in the van, there were two other individuals who had warrants.

    What it was not: It was not a sweep. It is important to understand the directive of the New Jersey State Attorney General’s office. Per Director Cocuzza:

    “The Attorney General’s directive primarily outlines those circumstances when ICE must be notified concerning the arrest of a possibly undocumented immigrant (specifically for violent crimes and/or DWI arrests). It also forbids local police from routinely inquiring about a person’s status.”

    ICE is under no obligation to share information with local police departments. The Lambertville Police Department does not know the specifics of the warrants, nor did they assist ICE. An incident like this is – and has been – ICE’s standard operating procedure. It does not seem to reflect a change in federal policy.How to be an ally: Our ILNH community embraces the idea of inclusion and it values those who seek to simply be good neighbors. We are proud to be a community that stands by the principles of fairness and safety. When we see our neighbors and friends in danger, we may react with the best of intentions, but without fully understanding how our reactions may harm the people we seek to help. In situations like these, it’s important to connect with people who are already doing this work. For the safety and privacy of the community we are trying to protect, avoid posting to social media. Here’s how you can help:

    If you know of someone who has been affected by recent ICE actions, please refer them to Fisherman’s Mark at 609-397-0194. Fisherman’s Mark has deep relationships with our Spanish-speaking community on both sides of the river and is a trusted organization.

    Be a person who shares confirmed facts.If you have access to, or knowledge of, Facebook pages that exist for our vulnerable neighbors, please do not share them in public places on social media. While you are well meaning, not everyone who reads your posts is. Sometimes well-intentioned sharing brings unwanted attention to platforms and pages that have been established through hard work and building of trust.

    Donate time and dollars. Fisherman’s Mark has been doing this work for a long time and they do it on a shoestring. Sometimes the best thing we can do is support those that are doing the work on the front lines with funding and volunteering within the organization. Organizing a fundraiser is another way you can make a difference.

    Donations can be sent to: Fisherman’s Mark, 37 S. Main St. Lambertville, NJ 08530 or made through their website.

    Attend Lambertville Human Rights Council meetings. See times and dates on the city’s website.